AV News 177 - August 2009
Audacity - A Beginners Guide
J o h n S m ith APAGB CPAGB
They often say that in life 'you don't get owt for nowt' - well Audacity really is
a superb piece of sound editing software and what's more, it is totally free!!
Firstly let me say that if you have already bought and after reading the
instructions are now sucessfully using one of the mainstream commercial
products such as Adobe Audition or it's less expensive predecessor Cool Edit,
then fine - move on to the next article in the magazine. If you haven't forked
out all your pennies for any of the above and want to improve the quality of
your soundtracks then please read on!
Audacity is rather like PTE in that its development is continually being
carried out by a team of dedicated, enthusiastic programmers spending their
time to produce the best software possible. It can easily be downloaded by
using the link on our website at www.avnews.org.uk and you will find that
there are two versions available, a stable version 1.2.6 and an almost
completed beta version 1.3.7. By the time that you are reading this the beta
version may be completed and have become version 1.4.0
The first time you open the program you will discover a 'Welcome' page
inviting you to click on the various text links if you want to simply learn how to:
• play an existing audio file
• record your voice, LP or tape
• edit sounds
• save or open an Audacity project
• export to an MP3 or other audio file, or burn to a CD
There are literally hundreds of help pages available both from within the
program or on their website. If you're like me and usually in a hurry to get
started, you could try quickly reading 'Audacity for the Impatient' or maybe
'Getting Started Quick' to help get you recording, importing files, editing and
exporting your work in no time. Otherwise, the full Manual contains:
• Tutorials - walk through various common tasks in more detail.
• Using Audacity - fundamentals and concepts of digital audio and editing.
• Reference - explains every button, tool, menu item and dialog in Audacity.
• Miscellaneous - includes a