Meter Toolbar
- The green bar shows the playback level, and the red bar shows recording level.
In the image above, note that the blue bars (indicating the highest peak level attained) are at about the -6 dB mark. This is a sensible level to aim for on the recording meter when setting levels for recording, because it gives you headroom to make edits affecting volume afterwards.
Monitoring
When you are preparing to record it is useful to monitor the input without actually pressing the record button. This is useful for setting levels and checking that you have the input source that you expect.
There are two ways to turn input monitoring on and off:
- Left-click on the recording meter to turn monitoring on. Click again to turn monitoring off.
- Click on the downward-pointing arrow beside the microphone symbol - the meter drop-down menu appears. Choose "Begin Monitoring" or "Stop Monitoring" as appropriate.
What the shades and bars mean
ToDo Gale: If practical I think this image would be better if it was horizontal (as most beginners will have it). Thinner font (for the annotated text) would be better.
Done - Bill
Recording must be annotated as well, or people won't know what the
bars mean. The recording should be up to -6 dB (showing them the ideal
sort of level) but showing the clip hold light too from a previous clip. I'd
say the clip hold light is mandatory for recording.
Done - Bill
- Clipping indicators: These red bars will light up if clipping has occurred during the current recording or playback session. They remain after playback or recording is stopped, and are reset when a new playback or recording session is started.
- Highest peak level attained: These blue bars show the highest peak level attained during the current recording or playback session. They remain after playback or recording is stopped, and are reset when a new playback or recording session is started.
- Highest peak level attained in the last 3 seconds: These bars (green for playback, red for recording) indicate the highest peak level attained in the last three seconds. They are reset when recording or playback is stopped.
- Current peak level: The right hand edge of the dark green bar (dark red bar for recording) indicates the current peak level.
- Current average level: The right hand edge of the pale green bar (pale red bar for recording) indicates the current average level.
Undocking and Resizing
Ed 13 Nov 2009 an image offering...
The meter toolbar can also be undocked and displayed as a window in its own right. It can be resized, giving longer scales for the meters and hence a more accurate view of the volume levels. It can also be changed to a vertical orientation.
- To undock the Meter Toolbar, click on its handle and drag it out of the Audacity project window.
- To resize the meter when undocked, click on the resize handle at the bottom right of the window and drag it out to the desired size.
- To resize the meter when docked, click on the resize handle at the right edge of the Meter Toolbar and drag it out to the desired size.
