AUDACITY

audacity

Audacity is a free and open source program used to edit audio files. In class we will learn how it can be used to slice and dice your music files, which can then be used in various multimedia projects.

Online Convert - A good site to use to convert files

As a general rule, when editing files of any type don't use the original. Make a copy and edit that version.

Zooming In and Out

Audacity allows you to zoom in and out so you can easily edit the parts of the song you need to. Click on View and choose Zoom In for more detail. Click on View and Zoom to Selection to zoom out and see the whole file.

Editing the File

Make sure to hit the stop button before making any edits. If you don't do this your editing options may be grayed out.

Delete Parts of the File

To delete an unwanted part of the file, click and drag to select the part of the song to delete, then hit the small delete key on the keyboard.

Generating Noise/Silence to Block Certain Words

Let's say you have some non school appropriate words in your music. To edit these words out we can generate a noise or silence to block them. Select the section of the file that has only the word you want to edit. You may have to zoom in close.

Next click on Generate and choose the effect you would like to use. You may have to experiment with the options of each.

Effects

Audacity has a number of effects that can be used. The ones we will most likely use are to fade in or fade out part of a file after it has been edited. Just select the part of the file to edit and choose the effect.

Merge Files Together

You may need to merge or combine two audio files together. Open your first file and select the section you want. Go to Edit and choose copy.

Next click on File and then New to open a new blank file. In your new window click on Edit and then Paste.

Now open your second file and repeat the same steps. Select and copy the section you want. Go to the new window (where you pasted the first one) and paste in the section at the location you want.

In the picture below, I've highlighted where my two files meet. Make sure they match up and sound well together.

Mash Up Two Songs

You can't stop watching Pitch Perfect and want to create your own song mash ups. The video on the side shows different ways to combine two songs. This video link shows a very basic way to pull in two songs.

Save vs Export

If you want to save a project and work on it later, go to File and then Save Project As ... Choose where you want the file to save to. Hit Ok if there is a box telling you that it will be saved as a .aup file.

When you are finished editing the file, you want to export it as an MP3. Go to File and then Export. Tell the computer where to save the file and choose MP3 as the type.