LUOOSJOIUOC
PROFESSIONAL OPEN-SOURCE-AND LINUX-KNOW-HOW
Markus Priemer
Audacity compakt
Professional sound processing
with the best free audio editor
Markus Priemer
Audacity compact
User Manual
With foreword and contributions by Markus Meyer
bomots бврэл
Linux- und Open-Source-Taschenbiicher
2
Audacity compact
All rights reserved. This book may not be copied, reproduced or transmitted by
photocopying, recording or in any other way in its entirety or in part without the
expressed written consent of the publisher. Likewise, in accordance with the right
of communication to the public, prior consent of the publisher is needed to exhibit
the book and its contents.
The publisher notes that the mentioned company and brand names as well as
product trademarks are as a rule protected by trademark and patent laws.
Publisher and author do not guarantee the functional capability of the described
procedures and standards.
© 2009 bomots verlag
Publisher: Dr. Holger Reibold
Translation: Heike Mieth, M.A.; Susanne Fahn, M.A.
Cover design: bomots verlag
Text design: bomots ver lag
Cover: Photocase/Sascha Duffher
Printing: COD
ISBN: 978-3-939316-65-7
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Table of Contents
FOREWORD..................................................7
1 INTRODUCTION............................................9
1.1	Sounds, sound waves and digital audio...............9
1.2	Audio data and compression.........................17
1.3	Via microphone directly onto the computer..........17
1.4	What exactly is Audacity?..........................24
1.5	The functional range of Audacity...................25
2	SETUP OF THE PROGRAMME..............................27
2.1	The various toolbars...............................28
2.2	Selection toolbar..................................36
2.3	Computer latency...................................40
2.4	Calculating the computer latency...................40
3	WORKING WITH AUDACITY...............................43
3.1	Opening and importing files........................43
3.2	Marking of audio tracks............................47
3.3	Editing audio tracks...............................51
3.3.1 Cut and delete with preliminary check...........51
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3.3.2	Cut and split cut...........................................53
3.3.3	Copy........................................................53
3.3.4	Paste.......................................................54
3.3.5	Trim........................................................56
3.3.6	Split delete................................................57
3.3.7	Silence Audio...............................................58
3.3.8	Split.......................................................59
3.4	Command menu....................................................60
3.5	Placing cuts optimally..........................................61
3.5.1	Cut preview.................................................62
3.5.2	Variable playback regions...................................63
3.5.3	Finding zero crossings......................................65
3.6	The different tracks............................................65
3.6.1	Audio tracks................................................66
3.6.2	Label track.................................................69
3.6.3	Time track..................................................72
3.6.4	MIDI track..................................................74
3.7	Recordings......................................................76
3.8	Working with shortcuts..........................................76
4	EXAMPLES	OF	USE...........................................81
4.1	Cut audio tracks via labels.....................................81
4.2	Removing background noises......................................84
5	EFFECTS.........................................................87
5.1	Appliance of	effects............................................87
5.2	Standard effects................................................88
5.2.1	Fade in/out.................................................89
5.2.2	Auto duck...................................................90
5.2.3	Bass boost..................................................91
5.2.4 Echo..........................................................92
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5.2.5	Equalization..............................................92
5.2.6	Change speed..............................................94
5.2.7	Invert....................................................95
5.2.8	Click removal.............................................96
5.2.9	Compressor................................................97
5.2.10	Leveller..................................................98
5.2.11	Normalize.................................................98
5.2.12	Nyquist prompt............................................99
5.2.13	Phaser...................................................100
5.2.14	Noise removal............................................101
5.2.15	Repair...................................................103
5.2.16	Reverse..................................................103
5.2.17	Truncate silence.........................................103
5.2.18	Change tempo.............................................104
5.2.19	Change pitch.............................................105
5.2.20	Amplify..................................................106
5.2.21	Wahwah...................................................107
5.2.22	Repeat...................................................108
5.3	Problems and possible solutions...............................109
5.3.1	Recording with interruptions and disturbances............109
5.3.2	Recording has differing recording levels.................110
5.3.3	Recordings do not run “centred44.........................111
6	PREFERENCES...................................................113
6.1	Audio I/O.....................................................113
6.2	Quality.......................................................115
6.3	Import I Export...............................................116
6.4	Spectrograms..................................................118
6.5	Directories...................................................119
6.6	Adjusting the programme interface.............................120
6.7	Keyboard......................................................123
6.8	Mouse setup...................................................124
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7	COMMAND LIST...................................127
7.1	File...........................................127
7.2	Edit...........................................129
7.3	View...........................................131
7.4 Tracks...................~.....................132
7.5	Generate.......................................133
7.6	Analyze........................................134
7.7	Help...........................................135
8	DOWNLOAD AND INSTALLATION......................137
8.1	Windows........................................138
8.2	Mac OS.........................................139
8.3	Linux..........................................139
8.4	Installing the MP3-Encoder.....................141
6	GLOSSARY.......................................143
10	APPENDIX.......................................147
INDEX..............................................149
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Foreword
Dear reader,
In Taylor Hackford‘s brilliant movie “Ray“, which is about the life of the musician
Ray Charles, the protagonist, who had just become famous, is led through the
newly built up recording studios of his record label in the middle of the 60s of the
past century. A representative of the label shows him the - for the time period -
excellent equipment and comments: “Totally state-of-the-art. Tom Dowd built an
eight-track mixing console ...”. When I saw the movie at the theatre in 2005, this
scene amused several visitors, which proves the enormous technical progress of
recording engineering in the past 50 years.
Nowadays, we are able to produce recordings of music and language in excellent
quality, record them on compact disc or share them online with very little financial
and technical effort. Not only can users make their own recordings via microphone,
but they can also use existing material - thus, a song from the internet turns into a
ring tone on one’s own mobile phone, a symphony by Mozart is embedded into
one’s podcast and the song of the favourite artist becomes a karaoke version for the
next birthday party. A whole generation of the Internet, the Web 2.0, lives solely
on the contents of users and their creativity, thereby generating a culture of
creating and re-creating, “a ‘cut and paste’ culture enabled by technology”, which
releases unexpected resources of creativity, as Lawrence Lessing, American
professor of law, describes in his book “Free Culture: The Nature and Future of
Creativity”.
Part of this culture of creativity is the digital audio editor Audacity. This
programme, which is published as so-called open source software on
SourceForge.net and licensed under the GNU GPL, not only allows users the free
use and transfer of the application, but also the inspection of its source code and
hence the possibility to upgrade and adjust the tool oneself. Developed by the
original author of the software, Dominic Mazzoni, merely for process analysis as
part of a project at the Carnegie Mellon University, the programme has soon
become an editor to be reckoned with for audio data of every kind since its
introduction in 1999. The software is available for the operating systems Windows
as well as Linux and Mac OS.
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Foreword
By now, Audacity has evolved from an insider tip to the probably best known
software of its kind. Ever since the release of the first version of Audacity, the
programme has been downloaded over 40 million times just from the official
homepage alone. Furthermore, the software is available on countless download
sites on the Internet and is enclosed on booklet-CDs in computer magazines all
over the world. A google-search for “audio editor” leads directly to Audacity’s
homepage. Although Audacity in the meantime is not the only free programme for
editing of audio data anymore, many users, who for example appreciate the easy
and intuitional operability, favour it to other similar applications. Despite its
popularity, Audacity is still developed further by volunteers in their spare time. I
myself have been part of this pleasant team of dedicated software developers from
all over the world since 2003.
With this book, we want to give you all the information you need to apply
Audacity reasonably. The author, Markus Priemer, made a point of giving you both
an overview of the handling of the programme as well as a detailed description of
every function. Furthermore, you will find interesting background information, for
example about microphone technologies, as well as several step-by-step tutorials.
You are in good company, no matter if you are playing in a band and want to edit
your recordings with Audacity, or if you use the programme as a journalist, editor
or podcaster to edit your interviews or articles. It is clear: A free software does of
course not replace neither singing lessons nor the studies of audio engineering, but
Audacity is a tool, with which people can express their creativity. On this note, I
wish you a fun time and success while reading this book.
Yours,
Markus Meyer
Markus Meyer, graduated computer scientist, was bom in 1979 and has been a
member of the “Audacity Technical Leadership Council44 since 2005, which is
responsible for the further development of Audacity. He is CEO of a software
engineering company and lives and works in Nuremberg, Germany. For further
details, contact Markus Meyer by e-mail: markus@audacityteam.org.
www. bomots de
Sounds, sound waves and digital audio
1 Introduction
The following introduction is intended for those who are not familiar with the basic
terms and procedures in the field of audio techniques. Only a very rough overview
will be given, which shall assist to get a basic understanding of the subject. Basic
physical correlations and related terms will not only help later on for a better
understanding of the programme Audacity and the tasks, which can be realized
with it, but will also help in many cases to achieve better results. We shall cover a
wider range of topics, beginning with analogue acoustic waves and ending with
digital audio recording. Additionally, we will also take a look at the compression
of audio data and microphone technics in this chapter.
1.1	Sounds, sound waves and digital audio
Sounds are sound waves, which - from a physical point of view - form barometric
variations, which are strung together. However, only sound waves, which can be
heard by us humans, with frequencies of about 16 to 20,000 Hz or 20 kHz
respectively, are called sounds. The frequency indicates in this context, how often
the sound wave oscillates per second. At the same time, the frequency also defines
the physical length of a sound wave. The formula for this is:
. Tr , . Length of Sound Wave
Acoustic Velocity =--------------------
Frequency
The acoustic velocity is, however, furthermore dependent on the medium, in which
the sound wave moves. Relevant properties are in this case the mass density and
the respective temperature. Sound waves cannot move in a vacuum due to the lack
of medium.
In the air, acoustic velocity is for example about 760 mph at 59 °F and decelerates
consistently with falling temperature. Barometric pressure on the other hand has no
effect on acoustic velocity, even though this has often incorrectly been assumed.
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Introduction
Medium	Tom perature	Acoustic Velocity
Air	59 Fahrenheit	760 mph
Air	32 Fahrenheit	740 mph
Water	68 Fahrenheit	3.320 mph
Aluminium	68 Fahrenheit	11,408 mph
Examples of acoustic xelocities.
For humans, the most important transport medium for sound waves is the air. From
a temperature of 59 °F the following xvaxe lengths exemplarily result. Other
frequencies can also be calculated easily with the aid of the beforehand mentioned
formula.
w'avelengrh
21.25 m 3.40 m	0.340 m
I	I	I
16 ---------Acoustic Range of Humans
0.01" m
I
2<>?>i
Hz
10
Infrasound
T
100
1000
(1 KHz)
10000
15000
Ultrasonic
Wax elengths of different frequencies.
Sound waxes below 16 Hz. the lowest frequency audible for humans, are called
infrasound. These are probably used for communication by blue whales, elephants
and giraffes.
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Sounds, sound waves and digital audio
On the other side of the scale, in the range not audible for humans, from about 20
kHz (20,000 oscillations per second) to 1 gHz (1 billion oscillations per second)
the sound waves are called ultrasound. The possibilities for the use of these sound
waves are extremely diversified. Thus, ultrasound is used for instance in medical
science as a diagnostic imaging technique or to remove calculus and to break up
kidney stones. It is, furthermore, used in seafaring for measuring water depths,
locating shoals and for navigating, and in materials engineering for example for
non-destructive material testing.
But let us return to those sound waves, which are audible for humans. Many
mediums are limited to a frequency range, which is necessary for hearing or
communicating. On the one hand, this has very practical reasons, for example to
store a sufficient number of songs on a CD, or with regards to telephony, because it
is simply cheaper to build a microphone or a speaker respectively, which only
records or reproduces a relatively small frequency range.
Here are some examples:
Medium	Sample Frequency	Frequency Range	Channels	Sample format
Telephone	8 kHz	300 - 3400	mono	8 bit
AM Radio	11,025 kHz	50 - 5000	mono	8 bit
FM Radio	20,05 kHz	20- 15000	stereo	16 bit
CD	44,1 kHz	20 - 20000	stereo	16 bit
DAT-Recorder	48 kHz	20 - 20000	stereo	16 bit
Audio-DVD	44,1 to 192 kHz	20 - 20000	stereo or up to max. 6 channels	16, 20 or 24 bit
The development of digital technique finally brought the distinction between
analogue and digital signals.
If you record, for example, analogue sounds like speech or singing with a
microphone using a tape recorder, the result will stay analogue. The analogue
signal can in this case take every possible value of a certain scale.
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Introduction
However, if you save an audio signal via computer, the signal will be digitised,
which means that it is converted into discrete, that is integral, numerical values.
The analogue digital converter and for the reconversion the digital analogue
converter (а/d, d/а converter) are hereby used, which are both located on the sound
card.
In this process, which is also called quantisation, the analogue signal is measured
in certain intervals (the so-called sampling rate) and converted into a discrete
value. In the following figure, every vertical line stands for such a sampling
sequence.
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Sounds, sound waves and digital audio ] 3
The calculated value is allocated to the next raster value by rounding up or down.
The following figure of the measured and converted values shows clearly the
disadvantages of this method. The horizontal lines are here the converted raster
values.
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Introduction
Rounding up or down respectively of the measurement
results to given raster values.
The difference between the calculated value and the next possible raster value
displays the error of quantisation. This error occurs, because the sampled value of
the signal does not always lie exactly on the given value of the used raster and,
therefore, has to be rounded up or down. This consequentially causes minimal
divergencies of the digital signal in comparison with the original one.
The advantages of digitalisation are, however, obvious: digital data is a lot easier to
process and to handle, does not underlie any aging process and, moreover, they can
be copied as often as you want to without any loss in quality. The data can,
furthermore, be saved very efficiently in digital form through compression or be
made available worldwide via the Internet.
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Sounds, sound waves and digital audio
During digitising, the amplitude or respectively the volume of the audio signal is
sampled with a certain frequency and the thereby calculated values are saved. The
sampling sequencies, which are executed every second, are called sampling rate.
Audio CDs, for example, have a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz, which means, that the
audio signal is sampled 44,100 times per second and the thereby calculated values
are saved.
The second important factor for digitising analogue signals is the so-called sample
format or sample range. It practically sets up the size of the scale or raster, in
which the conversion of the numerical values takes place, and, thus, determines the
number of possible increments. The beforementioned audio CD usually uses a
sample range of 16 bits, with which exactly 65,536 different values can be
displayed.
Sample Format or Sample Range	Possible Values
4 bit (24)	16
8 bit (28)	256
16 bit (216)	65536
24 bit (224)	16777216
32 bit (232)	4294967296
48 bit (248)	281474976710656
96 bit (г96)	79228162514264337593543950336
Common sample ranges.
The higher the chosen sample rate, the bigger on the one hand the memory
requirements, but on the other hand also the dynamic range, that is the difference
between the lowest and loudest sound. For 16 bit stereo, the dynamic range is, for
example, about 96 db (approximately 6 db per bit sample range). At the same time,
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Introduction
a higher sample range reduces the quantisation error in relation to the original
signal.
The Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem shows, moreover, the direct correlation
between sample rate and frequency range, and states, that the sample range must be
at least twice as high as the maximum displayable frequency:
.	...	.. _	Sample Rate
Maximum displayable Frequency =------------
The maximum displayable frequency, in turn, is geared to the recipient, that is to
the frequency range audible for humans. Therefore, a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz
has been defined for CDs, resulting in a maximum frequency signal of 22.5 kHz,
which already is beyond the human perception of maximal 20 kHz.
By using several channels, it is, moreover, possible to produce surround sound,
which is not possible for mono recordings with only one channel. Stereo
recordings use two separated channels, which can be output to a right and left
speaker during rendering. Even more channels are used, for example, on
quadraphonics (4-channel stereophony) or Dolby surround (multi-channel sound
reproduction with five speakers) and 5.1-audio with six channels.
If we take, for example, a regular audio CD: At a sample rate of 44.1 kHz and a
sample range of 16 bit as well as 2 channels for stereo effect, the data rate is
calculated as follows:
(44.100*16) *2 = 1.411.200 bit/s
Thus, audio recording, if uncompressed, needs quite a lot of memory capacity. A
recording of three minutes in CD-quality already needs about 30 MB disc space.
This equates, for example, to an amount of data of about 6,000 pages of text or to
the capacity of more than 20 floppy disks. Just a few years ago, computers were
simply overextended by these amounts of data.
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Audio data and compression | 7
1.2	Audio data and compression
As you could see in the last chapter, it can be extremely memory intensive to save
audio files, which is why different methods are used in order to achieve a
compression of the data. This saves memory capacity, but also makes it possible to
work more efficiently with the data. Algorithms for the compression of digital data,
such as movies or documents, search during this process mostly for repetitions in
order to overwrite the area of repetition, subsequently saving disc space. Since
identical repetitions in music are rare, audio data does not lend itself easily to
compression.
Most of the lossless compressors, therefore, use predictive encoding, which first
makes a prognosis of the amplitude and afterwards saves the actual difference to
the prognosis. The attainable compression, nevertheless, is strongly dependent on
the respective audio data and averages at about 25-70 % of the original, while the
lossy compression reaches a reduction of the data to about 10% of the original
without audible differences in quality.
The most popular audio format definitely is MP3, which was developed by the
Frauenhofer Institute in collaboration with the companies AT&T, Bell Labs and
Thomson. This procedure, which in the meantime has qualitatively been outrun by
other formats like Vorbis or AAC, uses data reduction by leaving out not or hardly
audible frequency ranges as well as heterodyne frequencies or sequences with
changes in volume (such as low sounds, which directly follow sequences of very
high volume), which the human sense of hearing cannot separate from each other
or respectively cannot perceive.
The most important audio data formats for working with Audacity are discussed in
more detail in the glossary at the end of the book.
1.3	Via microphone directly onto the computer
The first step of editing digital audio is usually the recording of language, music
and sounds via microphone. All you need for direct recording of audios onto your
computer is the programme Audacity, a sound card and a microphone.
Mistakes, which are made here at the beginning of the working process, are
typically hard or impossible to correct later on. The recording itself and the
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Introduction
selection of the microphone are, therefore, of crucial importance. Let us begin with
the microphones, which can today be classified into three main categories:
•	Dynamic microphones (moving coil microphones)
•	Condenser microphones
•	Electret condenser microphones (variant of the condenser microphone)
These microphone types have in common, that they convert sound waves via a
mechanically oscillating membrane into an electrical signal. Dynamic microphones
convert via the movement of an induction coil within a magnetic field. This is also
called induction principle. Dynamic microphones can bear enormous acoustic
pressure without distorting and are, therefore, very popular for live on-stage use
and for recording loud instruments, such as bass drums and trumpets. Another
advantage is the fact, that they - in contrast to condenser microphones - do not
need any electric power supply.
A disadvantage, however, is the higher weight of the membrane, which leads to an
impulse repeating of lower quality and a longer post-pulse oscillation. This in turn
has a negative effect on the frequency response, which does not process more or
less in-line, as it does with condenser microphones, but usually declines in the
lower and upper frequency spectrum. Additionally, the frequency spectrum of
dynamic microphones themselves is generally lower than that of condenser and
electret microphones.
Condenser microphones are typical studio or respectively speaker microphones. If
you want to use Audacity, for example, for podcasting, a condenser microphone is
recommendable. They are virtually always used, when a recording as accurate as
possible of the original sound is desired. A slight disadvantage is, as previously
mentioned, that the condenser microphone needs supply voltage to load the
membrane and the preamplifier. This problem is often solved by using 9-volt
batteries for on-stage microphones, while it is energised in studios via so-called
phantom power, usually a 48-volt direct current voltage, provided by microphone
inputs.
Electret condenser microphones are a variant of the condenser microphone, but
they use an electret membrane, which is located between the condenser plates, for
sound propagation. This type of microphone is nowadays the most popular one,
because of the very compact construction and the low cost manufacturing, and it
can be found in many devices, such as (mobile) phones, interphone systems,
laptops, baby monitors or even hearing aids.
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Via microphone directly onto the computer
One really important aspect is the directional characteristic of a microphone, which
provides information about how well the sound can be absorbed from different
directions. Some modem condenser microphones already provide a selectable
directional characteristic as optional equipment. Four basic characteristics can
generally be distinguished:
Omnidirectional: These microphones absorb sound from all directions
equally well. This type of microphone is also called non di recti on al and is
mainly used for the recording of background atmosphere or in studios.
Bi-directional: Microphones of this directionality are also called „figure
8 microphones44. They are pressure gradient receivers, which absorb
sound from both the front and the back of the membrane. Through
constructive changes, even cardioid characteristics can be reached.
Omnidirectional and bi-directional characteristics.
•	Cardioid: Microphones of this characteristic mainly record from the
direction, in which they are held, while sound from the back is practically
completely shielded. Moreover, their directionality matches aproximately
the human ear, which is why they are prefered for recording of ambient
sounds.
•	Supercardioid and Hypercardioid: These polar patterns are - in
comparison with normal cardioids - significantly more directed and can,
therefore, supress background sounds significantly better. Hence, they are
usually used for more distant acoustic sources, such as movie and
television shots, where the microphone has to be outside of the display
window.
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Introduction
90°
180°
Cardioid and hypercardioid characteristics.
Finally, you should also pay attention to the right connector for the microphone or
respectively remember to buy the applicable adapter. Standard microphones
usually use the following four connectors:
•	3.5 mm TRS connector: The so-called „miniature TRS connector44 fits
every standard sound card as well as the outputs of every walkman or
МРЗ-player. But beware: A slightly smaller 2.5 mm TRS connector for
subminiature devices, like for example Dictaphones, also exists.
•	6.35 mm TRS connector: The big TRS connector is used for mixing
desks, keyboards and amplifiers. An adapter will be needed for the
connection with a computer.
•	XLR connector: A popular connector for professional devices, used for
mixing desks, preamplifiers and so forth. It can only be connected to a
standard sound card via adapter. If you own a condenser microphone with
XLR connector, additional phantom power is, moreover, required, which
sounds cards generally do not provide. It is, therefore, in this case
obligatory to interconnect a separate microphone amplifier or a mixing
desk between microphone and sound card.
•	USB connector: Still relatively new on the market, but downright handy,
because this kind of microphone can be connected directly to a free USB-
port on your computer. Even the necessary electric power supply can be
obtained thereby via USB.
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Via microphone directly onto the computer
USB, 3.5 mm TRS connector, 6.35 mm TRS connector,
XLR (female), XLR (male).
The question of which microphone to choose can actually only be answered
individually. The microphone just has to suit the voice or instrument. You can read
long consumer reports and discussions about this subject in various online forums,
which can definitely help to make a buying decision. Our advice is, therefore: First
of all, read consumer reports by ambitious users, decide exactly upon the desired
applicability and compare the technical specifications as well. The Audacity forum,
available at http://audacityteam.org/fornm, can also give you a good overview.
Those, who have the possibility - for example at a large music store, a conferrer or
the like should certainly test the various microphones beforehand. Once you
have decided on a microphone, nothing will get in the way of making your first
recording.
Here are some tips for successful recording:
•	Initially, adjust the settings for the recording level. Regulate the sound
level in a way, so that the sound will be recorded as loud as possible, but
you absolutely try to avoid clipping.
•	If applicable, run a test recording of several seconds, before the actual
recording, and check the result for possible interferences, falsifications,
clippings and so forth.
•	Try to eliminate or avoid background noises. For indoor recordings you
should, for example, locate a quiet room free from echo. For outdoor
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Introduction
recordings you could, for example, use a wind deflector against the
sounds of wind, mask flapping parts of clothing and turn off other
disturbing sources beforehand, such as possibly ringing mobile phones.
•	If you have background noise that you cannot turn off, you should bring
the microphone as close as possible to the source of sound, which is to be
recorded. This way, the background noise is at least recorded mutedly.
•	Recordings of speech should be carried out at a volume as constant as
possible, meaning without any outliers upwards or downwards.
•	When recording musical instruments, you should familiarise yourself with
the individual directional characteristics of that musical instrument to
be able to place the microphone as optimal as possible.
If there are, nevertheless, interferences, or if there is a clearly audible hissing, you
systematically have to go through all elements of the recording chain, test them
individually if possible and, where necessary, substitute those components, which
could be responsible for the error. But before you act blindly, you should always
test the wiring and the conducted settings first.
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Via microphone directly onto the computer
Recording from other playback devices
If you have another playback device, like e. g. an МРЗ-player or a CD-player, you
can record its output signal, which comes from the line-out jack or a green jack, via
the line-in input or respectively the blue jack of your computer.
The following colours are usually used for the different ports of a computer:
Colour	Function
Silver (grey)	Side speaker output (stereo)
Black	Back speaker output (stereo)
Orange	Subwoofer output and centre output. Often alternatively switchable to the digital output.
Pink	Microphone input (mono)
Green	Speaker output, line-out (stereo)
Blue (light blue)	Line-in (stereo)
If you want to record from the output of another programme, you should initially
check, whether the respective programme itself allows recording. You can then
edit the result with Audacity subsequently.
Many sound cards allow you to choose the entire output as the input channel.
Different terms are used in this context, such as Wave Out or What UHear. Using
this setting, you can utilise Audacity to record sound, while a different programme
replays something. Conflicts may occur in isolated cases, because two programmes
access the sound card simultaneously.
Using newer drivers or a different operating system might solve this problem.
Alternatively, a temporary solution could simply be to directly pass the ouput line
out (green jack) via wire to the line in jack (blue jack) and to record the input via
Audacity from line in.
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Introduction
1.4	What exactly is Audacity?
Audacity is a free and cross-platform programme for audio editing. Free does in
this context not only refer to free of charge, but above all free in terms of liberty.
This includes primarily the liberty to be able to use this software for all, even
commercial purposes. The software may, furthermore, be copied, circulated as well
as adjusted to one’s own requirements and demands. Other distinct characteristics
of a free software are the licensing under the GNU General Public License (GPL),
which is also known as a free copyleft license for software, and the fact, that the
source code is available for everyone.
The developing trend of such free software, which is also called open source
projects, is directly dependent on the composition and interests of the respective
team of developers as well as the requests and suggestions of the users. Many
teams, however, offer, moreover, individual enhancements of the respective
software. Simply contact the respective team, if need be.
Audacity was originally created for a project at the Carnegie Mellon University' in
Pittsburgh, USA, which dealt with frequency analysis. Dominic Mazzoni has been
envolved right from the start and is still significantly supervising the project today.
He and an international group of volunteers, organising themselves via Internet,
continuously develop Audacity further. Audacity is written in the programming
language C++.
A special feature is the fact that Audacity has been developed for all three major
operating systems (Windows, Mac OS X and Linux). To provide a similar
graphical user interface for the different operating systems, the wxWidgets
software library is used. The latest release is 1.3.6 (beta), which has been launched
in October 2008; and the latest stable release is 1.2.6 respectively, which is
recommended for efficient working.
Audacity enables the individual user to handle different tasks independently, which
previously could only be realised time, work and price intensive at a recording
studio. Linked to an Internet connection and a website or respectively the access to
the according Internet portal, these products can be made available worldwide.
This development has already gained ground in the form of self-recorded and
mixed music, audio blogs and podcasts and has enriched cultural life for a while.
In the following, the latest release 1.3.6 (beta) will be described.
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The functional range of Audacity
1.5	The functional range of Audacity
With Audacity, you can complete a lot of tasks. Pay attention to the fact, that you
may possibly need additional devices or software for certain tasks and functions.
Thus, for the already mentioned live-recording of speech, sounds or music, you
need, for example, at least a microphone, which has to be connected to the
computer via a mixing desk or directly via sound card.
The most important features are:
•	Importing of different audio formats, such as WAV, FLAC, AIFF, AU,
Ogg Vorbis and MPEG data
•	Importing of audio raw data
•	Creating of an unlimited number of audio tracks
•	Compiling live-recordings
•	Digitising of analogue data mediums like cassette tapes or vinyl records
•	Cutting, copying, deleting and mixing of audio data
•	Providing audio data with special effects, such as changing speed or pitch
of a recording
•	Unlimited undo actions and restoring of work steps
•	Recording via microphone and other sources via the line-in input, like for
example mixing desks or amplifiers and online sources (dependent on the
capabilites of the used sound card). Recordings with a sample rate of up to
96 kHz and a sample and a floating point of up to 32 bit are hereby
supported.
•	Changing and mixing of an unlimited number of tracks
•	Deleting of continuous background noises
•	Manual deleting of disturbances via the drawing tool
•	Displaying of the recording level before, during and after recording
•	Recording in 16-, 24- or 32-bit (floating point)
•	Exporting of WAV-, AIFF-data and via the optional LAME Encoder
Library even MP3-files
•	Spectrogram mode to show frequencies
•	Plot spectrum commands for a more precise frequency analysis
•	Mixing together of different sample rates and formats in real time
As a mere audio editor, Audacity does not offer any advanced features, which may
be known from so-called sequencer programmes. This means more specifically,
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Introduction
MIDI-data can indeed be imported and shown by Audacity, but they cannot be
edited. replayed or saved. However, these functions are already planned for future
releases.
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The functional range of Audacity 27
2 Setup of the programme
After starting the programme Audacity 1.3.6. you will see approximately the
following screen on your monitor. It can vary slightly graphically depending on the
operating system, since the versions cannot be completely identical because of the
different preconditions.
^i3J *J
* EM Ltnflth AudioPostton
I «<•-	Sr>*pTo ' [c: •. CC m |0 3 h G O m l . »• I" . ' . ; m O' s’
Programme after the first start.
Audacity opens with an empty project window by default and presents itself,
thereby, top down as follow's:
Bellow the title bar is the menu bar with the items File. Edit. View and so forth.
The different toolbars are located beneath. Lastly, you can see a timeline in the
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Setup of the programme
upper area above the empty project window. Below the empty project window,
there is the time and project rate bar as well as the status bar, which shows the
currently used frequency.
2.1 The various toolbars
\
The symbols of the control toolbar should be familiar to most of you from other
audio equipment.
The Audacity Control toolbar.
Though, some of these buttons have extended features in conjunction with the
SHIFT-key (also known as the key used to type capital letters).
Symbol	Name	Function
1* i	Pause	Pauses current recordings or playbacks. To resume, press Pause anew.
	Play Loop-play	Playback starts at the current position of the selection cursor or at the beginning of a selected section. If you hold down SHIFT while pressing Play, the image of the button and its function will change. The track or the selected section of the track will now be played over and over (loop-play) until you press Stop.
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The various toolbars 29
Symbol	Name	Function
	Stop	Pressing this button, you will stop the current recording or playback. If pausing was activated, both the foregoing action and pause will immediately be stopped.
	Skip to start	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the project (time position 0). Holding down SHIFT will mark the audio track section from the current position to the starting point of the project.
	Skip to end	Moves the cursor to the end of the project. Holding down SHIFT will mark the audio track section from the current position to the end of the project.
J	Record	After pressing the Record-button, a new track will be created Recording begins at the current cursor position with the set recording rate and can be paused by pressing Pause and ended by pressing Stop.
The tools toolbar, which looks rather unimpressive, is also important for the work
via mouse and will be described in the following.
Audacity tools toolbar.
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Setup of the programme
The individual devices can also be chosen comfortably via keyboard, since they are
usually allocated from left top to right bottom with the function keys Fl to F6.
Symbol	Name	Function
I	Selection tool	By activating this device, you can define the cursor position in a track via mouse dick or mark a certain area via holding down the mouse button.
	Envelope tool	Using this device, you can change the volume for a selection. This is, for example, useful for fading tracks in and out manually.
и	Draw tool	Start by zooming in on the audio track until you can spot the individual samples as dots. Holding down the mouse button, you can now draw the samples anew. This is, for example, useful for removing short background noises manually.
£	Zoom tool	Allows to zoom in (left mouse button) or to zoom out (right mouse button or SHIFT + left mouse button respectively) in order to change the perspective of the audio track.
4 ♦	Time shift tool	With the aid of this device, you can shift an entire audio track horizontally - thus, on the timeline For this purpose, you drag the audio track by holding down the mouse button to the desired position Small arrows will indicate, if parts of the audio track are moved into the negative time-line.
*	Multi-tool mode	Device, which combines the different features, depending on the image of the mouse pointer and position of application:
		Enables the positioning of the point of
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The various toolbars
Symbol Name	Function
playback via mouse click and of the markings
by holding down the mouse button. A right
mouse click zooms out the perspective,
whereas selecting while holding down the right
mouse button fits the marking directly into the
perspective.
The mouse pointer looks like this at the
д margin of the envelope, which you can
then shift by holding down the mouse button.
By holding down the CTRL-key, you
can shift audio tracks on the timeline.
A selected area can also be moved by
beginning to move right where the selection
starts.
To the right of the device tool bar, you can find the meter toolbar.
Meter toolbar with menus.
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Setup of the programme
The individual commands of the menus:
•	Disable Meter: Disables the respective meter, which is then displayed in
grey.
•	Enable/Disable Meter: Enables or disables the input level meter
(microphone icon).
•	Horizontal Stereo: Standard display, which shows the meter horizontally
from left to right.
•	Vertical Stereo: Shows the meter vertically from bottom to top.
•	Linear: Switches to a linear scale in the meter (0.0 = silence, 1.0 =
maximum level meter).
•	db: Standard display, which shows the scale of the level meter
logarithmically (0 dB = maximum level meter). Further settings for this
display range can be made via Edit> Preferences> Interface> Display
range minimum.
•	Preferences: Here you can determine, how often per second the display is
refreshed. Possible values are 1 to 100. Please bear in mind, that a high
rate requires correspondingly higher processing power.
Next, you fmd the mixer toolbar below the control toolbar. With its help, the
output volume is adjusted on the left and the input volume on the right. The input
source can be chosen via the right pull-down menu.
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The various toolbars	3 3
Level control for output and input volume.
You can change settings by either pulling the controller to the desired position by
holding down a mouse button, or by opening the respective window by double
clicking on the scale to directly enter the value.
The edit toolbar offers further important features for the editing and viewing of the
audio tracks.
The edit toolbar.
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Setup of the programme
Symbol	Name	Function
4-	Cut	Cuts out the selected section from an audio track. The potentially remaining part of the audio track is shifted to the left and is attached seemlessly to the remains of the left-hand audio track. Accordingly, the new audio track is shorter exactly the length of the removed part of the audio track. x
		Following clips will, furthermore, be shifted or not - depending on the settings. The settings can be changed via Edit> Preferences> lnterface> Editing a clip can move other clips.
	Copy	The selected area is copied to the clipboard while the original audio track remains untouched The copied area can be pasted to other areas as often as desired.
	Paste	Clipboard contents of cut or copied areas of an audio track can be inserted at the position of the cursor with this feature.
-mJ	Trim	Trimming is the opposite of cutting. Trimming deletes everything, but the selected area. The trimmed area keeps its position
о	Silence	The selected area is replaced by silence.
о	Undo	The last editing operation will be undone.
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The various toolbars
Symbol	Name	Function
£1	Redo	This feature restores an undone operation.
	Zoom in	This feature magnifies the displayed audio track. This operation can be repeated, until, for example, the single samples are clearly visible and can be edited with the drawing tool.
	Zoom out	Causes the opposite of the feature Zoom in and demagnifies the view.
%	Fit selection	Fits the display of a marked area to the Audacity window. Depending on the current perspective, it will be zoomed in or out.
&	Fit project	Fits the whole project into the window. Depending on the current perspective, it will respectively be zoomed in or out. This feature is especially useful to give you a quick overview over the project as a whole.
To the right of the edit toolbar, there is the transcription toolbar, which offers the
option to play audio data faster or slower.
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Setup of the programme
Transcription toolbar with input window.
Besides the slider, which you can drag by holding down a mouse button via the
mouse pointer, you also have the option to open the input window Playback Speed
by double clicking on the scale and to enter a value directly.
To play the current project faster or slower, set the slider first to the desired speed.
The factor 1.0 hereby stands for the original speed. The factor 0.5 stands for a
speed reduced by 50 %, the factor 1.5 respectively for a speed raised by 50 %.
Then click on the button with the green arrow on the transcription toolbar to play
the current selection with the chosen speed.
2.2	Selection toolbar
Finally, there is the selection toolbar below the project window. The selection
toolbar allows the setting of the project rate on the left side.
If the feature Snap to is activated, it only allows selections in the chosen unit. If,
for example, the format hours .minutes: seconds was chosen, selections may only
start and end at integer seconds. A format for video films, such as hh:mm:ss + PAL
frames (25 fps), has the advantage, that the sound editing exactly matches the
screen change, so that frame accurate editing is possible. This avoids, furthermore,
needless clicking and other disturbances in the audio track, which can occur
otherwise.
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Selection toolbar 37
The format is changed for all three display ranges at a time, no matter in which
pull-down menu the change has been set. You can choose between £Wand Length
as an indication in the second display, while the third display {Audio Position)
shows the current cursor position or allows its setting.
Project Rate (Hz)	Selection Start <• End Г Length Audio Position
ТОНГ	Snap To г [oo h 00 m 00 s- [oo h 0 0 m 0 0 |o□ h 06 m 33 s’"
The selection toolbar.
To work completely accurately, you can also edit the values directly in the
selection toolbar. For this purpose, you click directly on the respective display with
the mouse pointer and enter the desired value.
Small arrows indicate if parts of the audio track are moved to the negative time
range.
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Setup of the programme
The arrows show, that the beginning of the audio track
is in the negative time range.
The following table explains the different time formats:
Format	Explanation
Seconds	Counts full seconds in a six-figure display. Example: 000.047 seconds.
hh:mm:ss	Here, h stands for hours, m for minutes and s for seconds. Example: 02 h 16 m 34 s for 2 hours 16 minutes and 34 seconds.
dd:hh:mm:ss	For extremely long recordings, this format additionally shows d for days. This means, that the display changes after 00 days 23 h 59 m 59 s to 01 days 00 h 00 m 00 s.
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Selection toolbar 39
Format	Explanation
hh:mm:ss	+ milliseconds	This format shows in addition to hours, minutes and seconds also milliseconds. Example: 02 h 16 m 34.986 s.
hh:mm:ss + samples	This format divides the seconds into the respective samples. To reach CD quality, this means that every second contains 44,100 samples.
samples	Counts samples in a nine-figure display.
hh:mm:ss + film frames (24 fps)	A time and cut format, which is suitable for film shots, where 24 frames per second are exposed (fps means “frames per second"). Here, the display 01:00:00:00 follows 00:59:59:23.
film frames (24 fps)	Format for film shots with 24 frames per second, which displays the single frames in six figures. Example: 073.396.
hh:mm:ss: NTSC drop frames	NTSC-productions use 29.97 frames per second. To achieve this odd number, NTSC drop frames initially work with 30 frames per second, but then omit or respectively “drop” every 900th frame. Example: 00 h 02 m 48 s+29 frames.
hh:mm:ss: NTSC non drop frames	This format works with 29.97 frames per second, without omitting or “dropping” frames. Example: 00 h 02 m 48 s+29 frames.
NTSC frames	Only counts the frames in a six-figure display Example: 002.481 frames.
hh:mm:ss + PAL frames (25 fps)	Displaying format for the European video standard PAL, which exposes 25 frames per second. Example: 01 h 23 m 45 s + 15 frames.
PAL frames (25 fps)	Counts PAL frames in a six-figure display. Example: 025.832 frames.
hh:mm:ss + CDDA	Displaying format for audio CDs. One second consists of 75 frames at CDDA. At the same time, one frame is
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Setup of the programme
Format	Explanation
frames (75 fps)	the smallest sector, which can be burned on an audio CD. Example: 00 h 01 m 27 s+08 frames.
CDDA frames (75 fps)	Counts the frames in a six-figure display. Example: 018.481 frames.
At the lower end of the programme window, there is the status bar, which gives
you various useful tips, such as “Click and pull to shift the left selection margin”.
The individual areas and toolbars can be moved almost entirely user-defined. The
serrated left edges are the respective parting lines. To move a unit, run the mouse
pointer on the serrated left edges and move the unit to the new position by holding
down the mouse button. If you want to restore the original arrangement, choose
View> Toolbars> Reset Toolbars.
2.3	Computer latency
Every computer has a certain amount of latency, thus, a certain delay. Even if it is
just a matter of a few milliseconds, the processing of a signal also requires a certain
time for its way, e. g. to the sound card and from there to the speakers. If the
latencies are, however, too great, certain works cannot be carried out reasonably
anymore.
2.4	Calculating the computer latency
An optimal setting of the latency is necessary, if you, for example, want to record
and play an audio track simultaneously.
In the following, we will try to find the optimal settings for the latency of your
computer. Pay attention to the fact, that the preference Multiplay has to be
activated in the register Audio I/O, and make sure to choose the right recording
device (e. g. Microsoft Soundmapper) or use, for example, a wire between line-in
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Calculating the computer latency 4 ]
and line-out to be able to play and record an audio track at the same time. Then
execute the following steps:
•	First, set the display in the selection toolbar so that it shows millisceonds.
•	Now choose Generate> Click Track, which opens the corresponding
window, and create a metronome-like click track. For this purpose you
can keep the given settings and just accept by clicking OK.
•	Now click on the record button and record the click track while playing.
•	Stop the operation after a few measures via the stop-button.
Depending on the quality of the sound card, the audio signal is recorded more or
less clearly. The rendered audio signal is recorded slightly out of phase in a second
audio track. In the following example, the signal first had to be amplified to
meassure the latency.
High noise component and a latency of 0.072 seconds.
To measure the latency, mark the beginning of the signal on the click track to the
beginning of the same signal on the recorded track. Now you can read the latency
of your computer in the selection toolbar.
The above example used a standard installed sound card with a latency of 72
milliseconds.
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Setup of the programme
"Latency
Audio to buffer*,
(higher = more latency)
Latency correction:
(negative = backwards)
100
-72
milliseconds
milliseconds
Adjust the latency.
To adjust the latency, you have to enter the calculated number as a negative
number in milliseconds into the window Preferences^ register Audio I/O under
Latency correction. Now you can repeat the above mentioned recording. Both of
the recorded tracks should now be synchronous to each other.
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Opening and importing files
4 Working with Audacity
This chapter will explain the basic functions for handling this programme.
3.1 Opening and importing files
By default, you can open different audio file formats with Audacity, like WAV,
MP3, FLAC, AIFF, AU and Ogg Vorbis.
To open one of the supported audio formats, do as follows:
Use the drag&drop-method by dragging the audio file into the
programme window of Audacity by holding down the mouse
button and dropping it there.
Open the window Open via the shortcut Ctrl 4- О and choose
the file or the files, which you want to open.
Open the window Open via File > Open... and choose the file
or files, which you want to open.
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44 Working with Audacity
The file is now imported and, thereafter, will be shown in standard wave form in
the programme window.
Importing MP3 files
05 All Nightmare Long.mp3
Elapsed Time: 00:00:13
Remaining Time: 00:00:01
Cancel
The respective format is imported.
Wave form - the standard display for audio files.
The wave form, which by default is shown linear, displays the peaks in the outer
darker area and the root mean square (RMS) in the inner brighter area.
Important: If you choose to open several files, an individual programme window
will be created for every respective file. If you want to open several audio files
within one programme window, however, you have to use the command Import.
This way, contents like further audio files, text tracks, time tracks and MIDI-files
can be loaded into one programme window and can be displayed there.
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Opening and importing files 45
For that purpose, do as follows:
Use the menu command File> Import and select in the
submenu the desired category among the presettings Audio,
Labels, MIDI and Raw Data.
Depending on the chosen category, a window with the chosen filter opens, in
which you can select the respective file or files.
Extremely interesting is, furthermore, the import of raw data, even for alleged
proprietary audio files, which Audacity does not support initially. If the audio file
internally uses uncompressed raw data in the form of PCM (Pulse Code
Modulation), it is quite possible, that Audacity can still open the files via the
import of raw data.
After you have chosen the file via the menu command File> Import> Raw Data,
the window Raw Data Import opens, where you can enter further details about the
file. In this context, you have to enter the information, which is usually included
into the header. In some indistinct cases, however, it only helps to experiment.
Amount to import: | 100
Sample rate: (44100
Littie-endan
&q-end»an
Def auk endanness
Hr
Import | Cancel
The possible settings for the import of raw data.
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45 Working with Audacity
The import of raw data only works with uncompressed files. Files with the format
ASF, AAC, MP3, WMA, WMV and so forth cannot be imported, just like locked
files.
Explanations to the various specifications:
•	Signed/unsigned: This specification provides information about how the
data is saved internally. Signed 8 bit PCM uses, for example, the values -
128 to 127, while Unsigned 8 bit PCM uses the values from 0 to 255.
•	8, 16, 24, 32 bit: Here you enter the type of quantization, thus, the sample
range, with which the files have been digitized.
•	PCM: This abbreviation stands for Puls-Code-Modulation, a procedure
which is often used for the conversion of analogue audio signals into
digital audio signals. For this, the analogue signal is sampled time-discrete
with a certain frequency, thus, in isochronous distances, and is then
quantized with an analogue-digital converter.
•	U-Law/A-Law: Similar procedures for the dynamic compression of audio
signals, where the noise is reduced for low levels. Nevertheless, the
procedures differ enough, so that a converter has to be applied for
telephone calls between Europe, where the A-Law-Procedure is used, and
Northern America, where the U-Law-Procedure is used.
•	DVVVVV: Short for “Delta With Variable Word Width”; a compression
type for the A1FF-C file format.
•	GSM: Is a lossy standard for the compression of language. GSM stands
for “Global Standard for Mobile telecommunications'*. This format is
used for (mobile) phones, language programmes and language messages.
•	ADPCM: Stands for “Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation4* and
is a compression method for an audio signal, which shall be transmitted
via a narrowband digital medium. The file rate dynamically adjusts
hereby to the input signal. This procedure is, for example, used for DECT
telephony (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications), thus, for
cordless telephones.
•	Endianness: Sets the order of the bytes, so that they can be interpreted
correctly. The Big-endian format sets the byte of higher valency, which is
also called MSB (Most Significant Byte), at first place, while the Little-
endian format sets the Least Significant Byte (LSB) first.
•	1 Channel... 16 Channels: Here, you set the number of channels.
•	О-Byte Offset: Here, you enter the size of the header.
•	Amount to import: Set the data volume, which shall be imported.
•	Sample rate: Here, you set the used sample rate.
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Marking of audio tracks
Unfortunately, the direct import of CDs does not (yet) work with Audacity. When
attempting this, you will get a message, which refers to other programmes.
Error importing
"D:\TrackDl .cda" is an audio CD track.
Audacity cannot open audio CDs directly.
Extract (rip) the CD tracks to an audio Format that
Audacity can import, such as WAV or AIFF.
OK I Help
The usability can still be improved here.
Hint: If you want to use a data format, which is not supported by Audacity, you
should try to convert it with an audio converter into a supported format. It is
recommended to convert the data first into a lossless format, such as WAV, AIFF
or FLAC, then to edit it with Audacity and, finally, to export the audio data into the
desired target format.
3.2	Marking of audio tracks
Like you may already know from text editing programmes, you have to mark the
part of a file in Audacity first, which you want to cut out, edit or replace. For this,
you have many various options:
To work via mouse, the selection tool or the multi-tool has to
be activated. Now mark the desired part of the audio file by
holding down the mouse button. The selection will then be
displayed slightly darker than the rest of the audio track. To
expand or to reduce the marking, simply hold the shift-button,
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Working with Audacity
while selecting a new end via mouse click. If you want to
mark the entire audio track, you can click on the attributes in
the header in front of the track or on the free space below the
controller.
Move the cursor to the starting point by using the arrow' keys
and mark the desired area with the arrow keys right or left by
holding down the shift-button. Likewise, to expand a marking,
you can shift the respective border likewise by holding down
the shift-button. To remove the marking, you can set the cursor
with the aid of the right arrow key to the right ending position
and with the left arrow key to the left ending position.
You can mark the whole audio track via the shortcut Ctrl + A.
   — If the cursor is situated at the desired position, you have the
—	following options via the menu item Edit> Select'. All, None,
~	Left at Playback Position (opens the window Set Left Selection
Bound), Right at Playback Position (opens the window Set
Right Selection Bound), Track Start to Cursor and Cursor to
Track End.
The marked area of the audio track is now displayed slightly dark coloured, as you
can see in the following example:
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Marking of audio tracks 49
Stereo audio track with marked area.
If you are working with several audio tracks in one window, you can also create
markings, which extend over several tracks.
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Working with Audacity
2 О	3.0	4.0
Marking over two tracks.
To create markings, which extend over several tracks, as illustrated above, do as
follows:
6
Mark the desired area of an audio track by holding down the
mouse button and pull the mouse in doing so across all tracks,
which shall be selected.
First, jump with the up and down arrow keys to the desired
track and adopt the marking for the selected track via the enter
key. If you push the enter key again, the marking for this track
will be removed again.
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Editing audio tracks
3.3	Editing audio tracks
For the following examples, a mono recording is used to simplify matters.
The marked area, which is displayed slightly darker in the picture, can now be
processed further or, for example, be replaced by audio files, which are in the
clipboard. You can find the most important commands in the menu Edit.
3.3.1 Cut and delete with preliminary check
The cutting and deleting of a marked area are very similar process steps. The only
difference between both commands is the fact, that, when cutting, the extracted file
will be saved in the clipboard.
A very valuable supporting feature is the preview of the cut. Often, this is the only
way to evaluate, if the marking has been set right. Use the letter C on your
keyboard to be able to preview a cut.
You will now, by default, hear the track from one second before the cutting edge to
one second after the cutting edge and you can, this way, estimate, what the cut will
be like. You can change the preview time via Edit> Preferences> Cut Preview.
Proceed as follows, if you want to cut out the marked area of an audio track:
Select the button -w Cut.
Use the shortcut Ctrl + X.
Select the menu command Edit> Cut.
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Working with Audacity
Audio track before and after the cut
You can see, that the command cut removes the marked area of the audio track,
while the right part of the audio track is shifted to the left. When cutting out, the
extracted part is additionally saved in the clipboard. Following clips are shifted or
not, depending on the settings in Edit> Preferences> lnterface> Editing a clip can
move other clips.
You can use the following commands to delete material:
Use the shortcut Ctrl + К or, alternatively, use the Del-button
or backspace.
Select the menu command Edit> Delete.
The result is initially the same. The difference only consists in the fact, that the
extracted part will not be copied to the clipboard.
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Editing audio tracks
3.3.2 Cut and split cut
If you want to cut out the marked area and to split the track, you can select one of
the following options:
Use the shortcut Ctrl 4- Alt + X.
Select the menu command Edit> Split Cut.
Split Cut.
In this process step, the marked area is cut from the audio track and the audio track
is split, resulting in two independent clips.
3.3.3 Copy
If you only want to copy the marked area, the display of the audio track does not
change. For copying, use the following commands:
pk	Use the button gjgd Copy.
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Working with Audacity
Use the shortcut Ctrl + C.

Select the menu command Edit> Copy.
In all cases, the copied file remains in the clipboard and can, for example, be
inserted into other audio tracks.
Copy saves the marked area in the clipboard.
3.3.4 Paste
A content, which has been saved to the clipboard, can be inserted into respective
audio tracks as often as desired. For this, the following commands are available:
Use the button
Paste.
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Editing audio tracks
Use the shortcut Ctrl + V.
Select the menu command Edit> Paste.
Example for the pasting of audio contents from the clipboard.
In the example above, the content of the clipboard has been inserted (marked part
of the second audio track). But it is also possible to cut a previously marked area
and to replace it with an audio track, which has been saved to the clipboard. In the
given example, the marked area of the first audio track is cut out and replaced by a
considerably shorter section, which shortens the overall length of the audio track.
Cut out a marking and paste the content to the clipboard.
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If you try. for example, to insert parts of a stereo audio track into a mono audio
track, it will be pointed out to you. that this is not possible. The opposite, however,
is possible.
Stereo and mono tracks cannot be mixed.
3.3.5 Trim
Trimming of an audio track achieves a reverse cutting. Do follow:
Use the button	Trim.
Use the shortcut Ctrl + T.
Select the menu command Edit> Trim.
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Editing audio tracks 57
Trimming deletes everything, but the marking.
Only the marked area remains in the track and stays on the timeline at its place,
while everything outside the marking is deleted.
3.3.6 Split delete
To use the command Split Delete, do as follows:
Use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + K.
Select the menu command Edit> Split Delete.
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Split delete.
The result of Split Delete is two separated clips, while the marked area has been
deleted. The two clips can now be shifted independently on the timeline via the
time shift tool.
3.3.7 Silence Audio
This command does not separate the audio track, but deletes the marking and then
overwrites it with silence. The advantage: The audio track keeps its exact length.
You use the command as follows:
Use the button Silence Audio.
Use the shortcut Ctrl + L.
Select the menu command Edit> Silence Audio.
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Editing audio tracks
The marked area is cut out and replaced by silence.
As you can see in the example above, neither the length of the audio track nor the
time position of the audio track changes behind the marking.
3.3.8 Split
To split the clip at the marking, you can use the following commands:
Use the shortcut Ctrl 4-1.
Select the menu command Edit> Split.
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Working with Audacity
The audio track is separated into three independent clips.
You can only see, that the command has been executed, from two horizontal lines,
which are located where the ends of the marking had been before. They indicate
that the audio track has been separated here and now consists of three independent
clips.
3.4	Command menu
Here once more the complete command menu:
Function	Symbol	Shortcut	Menu command
Cut	«	Ctrl + X	Edit> Cut
Split Cut		Ctrl + Alt + X	Edit> Split Cut
Copy	th	Ctrl +C	Edit> Copy
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Placing cuts optimally ]
Function	Symbol	Shortcut	Menu command
Paste	J	Ctrl + V	Edit> Paste
Trim		Ctrl ♦ T	Edit> Trim
Delete		Ctrl + К	Edit> Delete
Split Delete		Ctrl + Alt + К	Edit> Split Delete
Silence Audio		Ctrl + L	Edit> Silence Audio
Split		Ctrl + 1	Edit> Split
Split New		Ctrl + Alt + 1	Edit> Split New
3.5	Placing cuts optimally
Self-produced audio material is seldomly used the way it was recorded. Usually,
additional editing steps are necessary. The most important editing element for
audio processing is the cut. The following steps shall instruct you how to optimally
place a cut with Audacity. The order of the individual steps depends, hereby, on
the desired result and one’s own vision.
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Working with Audacity
3.5.1 Cut preview
If you have placed a marking for a cut, you can listen to the result beforehand and,
if necessary, make changes, before you finalise the cut. This feature is called Cut
Preview, which you activate as follows: Select the key C on your keyboard.
By default, you will now hear from one second before the cutting edge to one
second after the cutting edge, which enables you to estimate what the cut will be
like.
Cut marking and playback region.
The horizontal as well as in the middle discontinued line above the audio track
shall hereby display the playback region of the feature Cut Preview in the standard
settings.
The length of the preview can be set individually in the window Audacity
Preferences, which can be opened via the menu Edif> Preferences or the shortcut
Ctrl 4- p, in the register Audio I/O at Cut Preview.
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Placing cuts optimally (ft
3.5.2 Variable playback regions
When you have marked a region, you can start and stop the replay of the marked
area by pushing the space bar. By pushing the key C you can preview the possible
cut. If you just want to listen to a certain part of the cut again, the key В enables
you to play depending on the position of the mouse pointer different parts
within and outside of the marking.
If the mouse pointer is to the left of the marking, the track is played from there to
the beginning of the marking via the key B.
Replay from the mouse pointer to the marking.
If the mouse pointer is, however, in the left half of the marking, the audio track is
played from the marking to the mouse pointer via the key B.
Replay from the marking to the mouse pointer.
If the mouse pointer is in the right half of the marking, the key В achieves the
replay from this point to the end of the marking.
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64 Working with Audacity
Jwifei Ш	ЫМ1
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Replay from the mouse pointer to the marking.
If the mouse pointer is to the right of the marking, the key В causes the replay of
the audio track from the right end of the marking to the position of the mouse
pointer.
Replay from the marking to the mouse pointer.
It applies to all examples of the key B, that only the horizontal, but not the vertical
position of the mouse pointer is relevant.
Finally, there is the possibility to listen to a certain region directly. For this, mark
an area on the timeline above the audio track, by holding down a mouse button,
which shall then be replayed immediately.

Markings on the timeline are replayed immediately.
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The different tracks ^5
3.5.3 Finding zero crossings
A zero crossing is the position of a wave, where the x-axis crosses, thus, where it
changes from the negative to the positive region or vice versa.
In order to set a interference-free cut, you should cut the track at such a zero
crossing. A precondition therefor is, that a sample has to lie as exactly as possible
on the zero line. Audacity possesses an excellent method to find respective zero
crossings via the menu command Edit> Find Zero Crossings. This is especially
helpful for stereo tracks, since it can be very difficult to find a suitable point there,
where both channels are on a zero crossing at the same time.
Do as follows to set the cuts at a zero crossing:
•	Set the marking for the cut.
•	Select the menu command Edit> Find Zero Crossings or use the key Z
respectively. Audacity will now set the cutting edges automatically.
•	Make the cut.
If Audacity cannot find a suitable position for the cut via the menu command Edit>
Find Zero Crossings, the programme will delete the marking and jump to the next
zero crossing. In this case, you can help yourself by using an extremely brief fade-
in or fade-out at the desired cutting edges.
For this, the length of a few samples is enough, which are simply aimed at shaping
the wave form in a way that creates the necessary zero crossing.
3.6	The different tracks
Audacity does not only know different audio tracks, but also label, time and MIDI
tracks.
You can add new tracks by selecting the menu command Tracks> Add New and by
choosing the respective track in the submenu.
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66 Working with Audacity
t Tracks Generate Effect Analyze Help
Add New
Г—rr
Stereo Trackto Memo
Mix and Render
Resample...
। Remove Tracks
Adding new tracks.
3.6.1 Audio tracks
The most important tracks are definitely audio tracks, as they contain the audio
data. The header of the track provides here a quick overview over the most
important parameters of the displayed audio data and offers the possibility to
change different settings and the display.
Audio data appear by default in linear wave form, where the amplitude is
illustrated graphically. The major amplitudes of the wave form represent a high
volume in this display, while the small amplitudes illustrate muted parts. A straight
line on the central position without any amplitude upwards or downwards
correspondingly displays silence.
Via the header of the track of the audio file, other kinds of display can be chosen,
such as logarithmic waveform, spectrum or pitch (ЕЛС).
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The different tracks fr]
The header of an audio track.
If you click on the cross at the top left, the track will be deleted. This work step
can, however, also be undone via the button Undo.
Clicking on the track name respectively the downwards pointing arrow, opens the
context menu, which is displayed above on the right and which offers the following
features and commands:
•	Name: Opens the window Track Name, where you can enter the title.
•	Move Track Up: Shifts the track upwards by one position. This
command is only activated, if another track above the current one is
available.
•	Move Track Down: Shifts the track downwards by one position. This
command is only activated, if another track below the current one is
available.
•	Waveform: Standard display when loading an audio file, which offers a
linear display.
•	Waveform (dB): Shows the waveform of the audio file in a logarithmic
display.
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•	Spectrum: Shows the composition of the frequencies of the audio signal.
•	Pitch (EAC): Display of the basic frequencies of the audio signal with the
aid of the Enhanced Autocorrelation (EAC) algorithm.
•	Mono: Hereby, you can define a single track as a mono track. This
command is not activated for stereo tracks. Separate the stereo track first
to be able to use the command on the single track.
•	Left Channel: Defines a mono track as a left channel.
•	Right Channel: Defines a mono track as a right channel.
•	Make Stereo Track: This command creates one stereo track out of two
mono tracks.
•	Split Stereo Track: Splits a stereo track into two mono tracks,
whereupon one track initially is the left and the other one the right
channel.
•	Set Sample Format: Here you can set the sample format or the sample
range and, thereby, the quality and the dynamic range. Choose between
16-bit PCM (CD quality, dynamic range of about 96 db), 24-bit PCM
(standard studio recording quality, dynamic range of about 144 db) and
32-bit float (precision format of the floating point with a dynamic range of
theoretically 192 db) for working with many effects, but admittedly also
with the highest memory requirements both for RAM and hard disc
storage unit
•	Set rate: Here you can set the sample rate. Standard are. for example,
44100 Hz (audio CD format). 48000 Hz (standard video sound), 96000
Hz (studio recording quality). Different tracks can have different settings
and will be converted into the respective project sample rate during
playing and exporting.
Below the track name, you find a list of the characteristics of the track. In the given
example: stereo 44100 Hz, 32-bit float.
Gerenally you can differentiate between stereo tracks, mono tracks, left and right
tracks. The header of the track show s the respective kind of audio track.
You can create a mono track out of a stereo track by selecting the menu command
Tracks> Stereo Track to Mono. To create a left and right track, however, you have
to open the context menu of the audio track by clicking on the name and choosing
the command Split Stereo Track in the context menu.
If you click here or on a free area below both of the controllers, you will mark the
entire audio track, which is then displayed slightly darker.
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The different tracks
The buttons Mute and Solo offer the following features:
•	Mute: Switches the whole track on or off for replaying. The position of
this button is irrelevant for mixing or exporting.
•	Solo: Switches all other tracks to mute, so that only this track is played.
The position of this button is irrelevant for the mixing or exporting.
Directly below these two buttons, there are the controllers for Volume and
Panorama. Adjust your settings via the existing controllers or double click onto the
scales to open the respective input window and enter your settings directly. Via the
controller Panorama you can also set the stereo effect for a stereo signal.
Finally, there is a button with an upwards pointing arrow at the lower end of the
header of the track, by which you can collapse a track or respectively expand a
collapsed track (arrow to the bottom).
You can also set the width of tracks via the mouse. Therefor you have to direct the
mouse pointer to the right of the header of the track at the lower edge, until the
mouse pointer changes its form into a vertical double arrow. Then pull the track by
holding down the mouse button to the desired size.
3.6.2 Label track
The label track is used to retain short keywords or comments in labels for
orientation. Additionally, audio tracks can also be cut on the basis of the markings
of labels (see also 4.1, Cut audio tracks via labels). Labels can, in this context,
mark a certain point or a certain area, as is evident in the following example.
Example of a label track.
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You can create labels as follow’s:
Initially, set the cursor to the desired position or mark an area
of the audio track and create the label via the shortcut Ctrl +
5, which now takes over an exact point of time or a certain
period of the label track.
Alternatively, you can directly set labels while playing audio
tracks via the shortcut 'Ctrl + M.
Open the window Edit Labels via the menu command Tracks>
Edit labels and enter the values for the labels there.
After setting a label via one of the shortcuts, the cursor appears in the label and you
can directly enter the desired text via your keyboard.
If you work with the window Edit Labels, you can also change the time format
there. For this, just click two times into an area for the time entries and then open
the respective submenu by clicking onto the small downward pointing arrow.
Alternatively, if you already are on input mode, you can also select the submenu
with the different time formats by right clicking the mouse in the time window.
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The different tracks у J
The window Edit Labels,
To delete a label, do as follows:
Mark the area of the label in the label track and delete the label with one
of the following options.
X Use the button
Silence.
Use the shortcut Ctrl + L or, alternatively, the Del-key or
backspace.
Select the menu command Edit> Silence Audio.
Via the context menu of the header of the track, you can rename the label track,
choose a font and move the track up and down.
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System
Termed
Ftxedsys
Roman
Scrpt
Modern
Small Fonts
MS Serf
WST Czec
WST.Enqrf
WST.Fren
WST Germ
WST .Rd
WST .Span
WST.Swed
Face name
Context menu of the label track and further windows.
Explanation:
•	Name: Opens the window Track Name, where you can enter a significant
title for the track.
•	Font: Select a font and its size.
•	Move Track Up: This command moves the label track one track up and
is only activated, if there is at least one track above the label track.
•	Move Track Down: This command moves the label track one track down
and is only activated, if there is at least one track below the label track.
3.6.3 Time track
You can create a time track via the menu command Tracks> Add New> Time
Track. Via the time track, you can change the playback speed of the audio track
continuously. In order to adjust basic settings, such as choosing the title or the area
of the speed change, click once with the mouse pointer on the name Time Track or
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The different tracks 73
the downward pointing arrow in the header of the track respectively and the
following context menu will open.
Trade Name
Change (rack name to:
Lower speed fan*
Change lower speed bnnt (%) to:
Lower speed In* j S
OK J Cancel
ИК&'.л
Upper speed fan*
Change upper speed hrmt (%) to:
Upper speed lirr* | ®E
Context menu of the time track.
The menus in detail:
•	Name: Opens the window Track Name, where you can enter a significant
title.
•	Move Track Up: This command moves the time track one track up and is
only activated, if there is at least one other track above the time track.
•	Move Track Down: Th’s command moves the time track one track down
and is only activated, if there is at least one other track below the time
track.
•	Set range: Here you can set the minimum speed limit in percent of the
original speed (>=13) as well as the maximum speed limit (<=1200). By
default, 90 and 110 % are preset.
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30	1:00	1:30	2:00	2:30	3:00	3:30	4:00	4:30	5:0
Via the envelope tool you can process the time track and, thus, create similar
effects as a record player, which plays too fast or too slow. This creates a higher
sound, if the audio track runs faster, and a lower one, if it runs slower.
3.6.4 MIDI track
As already noted, Audacity cannot yet process MIDI files, but the files can,
nevertheless, already be displayed as tracks. For future releases, MIDI support is
planned. You cannot generate a MIDI track, but only create one by importing a
MIDI file.
Example for the display of a MIDI file.
MIDI are so-called event messages for musical instruments or sound cards. In this
context, for example, the musical instrument, the note, the volume, the balance and
further information are set. Unlike digital audio files, MIDI files are very small. A
size of about 10 кВ is already enough for one minute of music. Complex sounds
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The different tracks у 5
such as the human voice, however, cannot be reproduced via MIDI. Additionally,
you run the risk that the same MIDI file sounds very differently on varying
hardware, because the MIDI file only saves the “notes", but not the sounds of the
single instruments.
Via mouse click you can fade in or out the individual channels at the header of the
track. The context menu of the header of the track shows the entries, which are
displayed in the following figure.
Context menu of a MIDI track.
As already noted, MIDI tracks are not supported at the moment. They can only be
displayed, but not be played back or processed. The menus:
•	Name: Opens the window Track Name, where you can enter a significant
title for the track.
•	Move Track Up: This command moves the MIDI track one track up and
is only activated, if there is at least one other track above the MIDI track.
•	Move Track Down: This command moves the MIDI track one track
down and is only activated, if there is at least one other track below the
MIDI track.
•	One Octave Up: Shows the next higher octave of the MIDI track.
•	One Octave Down: Shows the next lower octave of the MIDI track.
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3.7 Recordings
Audacity allows recordings from different sources, which are in turn dependent on
the equipment of your computer. If you possess, for example, a microphone, which
has a compatible port to your computer sound card, you can create recordings with
it.
For this, select the entry Microphone in the^pull-down menu of the level controller.
H >) MME: Microsoft Soundmapper - Output v MME: Microsoft Soundmapper - Input
Mixer Toolbar on Windows.
Depending on the sound card and the used sound system, the pull-down menu can
contain considerably more entries than displayed in the figure.
In the above displayed case with three entries in the pull-down menu, you select
Stereomix. if you want to record the output of another programme, Line-In for
connected devices like record player, tape recorder or minidisc player, and
Microphone for recordings via a microphone, which is directly connected to the
sound card.
Via the two sliding controllers, you can set the Output Volume and the Input
Volume of the recording source. Both values can be set separatedly.
3.8 Working with shortcuts
If you work with the programme often, you should learn the different shortcuts,
with which you can w ork considerably faster. You can see the shortcuts on the one
hand behind the individual menu commands as well as in the Preferences (menu
command Edit> Preferences or shortcut Ctrl + p\ where you can also carry out
individual customizations and extensions. To give you a better overview, the
commands are displayed here in the alphabetical order of its functions:
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Working with shortcuts
1 Key or shortcut	Function
Ctrl + M	Add Label At Playback Position
Ctrl + В	Add Label At Selection
Ctrl + Shift + N	Add New Audio Track
Ctrl + W	Close
Ctrl + Shift + C	Collapse All Tracks
Ctrl + C	Copy
Ctrl +X	Cut
Ctrl + К	Delete
Ctrl + Alt + J	Detach at Silences
Ctrl + D	Duplicate
Ctrl + Q	Exit
Ctrl + Shift + X	Expand All Tracks
Z	Find Zero Crossings
Ctrl + F	Fit in Window
Ctrl + Shift + F	Fit Vertically
Ctrl + Shift + 1	Import Audio
Ctrl + J	Join
Alt * L	Labeled Regions Silence
Ctrl + Shift + M	Mix and Render to New Track
Ctrl + N	New
D	Next Tool
Ctrl + 0	Open
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। Key or shortcut	Function
Ctrl * V	Paste
P	Pause
L or Shift + spacebar	Play Looped
1	Play One Second
В	Play To Selection
Spacebar	Play/Stop recording
Ctrl + P	Preferences
A	Previous Tool
R	Record
Ctrl + Y	Redo
Ctrl + R	Repeat Last Effect
Ctrl + S	Save Project
Ctrl + Shift + S	Save Project As ...
Ctrl ♦ A	Select All
Ctrl + L	Silence Audio
Ctrl +1	Split
Ctrl + Alt + X	Split Cut
Ctrl + Alt + К	Split Delete
Ctrl + Alt + 1	Split New
S	Stop
Ctrl + T	Trim
Ctrl +Z	Undo
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Working with shortcuts
Key or shortcut	Function
Ctrl + 1	Zoom In
Ctrl + 2	Zoom Normal
Ctrl + 3	Zoom Out
Ctrl * E	Zoom to Selection
By default, the function keys Fl to F6 are assigned for the Audacity tools of the
corresponding toolbar:
Function key	Assignment
F1	Selection Tool
F2	Envelope Tool
F3	Draw Tool
F4	Zoom Tool
F5	Time Shift Tool
F6	Multi Tool
For the selection of a tool, you can additionally use - as noted in the table above -
the key D for the selection of the next tool and the key A for the selection of the
previous tool.
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Cut audio tracks via labels g |
4 Examples of use
In this chapter, some examples of use are presented, which shall help you to
become more familiar with the function of the programme.
4.1	Cut audio tracks via labels
Audacity enables you to cut audio tracks with the aid of the set labels. As shown in
chapter 3.6.2, Label track, labels can be set and deleted in completely different
ways. Amongst others, you can also set labels while listening to an audio track. For
this, you can use the shortcut Ctrl + M. This procedure is useful, for example, to
separate the questions and answers in an interview.
The following example shows, how you can cut an audio track via labels into
separate sequences. For this, do as follows:
•	First, import the required audio file via the menu command File> Open
respectively File> Import, or record a new file.
•	Play the audio track and set the labels while listening to the audio track
via the shortcut Ctrl + M.
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jp p
Audio track with labels.
•	Open the window Export Multiple via the menu command File> Export
Multiple and configure the storage of the individual parts here. The files
are now created according to the specifications.
The window Export Multiple.
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Cut audio tracks via labels
You have the following options for the settings in the window Export Multiple:
•	Export format: Via this pull-down menu you set the format, in which the
single files are exported. You can select between WAV, AIFF, MP3,
MP2, FLAG, OGG and other uncompressed file formats, if you have
installed an MP3 encoder. If you, for example, want to create an audio
CD, you should first select the option WAV, AIFF and other
uncompressed types as export format and then set the format WAV via the
button Options.
•	Options: Opens the corresponding window to the preset export format,
where you can set the quality. For the export format MP3, for example,
the window Specify MP3 Options opens, where you can first set the Bit
Rate Mode. Here you can select between Preset (given variable and fixed
quality levels of the data transfer rate), Variable (preset frequency range),
Average (average transfer) and Constant (fixed transfer rate). In the pull-
down menu Quality you specify the desired quality level. The pull-down
menu Variable Speed is only activated for the bit rate modes Preset and
Variable and makes it possible to choose between Fast and Standard. You
can select between the options Joint Stereo (here an algorithm is applied,
with the aid of which a higher quality can be generated at a constant data
rate) and Stereo as Channel Mode.
Specify MP3 Options
r MP3 Export Setup------------------
Bit Rate Mode: C Preset C Variable C Average <• Constant
Cancel
Set the MP3 quality'.
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£4 Examples of use
•	Export location: Select here, where the files shall be saved. Via the
button Choose, you open a window of your file manager, where you can
select a folder, and via the button Create you can generate a new folder.
•	Split files based on: Choose between Labels and Tracks. The selection
Labels also has the suboption Include audio before first label, which
causes, that the first file contains the audio files from the beginning to the
first label. By default, the track name is used in the box First file name,
but it can be adjusted user-defined. The option Tracks is only activated, if
there really are several tracks. \
•	Name files: Here you set the names for the individual files. The option
Using Label/Track Name adopts the names of the labels as file names,
while the option Numbering consecutively numbers the files
consecutively, starting with 1. The box File name prefix can be changed
as desired and correspondingly appears in the file name before the
respective name of the label or the numbering respectively.
•	Overwrite existing files: This option overwrites already existing files
with the same name without asking again.
4.2	Removing background noises
Smaller disturbances can be eliminated with this tool. However, this effect can
only process very small areas of a maximum of 128 samples. If you have marked a
bigger area, this will be pointed out to you.
It is often difficult at first, to exactly locate a disturbance. A good utility
tool is the button Fit selection, which fits the marked area of the audio
track into the Audacity window. This way, you can approach the required
spot continuously.
If it is a matter of clipping, the menu command View> Show Clipping also helps
here. In the following example, the fault position was found this way.
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Removing background noises
Troubleshooting via the menu command к/ен> Show Clipping.
The clipping is shown explicitly via a vertical red line.
Enlarged, two clippings are visible.
The area of the fault position should now be marked and enlarged accordingly in
the view via the button Fit selection . First, you should zoom in further to
see the individual samples, and then mark the faulty area for the function Repair.
Now, the effect Repair can be applied.
Now, apply the function Repair on the marked area.
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Examples of use
The repaired area.
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Appliance of effects
5 Effects
Depending on the operating system you work with, a number of effects are
available to you after the setup. This is, amongst others, due to the fact that some
effects have only been developed for certain operating systems. The built-in effects
will be surveyed in this chapter and, concludingly, the installation of further
optional effects will be described.
5.1	Appliance of effects
For those, who have not been working with audio editing for too long yet, applying
effects can quickly become frustrating, because often the desired effect cannot be
achieved exactly. Here the mode of operation, which will be described in the
following, can put things right, since it is useful to isolate an effect and then mix it
in controlledly.
In the following, it will be shown, how you have to proceed to mix in the effect
В ass Boost systematically. To simplify matters and for a better overview, we will
work with a mono track in this example. The procedure, however, can also be
adapted to stereo tracks without difficulty.
First of all, start Audacity.
•	Open an audio track via the menu command File> lmporf> Audio.
•	Mark the whole audio track by clicking on an empty spot in the header of
the track. The track will now be displayed siightly darker.
•	Duplicate the track via the menu command Edit> Duplicate or
respectively via the shortcut Ctrl + D. You should now see two identical
audio tracks.
•	Mark the lower audio track and execute the effect Reverse. This effect
reverses the polarity of the chosen audio material.
•	Make another copy of the original track by marking it and using the menu
command Edit> Duplicate or via the shortcut Ctrl + D. You should now
see the original track, the reversed track and the copy of the original track.
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Effects
•	Now apply the desired effect on the copy of the original. In this example,
we use the bass boost of 4 dB at 200 Hz.
•	Now mark the copy of the original track, which has been processed with
the etYect. and the reversed track by clicking into the respective headers of
the track while holding down the shift button. Create a new track out of
both of them via the menu command Tracks> Mix and Render.
•	Now play both of the tracks together and adjust the proportion between
original track and effect via the output level meter of both of the audio
tracks.	\
•	W hen you found the right mixing proportion, mark both tracks {Ctrl + A
or hold Shift + mouse click in the header of the track) and select the menu
command Tracks> Mix and Render.
This approach to isolate effects and mix them in systematically offers several new
Lind fascinating possibilities. For instance, you can apply effects on already isolated
effects or create as many effects as you want to. compatibly to the runtime, to mix
diem in precisely, e. g. via the env elope tool.
However, pay attention to the tact that simultaneous overlapping of many effects
can cause an amplification of the audio signals, w hich can quickly lead to clipping,
meaning overload. Therefore, you should preferably activate the menu command
Show Clipping. Clippings will then be shown as red vertical lines in the
audio track. You can avoid clippings by reducing the volume of all tracks.
5.2	Standard effects
Here, diose effects shall be examined closer, which are. by default, included in
Audacity. Many effects offer the possibility of previewing, the duration of which
you can set individually. For this, open die window Audacity' Preferences via the
menu command Edit"' Preferences and set the length of the feature diere widiin
Effects Preview
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Standard effects
5.2.1 Fade in/out
The effects Fade In and Fade Out offer no further setting options. They fade out
the marked area of the audio track smoothly to silence or, respectively, fade in
smoothly from silence. Alternatively to this effect, the envelope tool can be used.
The effect Fade Out
You can see the result even better, if you generate a constant sound via the sound
generator and then apply the effect Fade In or Fade Out.
Fading in and out of a constant sound.
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5.2.2 Auto duck
This effect offers the possibility to modify the audio track automatically, in order
to fade in another track. A new control track is necessary, which has to be placed
directly underneath the marked audio track, which shall be modified. This effect
can be used, for example, for announcements by DJs or for narrated translations.
I Auto Duck
Inner fade down length: 10,0000c seconds Inner fade up length: | o,OOOOC seconds
Threshold: | -30,000 dB
OK	Cancel
The options for settings for the effect Auto Duck.
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Standard effects () ]
You can set the following preferences:
•	Duck amount: Here you can set the volume reduction of the audio track.
The default setting is -12 dB.
•	Maximum pause: Maximum length of pauses in the selected track.
•	Outer fade down/up length: Sets the fading out and in before and after
importing the control track.
•	Inner fade down/up length: Sets the fading out and in within the control
track.
5.2.3 Bass boost
With this effect you can boost basses systematically. The chosen frequency can,
hereby, be increased by between 0 to 36 dB in the process. In the given example, a
boost of 4 dB at 200 Hz was chosen.
Bass Boost
by Nasca Octavian Paul
Frequency (Hz): pES ---------------- j“
Boost (сЙЗ): p2 ------------------ )
Preview
OK J Cancel
The window Bass Boost
The two settings:
•	Frequency (Hz): Here you set the frequency to be boosted. Possible
values are 1-1000 Hz.
•	Boost (dB): Determine the boost, whereupon a boost of maximum 36 dB
is possible.
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5.2.4 Echo
This etYect causes an echo, whose delay and strength you can select. The settings:
•	Delay time (seconds): Here you set the time lag between the original
signal and the effect signal.
•	Decay factor: In this array you can set the decay factor for the echo.
Values smaller than one cause a decay of the signal, whereas values
bigger than one cause a respective boost.
Bass Boost
by Nasca Octavian Pad
Frequency (Hz): [1ЕЯ ------------
Boost (dB):	------
Preview	OK I Cancel
The window of the effect Echo,
5.2.5 Equalization
W ith the aid of equalization, you can increase or reduce respectively certain
frequencies. For this, two different perspectives are available: one, where the
frequency curve can be drawn with the aid of the mouse, and the graphic
equalization, which offers 31 wave bands per 1/3 octave width. The settings can in
this case be carried out via sliders. Curves can be created and saved individually.
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Standard effects 93

Equalization, by Martyn Shaw & Mitch Golden
32dB
2 4 <10
18d0
12d0
6dB
OdB -
-6d0
-12dB
-18d0
-30dB
20Hz 40Hz 100Hz 200Hz 400Hz	1000Hz 2000Hz 4000Hz	10000Hz
Preview
OK | Cancel
Graphic equalization with 31 sliders.
The following settings are available:
•	Draw curves: Offers the view of the equalization, where you can draw a
curve with the aid of the mouse, whereupon the frequencies are increased
or reduced.
•	Graphic EQ: This view of the equalization offers 31 wave bands per 1/3
octave width, whose increase or decrease you can set via the available
sliders.
•	Dropdown box: Here you can choose between the different interpolation
methods: B-spline, Cosine and Cubic are available.
•	Length of fitter: Via the slider you can regulate the length of the filter.
The following applies hereby: The further to the left the slider is, the
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Effects
longer the filter, and the further to the right the slider, the more point-
shaped the filter.
•	Select curve: In this dropdown box, different preset curves are already
available. If you save a curve, you will, furthermore, find it in this
dropdown box under the saved name as well.
•	Save As: Opens a window, where you can enter the title for your
equalization curve.
•	Delete: Deletes the chosen curve.
•	Flat: Sets all wave bands to 0 dB.\
5.2.6 Change speed
This effect changes the replay tempo and at the same time the pitch. The values can
be set via the slider with the aid of the mouse or they can be entered directly into
the array. Furthermore, the different speeds of vinyl disc records are available as
default values.
Change Speed
Change Speed, affecting both Tempo and Pitch
by Vaughan Johnson & Dominic Mazzoni
using SampleRate, by Erik de Castro Lopo
Percent Change: [ЯвШ
--------------------------'—j	—
Standard Vinyl RPM: from |зз 1/3	"| to |зз 1/3
Preview	OK	Cancel
Change both tempo and pitch.
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Standard effects 95
The settings:
•	Percent Change: Enter the desired tempo change in percent here.
•	Standard Vinyl RPM from/to: In this dropdown box the most popular
replay speeds of vinyl records are preset in revolutions per minute (rpm).
5.2.7 Invert
This effect causes a phase inversion and does not offer further setting options. All
negative amplitudes of the chosen audio material become positive and all positive
sample amplitudes become negative. This effect can be seen very well in the
augmented view of an audio track.
At the top the original track and below the inverted track.
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Effects
Both tracks will cancel each other out and create no sound, when replayed
together.
5.2.8 Click removal
The click removal removes short pulsating background noises. Therefore, this tool
is extremely useful for example to remove clicks and pops, which result e. g. when
digitising vinyl records.
Click Removal

x
Click and Pop Removal by Craig DeForest
Select threshold (lower is more sensitive): JlSS — J* *
Max spike width (higher is more sensitive): pO -------------------
Preview
Cancel
Settings for the click removal.
You can set the level via the threshold, from which the filter identifies an impulse
as interference, while the pulse width sets the maximum length. The settings:
• Select threshold (lower is more sensitive): Here you select the threshold,
from which the click removal shall be applied. The lower the chosen
value, the sooner the filter applies.
• Max spike width (higher is more sensitive): Here you set the width,
from which interferences are taken into account. The higher you choose
the value, the shorter interferences are removed.
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Standard effects	у у
5.2.9 Compressor
The compressor has the function to reduce the dynamic range of audio signals to
obtain a more evenly volume. For this purpose, the volume of louder passages is
reduced, while lower passages are respectively amplified.
You can change the following settings:
•	Threshold: Sets the level value, from which the compressor works.
Possible values are from -60 dB to -1 dB.
•	Ratio: Sets the ratio, in which the loud parts (above the threshold) are
adjusted to the lower ones (from 1.5 to 1 to 10 to 1).
•	Attack Time: Here you can control the reaction rate of the effect.
•	Decay Time: Enter the length of the effect here.
•	Normalize to 0 dB after compressing: If you have selected this option,
the audio signal, which has been reduced after the compression in its
dynamic range, will be boosted to 0 dB again.
Dynamic Range Compressor
by Dominic Mazzoni
Threshold:	1	-12	dB
Ratio:	-J------------- 2:1
Attack Time:	- J------------- 0,2	secs
Decay Time: )------------------ 1,0	secs
P Normalize to OdB after compressing
Preview |	| OK | Cancel
The compressor for reducing the dynamic range.
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5.2.10 Leveller
The leveller is also used for the approximation of soft and loud parts of an audio
track. However, the setting options for the degree of leveling and the threshold for
noise are limited. For the degree of leveling, you can choose between five steps,
while you can choose from -20 dB in five-point steps to -80 dB for the threshold
for noise.
Leveller

x
by Lynn Allan
p Degree of Leveling
Degree of Leveling:
Moderate
Noise Threshold (Hiss/Hum/Ambient Noise)
Threshold for Noise: |-70dB
Preview
OK I Cancel
The leveller for the approximation of volumes.
The two settings:
•	Degree of Leveling: Here, you can choose between five possible steps.
•	Threshold for Noise: The threshold for noise can be chosen from -20 dB
to -80 dB in five-point steps.
5.2.11 Normalize
This effect makes it one the one hand possible to boost the level of audio material,
which has been recorded with a too low input level, and on the other hand it
enables the approximation of different audio tracks at a constant volume.
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Standard effects
Moreover, the effect makes it possible to remove direct current offsets, which
might exist in the audio signal.
Normalize
by Dominic Mazzoni
P Remove any DC offset (center on 0.0 vertically)
P Normalize maximum amplitude to:
Preview
OK	Cancel
The window Normalize,
The settings:
•	Remove any DC offset (center on 0.0 vertically): With this option, any
existing direct current offset in the audio signal can be removed. This is a
matter of vertical shifting of the wave form, which is often caused by
basic sound cards while recording via microphone.
•	Normalize maximum amplitude to: This option reduces or boosts the
volume until the loudest part has reached the given value. This effect can
be applied at most until the distortion-free volume of 0 dB.
5.2.12 Nyquist prompt
Interface, which makes inputs in the programming language Nyquist possible to
generate plug-ins. You can find an introduction about it on the Internet at the
address: http://audacity.sourceforge, net/help/nyquist
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5.2.13 Phaser
The phaser is an effect for the distortion of phases. Besides the slider, with which
you can adjust the strength of the effect, you also have the following setting
options:
•	Stages: Here you can set the number of stages from 2 to 24.
•	LFO Frequency (Hz): LFO stands for “Low Frequency Oscillator44. The
low frequency can be chosen here between 0.1 and 4.0 Hz.
•	LFO Start Phase (deg.): Here you choose, in which area the oscillation
begins.
•	Depth: The modulation depth can be set between 0 and 255.
•	Feedback: Here you choose a value between -100 and +100.
For the phaser, it is basically indispensable to test with different values. You can
set the LFO Start Phase in a way so that certain parts receive more or less effect.
Phaser
The distortion of phases effect Phaser.
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Standard effects ] () ]
To display the mode of action optically, a sinus sound of 440 Hz and an amplitude
of 0.8 is created with the Sound generator. Now the phaser with the displayed
settings is applied to this tone.
IIIllllllllllll
iiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Sinus sound before and after the application of the effect Phaser,
The wave form already gives a good impression of how the effect works.
5.2.14 Noise removal
This effect can remove constant background noise subsequently. The more
constant the noise is, the better it can usually be removed.
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| Noise Removal
Noise Remove! by Dominic Mazzoni
“Step 1 --------------
Select a few seconds of just noise so Audacity knows what to filter out,
then cfck Get Noise Profile:
| Get Noise Profile |
“Step 2----------- —	_ —Г“
Select all of the audio you want filtered, choose how much noise you want
ffcered out, and then cfck ‘OK* * to remove noise.
i
Noise reduction (ей): p4	I
Frequency smoothing (Hz): |150	— J------------------------
Attack/decay time (secs):	— |
P p |	| Cancel
Noise removal.
Initially, create a noise profile, which preferably only contains the noise you want
to remove, and then remove this noise systematically from the whole signal. You
can edit the following settings:
• Get Noise Profile: First, mark an area of the audio track, which
preferably only contains the noise you want to reduce, and then select the
button Get Noise Profile.
• Noise reduction (dB): Here you set the amount of noise reduction in dB.
• Frequency smoothing (Hz): Smooths the displayed frequency from 1 to
1,000 Hz.
• Attack/decay time (secs): Here you set the attack and decay time.
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Standard effects | 93
5.2.15 Repair
Minor disturbances can be repaired with this tool. However, this effect can only
process very short marked areas of up to 128 samples. This feature is described in
detail in chapter 4.2, Removing background noises.
5.2.16 Reverse
This effect records the marked area reversely and does not offer further setting
options. Try it out with a reverse spoken word or sentence.
5.2.17 Truncate silence
This effect offers the possibility to create evenly measured pauses by removing
periods of silence, which exceed a certain length.
Truncate Silence
by Lynn Allan
Max silence duration:
[ 40dB
2d
milliseconds
Threshold for silence:
Preview
OK | Cancel
The effect Truncate Silence.
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The two settings:
•	Max silence duration: Here you can set the maximum length of a silence
period for the marked area.
•	Threshold for silence: Here you set the threshold, from which it is
considered silence.
5.2.18 Change tempo
With the aid of this effect, you modify the replay tempo without changing the
pitch. In this connection, the length of the marked selection will change
accordingly.
Change Tempo
Change Tempo without Changing Pitch
by Vaughan Johnson & Dominic Mazzoni
using Sound!ouch, by Olli Parviainen
Percent Change: | -6.000
-------------------------)	
Beats per minute: from |	to [
Length (seconds): from |б	--Ч to | 677.60
Preview |	OK | Cancel
Change tempo without changing pitch.
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Standard effects | Q5
You can edit the following settings:
•	Percent Change: Enter the desired change of tempo in percent here.
Slower replay requires a negative value.
•	Beats per minute: Here you can enter the tempo change via beats per
minute (bpm).
•	Length (seconds): Shows the change of the runtime length. In the first
box, you can see the original length, while the second box shows the new
length after applying the effect. You can also edit the second box freely,
whereby the change will automatically be calculated in percent.
5.2.19 Change pitch
This effect offers the possibility to modify the pitch without changing speed. In this
context, you can enter your values in notes, semitones, the frequency change or the
change in percent.
Change Pitch
Change Pitch without Changing Tempo
by Vaughan Johnson & Dominic Mazzoni
using Sound!ouch, by Olli Parviainen
Pitch: From: [f
<• Up
C Down
Semitones (half-steps): 17.00
Frequency (Hz): from 186.301
Percent Change: ] 49.831
to 1 129.306
-------------------------------------J-----------------------
Preview	OK	Cancel
Changes the pitch without changing tempo.
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The settings in detail:
•	Pitch You can set the change of the pitch in notes in these boxes.
Additionally, you have to specify. if the result shall be higher (up) or
lower (down).
•	Semitones (half-steps): You can enter the change of the pitch via this box
in semitones. You obtain lower pitches by entering a negative value.
•	Frequencv (Hz): In these boxes, you can exactly set the change of
frequency in Hz.
•	Percent Change: Enter a change in percent here. This box is freely
editable, but can. moreover. also be set via the slider below.
5.2.20 Amplify
This effect can both amplify and reduce (negative amplification) the volume of an
audio signal.
Amplifying or reducing volume.
Three settings are available:
Amplification (dB): Enter the amplification or reduction (negative value)
in decibel here by directly editing the box or by using the slider. The new
peak amplitude will be calculated automatically.
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Standard effects ] Qy
•	New Peak Amplitude (dB): Set the value of the new peak amplitude here
by directly editing the box or by using the slider. At a peak amplitude of
> 0 dB, you have to activate the option Allow clipping to start the effect.
The respective amplification or reduction will hereby be calculated
automatically.
•	Allow clipping: If you activate this option, clippings will be allowed. If
the audio signal would overamplify when applying the effect with the
currently preset values, the button OK to start the effect can only be
pushed, if you activate the option Allow clipping.
5.2.21 Wahwah
Similar to the electronic effect device for electric guitars or the mutes of trumpets,
this effect modulates the sound frequency. The effect is correctly called wah-wah.
The unconventional effect Wahwah.
The settings of the effect:
•	LFO Frequency (Hz): LFO stands for “Low Frequency Oscillator44. The
low frequency can here be chosen between 0.1 and 4.0 Hz.
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•	LFO Start Phase (deg.): Here you define, in which area the oscillation
begins.
•	Depth (%): The modulation depth can be set in percent between 0 and
100.
•	Resonance: Here you define the resonance quality on a scale of 0-10.
•	VVah Frequency Offset (%): The frequency shift can bet set in percent
between 0 and 100.
5.2.22 Repeat
This effect repeats the marked area as often, as you want to.
Repeat
by Dominic Mazzoni & Vaughan Johnson
Number of times to repeat: Л0
New selection length: 01 h 56 m 46 s
Preview	OK I Cancel
Repeats the marked area as often as set.
The only setting:
•	Number of times to repeat: Here you define, how often the chosen audio
signal shall be repeated. The new selection length is automatically
calculated.
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Problems and possible solutions ] Qg
5.3 Problems and possible solutions
In this chapter, typical difficulties and problems as well as their solutions shall be
discussed.
5.3.1 Recording with interruptions and disturbances
After you finished a recording, you discover during replaying that there are brief
interruptions and creaks.
These problems indicate that the computer is overloaded during the recording or
the replay. This can have several different causes:
•	While working with Audacity, other programmes are opened, which run
in the background and, therefore, need additional main memory and
processing time. Pay special attention to those programmes, which
monitor nearly every activity of the computer, such as virus scanners,
anti-spyware-programmes or indexations, and close these programmes
while working with Audacity.
•	The applied drivers of the sound card and with it of the converter are
either wrong or outdated. This problem does not only occur on older
computers. Even brand new computers are often delivered with outdated
drivers. This problem can be eliminated by researching on the website of
the manufacturer, where you can also download the updated drivers if
necessary and install them. Do also check, if there is a so-called chip set
driver from the producer. If so, you should test, which driver is better
suited.
•	The accesses to the hard drive are too slow. If you own an older computer,
your hard disk may possibly not be able to execute the accesses with the
necessary speed. Before changing the hard drive, please check first, if you
can boost its rating via a defragmentation. Furthermore, you should test, if
the DMA-mode (Direct Memory Access) or respectively the UDMA-
mode (Ultra Direct Memory Access) of the hard disk driver is activated.
This mode causes, that the drives access the main storage directly and,
thus, save processor capacity. Using the operating system Windows, you
have to access the button System under System Control and then select the
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button Device Manager in the register Hardware, which opens a
corresponding window. A mouse click on the small plus in front of IDE
ATA/ATAPI Controller opens a list of the related entries. Select the entry
Primary IDE Channel by double clicking. Now you can set the entry
DMA, if available in the register Advanced Settings in the dropdown menu
Transfer Mode.
•	The main memory of your system is simply too small or the processor so
old, that it cannot process the requirements. If this is the case, you should
check, if an upgrade is possible and reasonable.
You can also minimise the requirements by adjusting the programme itself. Here
are some possibilities:
•	Reduce the sample format (sample range) and the sample frequency. For a
single audio track: For this purpose, open the context menu of the header
of the track and select the desired setting. You can change the default
values by opening the window Audacity Preferences via the menu
command Edit> Preferences, selecting the register Quality on the left side
and setting your changes under Sampling.
•	Increase the latency (possible from release 1.3.2 on). For this purpose,
switch in the window Audacity Preferences to the register Audio I/O and
set your changes under Latency.
•	Disable scrolling while replaying {Update display while playing}. This
preference can be set in the window Audacity Preferences in the register
Interface under Behaviors.
5.3.2 Recording has differing recording levels
You make a recording and detect, that the volume oscillates extremely. If in this
connection low parts are “lifted44 and loud parts are muffled, it seems likely that
your sound card possesses an automatic recording level. In this case, try to disable
this automatic recording level via the driver of the sound card. This feature can
e. g. be called AGC, which stands for “Automatic Gain Control41. Unfortunately,
there are several models that do not allow disabling of this feature.
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Problems and possible solutions 111
5.3.3 Recordings do not run “centred"
A problem, which often occurs with basic sound cards, is the fact, that amplitudes
in the wave form do not disperse exactly at the zero level, but lie below or above it.
This can be seen particularly well at absolute silences during the recording. It can
be suppressed with the feature Remove any DC offset (center on 0.0 vertically),
which you find below the effect Normalize.
Normalize
by Dominic Mazzoni
P Remove any DC offset (center on 0.0 vertically)
Г Normalize maximum amplitude to:
- pH) dB
Preview
Cancel
The feature Remove any DC offset.
___ .	*’ _ . - - —
Before and after using the feature Remove any DC offset
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Audio I/O
6 Preferences
With Audacity, you can start immediately after the installation to edit audio files,
since the programme is delivered with preferences, which cover most of the well-
established applications. However, if you want to execute very specific tasks, such
as listening to already existing audio tracks at the same time as recording a new
audio track, you have to set the respective preferences first. You can do so in the
window Audacity Preferences, which you open either with the aid of the menu
command Edit> Preferences or via the shortcut Ctrl + P.
The window is subdivided into nine indexes, which are given on the left side
(Audio I/O, Quality, Import /Export and so on), where they can be selected.
6.1	Audio I/O
In this register, the preferences for the audio streams into the programme and out
of the programme are set among other things.
The window Audacity Preferences.
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The settings:
•	Playback: Here you select via the dropdown menu the sound card, which
shall be used for the audio playback.
•	Recording: Select the device for audio recording via the dropdown menu.
•	Channels: Here you can set the number of desired recording channels.
In the area Playthrough you find two options, which you can activate and
deactivate by clicking onto the preceding small box. When an option is activated, a
check mark will be shown within the box.
The settings:
•	Overdub: This option makes it possible to play an existing track while
simultaneously recording a new track.
•	Software Playthrough: Play new track while recording or monitoring
(uncheck when recording “stereo mix“): This option makes it possible
to directly listen to the current recording.
Almost all effects permit a preview of the respective effect before appliance. In the
area Effects Preview, you can set the length of preview in seconds:
•	Length of preview: Here you set the preview time for the effect in
seconds.
In the section Cut Preview, you can set the period of time, which you want to hear
before or respectively after the cut:
•	Preview before cut region: Here you set, how many seconds before the
cut the playback shall start.
•	Preview after cut region: Here you set, how many seconds after the cut
the playback continues.
In the section Latency, you can, on the one hand, adjust the processing time and, on
the other hand, make corrections, for example to be able to record synchronously
to already existing tracks.
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Quality | ] 5
6.2	Quality
In this panel, you can set the quality of the recordings, of the import and of the
conversion.
The register Quality.
The setting options:
•	Default Sample Rate: Set the sample frequency here, with which you
want to work by default while recording or respectively importing. The
dropdown menu offers different popular parameters, as well as the
possibility to enter your own parameters in the box behind it via the
selection Other.
•	Default Sample Format: In this dropdown menu, you choose between
16-bit (CD quality), 24-bit (standard studio recording quality) and 32-bit
float (floating point precision format).
•	Real-time/High-quality: in this dropdown menu, you choose between
Fast Sine Interpolation (faster) and High Quality Sine Interpolation
(better quality) for the processing of audio files.
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•	Dither: You can select or deselect this feature, which prevents digital
distortions by adding a higher noise component. If you decide in favour of
the Dither, you can choose between different types {None, Rectangle,
Triangle and Shaped).
6.3	Import / Export
In this panel, you set the treatment of audio files.
The panel Import/Export
Possible modifications:
•	When importing audio files: Here you decide what will be done with
uncompressed files when imported. Certainly, it is safer to have a copy of
the file created than to directly play the original file. The two options are
mutually exclusive, i. e. only one option is selectable at a time.
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Import / Export
Moreover, you can select the option Normalize all tracks in project,
which causes that imported files are automatically normalised via the
batch processing.
•	When saving a project that depends on other audio files: The safest
available option is Always copy all audio into project, whereat all
necessary files are saved to the project. Do not copy any audio does not
copy any referred audio files, whereas Ask user leads to a query when
saving.
•	When exporting tracks to an audio file: Here you decide, wether you
always want to save the tracks as mono or stereo files.
•	Show Metadata Editor prior to export step: Shows the menu command
File> Open Metadata Editor, before a file is exported via the batch
processing. This one opens the window Edit the metadata tags, where you
can change the respective data of the file.
f dif the metadata tags

Use arrow keys (or RETURN key after editing) to navigate fields.
Tag Name
Artist Name
Track Title
Album Title
Track Number
__________________________Tag Value
filing Head
- Clenching The Fists Of Dissent
The Blackening
01
Year
Genre
Comments
File type
Metal
audio/mp3
Add	Remove	Clear
Genres	Template
Edit... | Reset... j Load... | Save... | Set Default |
I__________________________________ . I____________________________________—-----------------
| OK ~j Cancel
Edit the metadata.
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Preferences
6.4	Spectrograms
This panel clearly shows the academic derivation of the software. Probably rather
uninteresting for most of the users, the options for the display form Spectrogram
can be set here, which considers the configuration of the frequencies of the audio
signal. To check the set changes, the display Spectrum has to be chosen in the
header of the track.
Audio I/O
Quality
Import I Export
Interface
Directories
Smart Recordmg
Theme
Keyboard
Mouse
; FFT Size
8 - most wideband
Г 16
c 32
64
C 128
256-default
C 512
C 1024
C 2048
C 4096 - most narrowband
Window type: j Hanning
Display
Г” Grayscale
Minimum Frequency (Hz): j 0
Maximum Frequency (Hz): j 8000
1
“3
Panel for the pro parameters for the spectral display.
The settings:
•	FFT Size: Here you set the resolution.
•	Window type: Here you can choose from different conversion methods of
the spectral analysis.
•	Grayscale: Converts the display to gray shades.
•	Minimum/Maximum Frequency (Hz): Here you set the frequency,
which shall be displayed.
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Directories | |p
6.5	Directories
Here you can change the temporary files directory, set the interval for saving the
backup copy as well as the kind of storage.

Aucko I/O
Quaky
Import I Export
Interface
Spectrograms
Directories
Smart Recordng
: Theme
Keyboard
Mouse
Temporary ties directory
Location: | C Uemp|	Choose...
[ Free Space: L31.9GB
Auto saw------------:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P Acto save a copy of the project n a separate fokfer
Auto save ntervai:	minutes
Aud» cache
П Play and/or record usmg RAM (useful for stow curves, but could crash with long ties or recordings)
The panel Directories.
The settings:
•	Temporary files directory/Choose: Here you set the temporary directory
for Audacity files. For this, you can edit the path directly in the box or
you can open the window Choose folder via the button Choose and select
a folder.
•	Auto save: First set, if Audacity shall regularly make automatic backup
copies of your files via the option Auto save a copy of the project in a
separate folder. By means of these backup copies, Audacity can restore
the last update, if the computer crashes while recording or editing or is
e. g. shut down because of a blackout. Therefore, it is strongly
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120 Preferences
recommended to have this option selected. In the box Auto save interval
you set the saving interval for the backup copies in minutes.
•	Audio cache: If you select the option Play and/or record using RAM, the
files will be left in the main storage, until the recording is stopped; only
then it will be written to the hard drive. Furthermore, all audio files, which
exist in the project, are completely kept to the main memory of the
computer. Via this option, it is possible to work fluently even with those
projects, which are saved on a slow data medium, such as via a slow
network connected network drive.'The user has to keep in mind, not to
open files, which are bigger than the available main memory, because
they could cause crashes of Audacity or the whole computer. Therefore, it
is strongly recommended to leave this function unselected under normal
circumstances.
6.6	Adjusting the programme interface
This register is divided into the four sections Behaviors, Language, Display' range
minimum, Modes and Show/Hide.
The register Interface.
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Adjusting the programme interface
In the section Behaviors you find these options:
•	Update display while playing: If this option is selected, the current
playback section is continuously shown in the programme window.
•	Closing last window quits Audacity: This feature is selected by default
and causes the shutdown of the programme Audacity itself, after closing
the last Audacity window via the menu command File> Exit or the button
[X]. This is the usual performance of Windows programmes. If this
feature is deselected, a new empty document will be opened automatically
after closing the last Audacity window. To exit Audacity, you then have
to use the menu command File> Exit.
•	Enable dragging of left and right selection edges: This by default
selected option enables the subsequent changing of a right or left marking
border. If you work in this connection with the mouse, the mouse pointer
will change its form into a hand with outstretched index finger.
•	Ergonomic order of audio I/O buttons: This option arranges the
controls more ergonomically to enable faster working. The following
figures show the difference.
Controls in normal order.
Controls in ergonomical order.
•	Automatically fit tracks vertically zoomed: If this feature is selected,
the audio tracks are automatically vertically fitted when opened.
•	“Move track focus“ cycles repeatedly through tracks: This option
enables you to jump from the last to the first audio track or vice versa via
the arrow keys when marking.
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•	Editing a clip can move other clips: This by default selected feature
causes that independent clips, which are to the right of a cut in the same
audio track, shift to the left by the length of the cut marking.
•	Select all audio in project, if none selected: This option is selected by
default. It causes, that work steps, which need a selection such as effects,
are applied onto the whole project by default, as long as no explicit
selection in the form of a marking has been made.
•	Beep on completion of longer activities: After the completion of longer
activities, an acoustic signal is generated to indicate the end of the
processing to the user. In Windows, the acoustic signal only sounds, if the
playback of an programme activity Standard Sound Alert is activated in
the system control at Sounds and Audio Devices.
•	Language: Select the desired language via the pull-down menu. For a
correct display of the language, a respective font has to be installed where
necessary.
•	Display range minimum: meters and ‘Waveform (dB)‘: Hereby, you
set the display of the vertical scale when shown in Wave form (dB),
whereat the chosen value represents the zero level.
•	Enable cut lines: If this option is selected, so-called cut lines are shown
when using the feature Cut at those positions, where audio files have been
cut out of the audio track. By clicking onto the cut line with the left mouse
button, the respective cut can be undone. If you click onto the cut line
with the right mouse button, the cut line is removed.
•	Show warnings about temp files: Usually, it will be pointed out to you at
every programme start, if there still are temporary files in the Audacity
folder, e. g. after a crash or a blackout. You can turn this off here. This
setting is mainly interesting for developers of Audacity and of no
importance for the normal usage of the programme.
•	Show prompt to save, even if project is empty: This option is selected
by default and causes, that you are asked if you also want to save empty
projects. It is usually not necessary to change this setting.
•	Show Welcome Message at program start up: If this option is selected,
the window Welcome to Audacity will be shown at every start of the
programme.
•	CleanSpeech Mode (Customized GUI): This option expands the control
tools to one more button, via which the batch processing Clean Speech
can be accessed. Furthermore, several features and surface elements of
Audacity are adjusted to provide an optimised workflow for the
corrections of speech recordings.
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Keyboard 123
н >	4i ;> ц <«•
Controls with clean speech button.
6.7	Keyboard
Many programmes offer by now the possibility to set own shortcuts for certain
commands. In Audacity, you can set these preferences in the register Keyboard in
the preferences window. You will especially appreciate this feature, if you work,
for example, with a notebook.
Audio I/O
Quaky
Import / Export
Interface
 Spectrograms
Directories
Smart Recording
Theme
Mouse
Command______________________________[ Key Combination
New	Ctrl+N
Open...	Ctrl+O
Close	CtrkW
Save Project	Ctrl+S
Save Project As...
Save Compressed Copy of Project...
Check Dependencies...
Open Metadata Ecfitor..
Import Audio.,.	Ctrl+Shft+1
• Import Labels...
Import MIDI...
Import Raw Data...
i Export...
i Export Selection...
Export Labels...
Export Muitple .
Export MIDI...
Defaults | Save... | Load... |
Setting your own shortcuts.
You apply your own keyboard shortcut like this:
•	First mark the action, for which you want to allocate a shortcut.
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124 Preferences
•	Place the mouse pointer into the empty box (in the picture above the box,
where the entry Ctrl + Alt + M is located) directly underneath the table of
shortcuts.
•	Select the desired shortcut on your keyboard
•	Choose the button Set. The shortcut will now be displayed behind the
command in the column Key Combination.
•	Close the window via the button OK.
To delete a shortcut, first mark the command and then choose the button Clear.
You can, furthermore, import or export complete command lists as XML-files via
the buttons Save and Load. If you want to restore the original status of shortcuts,
choose the button Defaults.
6.8	Mouse setup
You get a good overview over the different editing options with the mouse in this
register, although you cannot set any preferences.
Audio I/O
Quaky
Import / Export
Interface
Spectrograms
Director»»
Smart Recording
Theme
Keyboard
Mouse &ndr>gs (default values, not configurable) —-—
Tod |	Command Action | Buttons
Select	Set Selection Point left-Click
Select	Set Selection Range left-Drag
Select	Extend Selection Range Shf t-Left-Click
Select	Select Ckp or Entire Track Lett-Double-Click
Select	Set Selection Point and Play Ctrl-Left-Ckk
Zoom	Zoom in on Point Left-Ckk
Zoom	Zoom in on a Range Left-Drag
Zoom	Zoom out one step Rght-Скск
Zoom	Zoom in on a Range Right-Drag
Zoom	Zoom out on a Range Shift-Drag
Zoom	Zoom defaut Middle-Clicl
Time-Shift Time shit dip or move up/down between tracks Left-Drag
Time-Shtft	Time shift ad dips in track Shtft-Left Drag
Time-Shift	Move dip up/down between tracks Ctrl-Left-Drag
Envelope	Change Amplification Envelope Left-Drag
Pencil	Change Sample Left-Click
Репей	Smooth at Sample Alt-Left-Ckk
Pencil	Change Several Samples Left-Drag
Репей	Change ONE Sample only Ctrl-Left-Drag
Multi	Set Selection Point Left-Ckk
Multi	Set Selection Range Left-Drag
Multi	Zoom out one step Right Ckk
Multi	Zoom m on a Range Right-Drag
Working faster with the aid of the mouse.
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Mouse setup 125
Here you will surely find one suggestion or another, on how to reach a desired
result faster.
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126 Preferences
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File 127
7 Command list
In the following, the individual menu commands will be explained.
7.1 File
Menu command	Function
New	Opens a new programme window.
Open...	Opens the window Select one or more audio files..., where you can select one or more files, which shall be opened in Audacity. If you select several files, every file will be opened in a separate programme window.
Close	Closes the current project. If there are still unsaved changes in the project, you will be asked for your own safety, if you want to save these changes.
Save Project	Saves the current project. If the project has not yet been saved as an AUP-file (Audacity Project File), the window Save Project As... will be opened, where you can set the memory location and title of the project.
Save	Project As...	Opens the window Save Project As..., where you can set the memory location and title of the project.
Check Dependencies...	Checks, if all dependencies of the project are fulfilled. If Audacity does not find all dependencies fulfilled, an error warning will be displayed in the window Audacity Error. If you confirm the window with the button OK, different procedures will be offered in the window Warning.
Open Metadata Editor...	Opens the window Edit the metadata tags, where you can allocate different given metadata to the project as well as
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Command list
Menu command	Function
	create further own ones.
Import...	Opens a submenu, where you can choose between the following contents, which you can import: Audio, Labels, MIDI and Raw Data. X
Export...	Opens the window Export File, where you can set the memory location and file format for your project. You can choose between the file formats WAV, AIFF, OGG, FLAC, MP2 and, if the МРЗ-Encoder LAME is installed, even MP3.
Export Selection...	Opens the window Export File, where you can set the memory location and file format for your selection. You can choose between the file formats WAV, AIFF, OGG, FLAC, MP2 and, if the МРЗ-Encoder LAME is installed, even MP3.
Export Labels...	Opens the window Export Labels As, via which you can save your label(s) in the TXT-format.
Export Multiple...	Opens the corresponding window, via which the project can be saved separately on the basis of the set labels or the existing audio tracks.
Apply Chain...	Offers the possibility to apply a defined chain to one or several files.
Edit Chains...	Opens the corresponding window, where you can enter the instructions for a chain with support of graphic aids and appliances.
Page Setup...	Opens the corresponding window, where you can adjust your printed page.
Print...	Opens the window Print, via which you can adjust various print settings.
Exit	Exits the programme Audacity.
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7.2 Edit
Menu command	Function
Undo	Via this menu command, you undo the last work step.
Redo	Via this menu command, you redo the work step, which you undid before.
Cut	With this feature, the marked files or tracks are cut and copied to the clipboard.
Split Cut	Cuts the marked section of a track and splits the clip at the according positions.
Copy	Copies the marked section to the clipboard.
Paste	Pastes the content of the clipboard.
Trim	Deletes all areas, which are not marked.
Delete	Deletes the entire track or the marked section of the track respectively.
Split Delete	Deletes the marked section and splits the track into two clips, which can now be shifted independently.
Silence Audio	Converts the marked section into silence. Thus, the track remains unchanged in its length.
Split	Splits the track into two clips, which can now be shifted independently.
Split New	Cuts the marked section and moves it into a new audio track, which is created in the same window underneath the already existing track.
Join	Joins the clips of the audio track at the current position. Possibly missing parts are filled with silence.
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Command list
Detach at Silences	Offers the opportunity to split an audio track automatically at silences and, thus, to divide it into several clips.
Duplicate	Copies the marked section or the entire marked audio track respectively into a new audio track, which is created underneath the already Existing audio track.
Labeled Regions...	Opens a submenu, where you find the following features: Cut, Split Cut, Copy, Delete, Split Delete, Silence, Split, Join, Detach at Silences.
Select...	Opens a submenu, where you define, which selection shall be made. You can choose between All, None, Left at Playback Position (opens the window Set Left Selection Bound, where you can set the starting position of the selection), Right at Playback Position (opens the window Set Right Selection Bound, where you can set the ending position of the selection), Track Start to Cursor, Cursor to Track End.
Find Zero Crossings	Automatically finds positions in the audio material, whose amplitude is zero. Thus, interferences are eliminated while cutting, which can be caused by suddenly emerging changes of the amplitude.
Move Cursor...	This menu command helps to set the cursor exactly to certain positions. Choose in the submenu between to Selection Start, to Selection End, to Track Start, to Track End.
Region Save	This command offers the possibility to save a selection, which can be retrieved later via the menu command Region Restore.
Region Restore	Restores a previously deleted selection.
Play Region	The submenu offers you the commands Lock and Unlock. If you select Lock, the double arrow, which shows the selection, will be displayed in red and remains, for example, if you shift the audio track below. The command Unlock removes the locking.
Preferences...	Opens the window Audacity Preferences, where you can
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View 13|
Menu command	Function
	make individual presettings. The possible preferences are described in detail in chapter 6.
7.3 View
Menu command	Function
Zoom In	Zooms in on the display of the audio track. If you select this feature several times in succession, you can finally see the individual samples and edit them if necessary.
Zoom Normal	Shows the normal display of the audio track.
Zoom Out	Zooms out on the display of the audio track.
Fit in Window	Shows the chosen project in a way, so that it fits exactly into the display window.
Fit Vertically	Fits the audio track vertically into the display window.
Zoom to Selection	Fits the selection (marking) via zooming in or out respectively, so that it exactly fits into the display window.
Collapse All T racks	Shows the individual tracks of the window in a space-saving vertical miniature display.
Expand All Tracks	This command switches from the miniature display of the tracks to the normal display.
History...	Opens the window Undo History, where you can undo single work steps systematically.
Toolbars	Opens the submenu, via which you can show or hide the various toolbars respectively. A prefixed check mark shows, that the bar is displayed. Via the option Reset Toolbars, all
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Command list
Menu command	Function
	bars are displayed again at their by default designated position.
7.4 Tracks
Menu command	Function
Add New	Opens a submenu, where you can select the type of the new track. You can choose between Audio Track, Stereo Track, Label Track and Time Track.
Stereo Track to Mono	Creates a mono track from the marked stereo recording.
Mix and Render	Mixes the marked tracks.
Resample...	Opens the window Resample, where you can enter the new sample frequency.
Remove Tracks	This command removes the marked tracks from the currently opened window.
Align Tracks	Opens a submenu, where you can choose between different commands to align the audio track. Hereby, the benchmarks can be the cursor, start or end of a selection or further audio tracks.
Align and Move Cursor	Opens a submenu, where you can choose between different commands to align the cursor together with the audio track. Hereby, the benchmarks can be the cursor, start or end of a selection or further audio tracks.
Add Label at Selection	Adds a label at the current cursor or selection position. If there is no label track, it will also be created.
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Generate ] 3 3
Menu command	Function
Add Label at Playback Position	Adds a label at the current position of the cursor.
Edit Labels	Opens the corresponding window, where you can add, change, import or export labels.
Sort tracks	Opens a submenu, where you can choose between by Start Time (on the timeline) and by Name.
7.5 Generate
Menu command	Function
Chirp...	Opens the window Chirp Generator, where you can create chirps. For this purpose, you have to enter a digit sequence in form of letters and numbers, set the amplitude (0-1.0) and the duration in seconds.
Noise...	Opens the window Noise Generator, where you can create three types of noise: White, Pink and Brown.
Silence...	Opens the window Silence Generator, where you can enter the duration of the silence, which shall be created. If you confirm the entry via the button OK, the silence will be inserted at the current cursor position.
DTMF Tones...	Opens a tone generator, where you can set the parameters for the creation of a sound. If you confirm your entry via the button OK, the sound will be inserted at the current cursor position.
Tone...	Opens an advanced tone generator, where it is possible to change the frequency and amplitude during the runtime of the sound.
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Command list
Menu command	Function
Click Track...	Opens the corresponding window, where you can set the parameters for a metronome-like track.
Pluck...	Imitates a plucked guitar chord, in which you can influence the pitch, the duration and the fading-out.
Risset Drum	Imitates a drumbeat with different manipulation options.
7.6 Analyze
Menu command	Function
Plot Spectrum...	Offers a frequency analysis of a previously marked audio selection. In this connection, different algorithms, sizes and functions are available as well as the option of an in-line or logarithmical display. Additionally, the exporting of the values into TXT-files is possible.
Find Clipping...	Opens the window Find Clipping, where you can set, how you want to search for clippings. Enter your parameters and start the search process via the button OK. The result is displayed as a label track called Clippings, which contains labels at those positions of the audio track, where the recording clipped.
Beat Finder...	With the Beat Finder, you can automatically find those parts of a song, which contain beats, such as bass drum beats. This works especially well for very rhythmical music, such as techno music. The Threshold indicates in this process the sensibility. The lower the threshold is set, the more beats will be found.
Silence Finder...	Opens the corresponding window, where you set, what shall be considered silence, and then search after these parameters in the marked section. This feature is, for example, quite useful to separate a recorded vinyl record
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Help 135
Menu command	Function
	J automatically into the individual songs.
7.7 Help
Menu command	Function
About Audacity...	Opens the corresponding window with two registers. In the register Audacity, the version and the most important programme information are displayed. Moreover, the different staff members and supporters are presented. In the register GPL License, the valid license is displayed.
Show Welcome Message...	Opens the window Welcome to Audacity, where links to short manuals are available, such as how to play back an audio file, start a recording, edit an audio file and so forth. Moreover, there is a link, via which you can download a full manual for Audacity in different languages.
Index...	If installed, the help manual is displayed. If no help file is installed, you are shown some options for downloading the current help file or reading the help manual online.
Run Benchmark...	Opens the window Benchmark, where you can set the specifications for a performance test. The result shows, how many tracks Audacity can play back on your computer simultaneously.
Audio Device Info...	Opens the window Audio Device Info, where you receive more precise information and performance data about your sound card.
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137
8 Download and installation
As already described earlier, Audacity is a programme, which is independent from
any operating system. This means, that this programme is available for Windows,
Mac OS X and Linux.
For downloading, visit the official website of the project:
http://audacity,sourceforge.net. Select the desired version, which you want to
download.
There are at least two different versions available. The in the versioning older or
smaller version (this is currently the release 1.2.6) is the officially approved stable
version for efficient application, while the newer programme version, which is
called the beta version, has not been completely tested for possible bugs yet.
Stable: 12 - for all users
Latest versions
/ Windows 1 2 6
Mac OS X
12 5 (Intel) or 1.2 6(PPC)
J LinuxAJnix
1.2.6 (in source code)
Beta: 1.3 - for advanced users
Latest versions
iff f Windows 13 7
Mac OS X
1.3 7 (Universal Binary)
Л Linux/Unix
1 3.7 (in source code)
Selection of the programme versions.
Additionally, you have the option of downloading the source code of a certain
release or the current status of a programme version directly from the CVS
(Concurrent Versions System), which you can then compile.
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Download and installation
8.1	Windows
You can use Audacity on Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP and Vista. For this purpose,
you have to download the respective installation file from the website of the
project. Open it via double clicking on the .exe-file and the installation assistant
will guide you comfortably through the installation.
Moreover, you will find the LAME MP3 Encoder for the creation of МРЗ-files, the
VST Enabler for the usage of the extension modules VST-Effect-Plug-ins as well
as the respective plug-ins.
Please keep in mind, that your hardware should fulfill the following minimum
system requirements:
Characteristics	Minimum		Recommended	
Operating system	Pram	CPU	RAM	CPU
98/ME	256 MB	300 MHz	512 MB	500 MHz
2000/XP	512 MB	300 MHz	1 GB	1 GHz
Vista Home Basic	512 MB	1 GHz	2 GB	1 GHz
Vista Home Premium/ Business/llltimate	1 GB	1 GHz	4 GB	2 GHz
The recommended values apply for tasks such as:
•	Recordings of about an hour duration, or
•	The simultaneous editing of three tracks with a length of 20 minutes.
However, if you want to handle more complex tasks, you should possess
accordingly better hardware equipment.
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Mac OS |29
8.2	Mac OS
For Macintosh operating systems (Mac OS), there are also different versions
available on the websites mentioned earlier. The version 1.00 is still available for
the operating system Mac OS 9, for which development has been stopped
otherwise. For the newer programme versions, you need the operating system Mac
OS X 10.1 or higher, or for the programme versions from 1.3.0 respectively the
operating system 10.3 or higher.
Do as follows: If you start the installation by double clicking on the downloaded
.dmg-file, a virtual drive with the name audacity-macosx-version number will be
generated. Open this drive again by double clicking and copy all files to the desired
programme folder for Audacity (if necessary create a new folder first). Then eject
the virtual drive. All necessary configuration files will be generated at the first
programme start.
Audacity requires at least 64 MB RAM free memory and a 300 MHz processor
and, for more complex tasks, a correspondingly better hardware equipment.
8.3	Linux
Audacity is enclosed by now to many linux distributions, so that you can install the
programme easily via your packet manager. Though, sometimes it is a slightly
older version. On the websites mentioned earlier, you will find the links to the
packets for your distribution. Alternatively, you can certainly also download the
source code from the CVS and compile the programme yourself.
The following listing shows the required software components to compile the
source code:
•	wxWidgets library: An open source framework based on C++ for the
development of programmes with platform independent graphical user
interfaces (short GUI).
Optionally, the following software can also be used:
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Download and installation
•	libmad: Library to decode MPEG-audio; supports MPEG-1- (Layer I,
Layer II and Layer III, also known as MP3), MPEG-2- and MPEG-2.5-
formats.
•	Libsndfile: A library written in C to read and write audio files in the
formats AIFF, AU and WAV. Hereby, the reading and writing of PCM-
files in 8-, 16-, 24- and 32-bit is supported as well as 32-bit (floating
point)-WAV-files and several compressed formats.
•	Ogg Vorbis (libvorbis-dev, libogg-dev): Free streaming-compatible
codec for the lossy audio files compression. Has been developed as an
alternative to the very common, but proprietary MP3-format. As file
extension, .ogg is used. Vorbis is in this connection the audio encoder.
This format convinces in comparison to MPEG-1 Audio Layer III (MP3)
through better quality at identical or even smaller file sizes.
Unfortunately, it still lacks the necessary hardware support by the
industry.
The compiling itself happens via the so-called autotools (autoconf, automake,
autoheader, libtool) with the commands ./configure && make && make install.
For this, the corresponding compilers like the g++-compiler have to be installed
first. It is possible that you might receive a corresponding error message, which
will point the missing software out to you.
Common problems
In the following, some already known problems and their solution will be shown.
You can try to find a solution via the Internet, if you have a problem, which is not
discussed here. Note in this context the URLs about Audacity, which you find in
the appendix.
C compiler cannot create executables
If you receive the message C compiler cannot create executables on Debian or one
of the hereon based Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Kubuntu and so forth, you
should enter the following commands as the user root:
apt-get update (to update the packet lists)
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Installing the МРЗ-Encoder | 4 ]
apt-get install build-essential make bin86 (installs the packets for compilation)
Could not find wx-config: is wxWidgets installed?
Using OpenSuse, the error occured, that the file /usr/bin/wx-config-2.8 has been
generated instead of the file /usr/bin/wx-config, whereupon the computer generated
the following message: Could not find wx-config: is wxWidgets installed? Is wx-
config in your path ?
In this case, it helped to create a simple symbolic link via the command In -s
/usr/bin/wx-config-2.8 /usr/bin/wx-config, to solve the problem.
8.4	Installing the МРЗ-Encoder
To be able to generate the popular МРЗ-files, you need the additional programme
LAME MP3 Encoder. Simply follow the corresponding links on the download
page in the section Further Downloads and download the Encoder for your
operating system.
Operating system	Audacity version	Name of the LAME MP3 Encoder
Windows	all	Iibmp3lame-win-3.97.zip
Mac OS X (PPC)	1.2.6	LameLib-Carbon.sit
Mac OS X (Intel)	1.2.6	Iibmp3lame-osx-universal-3.97.zip
Mac OS X (Intel, PPC)	1.3.3	Iibmp3lame-osx-universal-3.97.zip
Solaris 10 (SPARC)	all	lame-3.97.pkg.gz
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Download and installation
After unpacking the archive, you will find among others the file lame_enc.dll. This
is the Encoder-file. You can copy the file to a location of your choice on your hard
disk. When you export to MP3 for the first time, you will simply be asked for the
storage location of the Encoder-file.
There have been many different МРЗ-Encoders such as Blade, Shine, Audioactive
and GoGo-No-Coda for the different Linux distributions, but still Lame established
itself, nevertheless, as the quasi-standard even on these operating systems because
of its qualitative predominance.
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143
6 Glossary
A AC stands for “Advanced Audio Coding“ and is a lossy compression procedure
and in principle a further development of the popular МРЗ-file format. It was
developed in collaboration of the Frauenhofer Institute with the companies AT&T,
Nokia and Sony.
AIFF stands for “Audio Interchange File Format“ and is a file format for saving
audio files, whereupon no data compression is used. It has been developed by the
company Apple and is applied as the standard audio format on the Macintosh. It is,
so to speak, the equivalent to the WAV-format of Windows and is saved with the
file extension *.aif or *.aiff
A UP stands for “Audacity Project44 and is the file format, which is used in
Audacity internally and is based on XML. It cannot be read by other sound editing
programmes. To reach the highest possible speed for reading and writing these
files, the audio files are separated into many small audio files and saved in the
_data-folder.
CDDA stands for “Compact Disc Digital Audio44 and is an optical mass storage,
which is usually just called CD and which replaced the formerly common vinyl
records. The most common CDs have a memory capacity of about 650 to 800 MB.
FLAC stands for “Free Lossless Audio Codec44. Thus, it is a free and lossless
compressing audio format. FLAC is mainly used for filing CDs and spreading free,
non-commercial music. The compressing rate of FLAC partly reaches up to 50
percent.
GSM stands for “Global Standard for Mobile telecommunications44, is a standard
for compressing speech and is - besides telephony - mainly used for language
programmes.
Latency is the lag, which appears between input and output of a signal at digital
audio editing. This is caused on the one hand by the processing of the signal via a
programme as well as on the other hand by the signal path as such.
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] 44 Glossary
Macintosh HCOM is a sample format for Macintosh, which works with Huffman
encoding. In this connection, 8- or 16 bit-recordings respectively in mono and
stereo are possible.
Maud (Amiga) is an IFF-compliant audio format, which has been developed by
the MS MacroSystem Computer GmbH in connection with the “Toccata sound
card“ for the Amiga.
MIDI stands for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface44 and is the digital cutting
site for musical instruments and sound cards. MIDI-files contain control data for
these cutting sites, which are located on many musical instruments and sound
cards.
MPEG-1 Audio Layer III (MP3) is by now the best-known proprietary audio
format. It is a file format for the lossy compression of audio signals, whereupon it
is tried to keep the audible losses as low as possible. Provided that you have an
Encoder, you can save МРЗ-files with data rates of 8 up to 320 kbps with
Audacity.
Musepack or MPC is a file format for the lossy audio compression. Especially at
higher bit rates from about 160 kbps, Musepack outshines other formats
concerning the sound, because from this value on, usually a transparent music
quality is obtained. Music quality is then called transparent, when there are no
audible differences between the original and the compressed file. For this reason,
Musepack is an ideal format for qualitatively discerning saving. Musepack-files
have the endings mpc, mpp or mp+.
Ogg-Vorbis is a free and from software patents unrestricted open source project
for the compression of audio, video and text files in a multimedia container. The
file extension .ogg is used. Vorbis is in this connection the audio encoder. This
format convinces in comparison to MPEG-1 Audio Layer III (MP3) through better
quality at identical or even smaller file sizes. Unfortunately, it still lacks the
necessary hardware support by the industry.
Sun AU is a format developed by the company Sun, which is reckoned the
standard audio format for Unix and its derivatives. With the so-called “logarithmic
encoding44, it is possible to represent a higher dynamic region at the expense of a
raised noise level.
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145
Wave or WAV is a container format, which enables lossless and uncompressed
saving of audio files as well as the saving of compressed audio formats, such as
МРЗ-files. This format is also frequently called RIFF-WAV, because several RIFF
data streams can be encoded in one WAV-file. RIFF stands for “Resource
Interchange File Format11 and has been developed by Microsoft and IBM. It can
usually be found on portable recording devices (such as Dictaphones).
Aucacity compact
] 4g Appendix
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10 Appendix
In the following, you will find a listing of the most important online addresses in
connection with Audacity:
Official Audacity homepage-http://audacity.sourceforge.net
Here you find the newest programme versions as well as continuative links to
additional effects, MP3 encoders and more.
English forum - http://audacityteam.org/forum/
Tipps and informations about Audacity and audio editing with about 4,000
registered users. Here you also find a large collection of FAQs (“Frequently asked
questions ”)•
Audacity Wiki -http://audacityteam.org/wiki/
Collection of English websites with tips and tricks about Audacity in particular and
audio editing in general, which cannot only be read by the users, but also be
revised and expanded by users online.
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148 Appendix
Mailing list -http://audacity.sourceforge.net/contact/lists
Register yourself here to the mailing list and benefit from the possibility to get
answers to your questions quickly from experienced users. However, before you
ask your questions, you should search the archive first.
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149
Index
AAC Acoustic velocity ADPCM	17, 143 9 46	CD CDDA	11 143
AIFF	143	Change pitch	105
AM Radio	11	Change speed	94
Amplify Amplitude Analogue digital converter Analogue signal Analyze Appliance of effects Audacity Audacity forum Audacity homepage Audacity Mailing list	106 15 12 11 134 87 24 147 147 148	Change tempo Click removal Clipping Command list Command menu Compression C compressor Computer latency Control toolbar Converter Copy Cross-platform programme	104 96 85 127 60 17 17, 97 40 28 12
Audacity Technical Leadership C.nnncil	Я			24
Audacity Wiki Audio CD	147 15	Cut and paste Cut preview	52 62
Audio data	17	Cutting	25
Audio editing	24		
Audio I/O	113	D	
Audio technique	9	DAT-Recorder	11
Audio tracks	25,66	Different tracks	65
Audio-DVD A UP Auto duck	11 143 89	Differing recording levels	110
		Digital analogue converter Digital audio	12 9
		Digitalisation	14
В		Digitising	25
Background noise	84	Directories	119
		Disturbance	84
Bass boost	91	Disturbance	109
		Download	137
		DWVW	46
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150 Index
E	К
Echo	91	Keyboard	123
Edit	129		
Edit toolbar	33	L	
Editing audio track	51		
Effects	86	Label tracks	69
Equalization	92	'Labels	81
Export format	83	Latency	143
Export options	83	Leveller	98
		Linux	24, 139
F		M	
Fade in/out	88		
Features	25	Mac OS	139
File	127	Mac OS X	24
FLAC	143	Macintosh HCOM	144
FM Radio	11	Marked area	49
Frauenhofer Institute	17	Marking of audio track	47
Frequency	9	Marking over two tracks	50
Frequency spectrum	18	Maud	144
		Meter toolbar	31
G		Meyer, Markus	8
		Microphone	17,21
Generate	133	Microphone characteristic	19
GPL	24	Microphone types	18
GSM	143	MIDI	26,44,144	
		MIDI track	74
H		Mixer toolbar	32
Help		Mixing	25
	135	Mouse setup	124
		MP3	17
I		MP3 quality	83
		МРЗ-Encoder	141
Import raw data	45	MPC	144
Import/Export	116	MPEG-1 Audio Layer III	144
Importing	25	Musepack	144
Importing files	43		
Installation	137	KT	
Interference	65		
Invert	95	Noise removal	101
		Normalize	98
		Nyquist prompt	99
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151
Nyquist-Shannon	16	Shortcuts	76
		Silence Audio	58
О		Sound	9
		Sound card	12
Ogg-Vorbis	144	Sound wave	9
Opening files	43	Spectrogram mode	25
		Spectrograms	118
P		Split	57
		Standard effects	88
Paste	54	Stereomix	76
PCM	45	Sun AU	144
Phaser	100		
Playback	63	T	
Playback device	23	I	
Preamplifier	18	Tape recorder	11
Preferences	76, 113	Telephone	11
Preliminary check	51	Time format	38
Problems	109	Time track	72
Programme interface	120	Toolbars	28
Pulse Code Modulation	45	Tools toolbar	29
		Tracks	132
Q		Transcription toolbar	36
		Trim	56
Quadraphonic	16	TRS connector	21
Quality	115	Truncate silence	103
Quantisation	12		
Quantisation error	14	u	
R		Ultrasound	11
Recording	25, 76	v	
Recording chain	22	▼	
Recording tips	21	View	131
Repair	103	Volume	15
Repeat	108	Vorbis	17
Reverse	103		
		w	
s			
		Wah-wah	107
Sample Format	15	WAV	144
Sampling	13	Wave	144
Sampling rate	12	Wavelengths	10
Selection toolbar	36	Windows	24, 138
Aucacity compact
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wxWidgets
24
XLR
21
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Markus Priemer
Audacity compakt
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Audacity is without doubt the most popular free audio programme.
Initially being an insider tip, the editor has evolved into a standard
programme for the recording and editing of audio data.
Not least is Audacity responsible for the popularity of podcasts,
because there is hardly any other programme, with which podcasts
can be generated this easily and processed for publication on the
Internet - and that for free. It also speaks in favour of Audacity, that
the programme is available for Linux, Mac OS as well as Windows.
No matter if you turn your computer into a simple music studio di-
gitise your old vinyl records, generate ring tones or podcasts: for
a successful and trouble-free access to the world of digital audio
recording and editing.
The author has been supported by Markus Meyer, Audacity develo-
per right from the start Markus Meyer has also contributed the fore-
oword.