Audio editing tools - help with adding your own audio clips

[dave]

I hope others will begin adding their own audio clips and/or interesting bits of the LiveATC.net archived audio.

Archives are available at:
http://www.liveatc.net/archive.php
(Please note archives are available for free for seven days and are in Zulu Time)

Please do not post direct links to the audio files; those links will not be available after seven days.  Instead, post only mp3 audio files.

Here is a list of audio editing tools that I use or have tested:

Audacity - runs on Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems...great all-around audio editing/conversion tool.
Available from: http://audacity.sourceforge.net

CDex - ripping and converting tool.
Available from: http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/

[More tools to be added]

[Jason]

That Audacity tool is very cool Dave.

Those who have Sound Blaster Live sound cards; I would reccomend using your WaveStudio (which can also save in mp3 format)

Start>>All Programs>>Creative>>SoundBlaster Live *version*>>Creative WaveStudio

That's also a great tool and has very good output quality  

[KSYR-pjr]

Hey, I don't mean to turn this into an Audacity support forum, so this is just a quick question in the hopes someone has an answer off the top of his/her head (Audacity's website didn't).  If not, don't sweat it.  I am simply looking to contribute to the Aviation Audio Clips board here.

Running Audacity on Windows XP with the Lame_enc.dll properly installed, I have exported an MP3 clip I edited.  

The issue is that this newly exported MP3 clip plays fine in Windows Media Player, but will not play in WinAmp (the latest version).  The clip loads, but when I hit play, WinAmp remains at the 00:00 time and does not advance.  

Any ideas why?  Is there some additional file attribute that must be set in Audacity for WinAmp?

[Biff]

The issue is that this newly exported MP3 clip plays fine in Windows Media Player, but will not play in WinAmp (the latest version).  The clip loads, but when I hit play, WinAmp remains at the 00:00 time and does not advance.

I'm having the same problem.  I found this thread on the Audacity forums.

Turns out it does work if the orginal wav's sample rate is 22050Hz or higher.  The wavs->mp3s that wouldn't play were 11025Hz or lower.

If you increase sample rate (little box in the lower left corner) before you export as mp3, it'll play in WinAmp.

[Fra]

I have a question about the archives. Most of them are complete 29, 21 minutes, but some are 4 or 7 minutes long. Why is that?

[Fra]

I downloaded audacity and that dll file for mp3 enoding, and when I set it to make the audio in mp3, it did but it won't play in winamp. Any tips?

[Biff]

Scroll up two posts.  

[Fra]

Biff, thanks, that sorted it out.

[Hollis]

Here's the one I'm using. Free download and does everything but dance!

www.nch.com.au/switch 

[Smileyy1]

Thanks Hollis.
I just downloaded this tool and it works great!

Mark

[Squawk 7700]

Here's the one I'm using. Free download and does everything but dance!

www.nch.com.au/switch 

For my recent recordings I've used an Insignia MP3 player/recorder with audio line input. Device records in WMA (Windows Media Audio). I then use "switch" to convert from WMA to MP3 format since Audacity isn't compatable with WMA. After I get the file converted to the MP3 format, I can do a lot with it in Audacity like editing all the "dead air" and cleaning up the audio. Once you are done editing, export the file back out as an MP3 file.

Both Audacity and Switch are free and are very useful tools.

[Mrbun]

For those of you who aren't aware, Audacity 1.3.4 has an extremely useful effect called Truncate Silence. It removes all the silent parts in a recording. For example, if you download an archived stream from LiveATC it is 30 minutes long. Depending on the size of the airport, time of day, number of frequencies and such, the recording may actually be mostly silence. If you apply the Truncate Silence effect it converts the file into a non-stop audio stream with no breaks between transmissions. Makes even the smallest towers sound like JFK.

Think of this as VOX, but after the recording has already been made.

Great time saver if you're looking to locate a particular exchange or wish to make your own archives smaller.

This feature was first pointed out here by mechanicalamit in 2006 as best I can tell.

Mike

[KJET100]

please add "Goldwave" to this list:

http://www.goldwave.com/

I use it. It works. 

[EdGeneer]

Goldwave has a 50.00 purchase price, and for goodness sake, if yer gunna pay 50.00, go straight to sonycreativesoftware.com and get audio studio for 54.00 and that program is a REAL editor. its based on the old soundforge platform, and I have Soundforge 7.0, and even audio studio for 50.00 will cook breakfast for you.

These are old Sonic Foundry softwares, and I used Vegas and SoundForge when they were Sonic Foundry. I can attest to the fact that not only are they powerful, but very user friendly, and are industry standard audio platforms.

So if ANY money is going to be spent, take my word for it,

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/audiostudio

This is what you want... hands down.... (if your gunna pay anything for good software)

[Cap747]

Here's the one I'm using. Free download and does everything but dance!

www.nch.com.au/switch  

With Wavepad editor I get nasty webpages on closing the application all the time saying I have to pay for trialware...  And now MP3 is copyrighted aswell....

[edit] then when I want to un-install this program I'd been given three options though, remove the program, buy it or downgrade to the free version where it all works fine again, including mp3's

[joeyb747]

That Audacity tool is very cool Dave.

I agree, and have found it to be about the easiest one to use! Highly recommended!

[joeyb747]

I am having some good audio clips. How can I add these?

Start a new topic in the ATC/Pilot Audio Clips forum. Give your topic a subject and describe the clip briefly in the text box. At the bottom right is a tab that says "Additional Options". Click on that.  Then "Choose File" to attach. MP3 format works the best. Simple as that!

Hope this helps!  

[alltheway]

Does attaching an audio file needs some extra efforts as it is going to be played by the users when it is displayed in the post? Sorry for the stupid question but I haven't uploaded any audio files till now.

I don't exactly know what you mean, but when you open the additional options you can browse on you computer for the audio file, then save and it will be send to the server... Nothing to it at all... Just be sure you use 16 bit mp3 formats to keep the file small...

[notaperfectpilot]

Dave-
I find Audacity an outstanding tool to use for editing any type of audio. I usually try to export my files for this site at about 64kbs. That way the file is not too big but still has some good audio quality. I would definitely recommend it to anyone to use because of its many tools and its cost--free

[InterpreDemon]

FWIW, I have done voice work and audio production for years and have used it all, including ProTools, however the previously mentioned Mixcraft is pretty hard to beat for the price and is far simpler for those new to the art to learn how to use. It also comes with a pretty extensive library of royalty-free music and sound effects for you to get started. An example of the kind of stuff you can do almost entirely with Mixcraft is here: http://technobamics.com/

I also use Sony Sound Forge for recording or processing individual clips (like Dick Blumenthal blowing up in the link above) since it has some additional and very powerful tools for processing, in particular saving in various standard as well as customized formats.

[Chadan]

Audacity is fantastic but Truncate Silence isn't working for me. It trims off the ends, but leaves lots of dead air in the middle. Tried adjusting the minimum threshold but it didn't seem to make a difference. Is there some trick to make it work on the silence in the middle?

Follow-up: Maybe it was an older version I was using, but it works great for me now. My current challenge is how to script it so I can run the truncate command on multiple files from the command line.

[Moe_Hussein]

Guys I'm wondering how can i upload an audio record, to the interesting records!!? 

[GeoffSM1]

I find WavePad far user friendly than Audacity. The free to use version does all you need and more, so there's no need to purchase the full version.

[cptbrw]

Wavepad is not compatible with OS X machines.