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Editing Audio Using Audacity
At this point, you should have audio files in the WAV or MP3 audio formats. If youraudio files are not in one of those formats, please see the “Preparing Your Audio Files forEditing and Other Uses” handout for information on using iTunes to convert your audioto those formats.Audacity is a fairly easy-to-use program that allows you to import audio files, edit them,clean up audio and mix multiples files together. Once the files have been edited to yoursatisfaction, you can export them for use in Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements orother multimedia software. A free copy of Audacity is available for download athttp://audacity.sourceforge.net(download a regular version, not the Beta release). Youmust also download and install the LAME MP3 encoder from this web site; it increasesthe functionality of Audacity.
Setting up your Workspace
When you open Audacity, go to Project
Import Audio; in the file menu that pops up,navigate to the audio files you wish to import. Each file will open in a track in Audacity.We will refer to the window these files are open in as your “source” window.Once you have your files open, go to File
New; the window that opens will be theworkspace for the project you want to create. Then go to Project
New Audio Track,and create a new audio track. You should perform this step once for each clip, or piece of audio that will be used in your finished project. For example, if you have eight audioclips you plan to use, you’d have eight new audio tracks. We will refer to this window asyour “destination” window. You are now ready to begin editing.
Tools at your Disposal
The Selection Tool
Click this icon and your pointer can be used to highlight portions of the audiofile. This allows you to edit and apply changes to individual portions of thefile.
The Zoom Tool
Click this icon and your pointer can be used to zoom in or out on the audiotrack; left click to zoom in, right click to zoom out. This can be useful whenediting the audio, since you can see more detail in the waveform anddetermine exactly which parts of the audio correspond with certain sounds.
The Time Shift Tool
Click this icon and you can move the audio in a track forward and backwardalong the timeline; this is used to determine when a clip should start or finishplaying in relation to the audio in other tracks in the current project.
 
Basic Editing Operations
Since you have multiple files open in the source window, you would hear all of the filesat the same time if you were to press play. At the left-hand side of each file, there is asmall set of controls, including a Mute button. Press the Mute button on every file exceptthe one you want to take your first piece of audio from. You will now be able to hear thataudio file alone.After playing your audio file to determine the start and end points, you can use theselection tool to highlight the section of the file you want to use. Highlighting works justlike it does in Microsoft Word—click and drag to highlight the part you want, then usethe copy button or the copy command to copy the selection.After copying a clip, go to the destination workspace and use the paste button to paste theselection into an open audio track.If you like, you can also use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy and pasteinstead of using the copy and paste buttons in Audacity.Once a clip has been pasted into an audio track, you can select the Time Shift Tool andmove the clip forward or backward its track in the timeline until it is located where youwant it relative to the other audio clips in your story. Once you’re done time-shiftingyour audio, select the Selection Tool so you’ll be ready to paste your next audio clip.Repeat the cycle of copying audio, pasting audio and using the Time Shift Tool severaltimes, and your story will look something like this:
 
Effects
 In the Effects menu, you will find several options for improving your piece.If you need to change the volume of part of your track, highlightthe area you want to adjust, then go to Effects
Amplify. Thisbrings up a menu with an adjustment slider. The slider defaults tothe highest amplification possible, without clipping. Use thepreview button to get a sample of what the selection now soundslike. If this is not enough, check the “Allow clipping” box andmove the slider to the right or left to increase or decrease thevolume. Clipping will decrease the quality of the audio.If you are trying to increase the volume, but the Amplify tool doesn’t increase itenough, you can increase the gain by using the gain control at the left end of thetimeline for that track; the slider with the -/+ scale is the one to manipulate.
 But only do this as a last resort
. When you increase the gain, the audio quality suffers.If you have natural sound or music in the background of your piece, you may want thevolume of this background sound to gradually fade in at the start of your story, fade out atthe end, or to gradually change volume before your narration begins or ends. To makesuch a gradual transition, highlight a few second of the audio at the transition point, thenuse the Fade In (gradually increase volume) or Fade Out (gradually decrease volume)function under the Effects menu. Play with these functions to get the effect you want;this is more an art than a science in Audacity.Sometimes, you may have unwanted noise in your audio track, such as a ceiling fanhumming or a buzzing from your recorder. In certain circumstances, you can reduce oreliminate this noise with the noise removal tool. This is a two-step process. We’ll usethe audio from your interview as an example.First, go back to your source window and find an area in theinterview where neither you nor your subject is talking. Highlightthis area. Then, go to Effect
Noise Removal. A window willpopup with two steps. You’ll want to push the button that initiatesStep 1, Get Noise Profile. After pressing the button, the NoiseRemoval tool will close; this is normal.Next, go to your destination workspace and highlight the sound byte youwish to remove noise from. Then, go to Effect
Noise Removal, whichwill reopen the Noise Removal Tool. You can now use the controls inStep 2 to adjust the amount of noise you remove. Use the preview buttonto review your work; you must make sure not to distort the audio you’rekeeping. When satisfied, press the “Remove Noise” button. The shape of the waveform in the area you highlighted will change, indicating theremoval has been completed.
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