AUDACITY

FREE OPEN SOURCE

AUDIO RECORDING AND EDITING SOFTWARE
Audacity
• Is a free open source digital audio editor and recording
computer sotware application available for Windows, OS X,
Linux and other operating systems. It started on the fall of
1999 by Dominbic Mazzoni and Roger Dannenberg at
Carnegie Mellon University and was released on May 28,
2000 as version 0.8.

• In addition to recording audio from multiple sources, Audacity

can be used for post-processing of all types of audio,
including podcasts by adding effects such as normalization,
trimming, and fading in and out

• Audacity is written in C and C++.

• So far, Audacity has 43 versions.

Audacity

• Audacity 2.1.2 is the latest version and it

was released on January 20, 2016.
• Audacity is available in 35 languages and
it was developed by the Audacity team. It
is distributed under the GNU Public
License (GPL)
• If you want to know more about Audacity,
visit this site: http://audacityteam.org/
System Requirements

• Audacity runs best with at least 1 GB RAM

and a 1 Ghz Processor (2 GB RAM/2
GHz on OS X 10.7 or later)

• Audacity is to be used for lenghtly multi-

track project, we recommend a minimum
of 2 GB RAM and 2 GHz processor (4 GB
RAM on OS X 10.7 or later)
Compatibility

• Audacity is available to all operating

systems but it is most compatible with
Windows, OS X, Linux and Unix.
Uses/Feautures

• You can use Audacity to;

-Record live audio
-Convert tapes and records into digital recordings
or CDs
-Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV, AIff sound files
-Cut, copy, slice or mix sounds together
-Change the speed or pitch of a recording
-Add new effects
 Audio formats

• Lots of formats
• .wav (Waveform)– very common, uncompressed (big files),
lossless, nearly universal playback ability
• .mp3 – very common, compressed (little files), lossy, nearly
universal playback ability
• .wma (Windows Media Audio)
• m4p (MPEG 4 Protected)– can only be opened with iTunes and
the computer must be authorized prior to playing transferring from
an iPod
• .ogg – free, open source, uses Vorbis format to play
• Librivox – public domain audio books
• .ra (Real Audio)
HOW TO USE AUDACITY
Audacity – Main Screen Shot
 CHOOSING YOUR MICROPHONE AND
SPEAKERS
• Edit>Preferences>Devices
• Set your mike, speakers, stereo or mono
• I need to choose a different mike than the
Connect mike
• Use a moderately priced headset for best results
 RECORDING AND PLAYBACK

• Just like a tape recorder or VCR

– Pause, play, stop, rewind, fast forward, record

• Recording shows up as a waveform

– Useful to find silence, pauses or extraneous
noises if editing
 EFFECTS MENU

• Effects>Amplify
– May have to enable
“clipping” to apply the
effect
• Effects>Fade In
• Effects>Fade Out

• Effects>Remove Noise
 EDITING TRACKS
• Playback to find the
spot you want to cut
• Use the waveform to Selection tool
find the silences
• Use the selection tool to
select the cut
– Left click and drag
– Hit Delete or Cut to
make the edit
– Ctrl + Z to undo an edit
• You can also replace
the selection with
silence Replace with
cut
silence
 EXPORTING (SAVING) FILES

• You don’t save sound files,

you Export them
• File>Export>Choose folder,
filename, and format
• MP3s require a download of
a LAME encoder
• LAME - (learning about mp3
encoding) a library that allows
some programs to encode mp3
files.
• Audacity guides you though the
process
 IMPORTING AND COMBINING TRACKS
• Record and export all your clips
• Import all your clips
– Don’t click Open, as they will open up in different
windows
– Import opens them all up in same window
• Copy and paste second clip onto end of first
track
– Close clip
– Copy and paste third clip onto end of first track
– Close clip
– Repeat until al the clips are on one track
• Save the whole thing with a new filename when
you’re done
 LAME ENCODER

• Export as MP3
• You’ll get this prompt the
first time
– Click Download
– Follow the links (there are
2)
• Download LAME
• Click the .exe file
• Export the file!
 MIXING TRACKS

• Import tracks you want to mix

• Edit tracks to same running time
• Use Effects menu(Amplify, Fade In, Fade
Out) as needed
• Export
– Will automatically mix tracks together
Editing

• Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete.

• Use unlimited Undo (and Redo) to go back any number
of steps.
• Very fast editing of large files.
• Edit and mix an unlimited number of tracks.
• Use the Drawing tool to alter individual sample points.
• Fade the volume up or down smoothly with the
Envelope tool.
Edit Toolbar

All of the buttons on this toolbar perform actions - and with a

couple of exceptions, they're all just shortcuts of existing menu
items to save you time.

Cut
Copy
Paste
Trim away the audio outside the selection
Silence the selected audio
Undo
Redo
Edit Toolbar

Holding the mouse over a tool will show a "tooltip" in case

you forget which one is which.

Zoom In
Zoom Out
Fit selection in window - zooms until the selection just fits
inside the window.
Fit project in window - zooms until all of the audio just fits
inside the window.
Splitting / Duplicating

• Split - Moves the selected

region into its own track or
tracks, replacing the affected
portion of the original track
with silence.

• Duplicate - Makes a copy of

all or part of a track or set of
tracks into new tracks. See
the figure below:
Import and Export with Audacity

Import sound files, edit them, and combine them with other files or
new recordings. Export your recordings in several common file
formats.
• Import and export WAV, AIFF, AU, and Ogg Vorbis files.
• Import MPEG audio (including MP2 and MP3 files) with libmad.
• Export MP3s with the optional LAME encoder library.
• Create WAV or AIFF files suitable for burning to CD.
• Import and export all file formats supported by libsndfile.
• Open raw (headerless) audio files using the “Import Raw”
command.
• Note: Audacity does not currently support WMA, AAC, or most
other proprietary or restricted file formats.
Recording in Audacity
Recording in Audacity

Audacity can record live audio through a microphone or

mixer, or digitize recordings from cassette tapes, vinyl
records, or minidiscs. With some sound cards, it can also
capture streaming audio.

• Record from microphone, line input, or other sources.

• Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings.
• Record up to 16 channels at once (requires multi-channel
hardware).
• Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during, and after
recording.
Removing Background Noise

• Get Noise Profile

– 2-3 seconds noise only
• Select Audio to Filter
• Use Slider to Select How
much noise to filter out
• Preview until desired
amount is achieved
• Choose Remove Noise
END
Thank You