In today's post, we're going to cover some frequently answered questions about a popular audio editing application called Audacity.
Okay, the reality is that we don't get too many questions in general about Audacity because it is so easy to use. But if someone (like me) was forced to come up with some questions about the application, these would be what I'd ask:Q. Where can I find Audacity?
A. Audacity is installed on all of the computers in Meyer, Tresidder, and the residential clusters. It is also available for free download and use on your own computer from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Q. How can I learn to use Audacity?
A. The best way to learn it is probably the hands-on approach. If you want to work on a sample project, try going to our Audacity wiki page and download the source files under the Workshop section to your computer. Then open up the downloaded file, import the vocal, music, and sound effect files into a new Audacity project!
Q. Where should I save my project?
A. Audacity projects get really big really fast, so make sure you're saving to the User Space or Temporary Storage if you're using a cluster computer. If you accidentally save things to the Documents folder or your Home folder, it will fill up your AFS space really fast and you will start getting weird errors.
Q. How do I add tracks to the project?
A. Open Audactiy and select Project --> Import Audio. All audio file imports are given their own new track.
Q. What can I do with the selection tool?
A. Click and drag in a track to make a selection. Then, you can duplicate that part to another track. Or select part of a track and apply an Effect. You can even select and move multiple tracks at once.
Q. What is the envelope tool?
A. You can make an envelope around a track to control the volume of the track. It enables you to create a smooth fade in and fade out and muting effects in your audio.
Q. How do I use the draw tool?
A. Uhh... This is an advanced tool that's frankly difficult to explain in words. You'll have to figure it out by experimenting. =]
Q. How do I use the zoom tool?
A. Zoom in and zoom out (with the shift key) of your project tracks to see more or less audio detail.
Q. How do I use the time shift tool?
A. This is the basic "move" tool in Audacity. For example, when you import a sound effect file, you can shift the sound effect horizontally in time to make it "fit" with something in a music/spoken track.
Q. How do I use the multitool?
A. You get to figure this one out. It can supposedly replicate all of the other tools' functions with the right keyboard combinations.
Q. How do I only listen to one track out of many tracks?
A. Click the Solo button on the left panel of the track(s).
Q. How do I temporarily mute one track out of many tracks?
A. Click the Mute button on the left panel of the track(s).
Q. When should I export to MP3 instead of the Audacity project format?
A. Remember that exporting to WAV or MP3 will "flatten" all of your project's audio tracks (to use a term from Photoshop), and it will also compress your audio, which degrades the quality each time you do it, so exporting as MP3 should be one of the very last steps in the production of an audio project.
Q. How do I export to MP3?
A. You must make sure you've downloaded the LameLib file linked from http://audacity.sourceforge.net and that it is selected under Audacity --> Preferences --> File Formats --> MP3 Export Setup. Then go to File --> Export as MP3.
Q. Wher can I get more help on Audacity?
A. A pretty good overview is located at
http://www.transom.org/tools/editing_mixing/200404.audacity.html
The official Audacity wiki is good too:
http://audacityteam.org/wiki
And if there continue to be things you don't know, please write to consultants@lists.stanford.edu so that the MMS consultants know what issues aren't covered by this tutorial.
See you next time!
