Can I Re-Import or Re-Analyse Audio waves

[Roy Slough]

Some of my audio wavs in this current project are extremely quiet. Even with full gain they barely hit 0db. I thought if I normalised the original wav it may fix it but alas not and I do not understand why, Can anyone help/advise? I was led to believe the Audio remained outside CbB
 

This is my process.
Import the stereo Audio wav as Mono and choose not to copy audio into project folder (why have an extra copy)
Delete one of the resulting Audio tracks in the project - Even thought the wavs are stereo the instrument is mono
Repeat until all tracks for song have been imported
Check Clips are aligned musically
Sort out the tempo with tempo mapping.
Begin arranging, mixing etc..

This is when I found THIS song had very low audio levels. I used Audacity to normalise one of the Wavs outside of the project as a test but it does not have any effect (yet) on the track inside the project. So, I have been looking for some sort of re-import or re-analyse the audio to avoid starting again.
Yes I could begin by normalising all audio and start again in CbB but I thought I would ask. It would also clear up my confusion as to why it didn't work and help me better understand CbB.

Also. it would prepare me should I wish to perform some other process outside of CbB - there are many features in Audacity etc. not within CbB.

Thank you

 

[John Vere]

First you should definitely make sure the audio is copied to the project folder. Otherwise the project will loose track of it eventually and the track will no longer play. 
Download the YouLean loudness meter. I recommend the paid version which will save you time because it allows you to drag and drop audio fines for instant analyzing. 
What can happen to audio is it has a loud peak and Normalization won’t work. 
Use the You lean meter to determine the true peak level as well as Luffs. 
 

If a track has peaks like this you need to find them and edit them out. 

Edited May 31 by John Vere

[Roy Slough]

2 minutes ago, John Vere said:

First you should definitely make sure the audio is copied to the project folder. Otherwise the project will loose track of it eventually and the track will no longer play. 
Download the YouLean loudness meter. I recommend the iPad version which will save you time because it allows you to drag and drop audio fines for instant analyzing. 
What can happen to audio is it has a loud peak and Normalization won’t work. 
Use the You lean meter to determine the true peak level as well as Luffs 

Thanks John & Pwal....

OK In future I will allow it to copy to project - then I will delete originals (these are big Wavs)  

There was no unseen peak - Audacity did raise the level significantly with noralisation then I exported back replacing the original - but this doesnot seem to reflect in CbB

[John Vere]

You still need to use an analyzer to see what the LUFS or RMS level is,

This takes the guess work out. 
A healthy wave file should read between- 1.0 to -12.0 db peak and -12 to -18 LUFS.  

You Lean is free to use like all the others. example Melda MAnalyzer and Span etc but they all require you play the whole file in real time. That can be time consuming.
 

 The paid version of You Lean is worth it as you get a instant reading. For me it is one of the most important tools I’ve ever purchased for audio and video production. It will analyze every possible type of file that contains audio. It is also the most accurate and will catch peaks at the sample level that the others all miss.  
You problem child peaks might not be picked up otherwise. 

Edited May 31 by John Vere

[sjoens]

Is output low on each track level? the Master Bus output level? or your interface level?

Why not Normalize clips in CbB?  Or at least check track output dBs and adjust with Process>Gain by desired dBs?

This is also why it's good to "copy" waves into the project so any edits don't affect the original waves.

[Roy Slough]

12 hours ago, sjoens said:

Is output low on each track level? the Master Bus output level? or your interface level?

Why not Normalize clips in CbB?  Or at least check track output dBs and adjust with Process>Gain by desired dBs?

This is also why it's good to "copy" waves into the project so any edits don't affect the original waves.

Thanks sjoens, Nomalising in CbB worked for me and I will use this and re-Gain Stage low volume tracks.

I had not found normalise in CbB so gave up thinking I was looking for something that was not there. When you confirmed it I searched harder and found it. Thanks again.

 

[sjoens]

Yes, they're both in the Process menu.  They can be set to a Custom Module button for quick access.

Edited June 1 by sjoens

[Roy Slough]

36 minutes ago, sjoens said:

Yes, they're both in the Process menu.  They can be set to a Custom Module button for quick access.

Thanks, When I get time I will look at Custom Module settings