AUDACITY REVIEW 2014
In general, one of Audacity’s best features is its simplicity. It is the
type of program that looks familiar at first glance due to its
controls’ resemblance to tape recorder or compact disc functions. Upon
opening, Audacity brings up a standard menu at the top of the computer
screen as well as a window containing the basic controls. Tool buttons
available include selection, zoom, and a multi-tool mode. These options
allow the user to select and manipulate specific sections of an audio
file with precision. Next to these tools are the tape recorder or CD
buttons: the standard Play (with a Shift option to loop), Record, Pause,
Stop, Skip to Start and Skip to End. These look and work exactly as a
tape recorder or CD user would expect, giving the first-time user a head
start on creating an audio file. Other controls on the main window
include volume, as well as input and output meters, all of which operate
as slide bar functions. There are also cut, copy, and paste buttons,
which work similarly to corresponding functions in a word processor.
Users create a digital audio track that is represented visually as a bar
displaying the sound as waves. This is useful for determining audio
levels, as well as finding specific segments of the track. It is this
bar where the user can select portions of the audio track to manipulate.
Additionally, Audacity supports both mono and stereo audio production,
allowing for flexibility in the sound of the final product. Users can
create single or overlapping audio tracks by recording voices and sounds
to a computer, or importing sounds, songs, or audio files from other
audio sources attached to the computer. Audacity allows for such sound
modifications as fades, filters, amplifications, pitch changes, and
speed changes, as well as specialty effects like reverb and wahwah.
Audacity also lets users combine multiple tracks, which is useful for
including musical backgrounds or sound effects under spoken word tracks.
All of these features are easily accessed between the buttons, slide
bars, and menu options within the program. Using Audacity for Classroom
Projects Audacity’s simplicity and partial flexibility make it ideal for
academic audio composition projects. Because the software is free and
the learning curve gentle, Audacity offers the user a quick-start launch
that encourages immersion in the creation of the project, not a lengthy
lesson in the software. Audacity is excellent for basic tasks like
creating audio files for podcasts, which can be used in the composition
classroom. In fact, after completing a composition section on
podcasting, one student, the leader of the university’s dance team,
switched programs from DJ Mix Master to Audacity because, as she said,
she spent more time with the music than the “digital stuff,” giving the
team more time to create and practice dance routines. Students seem to
especially enjoy the introductory portion of the podcasting section in
class because they are asked to create files and conduct trials with
various options on the Effect menu. These low-risk activities, not
culminating in saved audio files, allow them to discover ways to
manipulate sounds and mix audio. Audacity also encourages
experimentation because it has a ready Undo function. Any action can be
undone with a click of a button. The Redo button allows duplication of
effects as well. One potential drawback to using Audacity in the
classroom or elsewhere is that files do not work well off of their
native computers, meaning that files saved in the .aud format will not
reliably play on other machines, even with Audacity installed there,
particularly if the user crosses operating systems. One work-around for
this is to export the Audacity file into an .mp3 format. To do this, the
user first has to download a library file called LameLib, which is
available from http://spaghetticode.org/lame/. Once that file is on the
machine, Audacity will access it to export its file to .mp3 format, an
option under the File menu; however, these files cannot be readily
reopened in Audacity. Users will still have to reopen the .aud files to
make changes. Overall, Audacity is an accessible program with a lot of
potential for academic use. It is simple to learn and easy to use.
Personal and professional users of Audacity should find that these same
attributes provide a range of options to create audio that can be used
for websites, podcasts, or PowerPoint presentations. While it does not
have the range of an audio mixing program such as Adobe Audition 3
($349), or the professional capabilities of Digidesign Pro Tools
($1200+), it performs basic audio tasks admirably, making it an
excellent piece of freeware for podcasting, digital sound clips, and
basic music mixing.”
