In keeping with my previous blog post about online video editing software, I’ve researched and compiled a list of great online audio editing software that you can use for free on your digital projects. There are many small audio software applications that are available for Windows, Mac and Linux, however I will focus on the online services available for audio, as they are more accessible and sometimes easier to use.
Despite the visual nature of the web, audio plays a large part on how users consume media over the internet. Think podcasts, Internet radio stations, mp3 music sharing; they are all very popular and you’ve more than likely used the Internet for one of these purposes in the past.
Audio is a great channel (pardon the pun) to reach your audience whether it is by podcasting, music, radio broadcasting, VOIP calls or online seminars and presentations.
There are a selection of powerful online audio tools to help you get started with your audio production or editing, even if you just want to quickly trim an audio clip. Below are my recommendations for recording and production, music creation, audio file conversion and MP3 trimming.
Recording and Production Tools
Aviary Myna Audio Editor (now unavailable, September 2012)
Aviary provides a suite of online tools for all creatives. Their Myna Audio Editing software is a powerful solution to edit clips to fade in/out, pan from left to right channels, loop clips, reverse clips and even time stretch audio. There is collection of audio effects that can be added to make this online software comparable to paid off line alternatives. Effects include: Pitch changes, Reverb, Delay, Parametric EQ adjustments and more.
Update: You can try out Soundation for free, however it does have paid accounts which are required to enable recording, and access extra sound libraries. Find out more on the Soundation accounts page.
Soundation is a professional online music studio software that delivers powerful tools in a slick desktop application-like, drag and drop interface. Essential to music creation is the ability to have multiple tracks that are easy to edit and the ability to mixdown your tracks to your song; soundation does this very well. You also get a large collection of audio samples and a virtual keyboard making this a great product to get started with audio production.
The MusicLab is a fun and easy way to lay down a music track with tons of high quality beat matched loops. The first stage is to choose the genre of music you want to create including Funk, Urban, Hip Hop, Pop and Alternative. Then you can choose the instrument type you want and preview the loops until you found one to add to your track. You can also record your own voice or instruments and these get added to a recorded folder in the sound library. The fun part of the music track creation is how you simply click on a segment in the timeline to add the loop to play for those bars.
Audio File Conversion
This website offers separate services to convert your files to a specific format. For the audio conversion tools, you have the option to set the bitrate, frequency, channels and normalise and trim your audio clips. After you click Convert file, your file will be uploaded the automatic process will take place. A results page will then provide you with the end file which you can do the usual ‘save as’ from your browser.
This is a three step process to converting your audio (or video) files. Simply upload your file, choose which format to convert it to and enter your email address to send the converted file to. This is a simple solution if you don’t mind giving your email address away, however during my test I received an automated email saying the .mp3 I uploaded had failed to be converted to .aac and that their engineers are looking into it, so the reliability of the service may need testing.
Audio File Trimming
Mp3 cut is a nice visual audio trimmer for quickly editing down your mp3 files. The large interface makes it easy to select the in and out points and preview the edited clip.
Do you have any other tools to share? How did you get on with the tools mentioned above? Leave a message in the comments section below. Alternatively, please do not hesitate to contact us today for more information.
Image Source
Headphones via BigStock
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