Whether you’re planning to launch your own podcast or just need to edit audio from your audio conference, you need a good audio editor. You could spend hundreds, or even thousands, of rands on a “professional” audio editor or you could consider one of the five open source editors below which will get the job done for the price of a download.<\/p>\n
Linux Multimedia Studio<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Despite its name, Linux Multimedia Studio (LMMS) is available for both Linux and Windows and is a free alternative to commercial programs such as FL Studio, Cubase and Logic Pro. LMMS is not only an audio editor but can also be used to create synthesised audio, arrange samples and even play live inputs from a MIDI keyboard. LMMS also includes all the features of a tracker\/sequencer program including pattern, channel, sample, song and effect management. Most of the controls in LMMS can be automated in the same way that modern mixing desks can automate fader movements. There are also a range of plugins that can enhance the base LMMS system.<\/p>\n Ardour<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Ardour is another digital audio workstation application. Unlike LMMS, Ardour doesn’t have a Windows version available but it does run on Linux and Mac OS X. Ardour is aimed at professional use and has an almost endless list of plugins which cover just about all serious editing needs. With all its capabilities Ardour is not the most user-friendly editor in this list but with practice it can rival even the best of editors.<\/p>\n Sweep<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Unlike Ardour, Sweep is a simple, straight-forward audio editor. Unfortunately it is not available for Windows but it does run on Linux, BSD and compatible systems. Sweep is one of the simplest audio editors to use and includes the interesting “Scrubby” tool which makes it easy to walk through audio tracks and choose where to make cuts. Scrubby is also useful for live DJ-ing because it makes it possible to scroll slowly through a track to find a start point. Despite being quite simple to use Sweep supports most popular audio formats including WAV, AIFF, Ogg Vorbis and MP3 as well as supporting multichannel editing, multiple undos and a range of plugins.<\/p>\n Audacity<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Audacity is the granddaddy of free audio editors and is well entrenched in the Linux world. Audacity does, however, also also run on Windows and OS X systems as well. Audacity is one of the most versatile of audio tools and can do just about anything from recording live audio, editing audio files, splicing sounds together to changing the speed and pitch of a recording. Regularly chosen as the best audio tool in annual readers choice awards, Audacity is the Swiss Army knife of audio editing tools.<\/p>\n