Aah, clicks and pops … the things that separate (old) vinyl from newer forms of aural media. If you’ve ever attempted to digitize your vinyl collection, you may hear more of these clicks and pops in the final product than you’d like, which is why we can assuredly say that today’s post is just for you!
Hint: This process also works well on telephone recordings, such as conference calls, interviews or coaching sessions!
Here, we will walk through the steps of using our favorite free, open-source audio editing software (Audacity) to help remove these spiky-looking nuances, without degrading the rest of the audio, through the application of a Click Removal effect.
Looking for Setup instructions? We’ve got you covered! Our recent Audacity for Windows 7 Installation Tutorial includes setting up LAME as well!
For today’s walk-through, we’ll be applying the Click Removal effect using Audacity 1.3 Beta (Unicode) for Windows 7 (as run via Parallels on a MacBook Pro).
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:
Note the spikes: (1) at the beginning and (1) at the end...
Hint: Click the image above to enlarge and you should see the (2) spikes aka ‘clicks’ that we’re going to remove in today’s post. The first near the top-left and the second near the bottom-right.
Step 3: Highlight, Click Removal + 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 Click Removal 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 >> Click Removal as seen below:
Immediately after selecting the Click Removal effect, the following pop-up window will appear:
In today’s post, we will be using the default values seen above, but you are welcome to use the Select Threshold and Max Spike Width value(s) / slider(s) to fine-tune this effect per your specific needs.
Use the Preview button to sample the effect before making a commitment and press OK to confirm the settings and apply the effect.
Here, we see that the two spikes pointed out earlier in this post have been removed, without affecting the surrounding audio:
Click to Enlarge
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.
Well that was quick … we’ve already walked through the process of downloading and opening our file, applying a Click Removal effect using Audacity for Windows 7 and exporting the file for upload to the Web … and yet it seems as though we had just begun. If you agree, go ahead and click the ‘Previous Post’ link beneath this article to continue the joyride!
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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Coming up next … #FolowFriday!
