Jack,
I don't have Vegas studio. You may try posting on that forum for more information. In vegas pro you turn up the track volume, select the portion of the timeline you want to render, and render to new track.
Select the audio track, then Insert / Audio envelope. You'll get a thin blue line running through the entire track. Double-click on the line to add control points. Move the points up to increase volume or down to decrease it. Add as many points as you need.