Editing and normalizing audio in Audacity

Audacity Try it →Watch full video →Mike Russell · Mar 2026

Demo summary

The host demonstrates how to use zoom tools, delete gaps across multiple tracks, and apply a normalization effect to audio waveforms in Audacity.

Step-by-step

Use the zoom tools to inspect the waveform
Select the empty gap across both tracks and press Delete
Press Command A to select all audio across both tracks
Go to Effect, then Volume and Compression, and select Normalize
Set the normalization to -1 dB and click OK
Select a silent section of the track to use for a noise profile
Go to Effect, then Noise Removal and Repair, and click Get Noise Profile
Select the entire track and apply the Noise Reduction effect

Options

Apply different processing effects to individual tracks instead of both
Use basic settings for noise cleanup

Watch out for

You must select both tracks before deleting if you want to remove a gap from the entire timeline
You must capture a noise profile from a silent area before you can apply noise reduction to a track

Tips

Normalize audio to -1 dB to ensure tracks have roughly the same amplitude
Apply more processing to guest tracks if their audio quality is lower than the host's

Highlights

“there is definitely a technical learning curve with Audacity”

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