AUDACITY UPGRADE PERFECTS AUDIO RECORDING, EDITING

In what almost unquestionably is a record for time between major software upgrades, Version 2.0 of the popular audio recording and editing software program Audacity -- finally -- has been released, a full decade after Version 1.0!

To be sure, the program has undergone multiple incremental revisions over the past decade, the last being Version 1.3.14 late last year. But the upgrade to 2.0 signifies that all the nips and tucks over more than a dozen upgrades have now been polished and shaped to virtual perfection.

Whether you're a musician, a podcaster or merely someone who wants to transfer an old record collection to digital format, there is reason to rejoice. Audacity is a full-featured sound editing utility that'll get the job done for you. And it won't cost you a dime.

Musicians will appreciate Audacity for its multitrack recording features.

You can lay down individual tracks for guitar, piano, synthesizer and a few tracks for vocal harmonies. If there's a bit of time lag among tracks, a common occurrence when multiple tracks pile up, you can simply use your cursor to nudge a sound track along a timeline to correct the offset.

Want a little echo or reverb? The Audacity sound effects suite offers tools to accomplish that, along with a couple dozen other tweaks to embellish your creation.

Another feature I routinely use is normalization. I am conservative when recording tracks, keeping the volume down to prevent clipping at the loudest points. It usually leaves me with tracks recorded lower than they should be. Normalization corrects this with a single click, boosting volume with no distortion.

When timing is important, just click on tempo shift: This lets you squeeze or expand a

musical segment to fit a fixed time frame without altering the pitch at all. So much for the days of speeding up recording tapes and winding up sounding like Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Audacity can be used for the spoken word as well. Recording narration on one track, and music or sound effects on others, you can make professional-sounding company reports, school projects and podcasts.

Not a problem

When I created a test narration track at my computer desk, I had forgotten how loud the hum of a computer can be, especially with the microphone inches from my desktop.

But that was no problem for Audacity. I simply selected a moment or two of track segment during which I wasn't speaking, in order to isolate the distracting humming sound.

With one click, Audacity captured that sound "fingerprint" and then proceeded to zap all traces of it, leaving my voice intact and sounding as though it were recorded in absolute silence in a soundproof studio. Other distracting sounds such as outside traffic or a ringing phone can also be eliminated with this tool.

Using the labeling feature, you can mark key points on your soundtrack for future review. This is especially handy if you use Audacity on a laptop computer to record a lecture.

You can use Audacity to record old videocassettes or records. Tools let you remove hiss and click, and you can enhance the sound with a bass boost or, if you desire, removal (or near removal) of a vocal track so you can make your own karaoke recordings.

Popular formats

An optional free plug-in allows you to save your recordings to popular formats such as MP3. Industrious users can save individual tracks and swap musical riffs and vocals with distant musician friends (who also have a copy of the software installed) via email, and then paste them together in a single song package, as though you were recording together in the same sound studio.

For heavy-duty editing chores, you can always turn to Roxio Creator 2012, Cakewalk Sonar or GarageBand for Mac, which offer greater degree of control, fine-tuning and automation. But for the casual user seeking an introduction to audio editing, to dabble in home music recording or create a podcast to post online, Audacity is an excellent choice. The fact that Audacity is an open source, free program makes the deal even sweeter.

You can download a copy at audacity.sourceforge.net. Versions for PC and Mac are available.

Credit: Question or comments? Contact Peter Grad at [email protected]