hello. Im fairly new to pd, and am trying to write a patch that when a volume threshold is broken (from the built in laptop mics), it i will record audio for duration x, and save it as a file, however if the threshold is broken again during duration x, duration x is reset and only saves out the file until the threshold isnt broken for duration x. when the file is done recording, and the threshold is broken again, I would like it to start recording another file. the reason I'm making this is because ive been made aware that i've been saying strange things in my sleep (that i dont remember), and I wanted to try and record them. Eventually with the onboard webcam too, but just audio for now.

I'm sure there are simpler ways to do what im doing, and I'm open to suggestions (or if there are other patches out there like this).

The three problems Im having at the moment are:
1) I had "del" or "delay" working for awhile, but then it mysteriously stopped working. even when i delete it and repatch it. if you click "resets counter" there's a bang both before and after the "del 5000" on the lower right. i have no idea why or how to fix it.
2) I'm having a hard time figuring out how to keep the file recording when the threshold is broken during duration x. The problem is that the way I have it set up, is that if the threshold is broken again, it will initialize a new file to be written, which I can't figure out how to bypass. Perhaps "load banging" an open message for the initial file to be written, and then the subsequent ones can be initialized after the previous has finished writing? However I think it would be better is:
3) So far I've only devised a very wonky way of recording the next file. If you click on "pd recordingsel" in the upper left, you can see how I've set it up with switches and a limited amount of files ready to be made. I know there must be a better way to do this, so that it will just continuously record new files with virtually no limit.

Thanks for helping a newbie!

Olivia