Lesson 11

11. How to Use the Zoom Tools in Audacity

Resource Type:

Tutorial Video

Duration:

3 minutes

Outcomes:

Learners are expected to:

SO 3.6.            use the Zoom tools

Suggested Evaluation:

Learners can be evaluated through the completion of the following activities:

My First Recording

Make Your Voice Sound Like a Chipmunk

Multitrack Recording in Audacity

How to Mess Up a Piece of Music

Halloween Soundscape

Interview a Superhero

Radio Play

Instructors may choose to observe learners complete this task as the evaluation method.

Procedure:

When editing sound in Audacity it is useful to be able to zoom in and resize certain areas of your project. Audacity provides you with several zoom tools to allow you to resize your projects as you need.

The first Zoom tool is part of the editing tools. It looks like a magnifying glass. With this tool you can use your mouse to zoom in or out on tracks. Once you have selected this tool from the toolbar you left-click on the part of a waveform you want to enlarge. Right-clicking (or shift key left-click) will zoom out.

Audacity also has four other zoom tools you can use. From left to right they are Zoom In, Zoom Out, Fit Selection and Fit Project. Zoom In and Zoom Out will zoom in and zoom out on a waveform. When you select a portion of a waveform, by clicking Fit Selection that portion will fill the entire Audacity editing area. This is great for getting a better look at a specific part of the waveform. Fit project will fit the entire project to the full editing area.