Ubuntu: Up and Running

Audacity Audio Editor

Audacity is a multitrack digital audio editing application. It’s not bundled with Ubuntu, but you can easily install it by entering “audacity” in the search field of the Ubuntu Software Center. Once installed, it will be available in the Applications → Sound & Video menu. You can also open it by right-clicking an audio file and selecting Open With → Audacity, which is exactly what has been done in Figure 14-10 using the file InTheCircle.oga, one of the supplied example media files.

Figure 14-10. Editing an audio file in Audacity

As you can see, the file being edited is in stereo because the left and right parts are both shown. Mono files have only a single track.

To edit sounds using the program, think of them like the tape of an old fashioned reel-to-reel recorder. Using the mouse, you can highlight segments of the “tape” and then perform actions on them, such as copy, delete, and paste, or any one of the huge range of effects, such as echo, fade, reverse, pitch, and so on, all available from the Effect menu.

You can even add more tracks to the editor by dragging and dropping them into the program, or by using the File → Import function. You can then edit them individually or as a group, from which you can create a final stereo mix. Resampling, overdubbing, and many other options are also available, as well as over a 100 specialist plug-ins, including comb filter, ...