Hey Mac users — want to replicate the ‘Chipmunk’ vocal effect? How about taking your voice down waaaaaaay low to sound like Darth Vader / James Earl Jones? In today’s posting, we will take our readers through the steps of using our favorite free, open-source audio editing software aka Audacity to get the pitch just right by applying a Change Pitch effect.
Looking for Setup instructions? We’ve got you covered! Our recent Audacity for Mac OS X Installation Tutorial includes setting up LAME as well!
For today’s walk-through, we’ll be applying the Change Pitch effect using Audacity 1.3 Beta (Unicode) for Mac OS X.
Step 1: MP3 Download
Before one can edit their AudioAcrobat recording in Audacity, the first step is to make sure that the file resides on the hard drive of the computer on which editing will be performed.
1. Login to your AudioAcrobat account
2. Click Audio (L)
3. Click the Title of the Audio you wish to Download
4. Click Download Audio
Looking for Expanded Steps? Try HERE.
Step 2: Open in Audacity
Now that the file our readers wish to edit is on their computer’s hard drive, they will want to open the file with Audacity. Right-click the file and choose Open With and select Audacity from the list. Don’t see it listed? Open Audacity from the Programs portion of the Start menu on the left side of the task bar. Open the software and click File >> Open, selecting the audio to be edited.
Once the file opens in Audacity, our readers will see something like this:
Step 3: Highlight, Change Pitch + Export
It really is that simple. Click and drag with the mouse cursor or for those keyboard enthusiasts out there use Shift + Left / Right arrow keys to make a selection.
For the Change Pitch effect, our readers will want to make sure to select the area which encompasses the intended duration for which the effect is to be applied.
Here our readers will want to select Effect >> Change Pitch as seen below:
Immediately after selecting the Change Pitch effect, the following pop-up window will appear:
Use the Frequency (Hz) values to isolate the frequency to be changed. Use the Pitch: From: / To: drop-down menus and the Up / Down radio buttons to select from preset notes to move between. Go even more granular with the Semitones (half-steps) value box.
Use the Preview button to sample the effect before making a commitment and press OK to confirm the settings and apply the effect.
When satisfied, select File >> Export to save the newly edited version and head over to AudioAcrobat in an internet browser to begin the upload process.
Here we’ve walked through the process of opening our file and applying a Change Pitch effect using Audacity for Mac OS X.
Did you get stopped somewhere in the process? Make sure you have LAME correctly setup then shampoo, rinse and repeat the steps listed above. Success will be yours!
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[…] pickle you may find yourself in needing to change the tempo of your audio recordings (without changing pitch), today’s posting will walk through the steps of using our favorite free, open-source audio […]