Audacity Basic Editing Recommended Order

🌟 Audacity: A Step-by-Step Guide for Efficient Audiobook Editing!

Hello! This is ‘PHconlab’.

For those interested in audio content creation and narration, in this post, we will delve into the recommended order for basic audiobook editing using Audacity.

If you have mastered Audacity’s various basic functions, you might be wondering how to best utilize them to create the most efficient and clean audiobooks.

Through this guide, master the Audacity basic editing recommended order based on years of editing experience to elevate your audio production skills to the next level!

🎯 Recommended Basic Audiobook Editing Order: A Systematic Approach for Clean Audio!

Here is a recommended order for effective audiobook editing.

This sequence is suggested based on years of editing experience and can be flexibly changed to suit your working style.

1. Trim Re-recorded Sections: Neatly organize any sections that were re-recorded due to mistakes during recording.
2. Noise Removal: Remove unnecessary noise (hiss, hum, etc.) present in the recorded audio.
3. Volume Adjustment (Loudness Normalization): Adjust the average loudness of the entire audio file to an appropriate level.
4. Compression (Apply Compressor): Reduce the difference between loud and quiet parts of the sound to flatten the volume and remove distortion noise.
5. Insert Silent Sections: Insert appropriate lengths of silent sections at the beginning and end of the audio file, and where needed.
6. Clean Up Unnecessary Parts: Remove detailed noises like breathing sounds, lip sounds, and other unwanted sounds to create a clean final audio.

✂️ First Step: Trim Re-recorded Sections: The Core of Boosting Editing Efficiency!

Audiobook recording is often difficult to complete perfectly in one go, so it’s common to re-record certain sections as needed during recording.

Therefore, you must first organize the re-recorded sections using the methods learned before, such as clapping, leaving long silent sections, or stopping and re-recording.

• Trimming Claps and Silent Sections:

1. Locate the unwanted sound in the waveform.
2. Select the area by dragging with your mouse.
3. Press Delete or Backspace.
4. Review the edit and make fine adjustments to ensure the audio flows naturally.

• Trimming Stop-and-Re-record Sections (from the end backwards):

  When editing sections recorded after stopping, it is strongly recommended to edit from the end backwards.

  Editing from the beginning can complicate the overall editing process by creating gaps between clips when you delete or move intermediate clips.

  Editing from the end prevents such problems.

  You can delete parts that you think are too long, and for parts that you think are too short, you can slightly move the clip backward to get space.

• Joining Clips:

  When you have multiple re-recorded clips, it’s a good idea to join them into a single clip for easier editing.

  This simplifies applying effects like noise removal or volume adjustments and makes it more convenient to copy, paste, or cut.

  To join clips:

  1. Drag to select the clips you want to join.
  2. Right-click on the selected area and choose “Join Clips,” or use the shortcut Ctrl + J.

  This simple step can make your overall workflow much more efficient.

🔇 Second Step: Noise Removal: An Essential Process for Clean Audio!

No matter how quiet the environment you recorded in, there may always be subtle noise present in the audio file.

This is called white noise, and it can be particularly distracting when listening with headphones or earphones.

Removing this noise is the second editing step.

• Noise Removal Sequence:

  1. Get Noise Profile:

     Drag and select a very quiet section of the audio file that contains only white noise.

     It is important to select only the pure noise part, ensuring no breathing sounds or other noises are mixed in.

     After selecting, go to ‘Effect’ > ‘Noise Reduction and Repair’ > ‘Noise Reduction’ menu.

     In the window that appears, click the ‘Step 1: Get Noise Profile’ button.

     This process tells Audacity, ‘This sound is noise.’

      

  2. Apply Noise Reduction:

     Once you have obtained the noise profile, now apply noise reduction to the entire audio file.

     Press ‘Ctrl + A’ to select the entire audio file, then go back to ‘Effect’ > ‘Noise Reduction and Repair’ > ‘Noise Reduction’ menu.

     In the window that appears, use the default settings in ‘Step 2’ and click ‘OK’ button.

     The noise will then be removed from the entire audio file.

After applying noise reduction, you will see that the grainy parts of the waveform have disappeared.

The important thing is that noise reduction also removes noise from parts that contain speech, which can subtly affect sound quality.

Therefore, recording in a quiet environment is most important, and it is best not to apply the noise reduction effect too excessively.

Generally, if you recorded in a very quiet environment, applying it once is sufficient, and if the remaining noise is bothersome, it is recommended to apply it up to twice.

🚀 Creating a Perfect Audiobook with Audacity!

In this post, we’ve deeply explored the second step of the recommended basic audiobook editing order using Audacity:

noise removal. Know-how for clean audio noise removal, including getting noise profile and applying noise reduction,

forms a crucial foundation for high-quality audio content production.

Through Audacity, perform optimal editing and create clean and consistent audio to elevate your audio production skills to the next level!

In our next session, we will learn about ‘Volume Adjustment (Loudness Normalization)’, continuing our journey to master Audacity.