Audacity

Tool Bar

Software name : Audacity
Software version : 1.2

The Tool Bars are where you choose tools to directly work on the tracks. There are three main Tool Bars in Audacity :

  • Main Tool Bar
  • Mixer Tool Bar
  • Edit Tool Bar

Main Tool Bar

toolbarmain.jpg

Lets look at each button:

button action
tool_select.jpg
this is the main tool you use to select audio.
tool_envelope.jpg
the envelope tool gives you detailed control over how tracks fade in and out.
tool_timeshift.jpg
this tool allows you to change the relative positioning of tracks relative to one another in time.
tool_zoom.jpg
this tool allows you to zoom in or out of a specific part of the audio.
tool_draw.jpg
enables the user to draw in to the actual waveforms.
transport_rewind.jpg
places the cursor at the start of the project.
transport_play.jpg
press the play button to listen to the audio in your project.
transport_record.jpg
press the record button to record a new track from your computer's sound input device.
transport_pause.jpg
will pause during playback, or during recording. Press again to unpause.
transport_stop.jpg
press the stop button or hit the spacebar to stop playback immediately.
transport_ff.jpg
places the cursor at the end of the project.

Mixer Tool Bar

toolbar_io.jpg

These sliders control the mixer settings of the soundcard in your system. The selector on the right controls what audio input you wish to use.

Input Selector

toolbar_io_select.jpg 

Pick the input source you wish to record from. All these items are exposed by the soundcard driver, so the this of options will vary with different soundcards.

Output Slider

toolbar_io_output.jpg

This is the left hand slider that lets you control the output level of your soundcard. It actually controls the output setting of the soundcard driver.

Input Slider

toolbar_io_input.jpg

This is the right hand slider that lets you control the level of the input selected in the Input Selector. It actually controls the recording level setting of the soundcard driver.

Edit Tool Bar

toobar_edit.jpg

All these tools perform the exact same function, as those accessible through the "Edit" menu, "View" menu. Lets look at each button individually :

button action
tool_edit_cut.jpg
removes the selected audio data and places it on the clipboard.
tool_edit_copy.jpg
copies the selected audio data to the clipboard without removing it from the project.
tool_edit_paste.jpg
inserts whatever is on the clipboard at the position of the selection cursor in the project.
tool_edit_trim.jpg
deletes everything but the selection.
tool_edit_silence.jpg
erases the audio data currently selected, replacing it with silence instead of removing it completely.
tool_edit_undo.jpg
this will undo the last editing operation you performed to your project.
tool_edit_redo.jpg
this will redo any editing operations that were just undone.
tool_edit_zoomin.jpg
zooms in on the horizontal axis of the audio displaying less time.
tool_edit_zoomout.jpg
zooms out displaying  more time.
tool_edit_zoomselection.jpg
zooms in until the selected audio fills the width of the screen to show the selection in more detail.
tool_edit_zoomproject.jpg
shows entire project