In this video tutorial you will first learn how to export WAV & MP3 files using Audacity then learn how to enter and edit the file's metadata.
This video tutorial is a combination of both Tutorial 8 and 17. You can see a full list of the available Audacity tutorials at the end of this post.
Audacity Tutorial 8 - How to Export WAV and MP3 Files
Procedure:
In this tutorial you will learn how to export an audio file (MP3 and WAV) using Audacity.
It is good practice to regularly save your work when using Audacity. The best way to do this is to go to Audacity's FILE menu and select SAVE PROJECT. A project will save all your sound, slider settings, track data and other information about your project.
While Audacity project files are great while you are working on your audio, these files are not very versatile. Project files are not designed to be put on an audio CD, emailed, placed on a website, etc. When you have finished your project and you are ready to use your completed audio you will need to export your sound file, such as a WAV or MP3 file.
Before you learn how to export WAV and MP3 files, here is a little information on these two sound formats. An MP3 file is a compress file format. This means that in order to make the file small enough to send through the Internet a great deal of sound data is deleted. For example, very high sounds and low sounds, which are outside the range that humans can hear, are deleted. Other aspects of the sound file are also changed to make the file smaller. Due to this compression the quality of an MP3 file is quite low when compared to the original recording.
WAV files are uncompressed sound files. This means that a WAV file sound exactly the same as the original recording. The tradeoff is that WAV files are very large. In some cases, a typical WAV file will be 10 times larger than an MP3 of the same recording.
Follow these steps to export WAV and MP3 files:
- Open an Audacity project
- In Audacity go to the FILE menu and choose EXPORT
- Give your new file a name
- In the FORMAT pull-down menu choose the file format you wish to create (for this tutorial we are using WAV or MP3)
- Click SAVE
If you choose MP3 you can also click the OPTIONS button to adjust the settings of your MP3. When you are in the OPTIONS window you can experiment with the QUALITY (the MP3's bit rate) pull-down menu. A low bit rate (64kbps) will produce a low quality sounding MP3 with a very small file size. A high bit rate (320kbps) will produce a good quality MP3 with a much larger file size. Experiment with these setting to find out what works best for you.
Audacity Tutorial 17 - How to Edit Metadata in Audacity
Procedure:
Meta data is information about an audio file. Meta data can contain information, such as the song name, artist name, year or the recording and genre. This information is included as part of the file itself and is displayed by portable MP3 players and music software, such as iTunes and Songbird.
Editing the Metadata of a sound file is quite simple in Audacity:
- Open an audio file in Audacity
- Go to Audacity's FILE menu and choose EXPORT
- Give your file a name and choose the format you would like (for this tutorial we are using WAV and MP3 formats)
- Click SAVE and you will be taken to the EDIT METADATA window
- In each cell enter information about the audio
- When you are done click OK
If you need to edit the Metadata for several files you may want to create a Metadata template. This can be done by entering the template metadata then under TEMPLATE click SAVE. You can find and use this new template for new audio files by choosing LOAD under TEMPLATE in the EDIT METADATA window.
Learn Audacity Series
The following is a list of all the Audacity tutorials and activities found in this video series
TUTORIALS
1 How to Create a New Audacity Project
2 How to Open or Import Audio Files in Audacity
3 What are Audacity Tracks
4 Audacity Transport Controls
5 How to Save an Audacity Project
6 How to Record
7 How to Set Input Volume Levels
8 How to Export MP3 and WAV Files
9 How to Select and Delete Sound
ACTIVITY 1 - My First Recording
10 How to use Undo and History in Audacity
11 How to Use the Zoom Tools
12 How to Use the Time Shift Tool
13 How to Use the Change Pitch Effect
ACTIVITY 2 - Make Your Voice Sound Like a Chipmunk
14 How to Use the Fade In & Fade Out Effects
15 How to Download Sound Samples from the Internet
16 How to Use the Amplify Effect
17 How to Edit Metadata
18 How to Multitrack Record
19 How to Use a Click Track
ACTIVITY 3 - Multitrack Recording in Audacity - Beatbox
20 How to Make Silence
21 How to Use the Change Tempo Effect
22 How to Use the Equalization Effect
23 How to Reverse Sound
24 Stereo Mono
ACTIVITY 4 - How to Mess Up a Piece of Music
25 How to Remove Vocals from a Recording
SETUP TUTORIALS
SETUP 1 How to Install Audacity
SETUP 2 How to Configure Recording and Playback Hardware
SETUP 3 How to Install the LAME Encoder
PROJECTS
PROJECT 1 - Create a Halloween Soundscape
PROJECT 2 - Interview a Superhero
PROJECT 3 - Create a Radio Play
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