HOW TO EDIT AN AUDIO CLIP USING AUDACITY

Transcription

1 HOW TO EDIT AN AUDIO CLIP USING AUDACITY Introduction Audacity is an open-source software program that is a powerful tool for editing audio files. This software is available for free, and it is used by professionals and hobbyists. Audacity is used to alter the sound of any type of audio file, for example, songs, podcasts, and sound effects. Overview Audacity has a user interface that may look very basic at first, but it actually takes some practice to develop editing skills. For this tutorial, an audio clip, titled intro, will be trimmed and effects will be applied. Equipment and Materials Needed A computer (Audacity is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux) Audacity software (Audacity can be downloaded at An audio file (such as a.wav or.mp3 file) INSTRUCTIONS PART I: Getting Started 1. Open Audacity. Open Audacity to begin using the software program. Typically, Audacity will automatically install a shortcut on the desktop that may be double-clicked to start. If a shortcut cannot be located on the desktop, then the software may be accessed from its saved location. The operating system s search utility may be used if necessary. Figure 1 displays the file location for Audacity which, in this case, is C:\Program Files (x86)\audacity.

2 Note: The file location may vary. This figure displays the most common location for Windows-based systems. Figure 1. File location for Audacity (Windows) 2. Open the audio file. The audio file for the project must be loaded into Audacity. Click on Open under the File menu to load the audio file into Audacity, as shown in Figure 2. A selection box (pictured in Figure 3) will appear, and the file must be selected from this window. Click on the name of the file to select it. After selecting the file, click on the Open button. The file will now load into Audacity. Figure 4 shows what the file looks like after it has been loaded, and the player controls are highlighted in green. Figure 2. Opening from File menu Figure 3. File selection window

3 Figure 4. Loaded audio file with pause, play, and stop controls. PART II: Cropping an audio selection. 1. Select the beginning point. A cursor will be inserted by clicking on any point of the audio track. First, decide where the beginning of the audio should be. For this audio clip, the starting point will be at 2.5 seconds. Figure 5 displays the cursor inserted at the 2.5 second mark. Figure 5. Selecting the beginning point 2. Trim audio to the beginning point. Highlight the portion of the audio clip to be deleted by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the cursor to the zero second mark. Figure 6 demonstrates highlighting the portion to be trimmed. After highlighting the selection to be deleted, simply hit the delete key on the computer keyboard.

4 Figure 6. Highlighted selection 3. Create new ending. Repeat the process from the previous step to highlight and trim the end of the audio file. Figure 7 demonstrates selecting the new end point and highlighting to the end of the audio clip. After this has been completed, hit the delete key to trim the excess audio. Figure 7. Select new end point and highlight to end of audio clip. PART III: Adding Audio Effects Note: There is a multitude of different effects that can be applied to audio files using Audacity. For this tutorial, only two effects will be featured. 1. Configuring Fade In. The Fade In effect decreases the volume at the beginning of the selection and gradually increases to 100% volume by the end of the selection. Highlight the portion of the audio clip in which needs the Fade In effect applied. Next, select Fade In from

5 the Effect menu to apply the effect. Figure 8 displays the location of the Fade In effect and Effect menu. Figure 8. Fade In effect location. 2. Configuring Fade Out. The Fade Out effect is the inverse of the Fade In effect. The selection will begin at 100% volume and gradually decrease to 0%. This effect is most commonly used at the end of audio clips in order to create an ending effect. First, select the point in which the fade-out will begin, and then drag to highlight until the end of the track. Next, select Fade Out from the Effects menu. Figure 9 illustrates a selection that fades out over the last second of the track. Figure 9. One second fade-out. PART IV: Exporting the new file

6 1. Select Export from the File menu. The file must be exported in order to save all of the changes that were made during editing. Open the file menu and click on Export to begin exporting the edited file. Figure 10 displays the location of the export command. Figure 10. Location of Export command 2. Select destination and save. After clicking on Export, a selection box will appear. This box is for selecting the save location. Click on the destination folder, name the file, and click on Save. Figure 11 illustrates the process of saving the file. Figure 11. Saving the file.