Audacity

Audacity is a free-to-use, open-source third party audio editor available in Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. There have been a number of versions of Audacity over the years, with the latest version for all operating systems being Audacity 2.4.2. You can use Audacity for Windows, Mac and Linux to record audio from various sources, and add effects such as trimming and fade-in-and-out. If you're keen to learn how to download and install Audacity for your computer, here's what you need to do.

Step 1: Download Audacity

On audacityteam.org/download/, the download page of the official website for Audacity, download the software by clicking on your operating system from the available options. (I.e. if your operating system is Windows 10, click the blue “Audacity Windows” box. If your operating system is Linux, click the blue “Audacity GNU Linux” box. For MacOS 10.7 to Mac0S 10.15, click the blue “Audacity MacOS” box.)

Step 2: Install Audacity

For this example, we’ll be showing how to install the Windows version 2.4.2 Audacity, but for Audacity on Mac or Linux, the following steps will be similar or identical. Click the underlined blue text to bring up Fosshub, then click on the appropriate link to activate the Audacity 2.4.2 installer (or whichever Audacity installer is applicable to your operating system).

Step 3: Complete Installation Of Audacity

When the installer has finished downloading, you will see it on the left-hand corner of your bottom toolbar. Click the box, and a popup will appear, asking whether you want to allow the software to make changes to your Windows device. Click “Yes”, then select your preferred language, then click “Next” to continue the setup. If you’re prompted to choose a file location for the software, you can choose to leave it in your “Program Files” folder or add it to a folder of your preference. Press next, tick the box to “Create a Desktop Shortcut”, then click “Install”. Finally, click “Finish”.

Step 4: Set Up And Use Audacity

You may see Audacity automatically loading on your screen once you have downloaded it. If not, you will find it on your desktop. Open up the software by clicking twice. You can then start using audacity to record an audio file immediately. If you’ve never used the tool before to record or edit audio, Audacity has a “Quick Help” option that you can access before getting started.

How To Use Audacity To Its Full Potential

Audacity has been the go-to software for just about everybody wanting to record music or create awesome podcasts. It’s simple to use, and best of all, it’s completely free!

There are a ton of options for editing sound effects or dialogue, and it’s incredibly useful when it comes to trimming back your favorite tunes.

Using Audacity to convert and assemble some audio samples is pretty easy to do. It comes with built-in dithering and works with the standard 32-bit/384kHz audio files.

If your goal is to import some music and mix or combine it with other audio files into a single rendition, then Audacity is exactly what you’re looking for.

Audacity offers an excellent editing option that allows for spectral views for analyzing the response of your frequency. This is also possible for sample levels and the spectrogram, making editing a file a breeze

Adding Special Effects With Audacity

If you want to record and add effects to your recording, Audacity has many options that work great and are super cool. Here are a few of the features and tools that come with Audacity:

Phaser
Reverb
Compressor
Wah-Wah
Adjust the Bass and Treble
Access the High and Low Pass Filters

You can choose from the preset EQ curves for Telephone, 100Hz Rumble, or even AM Radio is possible. You will be able to monitor everything you do in the real-time preview within the dialog box on the main screen.

Audacity gives the option to record in either 24 or 16-bit audio to convert or combine any of your sounds that you chose to drag into the recording box.

You can edit your audio files by using the cut and paste feature, or you can duplicate, delete, and arrange different clips all on the same track. There is an option for adding custom fades if that’s your thing.

As Audacity continues to release newer versions, you will find more features added that make this free software a must-have for anybody wanting to do their own audio recordings.

Converting Your Audio

One issue you will find when using Audacity is the editing is a bit limited. Once you make an edit, it can’t be undone or even tweaked unless you undo everything you’ve already done after that point. To be honest, that’s the worst feature for Audacity.

However, it is free software, and you can’t expect it to do everything as the payable software do. Just be mindful when creating audio clips and remember that patience is key! You’re now ready to convert your audio.