Working with music files Audio editors (sound editors)

When choosing a program for editing audio files, each user already knows what exactly he wants to do with a particular track, therefore, he roughly understands which functions he definitely needs and which he could do without. There are quite a few sound editors, some of them are aimed at professionals, others - at ordinary PC users, others will equally interest both, and there are those in which audio editing is just one of the many functions.

In this article, we will talk about programs for editing and processing music and any other audio files. Instead of spending your personal time choosing the right software, searching for it on the Internet and then studying it, just read the material below, you will definitely make the right choice.

AudioMASTER is a simple and easy-to-use audio editing program. In it, you can trim a song or cut a fragment out of it, process it with audio effects, add various background sounds, here called atmospheres.

This program is completely Russified and, in addition to visual editing of audio files, you can use it to burn a CD or, more interestingly, record your own audio from a microphone or other device connected to a PC. This audio editor supports most well-known formats and, in addition to audio, can also work with video files, allowing you to extract an audio track from them.

This audio editor is slightly less functional than AudioMASTER, however, all the basic and necessary functions are present in it. With this program, you can trim tracks, cut fragments from them, add simple effects. In addition, this editor allows you to edit information about audio files.

You can't burn CDs in mp3DirectCut, but such a simple program doesn't need it. But here you can also record audio. The program is Russified and, what is especially important, is distributed free of charge. The biggest drawback of this editor is the veracity of its name - in addition to the MP3 format, it does not support anything else.

Wavosaur is a free, but not Russified audio editor, which is noticeably superior to mp3DirectCut in terms of its capabilities and functional content. Here you can also edit (cut, copy, add fragments), you can add simple effects such as smooth fading or increasing sound. The program can also record audio.

Separately, it is worth noting that with the help of Wavosaur, you can normalize the sound quality of audio, clear any audio recording from noise or remove fragments of silence. A distinctive feature of this editor is that it does not require installation on a computer, which means it will not take up memory space.

Free Audio Editor

Free Audio Editor is a simple and easy-to-use audio editor with a Russified interface. It supports most of the current formats, including Lossless audio files. As in mp3DirectCut, here you can edit and change track information, however, unlike AudioMASTER and all the programs described above, you cannot record audio here.

Like Wavosaur, this editor allows you to normalize the sound of audio files, change the volume and remove noise. In addition, as the name implies, this program is distributed free of charge.

Wave Editor is another simple and free audio editor with a Russified interface. As befits such programs, it supports most of the popular audio formats, however, unlike the same Free Audio Editor, it does not support Lossless audio and OGG.

As in most of the editors described above, here you can cut out fragments of musical compositions, remove unnecessary sections. A couple of simple, but necessary effects for most users are available - normalization, fading and increasing volume, adding or removing silence, reverse, invert. The program interface looks clear and easy to use.

Wavepad Sound Editor

This audio editor in its functionality is noticeably superior to all the programs that we have reviewed above. So, in addition to the banal cropping of compositions, there is a separate tool for creating ringtones, in which you can choose the quality and format based on which mobile device you want to install it on.

The Wavepad Sound Editor has a large set of effects for processing and improving sound quality, there are tools for recording and copying CDs, and audio extraction from CDs is available. Separately, it is worth highlighting the tools for working with voice, with the help of which you can completely suppress the vocal part in a musical composition.

The program supports VST technology, due to which its functionality can be significantly expanded. In addition, this editor provides the ability to batch process audio files, regardless of their format, and this is very convenient when you need to edit, convert or simply change several tracks at once.

GoldWave is similar to Wavepad Sound Editor in many ways. Although they differ in appearance, these programs have an almost identical set of functions and each of them is quite a powerful and feature-rich audio editor. The disadvantage of the program in question is, perhaps, the lack of support for VST technology.

In Gold Wave, you can also burn and import Audio CDs, edit, process and modify audio files. There is also a built-in converter, batch file processing is available. Separately, it is worth noting advanced tools for audio analysis. A distinctive feature of this editor is the flexibility of customizing its interface, which not every program of this kind can boast of.

OcenAudio is a very beautiful, completely free and Russified audio editor. In addition to all the necessary functions that such programs have, here, as in GoldWave, there are advanced tools for audio analysis.

The program has a large set of tools for editing and modifying audio files, here you can change the audio quality, change track information. In addition, as in the Wavepad Sound Editor, there is support for VST technology, which significantly expands the capabilities of this editor.

Audacity is a multifunctional audio editor with a Russified interface, which, unfortunately, may seem a little overloaded and complicated to inexperienced users. The program supports most formats, allows you to record audio, trim tracks, process them with effects.

Speaking of effects, Audacity contains quite a lot of them. In addition, this audio editor supports multi-track editing, allows you to clean audio recordings from noise and artifacts, and also contains tools for changing the tempo of musical compositions in its arsenal. Among other things, it is also a program for changing the key of music without distorting its sound.

Sound Forge Pro

Sound Forge Pro is a professional audio editing, processing and recording software. This software may well be used to work in recording studios for editing (mixing) music, which none of the above programs can boast of.

This editor is developed by Sony and supports all popular audio formats. The function of batch processing of files is available, burning and importing CDs is possible, professional audio recording is available. Sound Ford has a large set of built-in effects, VST technology is supported, and there are advanced tools for analyzing audio files. Unfortunately, the program is not free.

This brainchild of a popular developer is much more than just an audio editor. Ashampoo Music Studio contains in its arsenal all the necessary functions for editing and modifying audio, allows you to import Audio CDs, burn them, and there are also basic tools for recording audio. The program looks very attractive, it is Russified, but, unfortunately, not free.

What sets this program apart from all the others that are described in this article is the wide opportunity to work with a custom music library on a PC. Ashampoo Music Studio allows you to mix audio, create playlists, organize your library, create CD covers. Separately, it is worth noting the ability of the program to find on the Internet and add information about audio files.

Transcribe! is not an audio editor, but a program for selecting chords, which will clearly interest many beginners and experienced musicians. It supports all popular formats and provides basic options for changing the sound (but not editing), which, however, are needed here for something completely different.

Transcribe! allows you to slow down the playback compositions without changing their key, which is especially important when selecting chords by ear and not only. Here there is a convenient keyboard and a visual scale, which displays which chord is predominant in a particular section of the musical composition.

Sibelius is an advanced and most popular editor, though not for audio, but for musical scores. First of all, the program is aimed at professionals in the field of music: composers, conductors, producers, musicians. Here you can create and edit musical scores, which can later be used in any compatible software.

Separately, it is worth noting MIDI support - musical parts created in this program can be exported to a compatible DAW and continue working with it there. This editor looks quite attractive and understandable, it is Russified and distributed by subscription.

Sony Acid Pro

This is another brainchild of Sony, which, like the Sound Forge Pro, is aimed at professionals. True, this is not an audio editor, but a DAW - a digital audio workstation, or, in simpler terms, a program for creating music. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that in Sony Acid Pro you can quite freely perform any tasks of editing audio files, modifying them and processing them.

This program supports MIDI and VST, contains in its arsenal a huge set of effects and ready-made music cycles, the range of which can always be expanded. Here there is the ability to record audio, you can record MIDI, the function of recording audio to a CD is available, it is possible to import songs from an Audio CD, and much more. The program is not Russified and not free, but those who plan to create professional, high-quality music will obviously be interested in it.

FL Studio

FL Studio is a professional DAW that is very similar in functionality to Sony Acid Pro, although it has absolutely nothing in common with it. The interface of this program, although not Russified, is intuitive, so it will not be difficult to master it. You can also edit audio here, but this program was created for something completely different.

Providing the user with the same features and functions as the brainchild of Sony, FL Studio significantly surpasses it not only in its convenience, but also in unlimited support for everything that may be needed when creating music. For this program, there are many libraries of sounds, loops and samples that you can use in your tracks.

Support for VST technology makes the possibilities of this sound station almost limitless. These plug-ins can be both virtual musical instruments and audio processing and editing tools, the so-called master effects. In addition, it is worth noting that this program is widely in demand among professional producers and composers.

Reaper is another advanced DAW that, with its small size, offers the user a very wide range of possibilities for creating their own music and, of course, allows you to edit audio. In the arsenal of this program there is a large set of virtual instruments, there are many effects, MIDI and VST are supported.

Reaper has a lot in common with Sony Acid Pro, however, the former looks more attractive and understandable. This DAW is also similar in many ways to FL Studio, but inferior to it due to fewer virtual instruments and sound libraries. If we talk directly about the possibilities of audio editing, then this trinity of programs as a whole can do everything that any advanced audio editor can.

Ableton Live

Ableton Live is another music production software that, unlike the above DAWs, can also be used for musical improvisations and live performances. This workstation is used to create their hits by Armin Van Bouren and Skillex, but thanks to a simple and understandable interface, although not in Russian, every user can master it. Like most professional DAWs, this one isn't free either.

Ableton Live also copes with any everyday audio editing tasks, but it was not created for this at all. The program is in many ways similar to Reaper, and out of the box it contains many effects and virtual musical instruments that can be safely used to create unique, high-quality and professional musical compositions, and support for VST technology makes its possibilities almost limitless.

Reason is a professional recording studio packaged in a very cool, powerful and feature rich yet simple program. Moreover, it is a recording studio both functionally and visually. The English-language interface of this workstation looks very attractive and understandable, visually providing the user with all the equipment that could previously be seen only in the studios and in the clips of popular artists.

With the help of Reason, many professional musicians create their hits, including Coldplay and the Beastie Boys. The arsenal of this program has a huge variety of sounds, loops and samples, as well as virtual effects and musical instruments. The range of the latter, as befits such an advanced DAW, can be expanded with third-party plugins.

Reason, like Ableton Live, can be used for live performances. The mixer presented in this music mixing program, in its appearance, as well as in the set of functions and available options, noticeably surpasses the similar instrument in most professional DAWs, including Reaper and FL Studio.

We told you about audio editors, each of which has its own strengths, similarities and radically different features in comparison with analogues. Some of them are paid, others are free, some contain many additional features, others are designed exclusively for solving basic tasks such as cropping and converting. Which one to choose is up to you, but first you should decide on the tasks that you put forward for yourself, as well as familiarize yourself with a detailed description of the capabilities of the audio editor that interests you.

An interesting video of how Enjoykin makes music

With new technologies, the work on audio recordings has ceased to be exclusively a parish of professionals. Now every home PC user has the opportunity to cut, mix and apply effects to sound files.

What can we say about transcoding them into various formats. Along with the installed programs, such actions allow you to carry out online services. The most convenient of the programs and services will be discussed further.

Downloadable editors

The traditional way to edit audio is to use installable programs.

Such programs provide ample opportunities, but for solving simple tasks, such as transcoding a file or trimming a composition, there are “too many” of them. However, many users prefer to use the programs.

"People's" program for sound processing. With a free distribution model, it offers a solid toolkit.

The first version of the software became available to the public in 2000. Since then, the development and improvement of the project has been continuously carried out. The latest version for today was released on March 29, 2015.

Audacity supports reading and writing many formats, and various codecs, including: WAV, AIFF, AU, Ogg, MP2 and MP3. A wide range of possibilities is available for transcoding the audio signal between formats.

In fact, any source file can be transcoded into any format supported by the program.

Among other features worth mentioning is an unlimited number of tracks for mixing and a large number of additional filters and effects.

Audio editor: Wavosaur

A free music editor that can seriously compete with other sound processing programs. The program does not require installation and does not make any changes to the system registry. A special feature is the possibility of a detailed representation of the track in 3D mode.

Wavosaur supports the most common formats: WAV, MP3, OGG, AIF, AIFF.

Ample opportunities are available for transcoding a signal between formats, editing an unlimited number of tracks and processing in real time.

A significant drawback of the editor is that the supported operating systems are limited to the range from Win XP to Vista. Owners of common 7, 8 and 8.1 will have to look for an alternative.

Audio Editor: Audio Editor Gold

Audio Editor Gold, unlike previous programs, is not distributed free of charge. Trial access is limited to 30 days and a permanent registration reminder pop-up. It has a friendly interface.

Track editing is performed on a wave model, which can be scaled in detail for more accurate selection of track sections. You can edit each channel separately.

The software supports free transcoding between all supported formats, including WAV, WMA, Ogg and MP3. Any file can be freely transcoded into one of the available formats.

Online audio editors

Network technologies are evolving. Their current level allows you to transfer the functionality of many programs to the browser. Editing audio and video using network resources is no longer fiction, but a reality available to any network user.

Audio editor: TwistedWave

With TwistedWave, there is no need to download and install separate audio editing software. The service offers the ability to trim, transcode or add a filter to the audio recording using the browser.

Among the possibilities are about 40 VTS effects, fading effects throughout the track or its sections, recoding and saving the finished track in the cloud.

The service supports multiple formats: WAV, MP3, FLAC, Ogg, MP2, WMA, AIFF, AIFC, Apple CAF. By means of TwistedWave it is possible to freely transcode files between supported formats.

You can manually set the bit rate for the saved recording from 8 kB/s to 320 kB/s. That is, the service turned out to be a good audio converter.

Info! Free processing is possible only for mono mode. You will have to pay extra for processing recordings in two or more channels.

Audio Editor: Online MP3 Cutter

With this service, cutting music will turn into a simple process that takes a minimum of time. To get the required segment of the composition, you need only three steps: open the file, determine the segment and download the finished piece of the song.

The saved segment can be recoded into a more convenient format. The service supports five formats: MP3, AMR, WAC, AAC and Apple CAF. It is also convenient to use it for simple audio transcoding.

It is enough just not to define a segment to extract from the composition, and choose to save it in a different format. That is, despite the fact that cutting music is the main purpose of Online MP3 Cutter, you can successfully reformat audio with it.

Payment is not required at any stage of working with the service. A simple and intuitive interface with a minimum of necessary features is the best suited for everyday use.

Audio Editor: Make Your Own Ringtone

A convenient online service designed to create your own ringtones. Unlike the previous service for cutting audio, it has 16 effects that can be applied to the recording.

Six audio encoding formats are supported: MP3, OGG, AAC, M4R, MPC and MP4. Saving the finished file can be done both on a computer and on a mobile device. It is possible to send the finished segment by e-mail.

Make Your Own Ringtone can also be successfully used as an online music converter. All supported formats are freely convertible among themselves. That is, it is not necessary to trim the composition, you can simply save it in the desired format.

Small free MP3 editor for direct editing (no decoding) which eliminates quality loss and saves time. The program allows you to cut silence, normalize and smoothly turn down the sound, merge files, edit ID3 tags and burn MP3 to disc without decompression in PCM format (supports ACM and LAME codecs). Supports large files.

Remember the days when we were happy about the appearance of polyphony in mobile phones? What opportunities opened up: you could put your favorite melody on the call (which, however, then could only be ordered on paid services).

And even though it was not a full-fledged composition, but only polyphonic, this fashion (putting a melody on the bell) has spread everywhere. And even then there were rumors, or maybe bold dreams, that very soon mobile phones would start playing full-fledged melodies in mp3 format.

Soon that is exactly what happened. But since there was very little memory in those mobile phones (only a few megabytes), it was completely reckless to spend it entirely on just one song, even if it was your favorite (after all, you could save a few more photos on a 0.3 megapixel camera!).

It was then that it became fashionable to cut tracks, say, to a chorus or a favorite moment in a song. And, oddly enough, now mp3 melodies are cut off no less than before: new favorite compositions appear, old ones become boring, and we still approach the receiver just as quickly, so we don’t need a long melody at all.

Why did I remember all this? Yes, because there are a lot of programs for editing (including trimming) audio files, and in order to trim a melody several times a year, it is not at all necessary to learn how to use professional software, which you most likely do not want to understand. And here there is a free, convenient and extremely simple program for any user - mp3DirectCut.

However, trimming melodies is not the only function of the program, but, as it seems to me, one of the most popular in this class of “light” audio editors.

The main features of the mp3DirectCut program:

• Trimming, gluing and extracting audio, some editing options;
• Recording and encoding to mp3 with audio input device;
• Editing metadata of audio files.

Program installation

Installation takes place literally in two clicks: just unpack the archive and run it!

Interface

At the first start, the program will greet you and prompt you to select the interface language, since Russian is present.

The main window of the program: the central part is given to the graphics - a standard situation for such programs. However, this graph is not the actual waveform of the "audio object", it is more for navigation than for getting information about frequencies based on visual perception.

As you can see, almost all buttons are inactive until the audio file to be edited is opened.

Now let's add a full-fledged composition in mp3 format, you can do this by clicking the "Open" button in the upper left corner of the window, or the corresponding item in the "File" menu.

I have a problem: I love this album madly, but its penultimate song ends with a long “silence” in my headphones (probably according to the artist’s idea - the end of the main part of the album before the bonus track, which has a slightly different style). And when this divine sound in my head ends, I have to return to the real world, where it is not always comfortable. =)

Therefore, I want the next track to start playing immediately after the penultimate song ends.

It's good that I now have the mp3DirectCut program, with which I can easily cut the silence at the end of the composition without making any changes to the encoding, without changing its quality or any other parameters except for the timing. Moreover, the program itself recognized the “silence” in the sound track.

Right in the middle of the screen, as you probably noticed, there is a vertical dotted line (1), which does not change its centered position, being a kind of "sight" on the diagram. With its help, you can very easily and accurately select a fragment. It is possible in a different way (with the mouse buttons), but it will turn out more accurately and more clearly. So, let's begin.

Using the slider at the bottom (4), which provides scrolling of the diagram, we bring the vertical marker (1) to the beginning of the area that the program has selected as having no audio frequencies (move the slider with the mouse, holding it down with the left button). The marker will conveniently “stick” to the line, making it clear that you are not mistaken. Now press the "Start selection" button (2).

Now again drag the slider to the right - already to the very end of the composition (it won't let it go any further). And this time we press the button "End Selection" (3).

It remains only to “cut out” the fragment I do not need, which I do by pressing the “Delete” button on the keyboard.

Unfortunately, I don’t know why, when selecting this area, the program does not highlight in a different color (apparently, the colors match), if you select to the left - where “frequencies” are visible on the graph - the selection is perfectly highlighted.

That's it, the fragment has been removed - admire for yourself.

Now you can save the file. To save in mp3 format, leaving it unchanged (except for the timing, of course), select the "File" and "Item" menus. Now we save the file in mp3 format - in principle, the program did not provide me with another option.

That's all. The program can do something else, but no more than is necessary for an inexperienced user in this matter. Still, in order to work more deeply with sound, knowledge is needed, and for this there are more powerful programs, usually paid ones. Well, for starters - and this one will do!

Believe it or not, one of my favorite artists (whose track I cut) once created his first "beats" using cassette recorders, re-recording mixes with fragments of different tracks onto cassettes. And these songs were put on the radio! And you have more opportunities even with this simple program! So, perhaps one of you will start your long journey with this program ;-), who knows ...

Uninstalling a program

This is the first time I am adding such a paragraph to the manual, but there are reasons for that. The fact is that the program is not removed by standard methods. That is, neither standard Windows tools nor third-party programs will help you with this.

A feature of the program is that it does not create entries in the registry and system folders. All configuration is stored in a file mp3DirectCut.ini, which is located in the program folder ( Program Files\mp3DirectCut).

By deleting this file, you will delete all settings. If after that you run the program again, the updated file will appear again. Therefore, to completely remove the program, delete the mp3DirectCut folder in Program Files, the desktop shortcut (if any), and the links in the Start menu.

Advantages and disadvantages of the program

• The program is simple, functional, will work even on the weakest hardware (tested on a computer of 2005 and Windows XP), weighs only 400 kb - you can download it from your phone =);
• Fast and easy navigation even on large files - up to 4 GB;
• Very good translation into Russian, there are localizations for other “rare” languages ​​(even for Ukrainian language), I counted 26 languages.

• There are simply no obvious cons. One could call a lack of functionality, but everyone understands that too much cannot be demanded from this type of program.

conclusions

The program is made, as they say, "for a person." The interface, no matter how trite it sounds, is really intuitive. I did not even begin to review the settings, since anyone will understand them. No wonder such programs are very loved by users. You will quickly fall in love with it if you often do simple operations with audio files, and will not interfere with your computer and generally somehow affect the system if you use it only occasionally.

P.S. It is allowed to freely copy and quote this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Vyacheslav Protasov is preserved.

P.P.S.. If the functions of this program are not enough for you, try a full-fledged free ...

The processing of audio files is considered to be the lot of specialists, musicians, sound engineers. A few years ago, that's how it was. Programs were prepared on the radio, commercials were created. Music was born in the studios, solo and vocal parts were recorded. As a result, the market for wave editors has not been rich in simple, affordable software products that you can try and get started right away.

Time does not stand still. Despite the apparent complexity of a significant proportion of modern wave editors, most of their users today do not even have basic knowledge of musical literacy. The popularity of mobile phones that support the playback of MP3 ringtones is causing increased attention to audio data processing tools.

The girl bought a fancy phone. There are always advertisements on TV and radio, calling to send an SMS and get a new melody. Of course, this service costs a lot of money, and if you get into the habit of ordering a large amount of music, you can completely become bankrupt. Downloading original MP3 songs to your phone will fill up the memory very quickly. Few people buy additional flash cards for their mobile friend, preferring to be content with a few tens of megabytes, which are available by default. In addition, the processor speed of mobile devices is much slower than that of desktop computers, and processing large amounts of data will greatly slow down the phone.

Surprisingly, the main contingent of users of wave editors are young girls who perform simple operations on MP3 files. The desire to stand out, to show her friends a new melody that no one else in the world has yet, puts young ladies at personal computers. And after downloading the wave editor, a melody is opened, a fragment is selected and saved to a hard disk with a lower data rate. As a seasoning, you can add various effects, record a voice from a microphone and overlay it on music, make a potpourri of several compositions.

Programs for audio processing, sound editing, sound editing.

↓ New in category "Audio editors":

Free
Aldos Pianito 3.5 is an application that supports the use of 128 different instruments and emulates a piano in your keyboard.

Free
MorphVOX Pro 4.3.16 offers the ability to change the voice beyond recognition or simply apply audio effects to the voice available to the program.

Free
GoldWave 5.66 is an audio editor and quite powerful. The GoldWave program in its functionality can be compared with such well-known programs as Sound Forge or Adobe Audition.

Free
Yogen Vocal Remover 3.3.11 will allow you to quickly remove the singer's voice from a song and create a regular backing track. Yogen Vocal Remover supports WAV and MP3 files, and even lets you save cut vocals to your hard drive.

Free
AV Voice Changer Diamond 7.0.37 the program will help any owner to change the tone of the voice, moreover, it performs changes in real time. The developers of the AV Voice Changer Diamond program note the quality of work and the ability to give voice languor and sexuality, which will help express your feelings and more fully reflect them in a conversation with a partner.

Free
Sound Forge Pro 10.0c build 491 is a rather convenient and powerful digital audio editor with a large set of utilities for multi-profile editing of music files.

Free
Adobe Audition 3.0.1 Build 8347 is a professional tool that can be used to work with audio files and is designed for professionals who process audio or video products.

Free
mp3DirectCut 2.14 is a small size editor for MP3 files that allows you to cut or copy parts of files directly to PCM without decompression. The mp3DirectCut editor saves newly received files without quality loss.

Free
VideoMach 5.9.0 is an editor that is powerful and can convert and edit media format files.

Free
Sound Normalizer 3.92 RU will improve and restore the quality of Wav and Mp3 files. The Sound Normalizer program improves the quality of these files by checking and normalizing their volume level.

Free
Reaper 4.151 is a really powerful audio editor. The Reaper program allows you to prepare, edit, record and create multi-channel audio tracks.

Free
AudioGrail (K-MP3) 7.0.1.178 is a whole collection of utilities that are designed for high-quality work and conversion of your files in FLAC, MP3, MPC, OGG, APE, WavPack and AAC and other equally well-known formats.

Free
MagicScore Maestro 7.285 is a great music score editor. MagicScore Maestro is a virtual piano as well as guitar frets and has the ability to input scores from MIDI devices and work with chords.

Free
Sony ACID Music Studio 8.0 build 178 is a program that allows you to create music on your computer in a flexible, reliable and very professional way. ACID Music Studio allows you to process as many samples as you like in a very professional way to create your own compositions for Audio CD, Internet or Flash

Free
FL Studio (FruityLoops) 10.0.9 is a very well-proven software that includes tools such as a synthesizer, drum machine, samples and other equally important for the ability to create music.

Free
Sony Vegas Pro 11.0.520 is a professional program that can perform multi-track recording, editing and editing of audio and video streams. Sony Vegas is a multi-track digital non-linear audio and video editing system.