Introduction

This article will guide you through some of the options for editing audio quality in Audacity. This article will teach you 6 basic audio editing functions:

1. deleting segments

2. generating silence

3. noise reduction

4. normalization

5. compression

6. changing track speed

There are more functions available in Audacity that can be used to solve unique audio issues. If you would like assistance with further functions of Audacity or solving audio issues, please contact hello@firstvoices.com.

The following videos give audiovisual tutorials for all 6 of the editing steps listed in the remainder of this article. If you prefer written instructions, please scroll past the videos to find the editing instructions you are looking for.

Video Tutorials

Deleting Segments (Optional)

Deleting segments in useful for removing interruptions, mistakes, or miscellaneous noises like throat clearing. This is most useful when editing phrases or stories.

1. Listen to your track and visually identify the segment that you want to delete.

2. Click to the left of the segment, drag your cursor to the right of the segment, and release. This will highlight the segment.
   
   

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3. Press the "Backspace" button on your keyboard. This will delete the segment.

    

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Generating Silence (Optional)

Generating silence is useful if you need to control the 'pacing' of your recording. This is sometimes necessary for stories or for word recordings that use repetition.

1. Listen to your track and visually identify the place where you want your segment of silence to begin.

2. In the Audacity window, go to the "Generate" menu. Find "Silence..." in the list, and click.

    

    

3. In the "Silence" window, enter the number of seconds, minutes, or hours of silence that you wish to generate. In this example, 0.5 seconds will be generated:

    

    

4. Your silence will appear as a highlighted segment with a flat waveform:

    

Noise Reduction (Optional)

Noise reduction is used to eliminate consistent 'background' noise. This works best for noises from appliances, wind, or other 'ambient' type noises. Noise reduction does not work well for 'interruptions' or noises that are similar in frequency to human speech. People talking, children playing, or dogs barking cannot be eliminated with noise reduction without distorting the speech on your recording.

1. The first step in Noise Reduction is to find and highlight a section of the recording with only background noise - no speech or other sounds should be present.

2. Under the “Effect” dropdown menu, hover over “Noise Removal and Repair” and select “Noise Reduction” from the menu that appears.

3. On the pop-out window that appears, click “Get Noise Profile” to allow Audacity to identify the noise you want filtered out.

4. Once you have the noise profile, select the entire sound file by double clicking anywhere in the track, or by hitting Ctl+A on a PC or Cmd+A on a Mac. Then repeat Step 2. When the Noise Reduction pop-out window appears, click “OK” to filter the identified sounds out of the entire track.

Normalization (Recommended)

Normalization is used to amplify (make louder) sounds that are too quiet, or to reduce (make quieter) sounds that are too loud. If your track is consistently too loud or too soft, (above -12db or below -6db), then it is recommended to apply normalization to your whole track. These examples show normalizing individual segments of a track.

1. Listen to your track and visually identify the segment that you want to amplify or reduce.

2. Click to the left of the segment, drag your cursor to the right of the segment, and release. This will highlight the segment.

    

    

3. In the Audacity window, go to the "Effect" menu. Find “Volume and Compression in the dropdown menu, look for "Normalize..." in the list, and click.

    

    

4. Normalize your segment to -12db.

    

    

   1. Segments that are too loud will appear smaller:

       

       

   2. Segments that are too quiet will appear larger:

       

Compression (Recommended)

Compression should always be the last thing that you do before exporting. Compression smooths the waveform slightly, resulting in a 'cleaner' sound.

1. Select your whole track by using the "Select" button on the track menu, hitting Ctrl+A on PC, or Command+A on Mac. This will highlight your whole track, giving it a white or light blue colour.

    

    

2. Under the “Effect” dropdown menu, hover over “Volume and Compression” and select “Compressor” from the menu that appears.

    

    

3. In the Compressor window, un-check the box marked "Make up gain for 0 db after compressing". Click "Apply".

    

    

4. You may notice minor changes to your waveform, resulting in a 'smoothing' effect.

Changing Track Speed (Optional)

1. Select your whole track by using the "Select" button on the track menu, hitting Ctrl+A on PC, or Command+A on Mac. This will highlight your whole track, giving it a white or light blue colour.
   
   

    

2. In the Audacity Window, go to the “Effect” menu, and hover over “Pitch and Tempo”. Find “Change Speed…” in the list, and click.
   
   

    

3. In the “Percent Change” box, to increase speed, enter a positive number (more than zero). To decrease speed, enter a negative number (less than zero). You can also change the speed by sliding the dial left or right. Click “Apply” when you are done.