Simple Audio Editing Software?

[ottog1979]

A few months back I bought a Zoom H1 for practice and gig recording. It's a great tool! I'm looking for some simple software to edit clips of songs and perhaps re-arrange songs. Want something simple as I don't have enough time to invest in getting up to speed with a ProTools or Ableton Live type program.

I've done a little research by searching DW threads and some use the Audacity program. But, I've also seen review complaints on maleware and other stuff that comes along with Audacity.

Can anyone recommend a simple, intuitive audio editing program? I don't mind spending a little $$. It's the time that I really don't have to invest to become an audio editing expert.

 

[KamaK]

You should be able to simply drag the movie file into GarageBand or iMovie and edit as you please.

IIRC Audacity is FOSS. I cannot imagine a malware payload coming from http://www.audacityteam.org , though distribution sites like Tucows and Hotdownloads may bundle on crapware.

 

[father timer]

Give Audacity a try. download only from their site. Works well and is simple to figure out. And also what KamaK said. Try imovie.

 

[ottog1979]

I should have mentioned, I'm a PC user.

Sounds like Audacity or Garage Band is the way to go.

 

[PorkPieGuy]

Reaper.

It's free, and it's awesome.

 

[wildbill]

For PC

Try Audacity: http://www.audacityteam.org/
It's a good simple, basic program.

If you want to get a bit more, for not much money, Wavelab Elements is good.
It costs $99, but you can try it for free here: http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/wavelab/trial.html

It's an entry level version of the full Wavelab program, and there's a bit of a learning curve,
but it would probably do anything you might need - and then some.

 

[BacteriumFendYoke]

Reaper.

It's free, and it's awesome.

It's 'sort-of-free'. You are meant to get a licence for personal use and it's really, really inexpensive for what it is. It's been my DAW of choice at home for years because of this (and I paid for it) - although at heart I'm a Logic guy.

Reaper is a bloody fantastic DAW though.

In answer to the original question, if you download Audacity from the company website then there are no issues with Malware. If you're do so from a third-party (and why the Hell would you) then there can be issues. It's a great wave editor and it can be pressed into DAW work if needed. If I'm editing individual files, I tend to use Audacity because it's so good at what it does.

 

[MoreBeer]

In my limited experience with this, I record guitar and bass tracks using Amplitube which is amp modeling software and then bring them into Garage Band. Although the levels are usually too low and Garage Band seems very limited with raising the db of the imported aiff files.

So I drag them into Audicity to pump them up then back again into Garage Band. It works well for what I'm doing now.

My intent is to then import those into Studio One, a basic version is included with the PreSonus box arriving tomorrow along with other home studio goodies. I'll then add drums to that and hopefully have an easy time bringing all that back into Garage Band.

 

[Skrivarna]

I cannot imagine a malware payload coming from http://www.audacityteam.org

For something like this Audacity is the way to go. If you need a full DAW reaper is a popular choice, but I always recommend checking out Tracktion. Really good workflow and you can use the older versions (which are great) completely free.

 

[Destroyer772]

In my limited experience with this, I record guitar and bass tracks using Amplitube which is amp modeling software and then bring them into Garage Band. Although the levels are usually too low and Garage Band seems very limited with raising the db of the imported aiff files.

So I drag them into Audicity to pump them up then back again into Garage Band. It works well for what I'm doing now.

My intent is to then import those into Studio One, a basic version is included with the PreSonus box arriving tomorrow along with other home studio goodies. I'll then add drums to that and hopefully have an easy time bringing all that back into Garage Band.

All right, so you went with Presonus. May I ask which model you ordered, Im still learning but getting better with studio one.

 

[ottog1979]

Excellent help. Thanks everyone!

 

[MoreBeer]

All right, so you went with Presonus. May I ask which model you ordered, Im still learning but getting better with studio one.

I ordered the most basic model, the 2x2 to get started. It's probably all I need for now as I'm just looking to mic the drums using 2 mics with Audio Technica 2020's that should sound good enough. The way I see it, if I get further into it, I'll buy a larger 4x4 to do a better job with the drums and relegate the smaller unit to one of my desktop systems for technical tutorial videos...not music related. Just propellerhead things.

 

[Destroyer772]

I ordered the most basic model, the 2x2 to get started. It's probably all I need for now as I'm just looking to mic the drums using 2 mics with Audio Technica 2020's that should sound good enough. The way I see it, if I get further into it, I'll buy a larger 4x4 to do a better job with the drums and relegate the smaller unit to one of my desktop systems for technical tutorial videos...not music related. Just propellerhead things.

Plus this will get you working with Studio One. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.