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Editing Audio Files Using Audacity

Audacity is a computer program for digital audio editing. You can use Audacity to record sounds directly, to edit your audio files, and to export your edited audio files into many standard audio file formats.

Getting Start with Audacity

1. From the Start menu, select All Programs > Audacity

2. Understanding Audacity interface - Menu bar: for choosing commands - Control toolbar: for basic tool selection and playback control - Meter toolbar: showing input and output audio levels - Mixer toolbar: for input/output volume control - Edit toolbar: for shortcuts used in editing 3. To create a new audio project, click on File > Save Project As Then specify the folder where you want to save your project and type in your file name.

4. To open an existing Audacity project file, click on File > Open Then select the file you want to open. 5. To import an audio file developed in other program, you can drag the file from its original folder and drop it in Audacity window. You can also import an audio file from the menu by choosing Project > Import Audio

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6. Adjusting the preferences 6.1 Go to menu, select Edit > Preferences 6.2 Adjust settings in each tab - Audio I/O: select appropriate recording and playback devices - Quality: adjust sound quality Sample Rate: the rate of sound recording higher sample rate produces better sound quality in terms of sound frequency (Standard audio CDs use 44100 Hz sample rate) Sample Format: the amount of data used to represent each sound higher bit produces more dynamic sound quality in terms of volume (louder loud and softer soft) (Standard audio CDs use 16-bit format) - File Formats: adjust functions for importing/exporting files Choose Make a copy of the file before editing to avoid trouble when you lose the original file. Select appropriate exporting file format according to your operating system. - Keyboard: adjust keyboard shortcuts - Mouse: adjust mouse actions

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Basic Recording
1. Preparing to record 1.1 Create a new project 1.2 Select an appropriate recording device from the Audio I/O preferences menu.

2. Recording 2.1 Press the red Record button to start recording. Notice the moving microphone meter during recording. 2.2 Press the blue Pause button to pause recording. Press it again to resume recording. 2.3 Press the yellow Stop button to stop recording. 3. Checking your record Click the green Play button to listen to your recorded audio session. 4. Saving your record To save your recorded audio session, go to menu. Select File > Save Project.

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Viewing an Audio Track

1. Familiarizing with an audio track format 1.1 Waveform display: A basic audio file comes with two tracks. An upper track is for left channel. A lower track is for right channel. 1.2 Track control: A left-side pane is a control of an audio track. Mute button: Do not play this track Solo button: Play only this track Volume control: Adjust volume of the track Left-right balance: Adjust sound balance between left and right speakers 1.3 Track menu: Click on an arrow on the right of the track name, a track menu will appear. - Name: Change the name of the track - Move track up/down: Arrange the order of tracks - Waveform/Spectrum/Pitch: Change the display format of waveforms - Mono: makes this track a mono track - Left/right channel: makes this track come out of only one speaker (left or right) - Make stereo track: joins this track with another track below this one to make a single stereo track, with the upper track representing left channel and the lower track representing right channel. 2. Zooming 2.1 Click on a zoom tool. 2.2 To zoom in (making the waveform larger), left-click on an audio track 2.3 To zoom out (making the waveform smaller), right-click on an audio track.

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Basic Sound Editing

1. Selecting a portion of an audio file for editing 1.1 Click on a selection tool. 1.2 Go to the audio track. Click the mouse at the point that is the beginning of your selection. Hold the mouse button, drag it to the end point, and then release the button. The selected part is the darker area in the audio track. 1.3 To extend the selection, hold down the [Shift] key and click on the point on the audio track that you want to extend your selection to. 1.4 To extend the selection to the beginning or the end of the file, go to menu, select Edit > Select, and then choose an appropriate extension option. 2. Cutting and pasting 2.1 To cut, go to menu, select Edit > Cut. (Or click button on the edit toolbar.)

2.2 To paste the audio segment that you just cut, go to the audio track to select the point where you want to insert the cut audio segment. From the menu, select Edit > Paste. (Or click button on the edit toolbar.) 3. Silencing (making the selected section become silent) After making a selection, go to menu, select Edit > Silence. (Or click toolbar.) button on the edit

4. Trimming (deleting everything but the selection) After making a selection, go to menu, select Edit > Trim. (Or click toolbar.) button on the edit

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5. Splitting (separating the selected section into a new track) After making a selection, go to menu, select Edit > Split. Audacity will create a new audio track for this audio section, while silencing the selected section from the original track. To listen to only this splitted audio section, go to its audio track (below the original track), and select Solo. Then click a play button.

6. Undo and Redo 6.1 To undo your last action, go to menu, select Edit > Undo. (Or click toolbar.) button on the edit

6.2 To redo your action, go to menu, select Edit > Redo. (Or click toolbar.) 7. Adjusting volume 7.1 Select an envelope tool from the control toolbar. 7.2 On the audio track, click on the point where you want to adjust the volume. Audacity will show white dots called control points marking the amplitude envelope at that point. 7.3 Drag the control points in the vertical axis to adjust the volume at that point. - Drag control points away from the midline to increase volume - Drag control points toward the midline to decrease volume. button on the edit

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8. Time shifting (Moving one audio track to overlap with another track) Time shifting is a useful tool to eliminate unnecessary silence without causing an interruption in sound continuity. 8.1 Splitting the audio track at the point you want to make a time shift. 8.2 Select a time shift tool from the control toolbar. 8.3 Click on the splitted audio track and drag it to overlap appropriately with the original track.

9. Mixing When you have many audio tracks, you can mix them down to one or two tracks using the Quick Mix function. 9.1 Select the audio tracks that you want to mix together. (Hold down the [Shift] key to make a selection on multiple tracks.) 9.2 Go to menu, select Project > Quick Mix.

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Adding Audio Effects

1. Adding audio effects 1.1 Select the audio segment that you want to add an effect. 1.2 Go to menu. Select Effect. 1.3 Choose an appropriate effect from the list. Amplify: Change the volume Bassboost: Enhance the bass frequencies Change pitch: Change the frequency without changing the tempo Change speed: Change playback speed (which will also increase the frequency) Change tempo: Change the tempo (playback speed) without changing the pitch Compressor: Make loud parts become softer Echo: Make sound echo Equalization: Boost or reduce specified frequencies Fade in/out: Gradually increase/decrease sound volume Noise removal: Clean up recording noise Repeat: Repeat the selection multiple times 1.4 Click on preview button to check the result of the effect before applying. 1.5 If you are satisfied with the way the effect sounds, click OK. 2. To removed an applied effect, go to menu. Select Edit > Undo.

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Exporting Your Project

1. Exporting a selected part of your project 1.1 Selecting the part of an audio track that you want to export. 1.2 From menu, select File > Export Selection as WAV, MP3, or Ogg Vorbis as you like. 1.3 Specify your file name and click Save.

2. Exporting the whole project 2.1 From menu, select File > Export as WAV, MP3, or Ogg Vorbis as you like. 2.2 If there are multiple audio tracks in your project, all tracks will be mixed by the Quick mix function before being exported. You can click OK to acknowledge this process. 2.2 Specify your file name and click Save.

3. Export multiple files You can export each track into individual file without combining it with other tracks by exporting your project into multiple files. You can also use this option to split a long recording into multiple CD tracks. 3.1 From menu, select File > Export Multiple... 3.2 Specify the file format and location, then click Export.

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