Basic editing of a recording with Audacity To edit a recording in Audacity you can use same type of actions that you can use in most computer applications, such as selecting, copying, pasting and deleting. Copying part of a sample 1. Make sure the selection tool is active by clicking on it. 2. Click and drag over a part of the audio sample. Figure 1 Selecting part of a sample 3. Select Edit and Copy. 4. Click on the sample where you want to add the copy 5. Select Edit and Paste. Figure 2 Copying selection into another part of the timeline 6. The copied piece of the audio should now be added to the timeline. 7. Press play to listen to the recording now. Remember you can highlight a portion of the sample as before so only that part of the track plays. - 1 -
Moving part of a sample 1. Highlight the part of your sample you want to move 2. Select Edit and Cut 3. Click on the new position you want that piece of audio to start 4. Select Edit and Paste Deleting part of a sample To remove a part of the waveform completely 1. Highlight it and hit the delete key Figure 3 Selecting part of the timeline Figure 4 Selection deleted from the timeline 2. If you make a mistake you undo it by selecting Edit and Undo. When you are making a recording and you make a mistake part way through it, you don t need to stop recording and repeat it from the beginning. You can just repeat the part you got wrong and then edit the track afterwards. - 2 -
Working with Multiple Tracks When you are making a recording you might actually complete it in a number of sections. Each time you stop and start a new recording, Audacity creates a new track. Only if you pause your recording and then resume it, will it continue on a single track 1. Using your existing recording click on the timeline where you want the next part of the recording to begin. 2. Click record. The new piece of audio will appear in a new track. Figure 5 New recording added to a new track 3. Name the two separate tracks. Click on the word audio track then select Name, and enter a name. This becomes important to manage your track and remember what each one contains. Figure 6 Naming Tracks - 3 -
4. You can move the audio in one of the tracks relative to the others. Select the Time Shift Tool. Click and drag on the audio sample in a track and move it to the left or right. Figure 7 Moving the position of a sample in a track Time Shift Tool 5. To delete an entire track click on the close button in the top left hand corner of the track window. Figure 8 Deleting an Audio track Delete Track Button Sample can be moved left or right Saving audio information with your MP3 When you are happy with the edited audio, you need to export it into MP3 format. 1. Select File then Export 2. Give it a name and choose Save as type MP3 Files from the drop downlist 3. Another box will appear requesting additional information about the MP3. Enter details about the title, ownership, content, year etc. (You can use Speech - 4 -
as the Genre for the audio if none of the other categories are suitable). 4. Click OK to confirm the details. Be aware that this information (called metadata) is available for anyone to view when the audio is player on a computer or device. Enhancing the Quality of the Recording Increasing /Decreasing the Volume If the volume of your recording is at the wrong level, Audacity has editing tools for amplification and noise reduction. The previous tutorial showed you how to amplify an entire track. This approach shows you how to do it more precisely and also allow you to amplify just specific parts of the sample. 1. Highlight a section of the sample you want to amplify 2. Select Effect then Amplify 3. The amplify settings box appears with the suggested value to use. This value will not exceed the 0dB maximum and cause distortion of the audio. Figure 10 Amplify Settings 1. Click OK to confirm 2. To decrease the volume, also select Effect and Amplify but put a negative value into the Settings window which appears. Figure 11 Sample before amplification Figure 12 Sample after amplification - 5 -
Removing noise If the quality of your microphone is poor, it may pick up some background noise in your recording. This can become very obvious when you amplify you recording. To remove noise 1. Select a small piece of the recording that is silent except for the noise. 2. Select Effect then Noise Removal and click on the Get Noise Profile button Figure 13 Selecting silent of sample Highlight silent part of sample 3. Select all of the audio you want noise removed 4. Reselect Effect then Noise Removal and click the Remove Noise button. 5. Use the sliders to remove more or less noise. Figure 14 Selecting part of sample for Noise Removal Sliders to adjust level of noise removal Select all or part of sample for noise removal - 6 -