Fixing Audio after clipping

[shzelda64]

Well, I'm new to audio editing and I was wondering does anyone know how to "smooth out" audio after inserting sound from a different track? What I mean is, whenever I try to add a sound clip to an existing audio, on playback you get that "clipping" sound, between the new clip and the original. Is there a way to "smooth" this out, so mixed tracks would sound seamless?

Btw, I'm using Audacity and/or Goldwave.

Thanks in advance!
szelda64

[AbsoluteDestiny]

when you add tracks together you are adding the amplitude of each sample together. This obviously causes many samples to be louder than the max allowed.

The only real way to deal with this is to reduce the volume of both sources either but a fixed rate or with dynamic noise reduction.

[post-it]

There are three things that you are working with - in Audio Editing Softwares:
1) Loudness ( Volume Control )
2) Seporation of channels
3) Intensity ( Impact -or- DBX )
To match Audio Levels, you just need to import the New Audio into an Envilope.
(( this has the affect of mixxing and matching all 3 componants - at once. ))

[AbsoluteDestiny]

oh yeah, godlwave. That should be able to do that.

I dont think audacity can work like that (or iti didnt when I used it like a year ago) but goldwave should be able to handle it.

[post-it]

when you add tracks together you are adding the amplitude of each sample together.

T_T
what are you using for editing - never heard of this problem !?

[AbsoluteDestiny]

when you add tracks together you are adding the amplitude of each sample together.

T_T
what are you using for editing - never heard of this problem !?

audacity.. it's what happens in audacity... the program he mentioned in his first post.

[post-it]

>_<

[shzelda64]

Thanks for the advice! I'll try with goldwave to see if using an envelope works. I know audacity has a way of importing with a clip with an envelope (have to read that a&e guide over again 3 more times to understand how sound works). anyway, what i was trying to do was extend the first 3 seconds of a track without dropping pitch, and the only way i could think of doing that was repeating the clip a few times, which obviously created "clipping noises". Also, whenever I try to cut a 5-second between the middle and the end of the song, there's that "clip" sound in between tracks.

[koronoru]

What I mean is, whenever I try to add a sound clip to an existing audio, on playback you get that "clipping" sound, between the new clip and the original. Is there a way to "smooth" this out, so mixed tracks would sound seamless?

Clipping is when samples exceed the maximum range of the format and so the peaks of the sound get cut off. Other people have posted explanations of how to deal with that, but I don't think it's really the question you're asking - you're asking what happens when you get a click (not "clipping" under the technical meaning of the term) where one piece of sound ends and the next begins.

Those clicks are caused by breaking the waveform and picking it up at a different point in the range, so there's a sharp jump. You can reduce the effect by applying a low-pass filter, but that has obvious problems. A better idea is to zoom in, look at the waveform in high resolution, and adjust the in/out points so that the levels match when you go from one sound to the next. It's convenient to cut all your clips where the waveform crosses zero, but on an individual transition you could get away with cutting at some other level as long as they match.

For a better sound (as I think someone mentioned) you could also look at doing some kind of cross-fade.

[shzelda64]

You're right, it's a clicking noise, I got it confused with clipping. So, close up it was a break in the waveform, so I tried inserting tracks with the waves closer to zero, and sure enough, no clicking noise.
Adjusting the in/out points worked just as well too, will have to remember this next time I'm mixing sound.

Thanks, the help here was great!