Home key doesn't move cursor

[dralex]

A question from a total beginner with recording software. In the Help manual, it says when playing a sound (in this case a file of a vocal made in Acoustica) that pressing the Home key will return the playback cursor to the start marker. I've tried just Home and shift+Home and Control+Home. Nothing happens. So when I play with the various editing tools and listen to the effect, I can't get back to the start of the recording. Thanks for any help!

[DougDbug]

It doesn't move the cursor, it moves the start-marker. When you open a file, the whole file is normally displayed, and selected. The start-marker is at the beginning of the file, and the end-marker is at the end... The Home key won't do anything in that situation.

If you're zoomed-on and the start-marker is somehwere off-screen, Home will move the waveform, so that you can see the start marker.

(I hardly ever use the keyboard, I use the mouse to move the start & end markers.)

[dralex]

Thanks for your reply. When I listen to a bit of the file to see what my fiddling with noise reduction & smoother has done, how do I get the start marker back to the beginning of the file, ie. how do I listen from the beginning again? I know I must be missing something really obvious here.

[DougDbug]

If I want to play the whole file (if the whole file isn't selected), I'll usually just hit the Sel All button first.

By default, the green & yellow "play" buttons will play the selection. (You can right-click these buttons to customize them.)

The start-marker and end-marker appear at the beginning and end of the selected/highlighted section.

If you've selected the whole file and applied your effect to the whole file, it should start playing from the beginning when you click the play button. Or, if you've selected a section for noise reduction or smoothing, the same part will remain selected when you're done. So, if you apply an effect and then click play (without doing anything else) only that part should play.

You can drag the start & end markers. Or, you can set the beginning marker with a left-click, and set the end marker with a right-click.

Some handy tool-buttons:

Sel All (Select All)
Sel View (Select everything you see in the window)

Sel (View Selection... Fill the window with the selection.)
All (View the entire file)

Using an audio editor can be tricky, especially if you're not familiar with the terminology... It does get easier, once you get familiar with the program. For most actions in GoldWave, there is more than one way to it. Try reading through the help file. There is a section called "Editing Overview" that should be helpful.

...noise reduction & smoother ...

FYI - Noise Reduction can be tricky. If you have a bad noise problem, "the cure can be worse than the disease". In general, you just have to try it to see if you can make an improvement. (Pros still use soundproof studios & low-noise equipment.)

The Smoother is fairly easy to experiment with. The Noise Reduction Filter usually works best when you copy a section of the noise-only into the clipboard, and then choose Use Clipboard.

[dralex]

I've already experienced the "cure being worse" syndrome . . .using the aggressive hiss reduction in "noise reduction" created a spooky-sounding reverb quality to my voice. Hiss reduction with the smoother seems best so far. I'll keep trying different combinations.

I hired someone with a recording studio to help me find the quietest spot in my house & get started. He said I'd likely do OK because I'm only recording my voice (for hypnosis CD's/downloads). He said speaking voice only is a snap compared to most recording projects.

Thank you again for taking time to help.

[GoldWave Inc.]

The View | Auto Scroll Lock menu command needs to be checked to make the arrow, page, home, and end keys move the playback cursor.

Chris

[DougDbug]

...in this case a file of a vocal made in Acoustica.

You know, you can use GoldWave to record. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Acoustica... I don't know anything about it. It's really a matter of what you have, and what's easier to use. And, there's nothing wrong with using multiple programs. I'm sure the person with a recording studio is using more than one program... I have a handful of audio & video programs. And for recording, your choice of software doesn't affect the quality of the sound.

I hired someone with a recording studio to help me find the quietest spot in my house & get started.

Good! I think noise is the biggest challenge faced by professionals.

[dralex]

After I opened Goldwave the first time and looked around, I told a friend I was through recording in Acoustica. Then I started trying to use it and realized there was going to be a learning curve. I know zip about recording, so it's trying to pick up the fundamentals around that more than using the software. Goldwave's Help Manual is much, much better than Acoustica's.

[gravy6]

Thank you for the View / Auto Scroll Lock! I was really trying to fix that!