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
Share this post
Most of these apps require a flash based browser and don’t work on mobile phones and tablets. You can try https://audiotrimmer.com for a multi platform solution. It has basic audio editing functionality such as cutting, trimming, applying fade in/out effects, converting audio or extracting audio from video.
- Pingback: Audio Video Editor Online Free
- Pingback: Audio Editor Online
Great stuff. I would like to make combined audio video API platform for the purpose of dynamic audiometric dispersion over IP terragates.
Do you have any idea except to generate more blogspam?
Hi Phillip, I’ve not looked specifically for what you are looking for but out of those mentioned in the post above, Music Lab allows you record audio into the timeline but not import mp3’s. Your best bet might be to recommend local PC based audio editing software Audacity: https://audacity.sourceforge.net/
I will post an update if find some new online tools that can do this.
DeanI would like your advice. My company have a web site for message on hold, i.e. royalty free music and a customized short series of announcements by a Voice Actor they choose.
At the moment, our studio produces the final announcement (merges music and voice actor). It would be good to offer our customers the ability to complete it themselves online how they like i.e. they can merge the 2 mp3’s at levels of their choice and add gaps in between the sentences by the voice actor.
Can you advise a tool that could do this, ideally without plug-ins etc.
Aviary was taken down. I used it alot.
Thanks for the note Ryan. It’s a shame the public Aviary tools were taken down, but I’ve already seen some good implementation of their technology on Google+ and iOS for their imaging products. So I expect to see the audio API’s roll out sometime. Just maybe?!
Sure. And I know what you mean, I personally loved using Aviary. IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER! well now i have another audio tool. its ok.
I too have used audacity, but did find that it continually crashed after long recordings on a Windows 7 box.
Good roundup Dean, this will come in handy for anyone who is looking to start learning editing techniques for a number of genres such as music, storytelling and even spoken word and they are always good skills to have. I might have to try some of the above programmes myself.
Audacity is a highly recommended option for those wanting desktop software.
Nice writeup Dean. My go to free audio tool is Audacity https://audacity.sourceforge.net/ which is handy for really quick edits.
What do you think?
Digital Ideas Monthly
Sign up now and get our free monthly email. It’s filled with our favourite pieces of the news from the industry, SEO, PPC, Social Media and more. And, don’t forget - it’s free, so why haven’t you signed up already?
An Award-Winning Digital Agency
We create cutting edge, award-winning digital campaigns.
Questions?
Call us on 0330 353 0300, email info@koozai.com or fill out our Contact Form.
13 Comments