Cool and Open Source Tools
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Sound Creation and Editing with Audacity
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
What is Audacity?
• Software to create, edit and output audio
– Free/ Open-source software
• Available for Mac OS X, Windows,
GNU/Linux and other operating systems
– See site for other operating systems
• Versions: Audacity 1.2.6 – stable version
Audacity 1.3.3 Beta – not stable version
- new features
- good for advanced users
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity 1.2.6
• We are going to work with Audacity 1.2.6
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
What Can I do with Audacity?
• Use it to:
– Record live audio (need a microphone)
– Edit ogg vorbis, mp3 and wav sound files
– Cut, copy, splice, and mix sound together
– Use other filters and effects to do
advanced sound editing
– Output Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV files
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity Project Ideas
• Record an audio introduction for your online
course!
• Create audio insights or examples for online
tutorials.
• Offer your online lectures in mp3 format. (Pod-
cast your lectures)
• Edit sound files for adding to PowerPoint,
animations, web pages and online courses.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Project Samples
Record a brief audio introduction
and put it in your online course.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Project Samples
• Create short Audio insights or examples to
supplement a web page tutorial
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Project Samples
• Edit or create sound effects or loops for
PowerPoint, Web Pages or Online Course.
– Some Free Sound Effects to get you started:
• http://www.a1freesoundeffects.com/
• http://www.flashkit.com/soundfx/
• http://simplythebest.net/sounds/WAV/sound_effects_WAV/
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity’s Online Help Section
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/
– Frequently Asked Questions
– Documentation
– Tutorials
– Wiki
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity Help Section
• Audacity’s built-in Help section will explain what each of the tools are.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Getting Started
Downloading Audacity:
• System Requirements:
• Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP
Windows 95/ NT 4.0 - not supported
• Audacity runs best with at least 64 MB RAM
& 300 MHz processor.
– http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/
• Optional Downloads
– Are you going to create MP3 files?
• You’ll need the LAME MP3 encoder
(download this now)
– Recommend saving it in your Audacity folder
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity Interface
Selection Tool
You’ll use the selection tool within your
audio track to place the playhead at certain
points of your audio track and to select/
highlight sections of your track.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity Interface
Envelope Tool
You’ll use this tool to select and change the
volume of a certain part of your
track over time.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity Interface
Draw Tool
This is used for modifying
individual samples.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity Interface
Zoom Tool Zoom Tools
Zoom in and out on
the audio track.
(Shift-Key to zoom out)
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity Interface
Audio Controls
Play, Pause, Stop, go to the beginning, go to the
end of a soundtrack. Start Recording (red circle)
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity Interface
Main Menu
This menu is used for set-up, starting a new
project, applying filters and effects, etc…
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity Interface
Edit Toolbar
All of these buttons are shortcuts for actions that
can also be performed using the main menu.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Audacity Interface
Speaker/ Microphone volume levels Meter Toolbar
Monitor the input and output audio levels.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Setting Preferences
• Edit>Preferences
– Audio I/O settings tab: select your speakers
from the playback device drop-down.
• Select your microphone from the recording device
(note: if you have problems getting your microphone or
speakers to work; you may have to go to the control panel
and Sound settings on your computer to get them working.)
• Quality tab:
Default Sample Rate: an audio CD has a sample
rate of 44,100 Hz or 44.1 kHz (this is the default)
– can leave defaults set
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Setting Preferences
• Edit>Preferences:
• File Formats tab: choose “Make a copy of the file
to edit”
• Other tab defaults are ok
• Interface, Keyboard and Mouse – all have to do
with the way you interact with the software
– Keyboard tab: see all of the shortcut keys or set custom
shortcuts
– Mouse tab: find out what actions each tool can perform
with button clicks
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Importing/Opening a File
• To open a file in Audacity:
– Select “Project”> “Import Audio” from the main menu
and navigate to your file. Select it and press ok.
– It will open in Audacity on an “Audio Track”.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Importing/Opening a File
– Files you can open: .wav, .mp3, .aiff,
.au, .ogg (if plug-in downloaded)
• You can copy tracks from a CD and open them
– Be aware of copyright if you do this!
– A few tips:
• Make a copy or your original file and open that in Audacity.
Or as soon as you open the file, save it as another name.
• Keeping the original file may save you a headache later
(especially if you plan to do a lot of editing to the file.)
You should be able to
play your file now.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Recording a File
• Create a new project: File> New
– When you create a new file, Audacity always opens a
new window – save this as a new project (.aup file)
• Saving the project file, Audacity creates an
.aup file – this only opens in Audacity and is your
original Audacity work.
– Save this for more editing later and for preserving
your original file.
• Save your project: give it a name and choose
the location.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Recording a File
• Check your preferences before recording
– File>Preferences
• Make sure the recording device is set to your
microphone
– You may have to check your connections and settings
in the sound control panel.
• You’re ready to record: Click the Red Record button
and the Yellow Stop button when you’re finished.
Save your Project
File> Save Project
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Editing the Audio track
• The Audio Track:
– The title of the track
– Mono or Stereo
– Sample rate
– Vertical ruler
– Waveform
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Editing the Audio track
• Selecting sections of the waveform.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Editing the Audio track
• Cutting, Copying, and Pasting
– Select the section you want to edit – copy, cut
and paste to a new track or the same track
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Using Filters & Effects
The Amplify Filter:
Effect > Amplify
Change the volume of a selected
section of your audio.
Check “Don’t Allow Clipping”
Keeps the audio from
going beyond the
range of the waveform
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Using Filters & Effects
The Noise Removal File:
Effect > Noise Removal
Remove background noise from
your recording.
You first select a small sample of
background noise from your track.
Choose the effect and click
“Get Noise Profile”. Now select all
of the track that you want to remove
noise from and choose the effect
again. Experiment with how much
noise should be removed using
the slider.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Outputting a File
• File> Export As…
– wav, mp3, ogg
• File>Export Selection
As…
– wav, mp3, ogg
• Exporting as mp3 requires
LAME Encoder plug-in
• Fill-out ID3 Tags for mp3
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Pod Casting
• You can just output your files to mp3 and put a link to
them on your own webpage or online course for your
students to download.
• Pod Casting mp3 files involves uploading them to the
internet and creating an RSS feed.
• Remember this makes your mp3 available to anyone/
everyone.
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Pod Casting Resources
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting
• All about podcasting
– http://podcasts.yahoo.com/
• Directory of yahoo podcasts/ information on podcast
• How to publish your own podcasts
– http://www.digitalpodcast.com/
– http://www.feedburner.com/
– http://Podcasting-Tools.com/
– “How to create a Podcast”
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Pod Casting
– Record podcast with Audacity and output as an mp3 file.
• Make sure to fill out all of the information. This creates the ID3
tags for your mp3 file.
– Visit http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/popup-quickstart-podcast for info.
on publishing your podcasts.
– Upload your mp3 files to the internet.
• http://www.archive.org/, http://www.ourmedia.org/ ,
http://geocities.yahoo.com/
– Free places to upload (host) your files to the internet
• http://creativecommons.org/tools/ccpublisher
– Provides means to upload your mp3 w/ copyright information
• http://www.blogger.com/
– An easy way to publish your podcasts
– Create an RSS File (Podcast Feed) with http://www.feedburner.com/
or http://www.feedforall.com/podcasting-tutorial.htm
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Resources
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audacity
• http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
• http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-
1.2/index.html
• http://www.agnula.org/documentation/dp_tuto
rials/audacity/
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007
Contact Information
Brandy Thatcher
Instructional Graphic Designer
Instructional Innovation & Faculty Development
Illinois Central College
bthatcher@icc.edu
Good luck with your Audacity Projects !!
Brandy Thatcher, bthatcher@icc.edu, Instructional Graphic Designer, Illinois Central College 2007