Audacity SOUND, YOUR WAY

What is it? Audacity is an open source audio editing software Audacity can edit multiple audio file formats such as mp3, wav, wma, ogg, and many more Can implement a variety of different audio effects and mixing techniques Additional features become available with the appropriate plugins

Modes and Impact on English Studies Audacity uses the Oral and Aural modes almost exclusively. However, one can import the audio tracks into a video or a presentation that can help support the use of visual and gestural modes as well. Audacity allows you to create clean, professional level recordings for presentations or video compositions that can improve the effectiveness of the message you are trying to convey.

Benefits and Limitations Powerful; Tons o’ Features Edit any common audio format Can mix a vast number of audio tracks at once And as Dr. Parente pointed out, it’s free, Free!, FREE!!! Limitations High Learning Curve Requires Plugins for some features Complicated Interface

Basic Tools Selection Tool -- used to make selections in an audio track Zoom Tool -- Zooms in or out at the cursor point (left click in, right click out) Time Shift Tool -- Used to move a track forward or backward to sync with other tracks Envelope Tool -- used to make sections of a track softer or louder Draw Tool -- used to make super-fine adjustments to the track’s waveform; must be zoomed in extremely far Multi-Tool Mode -- Allows you to use all five tools at once. Not recommended without considerable experience

Basic Tools (con’t) Zoom Out/In/Fit Selection/Fit Project -- Zoom in or out like the zoom tool, fit a selected section of track to fit the window, or fit the entire project to the window Trim Audio/Silence Audio -- used to either delete everything except selected audio in a track, or convert the selection to silence Recording and Playback Volume -- controls the volume of sound as it’s recorded or played back Cut/Copy/Paste -- used to cut and paste or copy and paste selections of tracks elsewhere in the audio

Importing Audio To import audio from your computer click “File” on the toolbar. Select “import” followed by “audio” This will bring up a search window, find the audio file you wish to import and click “open” This will open up the selected audio file in audacity Repeat until all audio files you wish to layer are imported

Editing The Selected Audio Files Select “Where is the Love” track, make sure the whole track is highlighted, go to “Effect” on the toolbar. Select “Change Tempo” Type -13 in the “Percent Change” box Click “OK”

Editing Files Continued Select the “Background Music” track On the bottom of the screen find the tool that lists the hours minutes and seconds of the track. Edit the seconds till it says “34.500” seconds. Right click on “Background Music” then hit the “delete” key.

Editing Files Continued Select “Extra Effect” track. Click the “Skip to Start button” Go to “Generate”, followed by “Silence..” Type “12.000” seconds. Click “OK”

Exporting your new audio file Click “File” and select “Export from the dropdown menu. In the Name box: Rename your file to “final song” You can choose any file type you want. Once you select mp3, click “Save” WELL DONE! You have created your first layered track.

Importing Audio from Video Importing Audio from a video works much the same as opening a regular audio file for editing; Note: this will essentially copy the audio from the video file; any editing in Audacity will only affect your exported audio file there is an additional plug-in required, called FFmpeg if you get an error message saying FFmpeg is required, go to Edit>Preferences>Libraries. FFmpeg will be the second library listed Follow the directions on Audacity’s Wikia page for install (we’ll do it in class if desired or needed)

The Noise Reduction Effect Once imported, complete any desired editing In this case, we’ll be running the Noise Reduction Effect often times a video will be recorded in an environment that has background noise, sometimes unnoticed until the video is reviewed later Fortunately, Audacity comes with a built in Noise Reduction Effect

Step 1 Before we start, we need to know what noise we’re trying to reduce in this audio file, it’s the background noise from the heater at my house; it’s the low area between the peaks, which is speech Select an area of the track without dialogue or other desired sound

Step 2 Under Effects click on Noise Reduction We’ll have to do this twice, as you’ll see in a minute

Step 3 And click on “Get Noise Profile” This will close the dialogue box Don’t Panic

Step 4 After the Noise Reduction box closes, select the portion of your audio that you want to apply the noise reduction to In this case we’re going to apply it to the whole track This can be done 3 ways: Click on the Edit menu and click “All” use the keyboard shortcut CTRL-A Manually select the area with the mouse like we did when we selected the Noise Profile

Step 5 This is where it gets tricky Noise Reduction (dB) is just that, how much quieter the noise is. Too high, though, and you could start making the desired sound lower, too Sensitivity is how the filter determines how much of the audio is noise. Again, set too high, and you’ll start to loose desired audio Frequency Smoothing (bands) is used if you start to hear noise artifacts (crackles or other noise that wasn’t there before) the algorithm is good, but not perfect

Step 5 (con’t) The rule of thumb is: set these as low as possible to reduce the noise without damaging your desired audio This is a trial and error process The Preview button does just that, play a small snippet of audio so you can test your settings. Reduce vs. Residue Reduce is a preview of what your audio sounds like with the applied settings Residue is a sample of the audio you’re reducing; if you hear your desired sound, chances are you need to adjust your settings a little

Step 6 Once you have your noise reduced (and applied any other effects you may want) export your audio

Step 6 (con’t) Select your desired output file format and name your audio file, click “Save”

Step 7 Add your audio to your video as a sound track Select your new audio file from the file selection window

Step 8 In Windows Movie Maker I don’t know of a way to remove the embedded audio from a video, but you can mute it I don’t know iMovie, but hopefully the process is similar

All Done! Congrats!

Need More Help? Audacity also has an online manual, written Wiki style If you get stuck, or are interested in learning more about the different features, it’s the place to be