Editing Audio in Audacity

Editing Audio in Audacity

Audacity shows your audio as a waveform on a track - a visual picture of the sound. You select parts of the waveform and apply changes to them.

Core editing steps:

1. Trim silence and mistakes. Use the Selection tool to highlight unwanted sections, then press Delete.
2. Apply Noise Reduction. Go to Effect - Noise Reduction. First, select a section of background silence, click Get Noise Profile. Then select the whole track and apply.
3. Add fades. Select the first second and apply Effect - Fades - Fade In. Repeat at the end with Fade Out.
4. Adjust volume. Use Effect - Amplify if your audio is too quiet or too loud.

When you are happy, export your audio as MP3 via File - Export Audio. MP3 is small in file size and plays on almost every device.