Audio editing plays a huge role in music post-synthesis, multimedia sound effects production, video sound processing, etc. It is the most important way to modify sound materials and can directly have a significant impact on sound quality. Every user who needs to deal with audio operations is eager to find a simple and practical audio editing solution. However, similar software used in the past is either too complex and difficult to use (such as Sound Forge), or it has a single purpose and The function is too weak. The most troublesome thing is that most of them are English software, which is filled with a lot of professional terms and words, which makes beginners who are already confused even more confused. Is there a compromise solution - a Chinese audio editing software that is simple to operate and functional? The answer is yes. The protagonist I want to introduce to you today is just such a "versatile" guy. It is GoldWave-your best audio choice. GoldWave, the audio editing software, was developed by Mr. Chris Craig in 1997. After several version upgrades, we are now using version 4.16, which was launched in 2000. It is better than the previous version in terms of functions and interface. Huge improvement, now it can truly be said to be a mature and excellent audio editing software. What is exciting is that the Chinese purple clay teapot Chinese website (www.purpleclay.com) has Chineseized this version. You can download it there for trial use. Our following explanation will also use this Chinese version as an example. Now you can leave the worries of E-text behind and immerse yourself in the environment of our great mother tongue. Follow me and enter the audio editing world of GoldWave!

1. Quick Start

GoldWave is a standard green software that does not require installation and is small in size (only 0.7M after compression). Release several files in the compressed package to any directory on the hard disk and click GoldWave directly. The exe starts running. Since it is an audio editing software, we must first use the audio file to "operate"! Select the Open command from the File menu, specify a file to be edited, and press Enter. Within no waiting time, GoldWave immediately displayed the waveform status of the file and the main software running interface (Figure 1), which surprised us at its running response speed. The entire main interface is divided into three parts from top to bottom. The top is menu commands and shortcut toolbar, the middle is waveform display, and the bottom is file properties. Our main operations are concentrated in the waveform display area that takes up the largest proportion of the screen. If it is a stereo file, it is divided into upper and lower channels, and they can be operated separately or uniformly.

1. Select audio events

Before performing various audio processing on the file, you must first select a section from it (the selected section is called an audio event). The selection method of GoldWave is very simple. It makes full use of the left and right mouse buttons. Left-clicking the mouse at a certain position determines the starting point of the selected part, and right-clicking the mouse at another position determines the ending point of the selected part. , the selected audio event will be displayed with high brightness (as shown in Figure 2). Now all our operations will only be performed on this high-brightness area, and other shadow parts will not be affected. Figure 2: The selected part is highlighted. Of course, if the selection position is wrong or the selection area is changed, you can use the Select View command under the edit menu (or use the shortcut key Ctrl+W), and then re-select the audio event.

2. Cut, copy, paste, delete

Audio editing is the same as other Windows application software. Basic operation commands such as cut, copy, paste, and delete are also widely used in its operations. Therefore, a firm grasp of these commands can make you more capable. Helps us get started quickly. These common operating commands of GoldWave are very easy to implement. In addition to using the command options under the edit menu, the shortcut keys are similar to those of other Windows applications. To cut an audio event, you must first select the cut part and then press Ctrl+X. After a short wait, the highlighted selection part will disappear, leaving only the other unselected parts. The shaded part.

Use the Select View command and reset the pointer position to the place where you want to paste, and use Ctrl+V to restore the part you just cut out. It is so convenient, and it is exactly the same as using ordinary software! In the same way, use Ctrl+C to copy and Del to delete. If you make a mistake during deletion or other operations, you can use Ctrl+Z to restore it, so you can use it with confidence during the operation, and any mistakes can be undone!

3． Time ruler and display zoom

Below the waveform display area, there is a ruler indicating the time length of the audio file (as shown in Figure 3). It is measured in seconds and clearly displays the time at any position. It is very helpful for us to understand the audio processing time and audio editing length. Therefore, we must develop the habit of referring to the ruler in actual operations. You will find that it will bring you great convenience. Figure 3: Convenient time ruler display. In fact, after opening an audio file, the format of the audio file and its time length will be displayed immediately below the ruler. This provides us with accurate time quantification parameters and plans based on this time length. Performing various audio processing often reduces many unnecessary operations. Some audio files are too long and cannot be displayed on one screen. One method is to use the horizontal scroll bar to drag and drop the display, and the other method is to change the display ratio. In GoldWave, the way we change the display ratio is very simple. We can use the zoom in and zoom out commands under the view menu. It is more convenient to use the shortcut keys Shift+↑ to zoom in and Shift+↓ to zoom out. If you want to observe the changes in waveform amplitude in more detail, you can increase the vertical display ratio. The method is the same as the horizontal one. Use vertical zoom in, vertical zoom out under the view menu or use Ctrl+↑, Ctrl+↓. Then you will see When the vertical scroll bar appears, drag it for detailed observation.

4. Channel selection

For stereo audio files, the display in GoldWave is performed in parallel horizontal forms. Sometimes during editing, I only want to process one channel, and the other channel needs to remain unchanged. How to choose? Use the channel command in the edit menu to directly select the channel to be used (the top indicates the left channel, the bottom indicates the right channel). At this time, you will find that all your operations will only affect the selected channel, while the other channel will be shown in dark color and will not be affected in any way (Figure 4).

5. Inserting a blank area

Inserting a blank area for a certain period of time at a specified position is also a common processing method in audio editing. You only need to select the Insert Silence command under the edit menu and enter Insert in the pop-up dialog window. time, and then press the OK button, then you can see the blank area where the pointer stays, which is very convenient.

2. Audio special effects production

GoldWave's effects menu provides more than 10 commonly used audio special effects commands, from compression to delay to echo, etc. Each special effect is the most widely used in daily audio applications. Effects, mastering their use can make it easier for us to operate in multimedia production and sound effect synthesis, and obtain satisfactory results. It should be noted that the Chinese translation of some commands in the effects menu in this Chinese version is not appropriate, so we will explain it with more accurate words here.

1． Echo effect

Echo, as the name suggests, means that the sound returns to us after a certain period of time after it is emitted, just like shouting from the mountains in the wilderness. It is widely used in many film and television editing and dubbing. GoldWave's echo effect production method is very simple. Just select the echo command under the effect menu, enter the delay time, volume and turn on the reverb check box in the pop-up dialog box (Figure 5). The larger the delay time value, the longer the sound duration, the more times the echo repeats, and the more obvious the effect. The volume control refers to the volume of the returned sound. This value should not be too large, otherwise the echo effect will appear unreal. After turning on the reverb effect, it can make the sound sound smoother and more spacious, so it is recommended to generally select it.

2. Compression effect

In singing recordings, the recording effect is often not so satisfactory. The reason is largely due to improper control of breath and intensity during singing. Some sentences are pronounced too strongly and with too much force, almost causing overload distortion; some sentences are "softly spoken", resulting in weak signals. If you use a compression effector on these recorded audio data, this situation will be reduced to a great extent. The compression effect uses the principle of "press down the high and raise the low" to balance the intensity of the sound. In GoldWave, we can find this command in the expansion/compression of the effect menu. After selecting, the dialog box shown in Figure 6 will pop up. Figure 6: The most important of the three parameters of the expansion/compression effect setting is the determination of the threshold. Its value is the critical point at which compression starts. The part above this value is divided into ratios (%). Perform compression. The smoothness represents the degree of moistness of the sound. The larger the value, the more natural the sound transition will be, but the sound will be more blurry. The smaller the value, the stiffer the sound will be, but the clearer it will be. Therefore, an appropriate value should be chosen during the compression process. smoothness for best results.

3. Flanger effect

Using the flange effect can add a unique "edge" to the sound based on the original timbre, making it sound more interesting and varied. Select the Flange command under the GoldWave effect menu to see the setting interface shown in Figure 7. Figure 7: Flanger effect settings The effect of flanger is mainly determined by the two parameters of depth and frequency. Try changing their different values ??to get many unexpected and strange effects. If you want to enhance the proportion of the effect, just increase the mix volume.

4. Change the pitch

Since the audio file is an analog signal, it is very laborious to change its pitch, and the effect after the change may not be ideal. GoldWave can reasonably improve this problem by simply using the pitch change command it provides. Select Pitch in the effect menu to enter the change pitch settings dialog box (Figure 8). The ratio represents the pitch change to 0.5-2.0 times the current value, which is a multiple setting method. The semitones are clear at a glance, indicating the number of semitones that change the pitch. We know that 12 semitones is an octave, so use +12 or -12 to raise or lower an octave. The Fine Tune below it is a semitone fine-tuning method, and 100 units represent a semitone. Figure 8: Pitch change setting The inherent properties of the audio format tell us that the length of the audio file after general pitch change will also change accordingly, but in GoldWave we can achieve the coveted "pitch change unchanged" function, just change the dialog box Just select the Keep Length check box in the file, and now when you play it again, you will find that it is still the original file length.

5. Equalizer

Equalization adjustment is also a very important processing method in audio editing. It can reasonably improve the frequency structure of audio files and achieve our ideal sound effect. Select Filter - Variable EQ (Parametric Equalizer) in the Effect menu to open GoldWave's 10-band parametric equalizer dialog box (Figure 9). Figure 9: 10-band parametric equalizer adjustment. The simplest and fastest adjustment method is to directly drag the digital markers representing different frequency bands to a specified size position. Note that the gain (Gain) of each sound segment cannot be too large to avoid overload distortion.

6． Volume Effect

GoldWave's volume effect submenu contains commands such as changing the volume of the selected part, fade-in and fade-out effects, volume maximization, volume envelope, etc., to meet our various volume changing needs. The change volume command directly increases or decreases the volume in the form of a percentage, and its value should not be too large. If you don't want to overload, but also want to increase the volume within the maximum range, it is recommended that you use the volume maximize command. It is one of the most convenient and practical commands provided by GoldWave. Generally, the volume must be maximized before the song is burned to CD.

It is also very easy to create a fade-out and fade-in effect. Just select the corresponding command and enter a starting (or ending) volume percentage. Now listen to the effect, and the volume changes appear very natural. If you want to make different volume changes for audio events at different positions, you must use the volume envelope. After opening the envelope dialog box, directly use the mouse to add and adjust the position of the volume point (as shown in Figure 10), and finally press the OK key. .

7. Panning effect

The panning effect refers to controlling and changing the sound position of the left and right channels to achieve the purpose of panning editing. Among GoldWave's panning effects, swapping channel positions and panning envelopes is the most useful. Swapping channel positions means exchanging the data of the left and right channels. You only need to select Stereo-Swap under the effect menu to complete. The panning envelope is very similar to the volume envelope, and can more flexibly control different panning changes in different places, which is very convenient. Of course, in addition to the effects introduced above, GoldWave also provides effects such as phase reversal, mute, inversion, and offset. Their use is simpler, and you can know their meaning after using each one once.

3. Other practical functions

In addition to providing rich audio effect production commands, GoldWave also prepared CD audio tracks, batch format conversion, multiple media format support, etc. Very useful function.

1. CD audio track capture

If the audio material you want to edit is in a CD, you no longer need to use other audio track capture software to import between various formats, just select The CD sound extraction command under the GoldWave tool menu can be completed in one step (Figure 11). Figure 11: CD capture audio track dialog box. After selecting the audio track, press the save button, and then enter a saved file name and path. It really saves us a lot of trouble!

2. Batch format conversion

Batch format conversion in GoldWave is also a very useful function. It can open multiple files in its supported formats at the same time and convert them to various other audio formats. It runs quickly and has good conversion effects. So good, that many users have always been fond of this feature! Select the batch conversion command under the File menu, add multiple files to be converted in the dialog box in Figure 12, select the converted format and path, and then press the Start key. After waiting for a while, these newly generated audio format files will be found under the path just set.

3. Supports multiple media formats

In the Open command dialog box of GoldWave, we can find that in addition to supporting the most basic wav format, it can also directly edit mp3 format, Apple's aif format and even video Audio files in mpg format. This brings so much convenience to our operations. We no longer have to switch back and forth between various formats. GoldWave's multiple media format support will bring you higher work efficiency.

GoldWave has many other functional commands that cannot be described one by one due to space limitations. Based on the above content, we can summarize more methods and techniques in practical applications to achieve our various audio editing functions. purpose. In short, with GoldWave, audio editing is no longer a problem and everything becomes easy and comfortable. Look no further, GoldWave is your best choice for audio editing software!

Reference material: /Soft/UploadSoft/mp3trim-raindy.rar

Here you will learn how to use it

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