{"id":3971,"date":"2020-03-04T15:55:17","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T23:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/?page_id=3971"},"modified":"2025-03-25T09:07:54","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T16:07:54","slug":"using-audacity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/audio-production\/using-audacity\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Audacity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Audacity is a free open source audio editing program developed for macs, pcs, and linux, and can be downladed at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audacityteam.org\/\">https:\/\/www.audacityteam.org\/<\/a>. There are plenty of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audacityteam.org\/help\/documentation\/\">help documentation online<\/a>, but here are a few quick tips to get you started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Quick note: If you are running Audacity on Catalina, you may need to read up on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audacityteam.org\/macos-10-15-catalina-is-not-yet-supported-by-audacity\/\">how to make Audacity work in Catalina<\/a>. Ideally if you run this code in the terminal, Audacity will work: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><strong>open \/Applications\/Audacity.app\/Contents\/MacOS\/Audacity<\/strong><\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Audacity&#8217;s tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Audacity has a number of toolbars, but these are the most commonly used:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>transport toolbar<\/strong><br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"129\" class=\"wp-image-3979\" style=\"width: 300px;\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-transporttoolbarannotated.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-transporttoolbarannotated.png 373w, https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-transporttoolbarannotated-300x129.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>tools toolbar<\/strong><br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"129\" class=\"wp-image-3978\" style=\"width: 300px;\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-toolstoolbarannotated.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-toolstoolbarannotated.png 373w, https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-toolstoolbarannotated-300x129.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>edit toolbar<\/strong><br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"134\" class=\"wp-image-3972\" style=\"width: 500px;\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-edittoolbarannotated.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-edittoolbarannotated.png 651w, https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-edittoolbarannotated-300x80.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 85vw, 500px\" \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>recording meter toolbar<\/strong><br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"117\" class=\"wp-image-3976\" style=\"width: 500px;\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-recordingmetertoolbarannotated-1.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-recordingmetertoolbarannotated-1.png 564w, https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-recordingmetertoolbarannotated-1-300x70.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 85vw, 500px\" \/><br>This will indicate when your recording is too quiet (very little green showing, in the -54 range) or too loud (in the red, or at zero); ideally you should record in the -18 to -12 range.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>playback meter toolbar<\/strong><br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"121\" class=\"wp-image-3975\" style=\"width: 500px;\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-playbackmetertoolbarannotated.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-playbackmetertoolbarannotated.png 564w, https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-playbackmetertoolbarannotated-300x72.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 85vw, 500px\" \/><br>You should have audio levels not go into the red (at the 0 range).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>note: all toolbar images used from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audacityteam.org\/\">https:\/\/www.audacityteam.org\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Common Tasks in Audacity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a number of common tasks done when editing audio with Audacity. Here are a few of them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#add-audio\">Add, trim, split, move an audio clip<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#mute-solo\">Mute or solo and audio clip<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#increase-decrease\">Increase\/decrease the volume of an audio clip<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#loop-audio\">Loop an audio track or selection<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#exporting\">Exporting<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"add-audio\">Add, trim, split, or move an audio clip<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Add an audio clip<\/strong>: Drag and drop audio onto Audacity&#8217;s interface. Mp3, .aiff, and .wav files usually are good. You can also choose File\/Import\/Audio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Split<\/strong>: Edit menu\/Clip Boundaries\/Split<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Trim a selection<\/strong>: highlight a selection that you want to save, the choose Edit\/Remove Special\/Trim Audio. (many options here!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Move a track<\/strong>: Highlight the audio you want to move, then choose the Time Shift tool. Drag the audio to the preferred location.<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"83\" class=\"wp-image-3996\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/aucacity-selection-tools-timeshift.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"mute-solo\">Mute or Solo an audio clip<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Click on Mute or Solo on an audio clip&#8217;s track (indicated by the read arrow, at the top left on an audio track) to either mute it, or make it the only audible sound on playback. Mute\/solo can be done on multiple clips.<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"218\" class=\"wp-image-3992\" style=\"width: 300px;\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-mute-solo.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-mute-solo.jpg 415w, https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-mute-solo-300x218.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"increase-decrease\">Increase\/decrease the volume of an audio clip<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Increase<\/strong>: You can either manually move the volume up by dragging the volume slider left or right (indicated by the red arrow, located just below the Mute and Solo buttons on the audio track). <br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"109\" class=\"wp-image-3990\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-volume.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-volume.jpg 415w, https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-volume-300x218.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 85vw, 150px\" \/><br>Or, you can choose the Envelope Tool, then drag up. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"83\" class=\"wp-image-3994\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/aucacity-selection-tools-envelope.jpg\" alt=\"\"><br>The audio waveform should increase. If the clip is already at its maximum, highlight the clip, then choose Effect\/Amplify. Drag the amplification slider to a larger setting.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Decrease<\/strong>: Choose the Envelope Tool, then drag down. The audio waveform should decrease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sound ducking<\/strong>: An audio term that is used when one<em> <\/em>temporarily decreases\/increases the volume of one audio source so that another audio source can be heard more readily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Choose the envelope tool; click-drag down to make the initial volume setting. Choose another point where you want to increase\/decrease the volume, then click-drag again.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To remove the white keyframe points, click-drag the white point upwards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"411\" height=\"296\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-envelope-tool.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3973\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-envelope-tool.png 411w, https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/audacity-envelope-tool-300x216.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 411px) 85vw, 411px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"loop-audio\">Loop an audio track or selection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>With the selection tool, click and drag on the area you want to loop.<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"83\" class=\"wp-image-3995\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/files\/2020\/03\/aucacity-selection-tools-selection.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Go to Transport\/Playing\/Loop Play (keyboard shortcut: Shift-spacebar)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"exporting\">Exporting an audio clip<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To get the highest quality (uncompressed audio file), choose Files\/Export as WAVE signed 16 bit. Click OK on any warnings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Audacity is a free open source audio editing program developed for macs, pcs, and linux, and can be downladed at https:\/\/www.audacityteam.org\/. There are plenty of help documentation online, but here are a few quick tips to get you started. Quick note: If you are running Audacity on Catalina, you may need to read up on &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/audio-production\/using-audacity\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Using Audacity&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4817,"parent":4599,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[119],"tags":[118],"class_list":["post-3971","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-audio-production","tag-audacity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3971"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4626,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3971\/revisions\/4626"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}