The sound editing It’s a multimedia industry that generally doesn’t have the same importance as video, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important or interesting. Like its visual counterpart, it is highly dominated by paid solutions at the professional level, although fortunately there are free and quality alternatives.

The history of sound editing varies by approach and starting point, but to focus on the part I’m most interested in, I’ll start with the birth of sound editing. digital audio workstation (DAW) or DAW (digital audio workstation)which began to see the light in 1978 at the hands of Soundstream, which went out of business in 1985.

To create what is considered the first DAW, Soundstream used some modern computer hardware components for the time. The Digital Publishing System, as the company gave of its invention, consisted of a DEC PDP-11/60 minicomputer running a proprietary software package called the Digital Audio Processor (DAP), a 14-inch Braegen hard drive, a memory oscilloscope for audio display. waveforms and a video display terminal for system control.

By the following decade, the 1980s, personal computers such as the Yamaha CX5M, the Macintosh, the Atari ST, and the Amiga already had enough processing power to perform audio editing, so it could be said that we were in for a much longer Industry of what some would what they might think is that, despite the fact that most people hear it, it has much less significance than the video edition, which has become popular mainly thanks to YouTube.

Although DAWs and audio editors may appear to be the same at first glance, the reality is that they are not. The application is usually considered a DAW, where in addition to the ability to edit audio or sound, you can also generate it, especially by editing MIDI, piano rolls and virtual instruments.

from his side, Audio editors, as their name suggests, focus more on editing audio that has been recorded by the same application or supplied externally (open the song in MP3 format for example). However, it’s not uncommon to find that audio editors abound in a rather gray area, with some of them having features that are more typical of a DAW.

Despite the fact that an audio editor and a DAW are not exactly the same, in this article I will not emphasize their distinction for the sake of simplicity, and the intention is not so much to teach what this type of software is and how to use it, but rather to present the various options that the user can start entering with to the world. Who knows, it’s even possible that one of these options will end up being the one that allows you to do audio editing professionally, so I’ll start listing the apps.

Insolence

I’ll start with probably the most popular audio editor: Audacity. This application is sure to resonate with many, even among people who have no idea about audio editing.

Auadacity is one of the great boasts free software as its source code is mostly released under the GPLv3 license, with components still under GPLv2 and others under Creative Commons. Provides powerful cross-platform support Windows, macOS and Linuxso it is not unusual for users of the first two to use it, as it has proven itself in a professional context.

At the feature level, it supports recording; non-destructive modifications; import, export and conversion to other audio formats, both free and proprietary, although support for some of them must be added separately; customization of the toolbar, themes and features and through plugins LADSPA, LV2, VST, VST3, Sound Units, Vamp and Nyquist; plus audio analysis.

Of course, since MIDI editing, piano rolls, and virtual instruments aren’t implemented at least directly, Audacity still can’t be considered a true DAW because it’s limited to audio editing, so its use is strongly aimed at podcasting.

ocenaudio

Ocenaudio is a project born by researchers from the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil as an attempt to create an easy-to-use audio editor with features that include functions such as support for multiple file formats, spectral analysis and the generation of audio signals. It is built with a familiar framework Qt chart and its development focuses on lightness and usability, providing the user with an intuitive tool for audio editing and analysis.

This audio editor is based on the Ocen Framework, which describes itself as “a powerful library developed to simplify and standardize the development of audio analysis and manipulation applications across multiple platforms”, which together with the use of Qt allows it to officially support Windows, Linux and macOS, although for the latter, there are no packages in universal formats yet.

Ocenaudio is a multi-track audio editor that supports enough effects; VST plugin; allows you to generate silence, sounds and tones; and which supports exporting to various formats, including some videos such as MPEG and MP4. Like Audacity, it can’t be considered a true DAW, but its ease of use makes this audio editor ideal for beginners.

LMMS

And since I have revealed what DAWs are, why not mention an application that is considered as such. LMMS, which used to stand for Linux MultiMedia Studio, is one of the most famous free software DAW applications which exist even though their development has been completely stopped for a long time. Its source code is released under the GPLv2 license and officially supports Linux, Windows and macOS.

LMMS It has several editors that include rhythms and bass lines, effects mix, piano roll for patterns and melodies.an editor for editing and automating songs with the ability to organize instruments, samples, groups of notes and more.

Its features include importing MIDI and Hydrogen files and exporting to Ogg, FLAC, MP3 and WAV. It also supports VST plugins at least on Windows builds, and its system requirements are more than affordable for a low-end PC from a few years ago.

rapture

And I close the list with another free DAW software under the GPLv2 license and with cross-platform support for Windows, Linux and macOS, but the fact that it is a much more active development is in its favor.

Ardor is focused on the JACK sound server, although it is capable of running on top of others such as PulseAudio or the directly supported ALSA. On the other hand, is able to perform latency compensation and we’ll see if the person responsible identifies with PipeWire, a media server that claims to be the successor to PulseAudio, JACK, and the basis for Linux screen capture.

Continuing with this DAW’s other features, it allows you to drag, trim, split and time-stretch recorded areas at sample-level resolution. It also supports VST plug-ins, includes a blend editor and beat detection, has a video timeline, unlimited undo/redo options and a snapshot function to save the current state of the session.

Ardor is capable support any number of lines and buses through an “anywhere to anywhere” routing system.. It allows you to automate all gain, pan and plug-in parameters, plus sample data is mixed and stored internally in 32-bit floating point format.

It’s an application with professional ambitions for people who want to record, edit, mix and master audio and MIDI projects, and it aims to be a tool for recording with instruments. Of course podcasters are included, in case anyone thought they weren’t.

Windows and macOS users, since Linux users have other ways like distribution repositories and universal packages, they will see a demo and two payment methods in the download section. The Ardor website basically invites users to make a donation, although the app should work fine in the demo version.

Conclusion

And here is a small introduction to video editing and some applications with which the user can start entering the world.

When it comes to audio editors, and as with video editing, it is important to choose a tool that matches the user’s skills and needs, instead of betting directly on the “most powerful” solution and the professional. This is because there are simple tools capable of delivering excellent results, so the most complex solution may not be the best.

I remember that if you manage to make money with any of these apps, it doesn’t hurt to contribute at least a small amount to support the projects.

Cover image: Unsplash.