Hey guys, in this video we’ll be covering how to use Audacity on Linux.
We’ll start off by installing Audacity and setting up Jack to handle our audio.
Then, we’ll be covering all the important features of Audacity, from recording a few
tracks, to mixing, and finally exporting our finished project as a file.
The first thing we need to do to get started is get Audacity installed.
To do this, start by opening a terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard.
Then type in sudo apt install Audacity.
Type in your password and let the program install on your computer.
Next we’ll install qjackctl by typing in sudo apt install qjackctl.
To be able to use jack audio with audacity, we need to start it up first.
To do this, type in qjackctl in the terminal and run the program.
When the window pops up, press the start button to start jack.
Now go to your programs, or type in audacity in another terminal to start the program.
The first thing to do is record a track.
Beside the select for jack, we have the option to select an audio input from our interface.
Select the input you would like to use.
Next to that, choose whether you are recording in mono or stereo.
Then just click the big red record button.
When you’re finished recording, press stop.
Once your tracks are done, we can start by renaming them.
Click on the track name and a drop down will open.
Then press the name button to change the name of the track.
Before we actually do any mixing with Audacity, we’ll go over a few quick audio editing
tools.
By default, we have the time selection tool.
You can use this to select various areas of a track.
When these areas are selected, you can add an effect to that specific area, while leaving
the rest of the track unaffected.
You can also press the delete key to remove that section of the track.
If you’re looking to delete a section of track without shifting the time of the rest
of it, select an area and go to generate at the top menu and select silence.
Next to the time selection is the envelope tool.
Click on various sections of a track and drag up or down to adjust the levels.
This allows for some automation of the levels of the track, and you can even use it to do
automated panning if you separate your left and right tracks.
The last important tool is the time shift tool.
When this is selected, you can click and drag a track in time along the timeline.
After your tracks are edited and trimmed, it’s time to start mixing.
On the left side of the track, we have controls for mute and solo to isolate various tracks.
Below that, we have a slider with a plus and minus sign on either side.
Use this to adjust the level of the track.
Below that is the slider for the track panning.
To add effects, use the time selection tool to select a certain area or a track, or an
entire track.
Then go up to the effects menu and select an effect.
We’ll use an equalizer for this example.
One problem with Audacity is not all the effects can be monitored in realtime, so you’ll
either have to apply the effect and undo changes to adjust it, or use the preview button for
the effect.
Once you’ve made some adjustments, just click the Ok button at the bottom to apply
the effect to your time selection.
After all your tracks have been edited and mixed, you can export the entire project as
a file.
Click the File menu and select Export Audio.
Then select your file type and name the file.
Audacity has many more features and tools that can’t be covered in this video.
If you’re interested in learning more about Audacity, make sure to check out our other
Audacity tutorials, since many of the tutorials for Windows still apply to audio editing on
Linux.
Thanks for watching this video on Audacity for Linux.
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