Many users would like to not only enjoy beautiful music, but also write it themselves. Various computer programs will help in the implementation of this task, allowing not only to create your own track from scratch, but also to edit the melodies we have. In this article, I will list the most popular programs for editing audio files, describe their capabilities, and also provide a link to a resource where you can download them.
All the wealth of available programs for editing musical compositions can be divided into several main types:
- amateur or professional solutions;
- specialized tools for creating mixes;
- programs for writing music using notes;
- other relevant tools.
To work with such programs, you will have to spend a significant amount of time learning their functionality. A simplified template for modifying a composition consists in loading the song into the program, transferring it to the editing panel, and making all the necessary changes there.
In the case of writing an audio track from scratch, it will be necessary to use the set of basic samples provided by the program, create them yourself or use other tools designed for this. Let's now analyze the most popular audio editors.
Audacity is a popular audio editor.
The Audacity program is the "godfather" of free software for editing music files, one of the most famous audio editing programs. Its capabilities allow you to work with many popular formats (mp3, wav, flac and others), supports advanced multitracking, recording from a microphone, mixing audio tracks with different quality characteristics and other useful features.
This software is easy to use, has a large number of effects and plugins. At first glance, it may seem a little archaic, but Audacity does its job very well. This is a great starter program for free music editing. There are versions for Windows, Mac, Linux.
Studio One 3 - convenient software for working with audio recordings
Studio One 3 has become very popular in the last couple of years. And it's no wonder, because this DAW has everything you expect to see in a modern digital audio station. It is fast, convenient, has a friendly interface with drag-n-drop support, and is simply made for creative people.
The software is a powerful audio editor and midi sequencer, it contains tools for mixing and mastering finished tracks. VST effects, music mixing, VCA faders and a sound saturator with support for analog modeling and other convenient features are supported. The program works on Windows and Mac.
Pro Tools 12 - Professional Music Editing
Pro Tools 12 is probably the most popular DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) in the world. This product is the professional standard for sound mixing and editing. A lot of people have relationships with Pro Tools based on total love or total hate.
The plugins built into the program are pretty good, but the editor itself suffers from the lack of a built-in multi-band compressor, which for many becomes a significant problem.
Pro Tools supports WAV, AIFF, AIFC, mp3 audio formats and the previously used SDII audio files. The program also includes the ability to edit video files, so users can import and work with high-definition video formats such as XDCAM, MJPG-A, PhotoJPG, DV25, QuickTime and others. The product works on Windows and Mac OS.
Ableton Live - high-quality editing of electronic tracks
The world's top electronic music producers use Ableton Live, a convenient and versatile software for holding live sets. Although the program lacks some advanced editing and mixing features, its toolkit is regularly used by many famous DJs. You can use this product both in studio work (arrangement, mixing) and live performance (DJ-ing).
The program supports different variations of sound output (Core Audio, Asio) and sound plug-ins (Audio Units), as well as Rewire technology. As in other DAWs, the program boasts various audio effects, as well as a preset library that serves them. The product works on OS Windows and Mac.
Cubase Pro - Innovative Audio Editing Software
"Cubase Pro" is a popular music editor based on innovation, stability and user friendliness. The program works on the basis of a number of proprietary technologies, such as "ASIO Guard", (excludes sound dropouts under heavy loads) and "render in-place" (allows fast rendering of a fragment of an audio or MIDI track to a new track).
Working with Cubase Pro This software works well with internal windows, supports VCA faders, VST plugins, and has other useful features.
Cakewalk Sonar - Audio Editing Software
"Cakewalk Sonar" works exclusively on the basis of the Windows OS, has an excellent user interface and many options for working with sound.
Product functionality includes:
- multi-channel recording and automation of parameters using envelopes and midi messages;
- flexible signal routing;
- double precision audio processing.
The program has a lot of stereo and surround effects from Vozengo and Sonitus, an editable instrument selection menu is available, such instrument formats as DX / DXi, ReWire and others are supported.
This software also uses proprietary ACT technology, which allows you to control virtual instruments in accordance with the hardware controller available in the system.
Oceanaudio - a simplified editor for working with sound
"Oceanaudio" is a new and rather simple music editor with a simple and rather colorful user interface. The product is easy to use, fast, and is a kind of simplified version of the famous Audacity. This program supports many effects (including compression, EQ, and reverb) that you can use in real-time editing.
Many free music editors are destructive (write effects directly to audio), so you have to rely on the "pre-listen" button to work with them. So, for example, already mentioned above "Audacity" works. But in the "Ocenaudio" I'm reviewing, you can change the parameters of the effect, and immediately listen to the changes you make.
This program supports VST, so you can easily use your own plugins. It provides many other features (such as a spectrogram) that will be useful to more advanced users. There are versions of the program for OS Windows, Mac, Linux.
Conclusion
In this article, I have listed the most popular programs for editing music tracks. If you're just starting out on your music processing journey, then you should start with programs like Oceanaudio or Audacity, and if you're interested in professional solutions, then opt for Pro Tools 12 and other tools with an abundance of specialized features.
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 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. Distinctive feature 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 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 trimming of compositions, there is a separate tool for creating ringtones, in which you can choose the quality and format based on what mobile device you want to install it.
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 can 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 formats audio. 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, to put it more plain language, 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 noticeably 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. Moreover, it is worth noting that this program widely demanded 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 improvisation 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, which 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. In the arsenal of this program there is 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, similar 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 detailed description features of the audio editor you are interested in.
An interesting video of how Enjoykin makes music
An audio editor can greatly simplify the work with audio tracks.
With the development of new technologies, work on audio recordings has ceased to be exclusively a parish of professionals.
Now every home PC user has the opportunity to trim, mix and apply effects to sound files.
What can we say about transcoding them into various formats. Along with installed programs, such actions also allow online services.
The most convenient of the programs and services will be discussed further.
Downloadable editors
The traditional way audio editing 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.
Available wide range opportunities for transcoding the audio signal between formats.
In fact, any source file can be transcoded into any format supported by the program.
Among other possibilities, it is worth mentioning an unlimited number of tracks for mixing and a large number of additional filters and effects.
Wavosaur
A free music editor that can seriously compete with other sound processing programs.
At the same time, 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, 8 and 8.1 will have to look for an alternative.
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.
Twisted Wave
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.
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.
10.03.2019Audacity is a free and open source audio editor. Audacity can be used to: Record audio. Digitization of analog records (cassettes, records). Editing files in Ogg Vorbis, MP3 and WAV formats. Physical editing of several files (cutting, gluing, mixing). Change the speed and pitch of the recording. Many more for! Additionally you can download plugins for Audacity:FFmpeg - the library allows Audacity import/export in several additional
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ocenaudio v3.6.0.1 19.02.2019
Cross-platform, easy to use, fast and powerful audio editor. This is the perfect software for people who need to edit and analyze audio files without any fuss. ocenaudio also has features that will delight more advanced users.
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Wavosaur v1.3.0.0 01.03.2017
Wavosaur is a free audio editor. It has all the main features of this class of programs: editing, analysis, batch processing. Wavosaur supports VST plugins, ASIO drivers, multi-channel and real-time processing. The program does not require installation and does not write anything to the registry. Works on Windows from XP to Vista. Read the review of the program: Wavosaur. Free doesn't mean low quality Music cutting Software for voice recording Software for sound recording.
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Capriccio v1.2.5 22.11.2013
Capriccio is a virtual stave written in Java programming language. Due to this, this program can work on any operating systems, and can also be available on the Internet for work in online mode. In fact, this is a full-featured music editor. It has support for polyphony, various rhythms, musical notation (coda, various keys, etc.), the ability to export the part to pdf, midi, png, jpg or xml. Also, this program allows you to record
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Audiops Audio Pitch And Shift v5.1.0.2 24.10.2012
Audio Pitch & Shift is a complete open source audio player/editor that allows you to quickly and easily change the pitch and tempo of an edited audio file. Features: Change the tempo without changing the pitch of the audio file. Change the pitch (in semitones) without changing the tempo of the audio file. Automatic detection of the tempo of the edited audio file. A set of built-in effects: chorus, flanger, echo and reverb (requires installed DirectX 8 or higher). Possibility
- Audio editing features include cut, copy, paste, delete, silence, auto-trim, and more.
- Audio effects include sound amplification, normalization, equalizer, envelope, reverb, echo, reverse playback and many more.
- Built-in support for VST plugins gives professionals access to thousands of additional instruments and effects.
- Supports most audio file formats including mp3, wav, vox, gsm, wma, au, aif, flac, real audio, ogg, aac, m4a, mid, amr and many more.
- Batch processing allows you to apply effects and/or convert thousands of files in a single function.
- Search audio recordings and bookmark them for more precise editing.
- Create bookmarks and regions to make it easier to find, recall and collect segments of long audio files.
- Tools include spectrum analysis (FFT), speech synthesizer and voice changer.
- Sound restoration features include noise reduction and crackle removal.
- Supports sample rates from 6 to 96kHz, stereo or mono, 8, 16, 24 or 32 bits.
- Works directly with the MixPad multitrack audio mixer
- With an easy-to-use interface, you'll be editing in minutes
