Editing Audio Using Audacity

At this point, you should have audio files in the WAV or MP3 audio formats. If your
audio files are not in one of those formats, please see the “Preparing Your Audio Files for
Editing and Other Uses” handout for information on using iTunes to convert your audio
to 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 your
satisfaction, you can export them for use in Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements or
other multimedia software. A free copy of Audacity is available for download at
http://audacity.sourceforge.net (download a regular version, not the Beta release). You
must also download and install the LAME MP3 encoder from this web site; it increases
the 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 the
workspace 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 audio
clips you plan to use, you’d have eight new audio tracks. We will refer to this window as
your “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 audio
file. This allows you to edit and apply changes to individual portions of the
file.

The Zoom Tool

Click this icon and your pointer can be used to zoom in or out on the audio
track; left click to zoom in, right click to zoom out. This can be useful when
editing the audio, since you can see more detail in the waveform and
determine 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 backward
along the timeline; this is used to determine when a clip should start or finish
playing 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 files
at the same time if you were to press play. At the left-hand side of each file, there is a
small set of controls, including a Mute button. Press the Mute button on every file except
the one you want to take your first piece of audio from. You will now be able to hear that
audio file alone.

After playing your audio file to determine the start and end points, you can use the
selection tool to highlight the section of the file you want to use. Highlighting works just
like it does in Microsoft Word—click and drag to highlight the part you want, then use
the 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 the
selection into an open audio track.

If you like, you can also use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy and paste
instead 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 and
move the clip forward or backward its track in the timeline until it is located where you
want it relative to the other audio clips in your story. Once you’re done time-shifting
your 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 several
times, 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, highlight

the area you want to adjust, then go to Effects Amplify. This
brings up a menu with an adjustment slider. The slider defaults to
the highest amplification possible, without clipping. Use the
preview button to get a sample of what the selection now sounds
like. If this is not enough, check the “Allow clipping” box and
move the slider to the right or left to increase or decrease the
volume. Clipping will decrease the quality of the audio.

If you are trying to increase the volume, but the Amplify tool doesn’t increase it
enough, you can increase the gain by using the gain control at the left end of the
timeline 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 the
volume of this background sound to gradually fade in at the start of your story, fade out at
the end, or to gradually change volume before your narration begins or ends. To make
such a gradual transition, highlight a few second of the audio at the transition point, then
use 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 fan
humming or a buzzing from your recorder. In certain circumstances, you can reduce or
eliminate this noise with the noise removal tool. This is a two-step process. We’ll use
the audio from your interview as an example.

First, go back to your source window and find an area in the

interview where neither you nor your subject is talking. Highlight
this area. Then, go to Effect Noise Removal. A window will
popup with two steps. You’ll want to push the button that initiates
Step 1, Get Noise Profile. After pressing the button, the Noise
Removal tool will close; this is normal.

Next, go to your destination workspace and highlight the sound byte you
wish to remove noise from. Then, go to Effect Noise Removal, which
will reopen the Noise Removal Tool. You can now use the controls in
Step 2 to adjust the amount of noise you remove. Use the preview button
to review your work; you must make sure not to distort the audio you’re
keeping. When satisfied, press the “Remove Noise” button. The shape of
the waveform in the area you highlighted will change, indicating the
removal has been completed.
Advanced Tools and Effects
The Envelope Tool
In your tool bar, you probably saw the button for the Envelope Tool. The
Envelope Tool gives you the ability to fade in or out in the middle of a track or
make gradual volume changes over a period of time. This is for more advanced
or longer stories; for basic stories or users who are new to Audacity, you should
stick with the simpler fade and volume controls mentioned earlier in this document.

After selecting the Envelope Tool, when you move your cursor over the audio
tracks, it will resemble the logo for the Envelope Tool. Once you’ve activated the
tool, you’ll want to create what are known as control points. Control points mark
the start or the end of a change in amplitude, and are what you manipulate in order
to make that change in amplitude. To create a control point, click on the audio
track you wish to edit, and a set of white dots will appear. This is your first control
point. If you click somewhere else on the same audio track, your second set of
control points will appear.

Once you have your control points, you can create your fade effect. For
example, let’s say you wanted your audio to increase in volume. Place
your cursor over the first control point, hold down your left mouse
button, and drag the control point up or down to the volume you want
the start of your fade effect to be at. After releasing the control point, do the
same thing with your second control point. Your audio track would now look
like the example to the right.

If you wish to change the location of a control point, place the cursor over that
control point, hold down your left mouse button, and drag the point left or
right to its new location.

You can also use the Envelope Tool in place of the Amplify effect to change
the volume of an entire audio track. If you create a single control point, you can
manipulate that point until the volume of your track is at a level you’re satisfied with.

High Pass and Low Pass Filters

The High Pass and Low Pass Filters can be used in place of or in addition to the Noise
Removal tool to remove interference or unwanted noise from your audio track. This
works best if you know the approximate frequency of the noise you’re trying to remove;
otherwise, it becomes a trial and error process rather than an exact science.

Be Careful When Highlighting Audio

When you’re highlighting an audio track you plan to edit, make sure your cursor stays
over the track you wish to edit. If you sweep over a neighboring audio track, you’ll also
highlight that neighboring track.
The Pause Problem
If you are listening to audio in Audacity and you press the “Pause” button, most of the
tools and menus will be disabled. You cannot edit the audio while it is paused. You
must press the stop button to regain functionality. That’s just the way it is.

The Project Sample Rate Problem

You may experience a problem where some of your
audio, when pasted into the destination window,
changes speed. It may sound like the speed is doubled.
If you look in the settings box to the left of that audio track, you’ll
notice below the name of the track is a number followed by the
letters “Hz.” That is the project sample rate in hertz. After pasting
audio into your destination window, make sure the sample rate in
that destination track matches the rate in the source track.

To change the sample rate, click on the arrow next to the track name. This will open a
drop-down menu. Go to the bottom of the menu, to “Set Rate.” In the menu that opens
to the right, set the sample rate to match the rate in your source track.

Export
When you have finished editing your audio, you must export your project as a WAV or
MP3 file. Your Audacity project is not an audio file. Your professor or lab instructor
cannot open the Audacity file for playback; other software programs cannot read the
Audacity files for further use. The only way your project can be graded or imported
into another piece of multimedia software is to export it as a WAV or MP3 file!!

To export your project as a WAV, go to File Export as

WAV. Save the file on the desktop of your computer; name
it after yourself if you are turning it in after export, name it
something logical if it is to be imported into another program
with other files.

To export as an MP3, go to File Export as MP3 and follow

the rest of the export instructions in the previous paragraph.

The exported file can now be turned in to your professor or

lab instructor, or imported into other programs for further
use.

10/08 Paolelli/Love