Voice Music Project

This project will combine the skills learned so far. Open a project with both a person speaking and a music track. The goal will be to create a project where the music starts loud and fades as the speaker begins. The music track used is short so the copy and paste method was used to duplicate that sound throughout the speaker's audio portion. The upper track is the music and the lower track is voice. Notice that the speaker is silent for short times as well. These silent times will be taken out to create a better flowing voice.

Once the audio track is copied then the Envelope Tool was used to reduce the sound while the speaker is audible. In addition, the finished track will start with just music and as it fades the speaker will begin to speak as seen in the example. In fact, the music will fade completely out soon after the speaker begins. The speaker's track was moved with the Time-Shift Tool.

The speaker hesitates too long in several sections so those were removed by selecting the silent areas and choosing Delete from the Edit option on the Menu Bar. The silent section is visible as it is now highlighted to be removed.

Once the project has been modified and saved as a project, so it can be edited later if necessary, then export the file into the format that required. In the example it was exported as a WAV file. Note that when the file is exported the two tracks that were being editing will be combined into one track, a message to that effect will show on the screen.

This example was saved as a WAV file but other options are available.

QuickMix

There may be times when 5 or 6 tracks, maybe more, are in the project at one time. QuickMix provides a method to reduce the number of tracks. Open 6 tracks in Audacity. The first problem is the ability to view the track at one time instead of scrolling. click the dividing line between each track and reduce the size to enable a better view.

Enlarge the view for better detail. Select several tracks by using Shift+Click on the track panels, the far left end. Notice in the example that the bottom three have been selected.

Once the appropriate tracks have all been selected choose Project on the Menu Bar and then QuickMix. The result is that the selected tracks are mixed together into one track. An important point to note is that in order to move track around later make sure that the tracks do not overlap when they are saved.

Generate Sounds

One of the options on the Menu Toolbar is Generate. This option allows users to generate Silence, Tone or White Noise. By selecting a track or portion of a track these options may be selected to modify the track. Silence may be used to place silence into the track. Click and drag to select the time needed. White Noise will insert the “static like background sound” for a desired length of time. The Tone option will insert a tone with a desired frequency and amplitude. There are also 39 plugins that may be used to modify the track or create new portions.

Using Effects

There are over 250 effects that are available with Audacity. Space does not permit discussion on these however a few will be reviewed to give an idea of how easy they are to use. In addition, the only way to truly understand the value and impact of these effects is to try them out.

Change Tempo

This effect allows the author to increase the tempo or decrease the tempo of the track. The Percent Change in negative numbers reflects a decrease in the tempo and positive numbers reflect an increase in the tempo.

BassBoost

An easy way to increase the bass sound is to use the effect BassBoost. Highlight the section of track that is to be modified and then select Effect and BassBoost. Change frequency and the Boost to create deeper sounds. Be sure to use the Preview function to assure the right quality.

Changing the Pitch

Changing the pitch on a section of a track can have a dramatic impact. The pitch may be changed up or down as indicated in the window. The frequency change and the percent of change are also represented in the window.