I'm just trying to select a node on the volume envelope and none of the tools allows me to do that. The Smart tool and the Select tool both only give me that "area select bar" and nothing grabs the node. Any thoughts? Is it a setting?

Try this: First, click somewhere in the track where there isn't a node or automation line/curve. That should de-select all the nodes in case more than one is selected. Then click on the node you want to change and drag with the Smart, Move, or Edit tool.

Shift+click the envelope to set the Edit Filter to that object (or set the Edit Filter via the widget in the track header).

How frustrating... this is a basic move... nothing I try allows me to grab a node... I've click in other areas of the track, in adjacent tracks, tried all the select tool options (if I use 'edit' and click elsewhere on the track it immediately crops the track)....

If you can edit the clip, then the Edit Filter is not set to the envelope as mentioned in my previous post.

thanx, that worked. Let me ask this... I have several seconds of silence at the beginning of my song... what I was doing was moving the envelope closer to the beginning of the audio so I could cut the silence out and have the track start immediately... but when I do that, cutting the tracks and allowing it to delete the hole doesn't seem to include the envelope, so the audio moves to zero but not the envelope. Is there a better way to do that?

Never mind, I just wasn't selecting enough events to delete...