I've been making videos for a while, and my voice audio has always been something that irks me (Probably that phenomenon where you just hate your own voice cause you hear it so much), but this has really helped me step my audio game up. Thank you so much for this, DT.
I really liked this video. Never thought I'd understand much of Audacity, but now I want to download it and learn more! Thank you for sparking my interest.
I record all my radio shows as .flac and then save 4 segments as mp3 which is what my station requires. Works great. The flac file is my master recording.
Recording to MP4 and then saving out of Audacity as an MP3? Yikes! Always always always record audio as a straight uncompressed WAV file. The time to use an audio codec like MP4 or MP3 is when you're producing the final video file you will be uploading. Needlessly transcoding from one codec to another will induce audible compression artifacts. Also be careful with your noise reduction settings. I heard the audio "swimming" as a result of the settings you used.
mp4 is just a container and it can have a lot of formats as for mp3 the yt audio is not wav either there is no upside for people who upload to youtube and delete
@@heterodoxagnostic8070 No. The "default" for WAV is straight uncompressed PCM audio. There are other variations on WAV files that use compression, but those are not commonly used in my experience.
@@_yuri You are correct. MP4 is a container, but I have never seen a uncompressed audio in an MP4 container. I've seen lossless compression, which I would be okay with. But sticking to WAV just avoids a lot of trouble in most cases.
Thank you, Derek. I was amazed to find Audacity over a dozen years ago. I seldom use it so don't regularly install it, but associates of mine do so weekly or more. This is one of the jewels of OSS.
Thanks DT. I use also the limiter for avoid peaking. It is possible to use macro. A Macro is a sequence of pre-configured commands (mainly effects) in a set order that can be applied automatically to projects or audio files :).
After listening carefully to this video 3 weeks back, I found it in my "saved" folder and used it again to impressive effect. I am grateful for your help to me today. This information is spot on! Thank you, "Distro."
@Nocturn Adrift This is the appearance of the latest version from the Arch repos (updated 5 days ago): imgur.com/a/9TGlLau I don't think Ubuntu's release cycle would make a difference here, since Audacity's UI has remained unchanged for years if not decades.
Thanks for this. I started out with my podcast a few weeks ago and didn't have time to truly understand the benefits of audacity but my audio is soooo much better now!
A very nice video on Audacity, DT. Regarding Noise Reduction, I believe it's better having 5-6 seconds of silence in the beginning of the audio recording than just a couple of secs.
Honestly, I prefer the tone of the voice you were modifying with Audacity than the real time voice. The first one sound more realistic to me, the second one it's just too much "cavernous". I don't know if is a characteristic of that mic or if you equalize the sound, there's just too much low frequencies for my ears, IMHO. Anyway, thanks for sharing this tips with Audacity.
Thanks so much for this video DT!! I just started using audacity. This was another reason I would use the background music in my videos to try and cover up the background noise. 👍
Hi, Josh. Are you using a Blue Yeti for your mic? I have one myself and made alot of my early videos on it. That mic is very sensitive. I found that the only way to get rid of the noise was to turn the gain down all the way on the mic. I also used some filtering in OBS as well to clean up the noise with the Yeti as well. Check out this video: ruclips.net/video/GCAANDp2fsE/видео.html around the 30:00 mark where I discuss the audio filters. I'm not using the Yeti in this video but I think those were the same settings I did use for the Yeti. Hope it helps.
@@DistroTube I have a Cyber Acoustics Rainier. It was a great professional mic for my budget at the time. Looking to upgrade soon. Thanks for the info. I'll check it out.
Funny that you mentioned RUclips... I found your video because I wanted to use Audacity to fix the audio on my very first video before uploading it. It's terrible - with background buzz and different volumes from using different mics. Hopefully, in a few minutes' time, you will have taught me how to sort it out! Back to watching... :)
Turns out that your tips worked miracles! (Although I did overwork it, and it's still pretty shocking, LOL.) Next time will be better though - thank you very much for the tips :)
Gonna put this knowledge to good use. Even such a great tutorial appears to only scratch the surface of what audacity is capable of. Just look at all those effects! Thanks DT.
That is the best audio video I’ve seen!! That was just what I was looking for. I’m new at this stuff and my Blue YETI that I stole (borrowed) from my son is good but needs a little a little enhancement. So glad I stumbled across your video. I’m no techy and need stuff explained in laymen’s terms and you nailed it! Thanks again!!
TBH, I thought the bass levels in the audio were a lot, but I wonder if this same kind of thing could help remove excessive wind in outdoor recordings, so I'll try to give it a shot. Thank you for the demo!
Hello everyone....let me just start by saying that i think your videos will help me a lot in the future since i'm a cybersecurity student. Because i'm just starting with linux and virtualization i would like to ask you for your advice in terms of what do you think will be the better linux version/distro for someone like me and also whats the best VMware client you recommend. Thank you very much in advance. Keep up with the good work.
What happened to the cmatrix laptop in the background and what is that weird thing that took its place? I think I speak for most of us when saying: We don't like change
ive had audacity just sitting in my desktop, i didnt know this was such an awesome tool to use to clean up audio, ive been trying to do it manually on DaVinci Resolve all this time Q_Q, thanks!
@Distrotube Just wanted to know if something is just hollywood ,,As seen on TV ,,, I am curious if its really possible to clean up a static recording using missing background noises and overlaying the clean samples ..? Figured I'd ask DT..
Thanks for the vids! I use michrophone built-in on my earphone and it's terrible. Audacity fix tons of that roughness. It's a must-have software. Does people with mid-end/high-end equipment still use software like audacity to clean it up?
DT I my music collection is 274 Artists, 731 Albums, 8,621 Songs, Total Run Time 24 Days, 16 hours, and 58 Minutes. I also listen to audio books and around 5 hours of podcasts daily. Please don't take this the wrong way. In my opinion your videos have too much Bass in them.
Thanks for sharing your Audacity workflow, it's interesting to see how other people process their audio. Somehow I was expecting you will use Normalize in the final step of audio editing, any reason to favor Amplify instead of Normalize or they do the same thing?
Normalize and amplify are not the same. I actually did normalize the audio clip off-camera but decided it actually degraded the sound a bit (with the clip I was working with) so I didn't go with it. When you speak of workflow, I actually don't process my audio at all post-production these days. I do all my suppression, compression and eq with hardware while recording. Although I could achieve the same effects with software in post-production if it was necessary.
Basically Normalize and Amplify do the same thing, raise the dB-level of recorded audio. Amplifying audio is equal to "cranking up" the audio like with an amplifier - crank too much and the sound will distort, because amplifying applies the same increase of dB to all parts of the audio. Amplifying +6 db at a level of -18 dB recording results with a level of -12 dB of output. Normalizing audio starts at defining the level of peak audio signal, in Audacity the default is 0 dB. Then normalizing is applied, after which only the peaks will reach 0 dB, while rest of the audio maintains its original dynamic quality. In some audio plug-ins you can also determine a RMS peak range with normalizing, in which case the audio will be slightly compressed to achieve a bit more unified level of dynamics. If you want to achieve the "DT-effect" of a slightly booming bass frequency - also used in commercial radio broadcasting - do this: talk close to the mic to reach the approximity effect, that all microphones have. Then feed the signal through a compressor and crush all the natural dynamics with a compression ratio of something like 4:1 - 6:1and apply gain, as much as you dare :) Yep, you can almost sound like the narrator in old movie trailers.. "In a time when.. etc etc.."
@@DistroTube tremendously! I had a video where some of my clips had no rh audio. I was able to go in audacity delete right channel, copy left to right, made your suggested enhancements, and also added about 5% reverb to give it a little stereo sound back. Absolutely amazing thanks to you, Saved my footage for sure!
Really good video. I want to try to use my Hyper X to record but ppl on discord all rdy have trouble hearing me so I have to use my phone to make recordings.
well apart from you being still blue as a smurf good ad for audacity but seriously that bad audio isnt all that bad. i could point you to some REALLY bad audio. maybe do a colorgrading on linux video? also dont do the amplifier do a limiter at about -3db
I like that Olive is relatively more stable than the other software I've tried. However, I couldn't figure out how to make it replace the audio track, so had to switch to different software after fixing the audio in Audacity :(
Audacity is for post production and doesn't do anything in real time. However, there are a few filters in OBS that can clean up your audio during streaming, including noise suppression and compression.
No. Audacity is for post-production. Audacity disables all plug-ins/effects while recording. Audacity also prefers to use the PortAudio audio driver, which conflicts with Alsa or Jack, resulting with audio frame drop-outs. If OBS uses Jack audio connections, you could use something like Jack-Rack, but I think it is abandonware. Stick to OBS, would be my suggestion.
hey dt and folks I was planning to buy arturia minilab mk2 although they don't have any linux support it is a usb/midi class compliant device so i would love to use its high quality keys and pads and dials as macro keys(maybe a couple pads for copy/paste a dial for volume control/brightness control )it would be sick. do you have any tips and or experience on the same.
No clue on that. Just a quick google, I see there is some software required for some functions? If so, you are out of luck if that software doesn't have a Linux port.
@@DistroTube on a popular thread for a similar question on stackoverflow i saw somepeople using pure data and x11keys for linux and some people had some other ideas and approaches. can't test it without a device though worst case scenario i will just use it with windows
My midi controllers have always been plug and play with most linux distros. I've used Reaper, LMMS, BitWig, and even Ableton (on wine). Generally they work pretty well.
I actually will add that music production on Linux is kind of iffy since you have to run all your VST's on Wine and they can get buggy. Personally, I just dual boot or use a windows VM.
nah I use a china mic. I know how to get quality I'm using compressed noise removal then normalize eq treble boost and bass boost then hard limiter than amplify that's all what I use for my music..
video starts at 6:28
You're the real MVP
thanks
I appreciate it G
I wish I would Have read your comment first lol
At 3.51 minutes of time wasting on this video i want to say only three words.
"THANKS A BUNCH"
6:28 noise reduction
10:00 compressor
10:55 amplify effect
12:25 bass and treble
ily
Thank you!
the bass in this mans voice
Imagine not liking audacity... The audacity of that!
haha
This comment did not age well
@@tent405 sneed
Some people's gall!
I've been making videos for a while, and my voice audio has always been something that irks me (Probably that phenomenon where you just hate your own voice cause you hear it so much), but this has really helped me step my audio game up. Thank you so much for this, DT.
I really liked this video. Never thought I'd understand much of Audacity, but now I want to download it and learn more! Thank you for sparking my interest.
The quality of this video's audio is ridiculous, probably the best I've heard on YT
I record all my radio shows as .flac and then save 4 segments as mp3 which is what my station requires. Works great. The flac file is my master recording.
Man those pipes of yours !! You have a beautiful radio-voice .Thanks for this video
Recording to MP4 and then saving out of Audacity as an MP3? Yikes! Always always always record audio as a straight uncompressed WAV file. The time to use an audio codec like MP4 or MP3 is when you're producing the final video file you will be uploading. Needlessly transcoding from one codec to another will induce audible compression artifacts. Also be careful with your noise reduction settings. I heard the audio "swimming" as a result of the settings you used.
doesn't .wav files compress by default? i'm talking about lossless compression.
mp4 is just a container and it can have a lot of formats as for mp3 the yt audio is not wav either there is no upside for people who upload to youtube and delete
@@heterodoxagnostic8070 No. The "default" for WAV is straight uncompressed PCM audio. There are other variations on WAV files that use compression, but those are not commonly used in my experience.
@@_yuri You are correct. MP4 is a container, but I have never seen a uncompressed audio in an MP4 container. I've seen lossless compression, which I would be okay with. But sticking to WAV just avoids a lot of trouble in most cases.
Use FLAC, it's an open-source codec used on Studios by professionals.
Thank you, Derek. I was amazed to find Audacity over a dozen years ago. I seldom use it so don't regularly install it, but associates of mine do so weekly or more. This is one of the jewels of OSS.
i love audacity, i was introduced to it from a Kellogg's "demo" CD back in 2000 and used it since for lots of audio related projects :)
Dude... I'm starting youtube now.... this video is a life saver :)
Thanks DT. I use also the limiter for avoid peaking. It is possible to use macro. A Macro is a sequence of pre-configured commands (mainly effects) in a set order that can be applied automatically to projects or audio files :).
I have the perception of being the first viewer, liker and commenter and the responsibility of setting the tone in the comments has stressed me out.
cool.
Really? Chillax.
After listening carefully to this video 3 weeks back, I found it in my "saved" folder and used it again to impressive effect. I am grateful for your help to me today. This information is spot on! Thank you, "Distro."
Ocenaudio is a good alternative if Audacity's ugly appearance disturbs you.
Always get the latest in the AUR!
@Nocturn Adrift This is the appearance of the latest version from the Arch repos (updated 5 days ago): imgur.com/a/9TGlLau
I don't think Ubuntu's release cycle would make a difference here, since Audacity's UI has remained unchanged for years if not decades.
Thanks so much. Clear, easy to follow video. Helped in using Audacity for the first time, and greatly cleaning up a digitized tape record.
Some of the noise reduction can be done in OBS as well when you record by using the filter as well
Who wanna skip all this hard work? Ask me to do it....As simple as that !!
Thanks for this. I started out with my podcast a few weeks ago and didn't have time to truly understand the benefits of audacity but my audio is soooo much better now!
A very nice video on Audacity, DT. Regarding Noise Reduction, I believe it's better having 5-6 seconds of silence in the beginning of the audio recording than just a couple of secs.
This was very good! Thank you for taking the time to walk through some of the features of Audacity. Very helpful!
Your voice is very good for this demonstration haha
Glad you think so! :D
Honestly, I prefer the tone of the voice you were modifying with Audacity than the real time voice. The first one sound more realistic to me, the second one it's just too much "cavernous". I don't know if is a characteristic of that mic or if you equalize the sound, there's just too much low frequencies for my ears, IMHO. Anyway, thanks for sharing this tips with Audacity.
You saved my audio, thank you for this video
Thanks so much for this video DT!! I just started using audacity. This was another reason I would use the background music in my videos to try and cover up the background noise. 👍
Hi, Josh. Are you using a Blue Yeti for your mic? I have one myself and made alot of my early videos on it. That mic is very sensitive. I found that the only way to get rid of the noise was to turn the gain down all the way on the mic. I also used some filtering in OBS as well to clean up the noise with the Yeti as well. Check out this video: ruclips.net/video/GCAANDp2fsE/видео.html around the 30:00 mark where I discuss the audio filters. I'm not using the Yeti in this video but I think those were the same settings I did use for the Yeti. Hope it helps.
@@DistroTube I have a Cyber Acoustics Rainier. It was a great professional mic for my budget at the time. Looking to upgrade soon. Thanks for the info. I'll check it out.
Funny that you mentioned RUclips... I found your video because I wanted to use Audacity to fix the audio on my very first video before uploading it. It's terrible - with background buzz and different volumes from using different mics. Hopefully, in a few minutes' time, you will have taught me how to sort it out! Back to watching... :)
Turns out that your tips worked miracles! (Although I did overwork it, and it's still pretty shocking, LOL.) Next time will be better though - thank you very much for the tips :)
I make mad music in Audacity, such a great software. Use it on a daily basis.
Gonna put this knowledge to good use. Even such a great tutorial appears to only scratch the surface of what audacity is capable of. Just look at all those effects! Thanks DT.
holy fuck that mic sound good when i can compare it
DT, your EQ is a little heavy on the low end, i see your hardware EQ in the background is not set optimally for voice. Ironic huh? :)
That is the best audio video I’ve seen!! That was just what I was looking for. I’m new at this stuff and my Blue YETI that I stole (borrowed) from my son is good but needs a little a little enhancement. So glad I stumbled across your video. I’m no techy and need stuff explained in laymen’s terms and you nailed it! Thanks again!!
What if there are no "blank" areas in the track to identify room noise etc? How do I reduce hiss on Audacity without a blank section to analyze?
TBH, I thought the bass levels in the audio were a lot, but I wonder if this same kind of thing could help remove excessive wind in outdoor recordings, so I'll try to give it a shot. Thank you for the demo!
video starts at 6:45
FYI
Hello everyone....let me just start by saying that i think your videos will help me a lot in the future since i'm a cybersecurity student. Because i'm just starting with linux and virtualization i would like to ask you for your advice in terms of what do you think will be the better linux version/distro for someone like me and also whats the best VMware client you recommend. Thank you very much in advance. Keep up with the good work.
That deep manly voice makes me realise what a pussy boy I am ;( hahaha
thanks for the great tips legend!!
YOU ARE JUST AMAZING BROTHER
What happened to the cmatrix laptop in the background and what is that weird thing that took its place? I think I speak for most of us when saying: We don't like change
Because you know I’m all about that bass.
Great subject, really helped me out!
Really helpful, easy to follow. Thank you.
Thank you for the tips. Great video. P.S. Absolutely love your accent (I'm from the UK)!
ive had audacity just sitting in my desktop, i didnt know this was such an awesome tool to use to clean up audio, ive been trying to do it manually on DaVinci Resolve all this time Q_Q, thanks!
Thanks a lot, you've made audacity a lot easier
Happy to help!
This was everything I needed to get started. I appreciate it!
That's an amazing clean up Sir. Simple and easy.
i saved mine as mp3, but i still get noise, but their where no noise before saving..so what did i do wrong
Damn this guy voice is good.
@Distrotube Just wanted to know if something is just hollywood ,,As seen on TV ,,, I am curious if its really possible to clean up a static recording using missing background noises and overlaying the clean samples ..? Figured I'd ask DT..
Who wanna skip all this hard work? Ask me to do it....As simple as that !!
Dude this is so helpful thank u so much
This was super helpful and easy to follow. Thanks for putting this video together!
Air window's free dehiss plugin is very useful in noise reduction.
This video was beyond helpful!! Great job. I've been looking for something like this that explains what exactly to do to increase audio quality.
Thanks for such a helpful video.
I'm using your tutorial to enhance my mic audio. Thank you so much for sharing this knowledge!
Thanks for the vids! I use michrophone built-in on my earphone and it's terrible. Audacity fix tons of that roughness. It's a must-have software. Does people with mid-end/high-end equipment still use software like audacity to clean it up?
I would guess that a lot people with high end equipment still do some post processing.
Thank you you helped a lot with this video
DT I my music collection is 274 Artists, 731 Albums, 8,621 Songs, Total Run Time 24 Days, 16 hours, and 58 Minutes. I also listen to audio books and around 5 hours of podcasts daily. Please don't take this the wrong way. In my opinion your videos have too much Bass in them.
Your audio has good quality
Thanks for sharing your Audacity workflow, it's interesting to see how other people process their audio. Somehow I was expecting you will use Normalize in the final step of audio editing, any reason to favor Amplify instead of Normalize or they do the same thing?
Normalize and amplify are not the same. I actually did normalize the audio clip off-camera but decided it actually degraded the sound a bit (with the clip I was working with) so I didn't go with it.
When you speak of workflow, I actually don't process my audio at all post-production these days. I do all my suppression, compression and eq with hardware while recording. Although I could achieve the same effects with software in post-production if it was necessary.
Basically Normalize and Amplify do the same thing, raise the dB-level of recorded audio.
Amplifying audio is equal to "cranking up" the audio like with an amplifier - crank too much and the sound will distort, because amplifying applies the same increase of dB to all parts of the audio. Amplifying +6 db at a level of -18 dB recording results with a level of -12 dB of output.
Normalizing audio starts at defining the level of peak audio signal, in Audacity the default is 0 dB. Then normalizing is applied, after which only the peaks will reach 0 dB, while rest of the audio maintains its original dynamic quality. In some audio plug-ins you can also determine a RMS peak range with normalizing, in which case the audio will be slightly compressed to achieve a bit more unified level of dynamics.
If you want to achieve the "DT-effect" of a slightly booming bass frequency - also used in commercial radio broadcasting - do this: talk close to the mic to reach the approximity effect, that all microphones have. Then feed the signal through a compressor and crush all the natural dynamics with a compression ratio of something like 4:1 - 6:1and apply gain, as much as you dare :) Yep, you can almost sound like the narrator in old movie trailers.. "In a time when.. etc etc.."
Thank you so much bro! This has been extremely helpful!
Glad it helped!
@@DistroTube tremendously! I had a video where some of my clips had no rh audio. I was able to go in audacity delete right channel, copy left to right, made your suggested enhancements, and also added about 5% reverb to give it a little stereo sound back. Absolutely amazing thanks to you, Saved my footage for sure!
Really good video. I want to try to use my Hyper X to record but ppl on discord all rdy have trouble hearing me so I have to use my phone to make recordings.
Thank you so much, sir!
You bet!
Very good video
At 10:10 uncheck the box "Makeup gain for 0 dB" to avoid the audio getting boosted to clipping levels. ;)
Nice video. Could you explan how to make the foam mic effect? Is that the reverb you mentioned that could make you audio softer?
I've installed it, but never played with it. Thanks for showing this to us.
Great video learned a lot. I'm new to this stuff
insanely better. thank you
My recording set up was an IPhone inside a sock , hopefully it will turn out better than excepted using this video’s tips
Thanks a lot man , the difference is real !
Thanks Man ! my audio improved a lot
them southern accents. Alabama, Kentucky.. maybe Tennessee or Texas those are my picks of location. I am listening for the info as well.
Thx man
Someone send this to Bryan Lunduke ASAP.
It would be good if you went over the hardware that you're using.
Realy helpful
There is lag in your audio and video
Video starts at 6:36
how to make it denoise audio while streaming? like in real time?
well apart from you being still blue as a smurf good ad for audacity
but seriously that bad audio isnt all that bad. i could point you to some REALLY bad audio.
maybe do a colorgrading on linux video?
also dont do the amplifier do a limiter at about -3db
It seams like the video and audio are not synced?
You should check out the Olive video editor.
I like that Olive is relatively more stable than the other software I've tried. However, I couldn't figure out how to make it replace the audio track, so had to switch to different software after fixing the audio in Audacity :(
Does this work for music
Thank you.
Thank you
Can i use this live? When im on OBS studio or so.
Audacity is for post production and doesn't do anything in real time. However, there are a few filters in OBS that can clean up your audio during streaming, including noise suppression and compression.
No. Audacity is for post-production. Audacity disables all plug-ins/effects while recording. Audacity also prefers to use the PortAudio audio driver, which conflicts with Alsa or Jack, resulting with audio frame drop-outs.
If OBS uses Jack audio connections, you could use something like Jack-Rack, but I think it is abandonware. Stick to OBS, would be my suggestion.
9:53 there is a sound prob, otherwise video was very educational
The audio you were fixing was 100% better than your entire video for me. I could hear it much better, compared to your over bass voice in this video.
thank you bald man very cool
hey dt and folks I was planning to buy arturia minilab mk2 although they don't have any linux support it is a usb/midi class compliant device so i would love to use its high quality keys and pads and dials as macro keys(maybe a couple pads for copy/paste a dial for volume control/brightness control )it would be sick. do you have any tips and or experience on the same.
No clue on that. Just a quick google, I see there is some software required for some functions? If so, you are out of luck if that software doesn't have a Linux port.
@@DistroTube on a popular thread for a similar question on stackoverflow i saw somepeople using pure data and x11keys for linux and some people had some other ideas and approaches. can't test it without a device though worst case scenario i will just use it with windows
My midi controllers have always been plug and play with most linux distros. I've used Reaper, LMMS, BitWig, and even Ableton (on wine). Generally they work pretty well.
I actually will add that music production on Linux is kind of iffy since you have to run all your VST's on Wine and they can get buggy. Personally, I just dual boot or use a windows VM.
@@lilwashcloth9990 ah that is good to know however my primary curiosity is if you can use your midi controllers as macro keys ?
Why 18 minutes to show how to clean audio.
nah I use a china mic.
I know how to get quality I'm using
compressed
noise removal then normalize
eq treble boost
and bass boost
then hard limiter than amplify
that's all what I use for my music..
what it is from a cassette tape that was in my purse in a court hearing
0:01 6:30
I am kinda being emotinal to audacity, you know guys what am I talking about
Thanks so much man!(Although I'm 2 years late)
he be lookin like uncle fester
Your sound is so compressed it gives me headache