虽然我已经使用Audacity几年了，没有任何问题，但我知道有很多我从未探索过的功能，我渴望扩展我的技能。这就是为什么我很高兴能接触到Carla Schroder所著的The Book of Audacity。这本书起到了作用吗？(Did)让我们来看看这篇评论。
声音编辑 - 老派的方式
许多年前，当我在广播电台(radio station)工作时，我对录音和编辑录音带变得相当熟练。除了录音机和麦克风(tape recorder and microphones)之外，您还需要一个拼接块(splicing block)和无穷无尽的剃须刀片，或者一个特殊的一体式单磁带切割/拼接单元。要编辑磁带，您必须将其物理切割（直接穿过磁带或以一定角度，视情况而定），然后用拼接胶带将其粘在一起。看起来很简单，但做对了需要技巧、大量的练习和一定程度的运气。如果你搞砸了，祝你好运！所有这些设备都花费(equipment cost)了很多钱，而且大多数人从来不需要学习如何去做。如今(Nowadays)，任何人都可以成为录音机和编辑器(recorder and editor)，而一些最好的软件完全免费，比如Audacity。我很快就学会了如何使用Audacity，但它的文档以在线 wiki(online wiki)、逐章在线列表(chapter online listing)或可通过程序访问的手册的形式提供，所有格式我从未关心过. 我更喜欢一本好的坚固的一体式独立(all-in-one standalone)手册，最好是印刷的，但我知道这是一种非常老派的态度。🙂注意(NOTE)：如果你想看看声音编辑是如何“老派”的，这里有一个可能感兴趣的链接：如何拼接磁带(How To Splice A Tape)。
什么是大胆？
如果您还没有听说过Audacity，它可以免费（也开源）用于Windows、Mac OS 和 Linux(Mac OS and Linux)。它是录音机、编辑器和混音器(editor and mixer)。您可以在Audacity 网站(Audacity website)上找到适用于所有平台的软件，并阅读所有相关信息。该站点应检测您正在使用的平台，并为您提供适当版本的程序。
程序能做什么？从前需要一屋子的昂贵设备，再加上广泛的技能。这是一个清单，来自书中。
您可能不知道这些东西是什么意思，或者对专业功能有任何需求，但您可以立即开始录制和播放，只需一个麦克风和Audacity。笔记本电脑或网络摄像头(computer or webcam)中内置的麦克风，或者便宜的麦克风或耳机(microphone or headset)，应该足以让您入门。而且，如果您制作的录音第一次不正确，Audacity可以非常轻松地重新开始。没有更多的磁带可以切割和扔掉。🙂
一步一步来
The Book of Audacity采用最好的方法来学习如何使用该程序。作者从录制、编辑和回放的基本知识开始，引导读者完成介绍性项目，强调每个功能的动手方法。我真的很喜欢这个，因为和很多人一样，当我能阅读说明然后尝试看看它们是如何工作的时候，我做得最好。第一章被称为Audacity from Start to Finish，它提供了这一点。通读本章，您将拥有基础知识并有信心继续从事技术含量更高的项目。许多技术书籍几乎可以按任何顺序阅读，但我建议阅读The Book of Audacity直接通过，因为你在一章中学到的技能将使你以后学习的技能更容易获得和理解。首先(First)，作者将引导(author walks)您完成设备的设置。您可能已经看过我们关于录音机(Sound Recorder)的教程，或者关于语音识别(speech recognition)的第一个教程，如果是这样，这将是熟悉的领域。按照指示，你会很高兴去。有一个快速入门(Quick Start)本书开头的部分应该让几乎每个人都能立即开始并运行他们的第一个录音。一切都被解释和说明，作者清楚地知道如何为初学者写作，只有一个小问题。她使用了录音中常见的技术术语，但没有对其进行解释。本书末尾有一个详尽的词汇表，它处理了这一点，但有些读者可能不会马上注意到这一点。快速入门(Quick Start)部分只有五页长，但作者在其中塞入了大量有用的信息。然后她继续在这个基础上发展。
超越基础
一旦读者熟悉了Audacity的工作原理，就该在一个名为(Audacity)Audacity 的(Audacity in detail)详细介绍的部分中继续对该程序进行更详细的介绍。您将在Audacity屏幕上看到的所有按钮和控件都有详尽的说明和说明。(illustration and explanation)对我来说，这是这本书最好的部分之一，因为即使在用Audacity录制了几年之后，我仍然不知道其中一些东西做了什么。
我喜欢Audacity如何保护您的数据安全的解释。阅读该部分应该让每个人都放心——几乎不可能把项目搞得一团糟。没有多少其他程序可以提出这种要求。这本书最令人惊奇的地方之一是，在短短 30 页的篇幅内，作者为读者提供了完整的Audacity教育。不仅仅是一本“ ABC ”入门书或最低限度(bare minimum)的入门书，而是一个关于Audacity可以做什么以及如何做的演练。当然，并非所有内容都得到了详细的解释，但这就是本书其余部分的目的。一次(Once)如果您已经阅读了前 30 页，您可以继续深入探索您感兴趣的过程的任何方面（我绝对会推荐）。本节以一个令人欣慰的事实开始，即Audacity “支持几乎无限制的撤消，因此可以安全地进行实验”。由于实验是学习如何使用新软件的最佳方法之一，因此提前知道如果你搞砸了，你可以一键返回应该是非常受欢迎的消息。然后，走开。以下是这 30 页中涵盖的主题。
塞进一个狭小的空间似乎很可怕，但作者清楚地知道她在说什么以及如何充分利用每句话，几乎任何读者都应该在阅读本节后了解Audacity的工作原理。(Audacity)
更复杂
本书其余的大部分内容都致力于更详细地探索录音和混音的各个方面，而(sound recording and mixing)第 2 节(Section 2)有些令人反感。第 2(Section 2)部分称为在廉价的基础上构建良好的数字音响工作室(Building a Good Digital Sound Studio on the Cheap)。对很多人来说，“数字录音室(sound studio)”可以由声卡、麦克风和Audacity的副本组成(Audacity). 不幸的是，作者没有解释这一点。她做认真的录音，所以她有很多音响设备，她详细描述（附图）。这可能会吓倒一些新来者或不打算录制乐队或其他现场表演的人。但是，我认为几乎每个人都应该对各种连接器的解释感兴趣。我家里有一位发烧友和一位广播工程师(broadcast engineer)，还有一本关于连接器、电缆和连接的步行百科全书（也就是我的丈夫），但并不是每个人都这么幸运。🙂
了解不同种类的麦克风和声卡也很好，即使这些技术细节并没有真正进入最简单的“声音工作室”设置。《无畏之书》(The Book of Audacity)于 2011 年出版，在某一方面它确实显示了它的年代。作者坚持认为Windows XP是最好的！我真希望她从那以后改变了主意。我发现Audacity在(Audacity)Windows 7和 Windows 8 上比在Windows XP上的表现要好得多。另外，Windows XP很快就会被(Windows XP)微软(Microsoft)淘汰。作者也认为需要一台高性能的计算机和巨大的存储空间(storage space). 也许这在Windows XP 时代(Windows XP era)是真实的。今天不是这样，除非您打算创建和保存大量(LOT)材料。我不会使用极简主义的电脑(minimalist computer)，但我当然没有拥有巨大处理器和 PB 级存储空间的电脑，而且我和Audacity相处得很好。然而，一旦读者读完那一章，就会发现很多重要的信息。本书的其余部分专注于许多人想要解决的各种项目，并通过大量插图逐步引导读者完成每种项目。以下是涵盖的内容：
《无畏之书》(The Book of Audacity)列出了读者对每种录音需要做的准备、作者推荐的设置以及从头到尾的完整程序（包括如何用Diskwasher 刷子(Diskwasher brush)清洁 LP以及如何清洁老式 78rpm(vintage 78rpm)唱片而不损坏它们）。我认为任何人只要注意并尽可能多地利用“无限撤消”功能，这些专业项目中的任何一个都不会出错。(Undo)
结论
The Book of Audacity是一本出色的说明指南和(instruction guide and reference)软件参考，对初学者来说足够简单，但对于认真使用来说足够复杂。对每种项目都有详细的说明应该会给任何人信心(anyone confidence)。本书的第一部分是一个完整的Audacity教程。你在狭小的空间里接受那么好的教育并不常见。这本书确实显示了它的时代（Windows肯定已经继续前进），但这并没有降低信息的质量。
判决
不是每个人都想要或需要录音，但有足够的创造性方法来使用Audacity来吸引很多人。我用它把我母亲最喜欢的唱片（从未以数字格式发行）转移到一张 CD 上，把我孩子很小的一些非常古老的录音带转换成数字格式，并为播客音频剧录制台词。除了麦克风、好但不出色的声卡(sound card)和USB 转盘(USB turntable)之外，我没有高端设置或任何(end setup or anything)其他设备。对于想要学习如何充分利用Audacity的人来说， (Audacity)Audacity 之书是一本很棒的书(The Book of Audacity). 我希望作者能推出一个新的修订版，以跟上本书出版以来Windows和Audacity的变化，但即便如此，它还是值得的。
Book Review - The Book of Audacity, by Carla Schroder
Although I'νe been using Audacity for a couple years now with no problems, I know there are plenty of features I have never explored, and I was eager to expand my skills. That's why I was happy to get my hands on The Book of Audacity, a book by Carla Schroder. Did this book do the job? Let's take a look in this review.
Sound editing - The old school way
Many years ago, when I worked at a radio station, I became quite adept at recording and editing audio tape. Besides the tape recorder and microphones, you needed a splicing block and an endless supply of razor blades, or a special all-in one-tape cutting/splicing unit. To edit a tape you'd have to physically cut it apart (either straight across the tape or on an angle, depending on the situation) and then tape it back together with splicing tape. It seems simple enough, but doing it right required skill, a lot of practice and a certain degree of luck. And if you messed up, good luck on fixing it! All that equipment cost a lot of money and most people never had any need to learn how to do it. Nowadays, anyone can be a sound recorder and editor, and some of the best software to do this is absolutely free—like Audacity. It didn't take me long to learn how to use Audacity, but its documentation is supplied in the form of an online wiki, a chapter by chapter online listing, or a manual that's accessible through the program, all formats I have never cared for. I prefer a good solid all-in-one standalone manual, preferably printed, but I know that's a really old-school attitude. 🙂 NOTE: If you'd like to see how sound editing was done "old school," here's a link that might be of interest: How To Splice A Tape.
What is Audacity?
If you haven't yet heard about Audacity, it is available free of charge (open source, too) for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. It's a sound recorder, editor and mixer. You can find the software for all platforms, and read all about it, at the Audacity website. The site should detect which platform you are using and offer you the appropriate version of the program.
What can the program do? The kinds of things that once upon a time required a room full of expensive equipment, plus extensive skills. Here's a list, from the book.
You may not know what those things mean, or have any need of the specialized features, but you can get started recording and playing back in no time at all, with just a microphone and Audacity. The microphone built into a laptop computer or webcam, or an inexpensive microphone or headset, should be good enough to get you started. And if the recording you make doesn't go right the first time, Audacity makes it extremely easy to start over again. No more tapes to cut up and throw away. 🙂
Taking it step by step
The Book of Audacity takes the best possible approach to learning how to use the program. Beginning with the very basics of making a recording, editing, and playback, the author walks the reader through introductory projects, emphasizing a hands-on approach to each feature. I really liked this, because, like a lot of people, I do best when I can read the directions and then try things out to see how they work. The first chapter is called Audacity from Start to Finish, and it delivers just that. Work through this chapter and you'll have the basics and the confidence to go on to more technically involved projects. Many technical books can be read in pretty much any order, but I'd recommend reading The Book of Audacity straight through, because the skills you learn in one chapter will make the skills you learn later easier to acquire and understand. First, the author walks you through setting up your equipment. You may have seen our tutorial on the Sound Recorder, or the first tutorial on speech recognition, and if so, this will be familiar territory. Follow the directions and you'll be good to go. There's a Quick Start section at the beginning of the book that should have nearly everyone up and running with their first recording in no time. Everything is explained and illustrated and the author clearly knows how to write for beginners, with just one quibble. She uses technical terms common to sound recording without explaining them. There is an extensive glossary at the end of the book, which takes care of this, but some readers may not notice this right away. The Quick Start section is only five pages long, but the author crammed a wealth of useful information into it. And then she goes on to build on that foundation.
Beyond the basics
Once the reader is familiar with how Audacity works, it's time to move on to a more detailed introduction to the program in a section called, appropriately, Audacity in detail. There is an extensive illustration and explanation of all the buttons and controls you'll see on the Audacity screen. To me, this was one of the best parts of the book, because even after making recordings with Audacity for a couple of years I still didn't know what some of those things did.
I liked the explanation of how Audacity keeps your data safe. Reading that section should be very reassuring to everyone—it's almost impossible to mess a project up beyond recovery. There aren't many other programs that can make this claim. One of the most amazing things about this book is that within the span of only 30 pages, the author gives the reader a complete Audacity education. Not just an "ABC" primer, or the bare minimum, but a walk-through of what one can do with Audacity, and how to do it. Of course, not everything is explained in full detail, but that's what the rest of the book is for. Once you've read those first 30 pages, you can go on to explore any aspect of the process that interests you in much more detail (something I would definitely recommend). This section begins with the reassuring fact that Audacity "supports almost unlimited undo, so it is safe to experiment." Since experimentation is one of the best ways to learn how to use new software, knowing in advance that if you mess up you can go back with one click should be very welcome news. And then, away you go. Here's a look at the topics that are covered in those 30 pages.
It seems like an awful lot to cram into a small space, but the author clearly knows what she's talking about and how to get the most out of every sentence, and just about any reader should understand how Audacity works after reading this section.
More complexity
Most of the rest of the book is devoted to exploring aspects of sound recording and mixing in greater detail, and Section 2 is somewhat off-putting. Section 2 is called Building a Good Digital Sound Studio on the Cheap. For many people, a "digital sound studio" can consist of a sound card, a microphone, and a copy of Audacity. Unfortunately, the author doesn't explain this. She does serious recording, so she has a lot of audio equipment, which she describes in detail (with photos). That may intimidate some newcomers or people who don't intend to record bands or other live performances. However, I think the explanation of the various kinds of connectors should be of interest to just about everyone. I have an audiophile and a broadcast engineer and a walking encyclopedia of connectors and cables and connections in my house (aka my husband) but not everyone is so fortunate. 🙂
It's also good to know about the different kinds of microphones and sound cards, even if those technical details don't really enter into the simplest "sound studio" setup. The Book of Audacity was published in 2011, and in one respect it really shows its age. The author insists that Windows XP is the best! I do hope she's changed her mind since then. I have found Audacity to work far, far better on Windows 7 and Windows 8 than it ever did on Windows XP. Plus, Windows XP will soon be phased out by Microsoft. The author is also of the opinion that one needs a high powered computer and a huge amount of storage space. Perhaps this was true in the Windows XP era. Not so today, unless you plan to create and save a LOT of material. I wouldn't use a minimalist computer, but I certainly don't have computers with huge processors and petabytes of storage and I've gotten along with Audacity just fine. However, once the reader gets past that chapter, there is plenty of great information to be found. The rest of the book is devoted to the kinds of projects many people will want to tackle, and walks the reader through each kind of project step by step with plenty of illustrations. Here's what is covered:
The Book of Audacity lists the preparations the reader will need to make for each kind of recording, the settings the author recommends, and the complete procedure from beginning to end (including such things as how to clean an LP with a Diskwasher brush and how to clean vintage 78rpm records without damaging them). I don't think anyone can go wrong with any of these specialized projects if they pay attention and take advantage of that "unlimited Undo" feature as often as necessary.
Conclusions
The Book of Audacity is an excellent instruction guide and reference to software that's easy enough for beginners but sophisticated enough for serious use. Having detailed instructions for each kind of project should give anyone confidence. And the first part of the book is an all in one Audacity tutorial all by itself. It's not often that you get that good an education in a small space. The book does show its age (Windows has definitely moved on) but that does not diminish the quality of the information.
Verdict
Not everyone wants or needs to make sound recordings, but there are enough creative ways to use Audacity to make it appealing for a lot of people. I used it to transfer my mother's favorite record (never released in digital format) to a CD, to convert some really old cassettes of my children's voices when they were tiny into digital format, and to record lines for a podcast audio drama. I don't have a high end setup or anything more in the way of equipment than a microphone, a good but not spectacular sound card, and a USB turntable. The Book of Audacity is a great book for anyone that wants to learn how to make full use of Audacity. I'm hoping the author will come out with a new revised edition to keep up with the changes in Windows and Audacity since this book was published, but even as it is, it's worth getting.
