audacity

Mix your audio

Although Macs come with some decent audio software such as GarageBand, Audacity goes beyond the Apple-designed app in many ways. The one area it isn't so successful in is its user interface, which can be overwhelming.

As you launch Audacity, you'll be greeted by a pop-up window that leads you to multiple Help files. You'll need these files if you want to use all the great features that the small application has in it. You'll likely be overwhelmed by the number of tools that are available, but you'll get used to them as soon as … Read more

Transfer memorable voice mails to your computer with a simple audio trick

It seems like those of us who grew up digital turn to text messaging and Facebook to announce exciting news, and most often, say happy birthday. But once in a while you get a voice mail from a friend or family member who cared enough to pick up the phone and wish you happy birthday.

Birthdays, engagements, promotions, dialing under the influence -- all of these occasions make for memorable and replay-worthy voice messages.

Carriers complicate the solution If you want to keep these original messages, though, it's not easy. iPhone voice mails can be backed up to your … Read more

The cheap way to convert LPs, audio cassettes to digital

A couple of weeks ago, "k_hettich" posted a question in CNET's How-To forum asking about converting vinyl LPs to CDs. A couple of people recommended USB turntables that automate the process and cost from $70 to more than $230.

Over the last couple of years I've converted a couple hundred audio cassettes and dozens of LPs to MP3s and WMAs, many of which were ultimately burned onto CDs. The only expense required was a $5 connector between my stereo amplifier and PC sound card. The real work was done by the free Audacity audio-conversion software.

Back … Read more

The end of Digital Noise

All albums eventually come to an end--even super-gonzo triple live CD sets--and the time has come for this blog to end as well.

I've had a great time exploring the intersection of music and technology for the last three-plus years. And even though the music industry is going through some wrenching changes, the public's interest in music has, if anything, gotten stronger.

I was at Coachella this April along with a record sold-out crowd of more than 90,000. Some of them were there for the party, but the musical lineup made the party happen. I've seen … Read more

10 music-tech trends that will shape the next decade

Bill Gates has said that prognosticators often overestimate the amount of technological change that will happen in a year, but underestimate the changes that will take place over a decade. With the Zeroes coming to an end this week, and Steve Guttenberg's recent column questioning the viability of recorded music in 2020 as inspiration, here's my pick of 10 trends in music and technology that will shape the next decade.

Songs instead of albums Musicians will always find ways to record their music--it's a fundamental drive, like painting for a painter or writing for a writer. But … Read more

How to edit an MP3 audio file

Whether it's a two-hour Grateful Dead concert or a 45-minute DJ mix, we all have an MP3 in our music collection that gets skipped for being too long. Tragically, there's usually one or two great songs in these recordings that would otherwise be in heavy rotation if they weren't tied to such a tediously long file.

Well, today we're going to show you how to cut these songs loose by opening up and editing your MP3s in Audacity. The whole process is relatively painless, and if you set it up correctly, you can easily drag and … Read more

Have Mac, will open-source

Some in the open-source camp would have you believe that open source is an all-or-nothing proposition. For such people, to believe that Linux makes for a superior server operating system is also to dedicate oneself to using open source for business applications, personal productivity, mobile, and likely brushing one's teeth. Open source on a proprietary platform like Mac OS X? Perish the thought!

But life is more complicated than that, and it turns out that there is exceptional open-source software for the Mac (or for Windows, for that matter).

The H Online has kicked off a nice "Open Source Stars for Mac OS X&… Read more

Audacity beta 1.3.8: Open-source audio at its best

There may not be a free lunch in this world but, thanks to the open-source development community, there's an exceptional, free audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. It's called Audacity, and if you've never tried it, you're in for a treat, especially now that Audacity's newest beta release (1.3.8) has hit the Web, as noted by OStatic's Lisa Hoover.

I've used Audacity to create ringtones for my (former) Blackberry (but also possible with the iPhone). Dave Rosenberg also use it for recording and editing our podcasts. (… Read more

Audacity: Free, general-purpose sound-editing tool

CNET has written several times over the years about Audacity, a free, general-purpose sound-editing tool. I've known people who have used it to manipulate sound for podcasts and the like. But I'd completely forgotten about it until today.

One of my colleagues been looking for a tool to split recorded audio presentations into portions to go with the corresponding individual PowerPoint slides. I thought Apple's GarageBand might work, but he found it too opaque, and our office (like most) is PC-heavy, which would have complicated efforts to train other folks on how to do this job.

Then … Read more