Audacity (audio editor)
{{Short description|Open-source digital audio editor and recording software}}
{{About|the audio editing application|other uses|Audacity (disambiguation){{!}}Audacity}}
{{Distinguish|Audacious (software)|Audacy}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox software
| title = Audacity
| name = Audacity
| logo = 200px
| logo_size =
| logo_alt =
| logo caption =
| screenshot = 300px
| screenshot_size =
| screenshot_alt =
| caption = Audacity showing the timeline, tracks, and basic controls
| collapsible =
| author =
| developer = Muse Group
The Audacity Team
| released = {{Start date and age|2000|05|28}}
| discontinued =
| latest release version =
| latest release date =
| latest preview version =
| latest preview date =
| programming language = C, C++ (using the wxWidgets toolkit){{cite web
| url = https://sourceforge.net/blog/potm-2004-07/
| title = Project of the Month July 2004 – Audacity
| access-date = November 27, 2008
| last = SourceForge
| date = July 2004
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081223141544/http://sourceforge.net/potm/potm-2004-07.php
| archive-date = December 23, 2008
| url-status = live}}{{cite web
| url = https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ecdr2004ch3_en.pdf
| title = E-Commerce and Development Report 2004
| access-date = November 27, 2008
| last = United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
| year = 2004
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081203142001/http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ecdr2004ch3_en.pdf
| archive-date = December 3, 2008
| url-status = live}}
| operating system = Windows, macOS, Linux, other Unix-like systems{{cite web
| url = https://www.audacityteam.org/
| title = Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder
| work = audacityteam.org
| access-date = January 5, 2012
| archive-date = March 14, 2011
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110314132757/http://audacityteam.org/
| url-status = live
| platform = IA-32, x86-64, PowerPC
| language = {{unbulleted list|Afrikaans, Arabic, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Corsican, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Marathi, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese and Welsh}}
| language count = 38
| language footnote =
| genre = Digital audio editor
| license = GPL v2 or later, CC-BY-3.0 (documentation){{cite web
| url = https://www.audacityteam.org/about/license/
| title = License
| author = Audacity Team
| access-date = June 3, 2021
| website=Audacity
| language=en-US
| url-status=live
| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602171819/https://www.audacityteam.org/about/license/
| archivedate=June 2, 2021}}
| alexa =
| website = {{URL|https://www.audacityteam.org/}}
| standard =
| AsOf =
}}
Audacity is a free and open-source digital audio editor and recording application software, available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and other Unix-like operating systems.{{cite web |url=https://www.audacityteam.org/about/ |title=About Audacity |work=audacityteam.org |access-date=February 19, 2012 |archive-date=June 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618040105/http://audacityteam.org/about/ |url-status=live }}
As of December 6, 2022, Audacity is the most popular download at FossHub,{{cite web|url=https://www.fosshub.com/Audacity.html|title=Download Audacity|last=FossHub.com|access-date=January 23, 2017|archive-date=January 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122204958/https://www.fosshub.com/Audacity.html|url-status=live}} with over 114.2 million downloads since March 2015. It was previously served by Google Code and SourceForge, where it was downloaded over 200 million times. It is now part of Muse Group.
It is licensed under GPL-2.0 or later. Executables with VST3 support are licensed GPL-3-only to maintain license compatibility.
History
The project was started in the fall of 1999 by Dominic Mazzoni and Roger Dannenberg at Carnegie Mellon University, initially under the name CMU Visual Audio.{{Citation |title=The Story Behind Audacity | date=April 30, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMWNvwLiXIQ |access-date=April 14, 2023 |language=en}} On May 28, 2000, Audacity was released as Audacity 0.8 to the public."Version 0.8: May 28, 2000" in README.txt of audacity-win-0.8.zip{{cite web |title=Credits |url=https://www.audacityteam.org/about/credits |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629035306/http://audacityteam.org/about/credits |archive-date=June 29, 2015 |access-date=February 19, 2012 |work=audacityteam.org}}
Mazzoni eventually left CMU to pursue software development and in particular development of Audacity, with Dannenberg remaining at CMU and continuing development of Nyquist, a scripting language which Audacity uses for some effects.
Over the years, additional volunteer contributors emerged, including James Crook who started the fork DarkAudacity to experiment with a new look and other UX changes.{{Cite web |title=But Why? |url=http://www.darkaudacity.com/but-why.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001210730/http://www.darkaudacity.com/but-why.html |archive-date=October 1, 2022 |access-date=May 30, 2022 |website=darkaudacity.com}} Most of its changes were eventually incorporated into the mainline version and the fork ended.{{Cite web |title=DarkAudacity, a customised version of Audacity |url=http://www.darkaudacity.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219210553/http://www.darkaudacity.com/ |archive-date=December 19, 2021 |access-date=July 6, 2021 |website=darkaudacity.com}}
In April 2021, it was announced that Muse Group (owners of MuseScore and Ultimate Guitar) would acquire the Audacity trademark and continue to develop the application, which remains free and open source.{{Cite web |last=Rothman |first=Philip |date=April 30, 2021 |title=Muse Group formed to support MuseScore, Ultimate Guitar; acquires Audacity |url=https://www.scoringnotes.com/news/muse-group-formed-to-support-musescore-ultimate-guitar-acquires-audacity/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503004437/https://www.scoringnotes.com/news/muse-group-formed-to-support-musescore-ultimate-guitar-acquires-audacity/ |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |access-date=May 3, 2021 |website=Scoring Notes |language=en-US}}
Features and use
In addition to recording audio from multiple sources, Audacity can be used for post-processing of all types of audio, including effects such as normalization, trimming, and fading in and out.{{cite web |url=http://www.packtpub.com/article/podcasting-with-linux-command-line-tools-and-audacity |title=Podcasting with Linux Command Line Tools and Audacity |access-date=January 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118173437/http://www.packtpub.com/article/podcasting-with-linux-command-line-tools-and-audacity| archive-date= January 18, 2008 | url-status=dead |website=Packt}} It has been used to record and mix entire albums, such as by Tune-Yards.{{cite magazine |last=Frere-Jones |first=Sasha |date=May 2, 2011 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/02/world-of-wonder |title=World of Wonder: How Merrill Garbus left the theatre and took the stage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024124421/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/02/world-of-wonder |archive-date=October 24, 2020 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=May 16, 2015}} It is currently{{when?|date=May 2025}} used in the Sound Creation unit of the UK OCR National Level 2 ICT course.{{cn|date=May 2025}}
= Recording =
Audacity can record multiple tracks at once, provided the sound card supports it. In addition to a normal mode,{{cite web |title=Playing and Recording |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/playing_and_recording.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324091238/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/playing_and_recording.html |archive-date=March 24, 2016 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} recordings can be scheduled ("Timer Record"),{{cite web |title=Timer Record |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/timer_record.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124043133/https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/timer_record.html |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} or used in a Punch in and roll fashion.{{cite web |title=Punch and Roll Record |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/punch_and_roll_record.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123171836/https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/punch_and_roll_record.html |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |access-date=November 23, 2022 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}}
= Non-destructive editing =
Historically, Audacity is a destructive editor, meaning all changes are directly applied to the waveform. This comes with certain benefits but means that any change made cannot be tweaked later on without undoing all changes in-between. For a long time, non-destructive editing was exclusive to volume envelopes{{cite web |title=Audacity's Envelope Tool |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/envelope_tool.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416210823/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/envelope_tool.html |archive-date=April 16, 2016 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} and playback rates, but since version 3, this has been extended to clip trimming{{cite web |title=Smart Clips |url=https://alphamanual.audacityteam.org/man/Audacity_Tracks_and_Clips#smart |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101161635/https://alphamanual.audacityteam.org/man/Audacity_Tracks_and_Clips#smart |archive-date=November 1, 2022 |access-date=November 1, 2022 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} and effects.{{cite web |title=Using realtime effects |url=https://support.audacityteam.org/audio-editing/using-realtime-effects |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923143348/https://support.audacityteam.org/audio-editing/using-realtime-effects |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |access-date=September 23, 2022 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}}
= Importing, exporting and conversions =
Audacity natively imports and exports WAV, AIFF, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and all file formats supported by libsndfile library. Due to patent licensing concerns, the FFmpeg library necessary to import and export proprietary formats such as M4A (AAC) and WMA is not bundled with Audacity but has to be downloaded separately.{{cite web |date=March 22, 2013 |title=Audacity: Features |url=https://audacityteam.org/about/features |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618213452/http://audacityteam.org/about/features |archive-date=June 18, 2015 |access-date=September 8, 2013 |publisher=audacityteam.org}}
In conjunction with batch processing features, Audacity can be used to convert files from one format to another, or to digitize records, tapes or MiniDiscs.{{cite web |title=Copying tapes, LPs or MiniDiscs to CD |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_copying_tapes_lps_or_minidiscs_to_cd.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416210930/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorial_copying_tapes_lps_or_minidiscs_to_cd.html |archive-date=April 16, 2016 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}}
= Customizability and extensibility =
Audacity supports LADSPA, LV2, VST, VST3, Audio Units, Vamp and Nyquist plugins, which allows it to load most audio effect plugins.{{cite web |author=Audacity development team . |title=Audacity: Plug-ins and Libraries |url=https://www.audacityteam.org/download/plug-ins/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112153258/https://www.audacityteam.org/download/plug-ins/ |archive-date=January 12, 2020 |access-date=January 4, 2020}} It additionally features a console for Nyquist, a Lisp dialect, in which users can script their own plugins{{cite web |title=Nyquist Plug-ins Reference |url=https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Nyquist_Plugins_Reference |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830121414/https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Nyquist_Plugins_Reference |archive-date=August 30, 2019 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} and support for external python scripting.{{cite web |title=Modules Preferences for mod-script pipe |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/modules_preferences.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123172741/https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/modules_preferences.html |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |access-date=November 23, 2022 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}}
Audacity is somewhat customizable and supports arbitrary arrangements of its toolbars, custom themes and enabling and disabling of several features.{{cite web |title=Themes |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/themes.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104135128/http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/themes.html |archive-date=November 4, 2017 |access-date=November 3, 2017 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}}
In January 2024, Intel introduced some AI-powered capabilities for Audacity as part of its OpenVINO plugin suite.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-08 |title=AI Tools Are Here for Open-Source Audio Editor 'Audacity' |url=https://news.itsfoss.com/audacity-ai-tools/ |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=It's FOSS News |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Audacity ® {{!}} Introducing OpenVINO AI effects for Audacity |url=https://www.audacityteam.org/blog/openvino-ai-effects/ |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=www.audacityteam.org}}
= Audio analysis =
File:Audacity GSnap effect.pngs of an audio clip with portamento (upper panel) and the same clip after applying pitch correction, showing frequencies clamped to discrete values (lower panel)]]
Audacity has several features to allow for spectrum analysis using the Fourier transform algorithm{{cite web |title=Plot Spectrum |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/plot_spectrum.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409095136/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/plot_spectrum.html |archive-date=April 9, 2016 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}}{{cite web |title=Audacity's Spectrogram View |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/spectrogram_view.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409095941/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/spectrogram_view.html |archive-date=April 9, 2016 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} and spectrograms. As with effects, additional analysis plugins can be added, such as ones that check audiobooks for ACX compatibility.{{Cite web |title=Analysis Plugins |url=https://plugins.audacityteam.org/analyzers/analysis-plugins |publisher=The Audacity Team}}
=Limitations=
While Audacity has some features found in digital audio workstations, it should not be considered as such yet. In its current form, it is an audio editor and recorder. In particular, MIDI editing, piano rolls, virtual instruments, parameter automation and channel routings are not yet implemented.
Due to the use of wxWidgets, which do not have full iOS or Android support,{{Cite web |title=wxWidgets Roadmap – wxWidgets |url=https://www.wxwidgets.org/develop/roadmap/ |access-date=April 14, 2023 |website=www.wxwidgets.org}} Audacity cannot run on mobile platforms.
= Other features =
Audacity can make precise adjustments to speed (tempo) while maintaining pitch, to synchronize audio with video or for precise running time.{{cite web |title=Change Tempo |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/change_tempo.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323054149/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/change_tempo.html |archive-date=March 23, 2016 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} It also has a large array of digital effects and plug-ins,{{cite web |title=Index of Effects, Generators and Analyzers in Audacity |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/index_of_effects_generators_and_analyzers.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415142644/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/index_of_effects_generators_and_analyzers.html |archive-date=April 15, 2016 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} including: noise reduction based on sampling the noise to be minimized,{{cite web |title=Noise Reduction |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/noise_reduction.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404133759/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/noise_reduction.html |archive-date=April 4, 2016 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} vocal reduction and isolation for creation of karaoke tracks and isolated vocal tracks,{{cite web |title=Vocal Reduction and Isolation |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/vocal_reduction_and_isolation.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413155902/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/vocal_reduction_and_isolation.html |archive-date=April 13, 2016 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} pitch adjustment maintaining speed, and speed adjustment maintaining pitch.{{cite web |title=Change Pitch |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/change_pitch.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408193550/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/change_pitch.html |archive-date=April 8, 2016 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}}
Audacity also has support for multi-channel modes with sampling rates up to 96 kHz with 32 bits per sample.{{cite web |title=Multichannel Recording |url=https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Multichannel_Recording |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519145353/https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Multichannel_Recording |archive-date=May 19, 2020 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}}{{cite web |title=Audacity Tracks Menu |url=http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tracks_menu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304125437/http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tracks_menu |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}} It can also detect dropout errors made while recording with an overburdened CPU.{{cite web |title=Recording Preferences for Dropout Detection |url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/recording_preferences.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123172449/https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/recording_preferences.html |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |access-date=November 23, 2022 |publisher=Audacityteam.org}}
Language support
In addition to English, Audacity is available in Afrikaans, Arabic, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Corsican, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Marathi, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese and Welsh.{{cite web|url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/languages.html|title=Languages – Audacity Development Manual|website=manual.audacityteam.org|access-date=September 29, 2018|archive-date=September 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929233417/https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/languages.html|url-status=live}}
The documentation, the Audacity Manual, is available only in English.{{cite web|url=https://manual.audacityteam.org/|title=Audacity Manual|website=manual.audacityteam.org|access-date=September 29, 2018|archive-date=May 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505205223/https://manual.audacityteam.org/|url-status=live}} The Audacity Forum offers technical support in English.
Architecture
File:Audacity Layers.png of Audacity showing how the software is built in layers]]
The diagram illustrates Audacity's layers and modules. Note the three important classes within wxWidgets, each of which has a reflection in Audacity.
Higher-level abstractions result from related lower-level ones. For example, the BlockFile system is a reflection of and is built on wxWidgets' wxFiles. Lower down in the diagram is a narrow strip for platform-specific implementation layers.
Both wxWidgets and PortAudio are OS abstraction layers, containing conditional code that chooses different implementations depending on the target platform.
Reception
As free and open-source software, Audacity is very popular in education, encouraging its developers to make the user interface easier for students and teachers.{{cite journal |title=Technology for Teaching: Audacity. Free and open-source software |journal=Music Educators Journal |volume=98 |issue=2 |year=2011 |pages=39–40 |issn=0027-4321 |doi=10.1177/0027432111428745 |first1=Nick |last1=Jaworski |first2=Matthew D. |last2=Thibeault}}
Audacity won the SourceForge 2007 and 2009 Community Choice Award for Best Project for Multimedia.{{cite web |title=SourceForge.net: 2007 Community Choice Awards |url=http://sourceforge.net/community/index.php/landing-pages/cca07/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120140929/http://sourceforge.net/community/index.php/landing-pages/cca07/ |archive-date=January 20, 2008 |access-date=January 19, 2008}}{{cite web |title=SourceForge.net: 2009 Community Choice Awards |date=March 30, 2009 |url=https://sourceforge.net/blog/cca09/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123104658/http://sourceforge.net/blog/cca09/ |archive-date=January 23, 2012 |access-date=February 4, 2012}}
Jamie Lendino of PC Magazine recently rated it 4/5 stars Excellent and said: "If you're looking to get started in podcasting or recording music, it's tough to go wrong with Audacity. A powerful, free, open-source audio editor that's been available for years, Audacity is still the go-to choice for quick-and-dirty audio work."{{cite web |title=Audacity – Free, open-source audio editing |last=Lendino |first=Jamie |url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2358860,00.asp |date=April 6, 2022 |access-date=November 8, 2022 |archive-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719162717/https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2358860,00.asp |url-status=live}}
CNET rated Audacity 5/5 stars, calling it "feature-rich and flexible".{{cite web |url=https://download.cnet.com/Audacity/3000-2170_4-10058117.html |title=Audacity |date=November 8, 2008 |work=CNET |access-date=September 1, 2013 |archive-date=August 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817220632/http://download.cnet.com/Audacity/3000-2170_4-10058117.html |url-status=live}} Preston Gralla of PC World said: "If you're interested in creating, editing, and mixing you'll want Audacity."{{cite journal |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/231663/audacity.html |last=Gralla |first=Preston |title=Audacity |journal=PC World |date=October 22, 2008 |access-date=September 1, 2013 |archive-date=August 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817085520/http://www.pcworld.com/article/231663/audacity.html |url-status=live}} Jack Wallen of Tech Republic praised its features and ease-of-use.{{cite web |title=Giving Audacity its due: An audio editor with serious functionality |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/linux-and-open-source/giving-audacity-its-due-an-audio-editor-with-serious-functionality/ |last=Wallen |first=Jack |work=Tech Republic |date=July 18, 2011 |access-date=September 1, 2013 |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224103337/http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/linux-and-open-source/giving-audacity-its-due-an-audio-editor-with-serious-functionality/ |url-status=live}}
In The Art of Unix Programming (2003), open-source software advocate Eric S. Raymond wrote of Audacity: "The central virtue of this program is that it has a superbly transparent and natural user interface, one that erects as few barriers between the user and the sound file as possible."{{Cite web |url=http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ch06s01.html#audacity |title=Studying Cases |website=www.catb.org |access-date=March 21, 2014 |archive-date=March 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312035327/http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ch06s01.html#audacity |url-status=live}}
Some reviewers and users have criticized Audacity for its inconvenient UX design, unsightly GUI and comparative lack of features compared with Adobe Audition. Matthew McLean wrote: "Audacity looks a bit more dated and basic, but this will be appealing to many folks who're just starting out".{{cite web |title=Audacity Vs Adobe Audition CC {{!}} Where Should I Record & Edit My Podcast?| last=McLean |first=Matthew |url=https://www.thepodcasthost.com/editing-production/audacity-vs-adobe-audition-cc-where-should-i-record-edit-my-podcast// |date=June 1, 2017 |access-date=February 15, 2018 |archive-date=February 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216110351/https://www.thepodcasthost.com/editing-production/audacity-vs-adobe-audition-cc-where-should-i-record-edit-my-podcast/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=7 reasons I'm switching from Audacity to Audition (and why you shouldn't) |last=Lewis |first=Daniel |url=https://theaudacitytopodcast.com/tap106-7-reasons-im-switching-from-audacity-to-audition-and-why-you-shouldnt/ |date=December 3, 2012 |access-date=February 15, 2018 |archive-date=February 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216025942/https://theaudacitytopodcast.com/tap106-7-reasons-im-switching-from-audacity-to-audition-and-why-you-shouldnt/ |url-status=live}}
In May 2021, after the project was acquired by Muse Group,{{Cite web |last=Rothman |first=Philip |date=April 30, 2021 |title=Muse Group formed to support MuseScore, Ultimate Guitar; acquires Audacity |url=https://www.scoringnotes.com/news/muse-group-formed-to-support-musescore-ultimate-guitar-acquires-audacity/ |access-date=May 3, 2021 |website=Scoring Notes |language=en-US |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503004437/https://www.scoringnotes.com/news/muse-group-formed-to-support-musescore-ultimate-guitar-acquires-audacity/ |url-status=live }} there was a draft proposal to add opt-in telemetry to the code to record application usage. Some users responded negatively, with accusations of turning Audacity into spyware.{{Cite web |title=Audacity 3.0 called spyware over data collection changes by new owner |url=https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/07/04/open-source-audacity-deemed-spyware-over-data-collection-changes |access-date=July 5, 2021 |website=AppleInsider |date=July 4, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=July 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704234215/https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/07/04/open-source-audacity-deemed-spyware-over-data-collection-changes |url-status=live}} The company reversed course, falling back to error/crash reporting and optional update checking instead.{{cite web |url=https://github.com/audacity/audacity/discussions/889 |title=Actions we propose to take on PR #835 #889 |access-date= May 14, 2021 |author=Tantacrul |work=GitHub |date=May 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210514192055/https://github.com/audacity/audacity/discussions/889 |archive-date=May 14, 2021 |url-status=live}} Another controversy in July 2021{{Cite web |last=Speed |first=Richard |title=Apologetic Audacity rewrites privacy policy after 'significant lapse in communication' |url=https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/23/audactiy_apology/ |access-date=July 15, 2022 |website=theregister.com |language=en |archive-date=July 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715071018/https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/23/audactiy_apology/ |url-status=live }} resulted from a change to the privacy policy which said that although personal data was stored on servers in the European Economic Area, the program would "occasionally [be] required to share your personal data with our main office in Russia and our external counsel in the USA".{{Cite news |date=July 6, 2021 |title=Audio editor Audacity denies spyware accusation |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57721967 |access-date=May 28, 2022 |archive-date=August 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808212715/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57721967 |url-status=live }} That July, the Audacity team apologized for the changes to the privacy policy and removed mention of the data storage provision which was added "out of an abundance of caution".
Version history
This table shows the major and minor releases of Audacity. Patches are omitted.
See also
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
;Notes
- {{cite book
| last1 = Franklin
| first1 = Jerry
| title = 2006 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference
| chapter = The Sheer Audacity: How to Get More, in Less Time, from the Audacity Digital Audio Editing Software
| year = 2006
| pages = 92–105
| doi = 10.1109/IPCC.2006.320394
| isbn = 978-0-7803-9778-1| s2cid = 23353302
}}
- {{cite journal
| last1 = Mazzoni
| first1 = Dominic
| last2 = Dannenberg
| first2 = Roger B.
| title = A Fast Data Structure for Disk-Based Audio Editing
| journal = Computer Music Journal
| volume = 26
| issue = 2
| year = 2002
| pages = 62–76
| issn = 0148-9267
| doi = 10.1162/014892602760137185
| citeseerx = 10.1.1.72.7855| s2cid = 1709255
}}
- {{cite journal
| last1 = Bernardini
| first1 = Nicola
| last2 = Rocchesso
| first2 = Davide
| title = Making Sounds with Numbers: A Tutorial on Music Software Dedicated to Digital Audio
| journal = Journal of New Music Research
| volume = 31
| issue = 2
| year = 2002
| pages = 141–151
| issn = 0929-8215
| doi = 10.1076/jnmr.31.2.141.8089
| citeseerx = 10.1.1.41.1211| s2cid = 15597769
}}
Sources
- {{cite book |first1=James |last1=Crook |editor-first1=Amy |editor-last1=Brown |editor-first2=Greg |editor-last2=Wilson |chapter-url=https://www.aosabook.org/en/audacity.html |url=https://aosabook.org/en/ |title=The Architecture of Open Source Applications |chapter=Audacity |volume=1 |year=2012}}
External links
{{Sister project links
| d = Q191782
| wikt = no
| commons = Audacity
| b = Audacity
| n = no
| q = no
| s = no
| v = Audacity
| voy = no
| species = no
| display = Audacity
}}
- {{Official website}}
- [https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Audacity_Versions#compatibility Audacity platform and operating system version compatibility]
{{Audio editors}}
{{FLOSS}}
Category:Audio editing software for Linux
Category:Cross-platform free software
Category:Free software for Linux
Category:Free software for Windows
Category:Free software for macOS
Category:Free software programmed in C
Category:Free software programmed in C++
Category:MacOS multimedia software
Category:Software that uses FFmpeg
Category:Software that uses wxWidgets
Category:Software using the GNU General Public License