Audacity Basic Editing Recommended Order

🌟 Audacity: A Step-by-Step Guide for Basic 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,

specifically from ‘Volume Adjustment (Loudness Normalization)’ to the final saving step.

To create audio files optimized for listeners after noise removal, consistent loudness and stable finalization are essential.

Through this guide, master the Audacity Basic Editing to elevate your audio production skills to the next level!

📈 Third Step: Volume Adjustment (Loudness Normalization): Providing a Consistent Listening Experience!

This step adjusts the average loudness of the entire audio file to meet the standards recommended by audiobook platforms. We will use the LUFS unit learned before.

• Apply Loudness Standard:

  Select the entire audio file (‘Ctrl + A’), then go to ‘Effect’ > ‘Volume and Compression’ > ‘Loudness Normalization’ menu. In the window that appears, enter -15 LUFS in the loudness (LUFS) input field. Leave the ‘Treat mono as dual mono (recommended)’ checkbox as is, then click ‘Apply’ button to complete loudness normalization.

• Check Effect:

  When loudness normalization is applied, the recorded audio will be adjusted to the -15 LUFS standard. If the recorded sound was quieter than -15 LUFS, the volume will increase. Conversely, if it was recorded too loudly, the volume will automatically decrease to meet the appropriate loudness. This process helps standardize the overall loudness of the audiobook, improving the listening experience.

🎛️ Fourth Step: Compression (Applying Compressor): Flattening Sound Dynamics!

The Compressor is an effect that reduces the dynamic range of an audio file (the difference between the loudest and quietest sounds).

In other words, it reduces very loud sounds and amplifies very quiet sounds to flatten the overall volume.

This process also helps remove distortion noise mentioned before.

• Apply Compressor:

  Select the entire audio file (‘Ctrl + A’), then go to ‘Effect’ > ‘Volume and Compression’ > ‘Compressor’ menu.
  In the window that appears, there are several settings, but for beginners, adjusting only the Threshold and Ratio is sufficient.

  • Threshold: The reference volume at which compression begins. Only sounds exceeding this threshold will be compressed. Recommended values are between -6dB ~ -7dB.
  • Ratio: Determines how strongly sounds exceeding the threshold will be compressed. Recommended value is 2.5:1.

It is recommended to set all other settings to 0. After setting, click ‘Apply’ button.

After applying, you can visually confirm that waveforms that were distorting due to exceeding the limit are now compressed and flattened.

Compression improves the listening stability of the audiobook.

• Other compressor settings are not essential for audiobook production, so if you have mastered the content so far, you can confidently continue using the compressor.

⏸️ Fifth Step: Insert Silent Sections: Natural Beginnings and Endings!

When an audio file plays, if sound starts immediately, listeners may feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, it is good practice to insert appropriate lengths of silent sections at the beginning and end of the audio file.

• Necessity:

  • Sometimes the beginning sound may not play on certain devices or listening environments.
  • When playback ends and automatically transitions to the next content, an appropriate gap is needed between contents.

• Silent Section Length:

  It is recommended to insert a silent section of 1 to 2 seconds at the beginning and end of the audio file.

• Insertion Method:

  You can create a silent section by moving the Audacity track left or right to secure an empty space at the beginning, or by dragging to select a space at the desired location and using the ‘Mute Selected Audio‘ function. Alternatively, you can copy a section with no sound, paste it into the desired part, and then apply ‘Mute Selected Audio’.

🧹 Sixth Step: Clean Up Unnecessary Parts: The Completion of Clean Audio!

Once all major editing steps are complete, this is the stage to meticulously clean up any remaining unnecessary parts by listening to the entire audio file from beginning to end.

• Targets for Removal:

  Remove breathing sounds, lip smacks (‘click’ sounds), and other subtle noises.

• Functions to Use:

  Primarily use the ‘Mute Selected Audio‘ function learned before. If necessary, you can also use the ‘Amplify‘ effect (to be learned in the next chapter) to reduce sound, or ‘Fade In/Out‘ to create natural transitions.

💾 Seventh Step: Final Save: The Perfect Finalization of Your Audio Content!

Once all editing work is complete, you must either ‘Export Audio’ to create a distributable audio file or save it as an Audacity ‘Project File’ to continue editing work later.

These two tasks have different purposes.

• Export Audio:

  This is the process of converting the audio you’ve worked on in Audacity into an MP3 or WAV standard audio file format and saving it to your computer.
  It’s similar to writing a document in a word processor and then creating the final printout.
  Audio files exported this way can be played in regular audio players, but it’s difficult to meticulously modify or edit the waveform as you would in Audacity.

  • Path: In the Audacity program menu, select ‘File’ > ‘Export Audio’ > ‘Export to Computer’.
  • File Name and Save Folder Selection: Specify the name of the file to be saved and the location of the folder where the file will be saved.
  • Format Selection: Choose the desired audio file format, either WAV or MP3. If editing is not completely finished or you want to keep a high-quality original file without loss of sound quality, it is recommended to save in WAV format.
  • Channel Settings: If you used one microphone during recording, it is common to save as ‘Mono’; if you used two or more, save as ‘Stereo’.
  • Quality Settings: It is recommended to keep the default settings of 44100Hz, 16bit.

• Save Project:

  This saves the entire current state of your work in Audacity (recorded waveforms, track settings, applied effects, editing history, etc.) as an Audacity-specific file (.aup3 extension).
  This is like saving a Word document as a .hwp or .docx file so you can edit it again later.
  This project file has the great advantage that you can open it in Audacity at any time and continue editing work exactly from where you left off.

  • Path: In the Audacity menu, select ‘File’ > ‘Save Project’ > ‘Save Project’.
  • Caution When Saving: Audacity is a free program, so there is a very high probability of errors occurring when using the ‘Save Project As’ function. Therefore, when continuing your work, it is safest to always overwrite the existing file using the ‘Save Project‘ function.
  • Creating Backup Files: If you want to create a separate backup copy of an important project, the safest method is to directly copy and paste the saved Audacity project file (.aup3) in your computer’s file explorer to a different name or folder.

🚀 Creating a Perfect Audiobook with Audacity!

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

specifically from ‘Volume Adjustment (Loudness Normalization)’ to the final saving step.

Applying LUFS standards, utilizing the compressor, inserting silent sections, cleaning up unnecessary parts,

and final file saving are all essential processes 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!