9 Techniques
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Overview
The best way to minimize your time spent editing is to make sure you have the highest quality recording you can. But even high quality recordings benefit from some editing. Common editing tasks in Audacity that can make your podcast sound its best are outlined below.
Noise removal
Remove consistent background noise (for example, an air vent or static). A noise reduction process will take a sample of the noise and then reduce it over the entire clip. A noise gate will target noise when someone is not speaking and silence it. (You can adjust the threshold decibel level to eliminate most noise without losing quieter audio). Generally, it is best to remove noise first before you make any other adjustments to audio levels (and unintentionally amplify it).
Audacity tools
- Effect > Noise Gate
- Effect > Noise Reduction
- Select section with just noise, Effect > Noise Reduction, click Get Noise Profile, select section you want to reduce noise in, Effect > Noise Reduction, click OK
Silencing and cutting content
Edit your content, silencing and cutting portions that are not needed. Some podcasts remove all umms, coughs, and uhhs for a more polished result while others choose to release the more natural original version. Think about which style your podcast best suits.
Audacity tools
- Silence audio selection button (Ctrl+L)
- Delete audio selection (Delete key)
Compression
If your recording has both loud and quiet voices, a compressor can help even out the levels by limiting the difference between the softest and loudest sounds in your recording.
Audacity tool
Effect > Compressor
(good settings for a podcast: Threshold=-60db, noise floor = -40db, ratio=10:1, attach time = 0.2 seconds, release time=1.0 seconds)
De-essing
Sometimes tracks can have particularly harsh high-frequency sounds (such as the “s” and “sh” sounds. This sibilance can be reduced by reducing these high frequencies. Some editing packages have a built-in de-esser but in Audacity you can use the equalization tools to lower the volume of affected frequencies. (You can use the spectrogram view to find the frequency range where the sibilance is occurring. A spectrogram view can be accessed by clicking on the track name or the triangle in the track control panel and selecting this view from the track dropdown menu.)
Audacity tools
Effect > Graphic EQ
Effect> Filter Curve EQ
You also have the option of selecting the affected section of the audio and lowering the volume of that segment:
Audacity tool
Effect > Amplify and then try alternative negative values until the audio sounds correct
Loudness normalization
Once you’ve reduced noise and adjusted inconsistent levels, loudness normalization allows you to easily set the standard loudness of your podcast (in LUFS or Loudness Unit Full Scale).
Audacity tool
Effect > Loudness Normalization
Adjust to podcast audio standard of -16 LUFS for stereo or -18 LUFS for mono
Fading in / out, auto ducking
If you want to add music to your podcast, Audacity can help you smoothly transition between music and speaking.
Audacity tools
- Effect > Fade Out (for a linear fade)
- Effect > Crossfade Tracks (to fade out and in between two tracks)
- Envelope tool button, to precisely adjust the volume level across the track
- Effect > Auto Duck, automatically lowers the volume of one track when another is playing
Exporting
Once you are ready to share your finished product, you can export your audio from Audacity. WAV files are higher quality but MP3 files are more widely supported.
Audacity tool
File > Export > Export as MP3 / WAV
Use the default MP3 settings for a “standard” or “extreme” quality in Audacity. Joint stereo should be selected to keep file sizes smaller.
