Audio Editing Software Terms and Definitions. Audio Editing All programs should include play, record, cut, copy, paste and so on; this rating goes beyond the basic editing tools to include tools such as equalizers, processors, mixers, preset effects, filters as well as analyzing tools like the waveform or spectrogram. This particular audio editor software comes loaded with powerful noise reduction, audio restoration, and sound removal tools. With the help of this program, you can edit, enhance and import audio with ease. It supports most of the audio file formats. Adobe Audition CC Features: Stereo waveform audio editor is excellent; Helpful visualization tools.
To partially answer the question what is sound editing? I will say that if you have no intention of ever dabbling in the exciting, inexpensive and fun world of audio recording (it really is much easier and cheaper than most people ever thought possible), then I guess you really don't have to care.
Descript is a collaborative audio/video editor that works like a doc.It includes transcription, a screen recorder, publishing, full multitrack editing, and some mind-bendingly useful AI tools.
Let other folks have the fun. But if you are one of the curious ones, or have already started recording and producing audio, then audio editing is not just a good idea, it is absolutely and utterly essential..but still cool!
I don't care what the real definitions are of some of these terms I define in these articles. This is my definition. Audio editing is making changes to already-recorded audio on purpose.
I'd bet THAT definition isn't written down anywhere else. Let's examine it. It's always a good idea to get the best quality sound at the source, with good space, adequate equipment and good technique. If you get THAT part perfect, there MAY not be any editing required. But in the real world, where I believe I am living, those instances are rare.
How about an example? Okay, let's say you are recording your voice for a podcast or audio book. After the recording, you play back the result and notice three things.
Your 'P' sounds were too loud, causing that sort of 'splat' sound. Some parts of the reading are very soft, and others are quite loud. Someone coughed in the background while you were reading and you can hear it between words.
What will you do? You can always start over and do the whole thing again. Best movie mixing software, free download. Before computers, that would have been pretty much our only choice. Or you could fix all three problems with some audio editing software.
So you open the audio in an editor, like Audacity (which is open source audio software). First you zero in on the first place where the letter 'P' popped out too much.
You highlight that bit of audio on the screen and reduce its volume. You might also want to lower just the low frequencies there with some equalization (EQ). You do that to all the P-pops. See my article How To Fix A 'P-Pop' In Your Audio With A Sound Editor for more details on this.
Then you notice that there are three or four places where the audio looks like it spiked..was much louder than most of the audio in the reading, which was actually not quite as loud as you would have liked it.
Free Audio Editing Software
But you can't increase the volume of the entire passage because once those spikes are turned up a little, they will distort..very nasty. So you zero in on the spikes and reduce their volume (they shrink in size on the screen) to where it is closer to the average. Now you can turn everything up quite a bit without any distortion.
Finally, you zero in on where that guy coughed between your words, and you simply delete it.
Now you have fixed all the little problems in a matter of seconds.
ow you can turn everything up quite a bit without any distortion. Finally, you zero in on where that guy coughed between your words, and you simply delete it. Now you have fixed all the little problems in a matter of seconds.
There are obviously many more possible editing actions in audio. But with these tools you can produce higher quality audio much faster than having to re-record a million times.
There are lots of tutorials on the web that talk about editing techniques. At the Home Brew Audio website you can learn recording and editing and all nature of wonderful home recording stuff from short enjoyable video tutorials. Regardless of how you go about it, audio editing is vital if you work with audio. Now get recording!
Free videos from 'The Newbies Guide to Audio Recording Awesomeness'
Having to reduce audio noise can be a real pain. And recording clean audio can be tough, especially in noisy environments.
Whether it's background noise or less-than-ideal equipment, sometimes you end up with hissy audio. Luckily there is a free method to make your track easier on the ears.
Take a listen to what software noise removal can do:
Noisy Audio
Clean Audio
Before We Get Started: Room Tone
There is one tip that will help immensely with this process. If you are the one responsible for your recording, remember to record at least 10 seconds of 'room tone'.
Room tone is simply a few seconds of recording the natural noise of the environment in which you're recording (with no talking, nail filing, heavy breathing, etc.) Even if you can't hear anything, a sensitive microphone will pick up ventilation noise, computer fans, and more.
Taking 'room tone' will serve as a baseline for the software to remove noise. Having a section of room tone in your recording is always a good practice but if you know you'll be needing to do noise removal later definitely don't forget! If you don't have control of the recording process you can still usually find a bit of room tone in a recording.
You can find room tone in a break between takes or time at the beginning or end of the file where nothing much is happening and usually that's enough to work with for noise removal purposes. Android and macbook sync.
So how is noise removal actually done?
How to Reduce Audio Noise in Audacity
In this economy who wouldn't take the free option when available? If you aren't looking to invest in high-end audio software, Audacity is a free piece of software created and maintained by a community of programmers and audio experts.
It accepts a wide range of audio file types and has a perfectly serviceable noise removal tool. The one catch is it's audio only, so if you're working with video it may not be the smoothest workflow. More on that later…
Here's how it works:
How to reduce audio noise in Audacity
- Select your room tone or silent section from your audio
Drag your mouse over an area with no (or little) audio.
- Select Noise Reduction
Under the Effect menu select Noise Reduction
- Get your Noise Profile
Click 'Get Noise Profile' and the box will disappear.
- Select your entire audio clip
Select all of the audio that you want that background noise removed. Go to ‘Select' and then click ‘All.'
- Repeat noise reduction
Go to the Effect menu and select
- Listen to your clip
Make sure your clip doesn't sound muffled.
What the sliders do:
Noise Reduction: Controls the amount of reduction of your noise volume.
Sensitivity: Controls the range of what noise removal considers noise. The higher this goes the more your actual audio (such as voices) will be affected.
Frequency smoothing: The default setting is setting is 3, settings lower than this tend to favor music and higher settings tend to favor spoken word.
I'll tell you the same thing I tell my Uncle Mike when we go to White Castle: Go easy on the sliders! Small changes can make a big difference.
Reduce and residue buttons: Reduce is what you'll want for a good preview. It plays what the audio will sound like with noise removed. If you want to hear exclusively what the noise reduction is taking out, select residue and click preview.
How to clean up audio in video editing
Audacity is great for cleaning up audio for a podcast or music. But for vocal tracks in video, it's time-consuming to export your audio tracks, clean them up in Audacity, and re-sync your audio and video again.
It's not impossible but it's not the most efficient way to remove noise, especially if you've already cut up your clips in the timeline.
Camtasia (video editing software) has a noise removal feature built-in which is dead simple. It still works with your room tone but it's not necessary to select the section on your clip, Camtasia will do that for you.
The sensitivity slider in Camtasia works the same as in Audacity. The 'Amount' slider is equivalent to the Noise Reduction slider in Audacity.
By removing noise on the timeline you save the trouble of importing and exporting back and forth from an external program like Audacity, and it's much easier to make changes quickly.
Audio Editing Software Definition Computer
Next Steps
There are other programs with similar processes such as Adobe Audition and the very powerful Izotope RX5.
These programs edge into the professional realm of audio tools and allow you to go much further with audio sweetening if you're willing to put the time and money in to learn them.
Audio Editing Software Online
Just remember while software continues to get better at saving audio, doing everything you can to minimize noise in the initial recording will always be your best bet.
Audio Editing Software Definition
Editor's Note: This post was originally published in 2016 and has since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
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