Hello Everyone. Welcome to this tutorial on Edit an Audio in Audacity.
In this tutorial, we will learn to edit an audio track in Audacity.
To record this tutorial I am using Ubuntu Linux OS version 14.04 , Audacity version 2.1.2
To practise this tutorial, learners should Have installed Audacity on their system and
Have working knowledge of Audacity software
If not, for more details, refer to the Translation and Dubbing series on this website
I will use this timed-script for editing purpose.
To practise alongside, the same script has been provided in the Code Files link of this tutorial. Please download and use it.
Now let us open an existing Audacity project file to edit the audio.
Earlier, we had dubbed an audio and saved it as Hindi-What-is-ST.aup on our machine. We will open that same file here.
Now, go to the saved folder and double-click on Hindi-What-is-ST.aup to open the file.
The .aup file opens up.
We can see the audio track here.
Before proceeding further, it is advisable to make a copy of the project file.
In case of any major editing mistake, we can always use the original audio recording.
To make a copy, click on File and then on Save Project As option. Give a suitable name.
I will give a name as Copy-Hindi-What-is-ST.aup.
Select the location. I will choose Desktop and then click on Save.
Now, we have a copy of the original recording.
We will continue with this project file.
First let us learn how to Zoom In and Zoom Out.
Place the cursor on the audio track.
On the Edit Toolbar click on Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons.
We can see how the audio track gets zoomed in and zoomed out.
Next, let us learn how to filter out disturbing background noises.
Select the portion on the audio track which has the noise. Remember to select a portion without voice.
Now in the Main Menu, click on Effect and then on Noise Removal/Noise Reduction.
Step 1: Click on Get Noise Profile. On doing so, the selected portion will be considered as a noise sample for further processing.
Then click anywhere on the timeline to deselect the portion.
Once again, in the Main Menu, click on Effect and then on Noise Removal/Noise Reduction.
Now in Step 2: Change the value in the field Noise reduction.
Use the recommended value or a lower value, that reduces the noise to an acceptable level.
I will choose an appropriate value say 18. You may also use the slider.
Higher values will remove the noise completely.
However, it will also result in distortion of the voice in the audio track.
Hisses and hums will become more prominent, as well. Hence, choose this value carefully.
Make sure that, in the Noise section, Reduce/Remove radio button is selected.
Then click on OK.
It may take some time to remove the noise, if the audio track is very long. The process is now complete for this sample.
Now, let us play the recording by clicking on the Play button.
The noise is now removed from the entire track.
Note: In some cases, you may have to repeat the process to further reduce the noise.
However, too much of noise reduction, may give a metallic effect to the recorded voice. Hence, do noise removal carefully.
Let us now save the project file by pressing Ctrl + S keys.
Do so regularly as we go along.
It is advisable to save the project file whenever we have done any modification.
Let us now increase the volume of the audio segment that has been recorded at a lower volume.
Select the portion in the audio track, then go to Effect and then on Amplify.
We can see a value in the Amplification box.
This is the optimal amplification value for this file, recommended by Audacity. But we can also enter another value if we want to.
To reduce the volume, enter negative values, say -10.
To increase the volume, enter positive values, say 15.
It is advisable not to amplify the audio above the recommended value in the box.
Too much of amplification will also enhance the background noises, hisses and hums.
We can also use the slider to adjust the values. I will keep the value as 10.
Check the Allow Clipping option.
Then click on OK.
Sometimes, an audio file contains unwanted repeats and unwanted sounds.
We can remove these by using the Cut, Copy and Paste options.
First, I will split this audio clip as per my Timed script timings.
Let me play the audio. Press the Play button in the VCR controls.
I have stopped at the end of the first sentence, by pressing the Stop button in the VCR controls.
I need to split the audio here.
For that, click on the Selection Tool. Make sure that the cursor is at the end of the first sentence.
Now press Ctrl+I, which is the shortcut to split the audio track into separate clips.
Then, slide the next clip to the timing that we want.
I will slide it to the timing given in my Timed script.
For this, click on Time Shift Tool.
Observe that the cursor is now changed to double-headed arrow.
I will shift the clip by pressing the left mouse button and dragging it to the required time.
I will repeat this process once again for the next sentence. Play the audio.
I have stopped the audio by pressing the Stop button.
I will split the audio here. For that, click on the Selection Tool.
Make sure that the cursor is at the end of the second sentence.
Now I will press CTRL+I to split the audio.
Ensure that the Time Shift Tool is selected.
Press the left mouse button and drag it to the required time.
Likewise, we can split and slide the remaining segment of the audio, as per the requirement.
Notice that there are 4 individual audio segments, at their respective timings on the audio track.
Save the file before moving ahead by pressing Ctrl + S.
Now let us learn to cut, copy and paste on the Audio Track.
Ensure that Selection Tool is selected.
Then click on the Audio track at the beginning of the third sentence
Play the audio.
I have clicked on the Stop button to stop playing the audio.
We can see that the third sentence ends here.
But it has some unwanted sounds and repetitions which we need to delete.
Select the portion of the audio that needs to be deleted, by dragging the mouse.
Then press the Delete key on the keyboard.
Note that when you do this the remaining audio segments move forward on the audio track. That audio clip has been removed from the audio track.
Now let us learn to move an audio clip from one place to another place on the audio track.
Select the audio clip that needs to be moved.
In the Main menu, click on Edit and then click on Remove Audio or Special and then select Cut. Or else use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+X
Note that when you do this, the remaining audio segments move forward on the audio track. Which means it will change the timing of the remaining audio segments.
And, we need to re-arrange the timing of the remaining audio segments all over again.
What if we don’t want to change the timings of the remaining segments? Let me show you what to do.
First, undo the last action by pressing CTRL+Z keys.
Then again select the audio clip once that needs to be removed.
Now, press Ctrl + Alt + X keys on your keyboard.
This will not only cut the audio segment but also keep the remaining segments in their place.
Please note the difference between the two actions.
Next, select a portion of an audio segment to be copied.
I will select a portion here and click on Edit and Copy. Or else use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C.
To paste, move the cursor to the place where the audio segment needs to be placed and click there once.
Then click on Edit and Paste. Or else use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V.
Notice here - the 2 segments appear to be merged. But it is not so.
Merge the two segments by clicking on the joint between the 2 segments.
Now you can move the whole segment wherever you want.
Let me zoom out here to view the whole audio segments.
Observe that if I try to move this audio clip to the beginning of this track, I am not allowed to do so.
This is because there is no sufficient space available there to accommodate this clip.
Now, let us try the first audio segment.
Drag the 1st audio segment and move it to the end of the fourth audio segment.
After creating space, we are able to move the second segment to the beginning of the track. This is because now there is enough space available here.
So the standard rule is to first create sufficient space on the track and then move the segments.
Undo the last action by pressing CTRL + Z keys.
Once all the edits are complete, save the project file once again.
Lastly, we need to Export the final project into a format suitable for playback.
Let us export this file into mp3 format.
For this, go to the Main menu bar. Click on File and then on Export.
The Export file dialog box appears. It will ask us for a name. Enter the preferred name for this file.
I will name the file as Hindi-What-is-ST.
Also select the location where it has to be saved. I will choose Desktop.
Below this, we can see a drop-down called file type or Format.
It has various audio formats like wav, mp3, ogg, etc.
I will choose MP3 files as the format.
Then click on Save.
Next we will get a dialog called Edit Metadata.
Here, we can add the Artist Name and other information as per our requirement. I will leave these fields blank.
Click on OK. This will save the output as Hindi-What-is-ST dot mp3 file.
This may take some time to complete.
Now, go to the folder where we saved the file. Here is the mp3 file which we exported.
Let us play this file using any standard audio player.
This brings us to the end of the tutorial.
Let me summarize the tutorial.
In this tutorial we have learnt how to- Open an existing dot aup project file
Zoom in and out on the audio track Filter background noise
Amplify the audio Cut, copy, paste, delete, move an audio clip
Merge two audio clips Save and export the audio into .mp3 format.
As an assignment, edit an audio file using the timed-script.
The video at the following link summarises the Spoken Tutorial project. Please download and watch it.
The Spoken Tutorial Project Team: conducts workshops and gives certificates For more details, please write to us.
Please post your timed queries in this forum.
Spoken Tutorial Project is supported by the NMEICT, MHRD, Government of India. More information on this Mission is available at this link.
This script has been contributed by the Spoken Tutorial Team. And this is Mousumi Medhi from IIT Bombay signing off. Thanks for joining.