Sound File Editing

Objectives

• Use Audacity to edit/splice a sound file.

Exercises

Edit using delete (works if the in/out points are quiet or similar)

1. Open Audacity and create a new project.

2. Import a stereo music sound file.

3. Use labels to mark the begin and endpoints of a section you will be deleting.

   1. Select the region to be deleted using the "Z" shortcut to find zero-crossings in the data.

4. Delete the section and verify that the edit is not detectable.

5. If necessary, undo and find different edit points.

• 1. Leave a label at the point of the edit, and save the project.

Edit by using crossfades (necessary for complex transitions)

1. Create a copy of the sound clip by inserting a duplicate track

2. Trim and shift the selections until the transition reason overlaps

3. Use "Effect->crossfade tracks" to create a smooth transition transition

Create a finished AIFF or WAV file for use in Q-Lab

• 1. File->Export

  2. Select File type: AIFF (Apple) or WAV (Microsoft)

  3. Give the file a name, and save it.

The edits in the completed file should not be obvious. They music, words and rhythm should still work.

Resources

http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Audacity_Wiki_Home_Page

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_oAr3JLFvObX3JFZDdGQ1FBQVU