for Sound editing and recording

Using Audacity

Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................
Basic concepts.........................................................................................2
Digitising sound.......................................................................................2
Getting started with Audacity.............................................................................
About Audacity.........................................................................................3
Download Audacity..................................................................................3
Exporting MP3 files for the first time......................................................3
The workspace....................................................................................................
Menu bar..................................................................................................4
Control toolbar.........................................................................................5
Mixer toolbar...........................................................................................5
Edit toolbar..............................................................................................5
Meter toolbar...........................................................................................5
Editing with Audacity..........................................................................................
Set the preferences..................................................................................6
Importing an audio file............................................................................6
Playback...................................................................................................7
Editing an audio file.................................................................................7
Mixing audio files.....................................................................................7
Save an Audacity project.........................................................................8
Exporting as MP3 from Audacity.............................................................8
Recording with Audacity.....................................................................................
General....................................................................................................9
Managing file sizes - tips.......................................................................10

Introduction
Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS
X, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to:

Record live audio.

Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files.
Cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together.
Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
And more!

Basic concepts
Sound consists of rapid vibrations that are transmitted as variations in air
pressure. If there wasn't any air, we wouldn't be able to hear sounds. There's
no sound in space. When we hear a sound we sense changes in air pressure
around our eardrums.
A sound can be represented as an undulating line known as sound wave as
shown in the picture below:

Amplitude and frequency are two of the most important sound wave
characteristics for digitisation:
1. Amplitude refers to the intensity or loudness of the sound while
2. Frequency refers to the length of time required for a wave to complete
one entire cycle. Frequency is measured in Hertz (cycles per second).
For example, a sound of frequency 2 KHz = 2,000 Hertz repeating a
cycle 2,000 times per second.

Digitising sound
To digitise a sound wave requires sampling. Sampling consists of determining
the amplitude of a sound wave at some number of discrete times within a
given time interval. The number of these times determines the sampling
rate. Sampling rate is expressed in Hertz. Thus, a sampling rate of 44,100
Hertz would mean dividing the time axis into 44,100 equally spaced
times/second.
Audio CDs have sample rates of 44,100 Hertz. Humans can hear frequencies
from 20 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz. To accurately represent a sound wave the
sampling rate should be twice the highest frequency you wish to represent. As

humans cannot hear frequencies higher than 20,000 Hertz, a sampling rate of
44,100 Hertz was chosen for the audio CD standard. This sampling rate will
include all of the frequencies humans can hear.
Resolution (bit depth) of digitised sound refers to the accuracy with which
sample amplitudes are represented. Thus, sample amplitudes might be stored
using one byte (8bits) scheme or more i.e. 16 bits. Using 16-bit storing
resolution provides a more accurate sound reproduction.

Getting started with Audacity

About Audacity
Audacity is a free and open source software for recording and editing
sounds. Audacity is available for a variety of platforms (Mac OS X, Microsoft
Windows, GNU/Linux). It allows you to edit audio files and apply effects from
the build-in effects it includes. Audacity also includes features for more
advanced editing (such as Spectrogram view).

Download Audacity
To start using Audacity you will need to download and install it first.
Go to the http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/ web address.
From this page you need to select your operating system and the version of
Audacity you wish to download. Follow the on-screen instructions. All
downloads are FREE!
This workbook is based on Audacity 1.2.4.

Exporting MP3 files for the first time

Audacity does not come with MP3 support by default.
However, you can download and use the FREE LAME encoder to export
MP3 files with Audacity.
You can download the LAME encoder from the LAME download page in
Audacity at:
http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~raa110/audacity/lame.html
Follow the steps below:
1. Go to the LAME download page in Audacity
(http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~raa110/audacity/lame.html);
2. Download LAME and unzip it;
3. Copy the file lame_enc.dll into the Audacity programme folder for plugins
(usually C:\Program Files\Audacity\Plug-Ins\)
4. Start Audacity and open a .wav file (this can be any .wav file)
5. Select File > Export As MP3. You will see the following message:

6. Click Yes.
7. You will need to browse to where the file is located (C:\Program
Files\Audacity\Plug-Ins\lame_enc.dll) to select it and click open.

Note:
You only need to do this once. Once finished you can use the Export As
MP3 option effectively.

The workspace
When you start Audacity (v. 1.2.4) you will see a window similar to the one
below. This is the default start-up window. At the top of the window you will
see the Menu bar (File - Edit - View - Project - Generate - Effect - Analyze &
Help).
Underneath the menu bar there are the following toolbars:
1. Control toolbar;
2. Mixer toolbar;
3. Edit toolbar;
4. Meter toolbar.
The grey area in the Audacity window (see below) is the area where the audio
track(s) will appear after you record or import an audio file. At the bottom of
the window you find information about the current project rate and the
cursors position.

Menu bar
The menu bar on top of the Audacity window allows you to perform a variety
of operations.
Use the File menu to open, start a new Audacity project or export your audio
file.
Use the Edit menu to access editing operations such as cut, paste, select etc.
Use the View menu to change the viewing settings in Audacity.
Use the Project menu to import audio files into Audacity, create tracks and
labels.

Use the Generate menu to access operations such as adding noise etc.
Use the Effects menu to apply effects to your audio file.
The options in the Analyze menu will allow you to analyse audio files.
The Help menu gives you access to the Audacity online help.

Control toolbar
The control toolbar consists of the
Editing tools and the Audio control
buttons.
Editing tools
Use the editing tools to select a particular range in the audio track,
change the volume over time, modify individual samples, zoom
in/out, and slide tracks left or right.
Audio control tools
Use the audio control buttons to skip to
start, play, loop, record, pause, stop and
skip to end.

Mixer toolbar
The Mixer toolbar is used
to set the volume levels for
the output and recording (input) and lets you choose the input source
(Microphone).

Edit toolbar
The edit toolbar provides tools to cut, copy,
paste, trim, add silence, undo, redo zoom in,
zoom out, fit selection in
window and fit project in window.

Meter toolbar
The meter toolbar
is used for
monitoring the
input and output audio levels. The meters are active when you are playing or
recording audio.

Editing with Audacity

Set the preferences
It is very important to check and set the preferences for the Audio I/O, Quality
and File Formats before you start.
Select Edit > Preferences on the menu bar.
1. Click on the Audio I/O tab to ensure the right devices are select for
recording and playback;
2. Click on the Quality tab to set the sample rate. The default sample rate
in Audacity is 44,100 Hertz;
3. Click on the File Format tab. As you can see When importing
uncompressed audio files into Audacity you have two options:
a. To make a copy of the file before editing or
b. To read directly from the original file.
If you decide to Make a
copy of the file before
editing Audacity makes a
copy of the entire file and
stores it in the project
data directory1.
If you decide to Read
directly from the
original file Audacity will
save all of the changes you
will make in the project
data directory. However, it
will use the original file for
playing the unchanged
parts.
It is safer to Make a copy
of the file before editing as Audacity will copy the entire file in the
project data directory. Even though, it requires more disk space to store
the file you will avoid problems if anything changes/gets lost in the original
file.
Set the Uncompressed Export Format to WAV or AIFF.

Importing an audio file

To import an existing audio file into Audacity either:
1. Select Project > Import Audio on the menu bar
or
2. Drag and drop the audio file in Audacity.
The imported file will be displayed in an audio track. The audio track
(depending on the file you have imported) will look similar to the one below:
When you save a project, Audacity creates a directory called yourprojectname_data right
where you save the project. All the changes and recorded audio are saved in this directory
1

Playback
Once you have imported an audio file into Audacity you are ready to
listen to it.
To do this click on the Play button on the Control toolbar.

Editing an audio file

Import the audio file you wish to edit into Audacity.
Use the Editing tools on the control toolbar and the Edit toolbar to edit the
file. You can also apply effects. In this case choose the effects you wish to
apply from the Effect menu.
Using the editing tools and the edit toolbar you can select parts of the audio
file. You can copy, paste, add silence, fade in/out audio files etc.

Mixing audio files

If you wish to mix two (or more) audio tracks you need to import all the audio
files into Audacity.
1. Select Project > Import Audio to import the first audio file.
2. Repeat the process to import the second file. The second audio file will
appear on a second track. See below.

Use the time shift tool to slide the sounds right or left. Position them as
you wish them to be mixed. Below I have used the time shift tool to move
the second sound file to the right:

You may also wish to apply effects or edit the audio files. Below I have
used the envelope tool to fade out the sound on the top audio track while
fading in the sound of the bottom audio track.

Save an Audacity project

Select File > Save Project to save your work. Your work will be saved as an
Audacity project file. The extension to this file will be (.aup).
When you save a project Audacity creates a directory called
yourprojectname_data right where you save the project. All the changes and
recorded audio are saved in this directory.
Note:
Audacity project files (.aup) let you save everything you are working on
exactly as it appears on the screen, but most other programs cannot open
Audacity project files.
When you want to save a file that can be opened by other programs, select
one of the Export commands.

Exporting as MP3 from Audacity

Select File > Export As MP3 to create an MP3 file. With Audacity you can
also export a sound file as .wav or Ogg Vorbis file formats.
Note:
When you export a multi-track project the tracks will be mixed down to one
single track to the exported file. You may wish to first save your project for
future editing and then export it.

Recording with Audacity

Recording with Audacity is relatively easy. However, there are couple of things
you need to take into consideration before you start your recording.

General
1. Use the right room
Try to find a quiet room for the recording and make sure that there are no
disturbing sounds or interruptions. Make sure you have switched off any
appliances or devices (i.e. mobile phones). You should avoid recording in
empty rooms to avoid echo in your recordings. If possible try to record in a
carpeted room.
2. Connect and set the microphone
Connect the microphone to the computers sound card. Make sure you
connect it to the right jack (usually colour coded). You may wish to use a
microphone/headset (combo). In this case you will have two plug-jacks to
connect to your computer.
a. To set up the microphone double-click on the
volume (this is the speaker icon) on the task bar.
A window similar to the one to the right will
appear. Select Options > Properties.

b. On the properties window

appears (similar to the one on
select Recording and make
microphone checkbox is
Click OK.

c. The Recording Control window (below

will open.
Make sure the Microphone is selected (check
the
bottom) before you close it.

that
the left)
sure the
ticked.

right)
box in

d. Adjust the microphone. Do not hold the microphone

very close to your mouth.
3. Set the preferences in Audacity and perform some testing
You need to select and set your preferences for the recording.
Use 44,100Hertz sample rate, 16-bit sample format for vocal recordings.
However, it is advisable you perform some test recordings to determine the
quality of the recorded sound.
Remember to check the file size of your recordings.
4. Start recording
Click on the record button to start recording. Audacity will start a new
audio track for the recording as shown below:

When you have finished with the recording click on the stop button.
You can click on the pause button in case you wish to pause the
recording.
Dont worry about silence or gaps. You can always edit the audio file
afterwards.

Managing file sizes - tips

Generally, the file size and the quality of an audio file depend on:
The sampling rate;
The resolution (bit-depth);
The number of channels (mono, stereo);
The compression applied.

The first step to reducing the file size is to switch the channel from stereo to
mono. The file size will immediately drop to half the size without affecting the
quality dramatically.
44,100 Hertz sample rate and 16 bit resolution is recommended for high
quality recording. However, you may find that you can record voice with 8-bit
resolution with satisfactory quality. Even though, 44,100 Hertz is the standard
for audio CD 22,000 Hertz is very common in computer sound file formats. Do
some test recordings to determine the sample rate and the bit-depth you will
adopt.
Common sound formats include .wav (Microsoft format), .aiff (Mac format), .ra
(RealAudio) etc. However, MP3 is the most popular sound format for storing
CD quality audio. MP3 refers to the MPEG (Motion Picture Expert Group)
layer 3 audio encoding scheme. A .wav file of sample rate 44,100Hertz, 16 bits
depth, stereo channel can be compressed with a compression ratio 12:1
without noticeable degradation of sound quality.

Reinforce your Learning

Use this manual with the exercises sheet to help you perform the
following tasks
Experiment with Audacitys workarea
Import an audio file in Audacity for editing
Mix two sound files and apply various effects
Record a sound file
Export an audio file as MP3

Before you start make sure that you have:

Downloaded the LAME encoder and located the
lame_enc.dll file in the Audacity programme

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