You have probably heard Audacity described as a free audio editor which is “open source” software from Sourceforge.
What, exactly, does Audacity do?
Audacity is more clearly described in terms of what you can do with this free audio editor. Assuming you have a sound card installed in your computer, and have either speakers or a headphone for listening, with Audacity, you may:
- play audio you have imported into Audacity,
- record audio through a microphone or an amplifying device plugged into the line-in on your sound card.
Once you have one or more tracks imported or recorded into Audacity, you may select an audio segment or entire track to modify, and then:
- mix with another audio segment or track,
- add an effect, such as echo or fade in, or
- remove unwanted sounds from the selection.
How does one edit audio with Audacity?
Once you have recorded or imported audio into Audacity, you will see the recording as a sound wave pattern on your computer screen. If you save several audio files under the same file name, you end up with several individual sound wave patterns, one under the other, for each track imported or saved.
Audacity, as of Version 2.0, will accept up to 16 tracks; and if you need more, you would need only to combine tracks to make tracks available for more additions. However, many projects will only require a single track.
While you play an audio track, you will use one of several methods to mark points in the sound wave which correspond to the audio you wish to modify. The marking can be done most accurately if you zoom in on the chosen sound wave section.
Once you identify the audio segment you wish to modify, it’s simply a matter of mixing segments in, adding effects to selected segments, and then saving to your computer.
How are Audacity audio files saved?
The format for saving depends on whether you will be working on the file again, or are ready to finalize the project. Files to be worked on again should be saved in Audacity Project format (.aup) which gives you a large file which Audacity can edit very quickly.
Once you finish editing the file, you may compress it and save as an Ogg Vorbis file (.ogg) which gives you the space-saving compression similar to an MP3 file. However, the .ogg file, like the .aup file, may only be opened within Audacity software.
When ready to share your project, you will want to export it to a format accessible by others. For MS Windows users, the format is .wav; for Apple Macintosh users, .aiff; for JAVA language users, or for Sun or NeXT computer users, .au. Linux users may download plug-ins to accommodate preferred file types.
For portable applications such as iPod or email, the MP3 compressed file format saves space and decreases download time. MP3 exporting is made available with the LAME MP3 encoder (lame_enc.dll), which may be downloaded from the Audacity download website.
If you want to pin down what the file format long names and capabilities are, you will find a nice summary of the above formats here.
What is the end product of using Audacity?
After using Audacity, you will end up with a recording which you may play on your computer, email to a friend, or place on a website.
Where is Audacity found as a download?
You will need an Audacity version suited to your computer’s operating system. The most up-to-date versions of both Audacity 2.0 (the latest version as of April, 2012) and the LAME MP3 Encoder for your operating system may be accessed from this location.
In summary, how is Audacity used?
Creating an audio file with Audacity is straightforward:
- import or record an audio file,
- listen as you select soundwave segments,
- mix and/or apply effects from the menu to those segments,
- save the result,
- save,
- export.
Warning: One internet article I read warns that, if you have used version 1.2 or 1.3, you should be careful to back up your projects or save a copy under a new name before working on those projects in version 2.0. This will preserve your ability to open older projects in 1.2 or 1.3, while the copy or updated version opens in 2.0.
Once you have the Audacity audio editor installed, you are ready to embark on a project, perhaps one of the projects described on this website.
So, let’s review the above steps.
You have downloaded or recorded audio files to your computer, and imported one or more files into a single Audacity file. If you import 3 files, you will see 3 sound wave tracks.
You then observe the wave structure of the sound files on your monitor. As you listen to the audio, a cursor shows the point on the sound wave that corresponds to what you hear.
Next, you select those portions of the tracks you wish to utilize or modify.
Once you have identified the sections you will be working with, you then may mix one track with another, or apply effects to an entire track or track portion, by selecting operations from the Audacity menu.
Finally, you will save the result as an Audacity (.aup) file to your hard drive, so that you may work on it later. But also, if you want the file to be opened by another program, you will need to export it. For email, handheld (iPod, Zune), or download portability, export to an MP3 file, using the LAME MP3 Encoder.
If you already understand how the Audacity free audio editor fits in with other audio equipment, you might want to skip to a review of projects which can be carried out with Audacity. But if you are a novice like myself who has wondered how a digital audio editor interacts with and supercedes other audio equipment, you will be interested in the next section.