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Editing is a relatively laborious process. You will have to go through your audio, bit by bit, and remove each section of audio that is irrelevant or unnecessary. It is slow, but worth it. In conversation, even lectures, we often jump off topic or simply pause while we speak. While fine in conversational speech, podcasts are different because we want them to be relatively fast-paced and easy to follow. As such, we edit this audio out.

You might also wish to record an introduction or closing remarks for the podcast. Many sound editing software programs have features that allow you to record additional material directly into the computer and then attach this to the beginning or end of the larger recording. Some of the most successful podcasts have a standard introduction to an entire series, or will outline the contents of the podcast ("In today's podcast...").

= Software for editing =

Simple:

* Audacity, for recording or editing sound (PC/Mac) [http://audacity.sourceforge.net/]
** Audacity requires the LAME MP3 Encoder to save the audio files as MP3 [http://lame.sourceforge.net/]
* iTunes, for converting audio files to MP3 [http://www.apple.com/itunes/]
* Windows Sound Recorder, but the quality will not be exceptional.
* Podium is a complete commercial podcasting solution for Windows with a robust audio editing toolset [http://www.podiumpodcasting.com/]
* GarageBand is a multi-track recorder with podcasting tools - Mac [http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/]
* ProfCast is professional podcasting software tailored specifically for educational needs –  Mac (PC version in development) [http://www.profcast.com/]

Advanced:

* Cakewalk [http://www.cakewalk.com/]
* Steinberg CuBase [http://www.steinberg.net/]
* ProTools, a widely-used professional suite [http://www.digidesign.com/]
* ePodcast Producer is expensive professional podcasting software for the PC [http://www.industrialaudiosoftware.com/products/epodcastproducer.html]
* Sony Vegas series suite is a high-end commercial audio and video editing software package [http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/vegasfamily.asp]
* Apple's Logic Studio is a professional audio suite for Apple computers [http://www.apple.com/logicstudio/]
* Rosegarden, open source editing software for Linux [http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/]

= Tutorials = 

There are various tutorials available for those packages on the web. In this booklet, we focus on Audacity, and we have included a [[Audacity training|brief tutorial on the following pages]. Further guides on Audacity are available on the web, including
*  from [http://podcastingforpp.pbworks.com/HowTos the Podcasting for Pedagogical Purposes How-To section], which has the [http://podcastingforpp.pbworks.com/f/Audacity+guide.pdf The Audacity Guide] and [http://podcastingforpp.pbworks.com/f/Developing+Podcasting+using+Audacity.pdf  Developing Podcasting using Audacity] available for download.
* from the [[University of Nottingham]], [http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/elan/tutorials/How_do_I_use_audacity_to_edit_a_podcast How do I use audacity to edit a podcast], and  [http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/elan/tutorials/How_do_I_install_audacity How to install audacity].

= A quick note about Dynamic range compression =

Ever wondered why the recording sounds so quiet? Speech recordings naturally have a large dynamic range and you will have left enough head room to make sure you get a good recording. In the edit you need to remove the headroom (normalisation) and reduce the dynamic range to make the recording suitable for playback via laptop, radio, personal MP3 player. Unless you are planning to produce theatrical sound for cinema performances you need to apply dynamic range compression!  (A dynamic range compression tutorial is available [http://www.sciencemedianetwork.org/wiki/Dynamic_Range_Compression here].)

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