This is to show you how to start editing Audacity audio. See how to do the basic audio editing in Audacity. Firstly you will also need to know that certain formats need the FFMpeg libraries. These two are the M4A or WMA formats. See how to install FFMpeg for Audacity on this website.
Editing Audacity audio
You can also download the Audacity editor on this website. Most of the issues tend to be where you have not set audio levels in audacity before you started recording. Firstly you will need some audio files to test your editing skills. See how to record on a microphone as well as how to record desktop audio. If the audio levels had not been set and the editing is not what you expected. Then see the article on sound level settings.
Importing an audio file
First you will need to import an audio file. You do this with File > Import. From there browse to where your audio file is located and import the file. Once the file has been imported you will now see the waveform for the audio in the file. The large areas which look like a ‘blob’ are the louder parts of the audio.
Editing the audio file
See on the waveform what you want to remove from the file. You will need to left-click on the area then while holding in your mouse key drag to where you want the audio removed. If you cannot see where it is then simply zoom in to the waveform. While active in the window you can use Ctrl+Scroll to zoom into the audio waveform.
Once you have the area selected. you can then remove the area by pressing Delete or Backspace.
Deleting sections of an audio
Much like the above where you edit the audio file. You will do the same and then instead of deleting the clip you will simply Right-click > Split Clip and you will have a clip inside the audio file. You can now move this around in the audio file or simply export the clip.
Applying Effects from Plugins
The Audacity software as you will know supports a wide range of effects and effect plugins. These can be downloaded, installed and then added in when you wish to export the file. Import the audio file and then click on Effects Menu from the main bar. Select the effect you wish to add. Tweak the settings and then Click on Preview. Then if you like it you can click on OK and then export the files. One of the most common plugins is the “Noise reduction & removal“. Also there is the using real-time effects if you want to add an effect to an entire track.
