# Podcast Editing: One-Click Audio Processing with Audacity

https://ijuhsu.com/en/posts/podcast-audacity · 2021-04-22
Category: teaching · Tags: podcast

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This post walks through how I use the free audio editor [Audacity](https://www.audacityteam.org/) to do initial processing on podcast audio files — covering how to create a podcast template to save editing time, and how to set up a macro chain for one-click audio cleanup.

If you're curious about how I plan and prepare podcast content, check out this post:
[Podcast Prep: From Research to Episode Titles, Using "Language Playground" as a Case Study](/en/podcastsingleprep/)

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Up until recently, my role in podcasting was mainly focused on [content prep](/en/podcastsingleprep/). But when I started collaborating with Yijing on [大人的漫畫社 (Kidult Comic Club)](https://open.firstory.me/user/kidultcomic/platforms), I started handling audio editing too. XD

Audio editing is genuinely a deep craft, and what I'm sharing here is just my personal workflow for editing [大人的漫畫社](https://open.firstory.me/user/kidultcomic/platforms) — built up from reading a lot of other people's advice and adapting it over time. There's definitely room for improvement, and there's plenty of technical knowledge I still don't have. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments — I'd love to know where I can do better. :)

The tutorial below uses **[Audacity](https://www.audacityteam.org/) version 2.4.2**.

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## Creating a Podcast Template in Audacity

My podcasts rarely include anything other than voice recordings, but there are always two segments that need audio clips: the intro and outro music.
Rather than hunting down those files every single time, you can save a template so you just need to reposition the outro each episode.

The setup is simple. Open Audacity, go to **File > Import > Audio**, and drag both your intro and outro into the same project. Roughly position them (as shown below), then go to **File > Save Project > Save Project As** and name it whatever you like.

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-5)

From then on, whenever you record a new episode, just open this .aup file, import your voice recording, and you've already skipped a few steps. :P
Just remember: if the episode runs longer or shorter than usual, you'll need to slide the outro to the right position.

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## Setting Up an Audacity Macro Chain

Once all your audio is imported, there are still a lot of sound quality details to handle. Some people apply effects one by one from the Effects menu — but you can actually set up a macro chain to do it all in one click, then fine-tune from there.

I referenced several articles while building my macro (sources listed at the bottom of this post) and landed on a quick-and-practical chain. Here's how to set it up step by step.

### Step 1: Create a New Macro

Go to **Tools > Macros**.

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-1-3)

In the left panel, click **Add** and give your macro a name (e.g., "Podcast").

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-2-4)

Your macro is created — but don't close out yet, there's more to add!

### Step 2: Add "Noise Reduction"

Back in the macro interface, you'll see the right panel showing your editing steps — at this point it should just have a single "- End -" command. Click **Insert**, and a list of effects will appear. Find **Noise Reduction**.

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-3-2)

After clicking OK, "Noise Reduction" should now appear as a step. Select it and click **Edit** to adjust the parameters. Here are the settings I use:

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-4-2)

### Step 3: Add "Normalize"

Follow the same process — click Insert in the right panel, and this time find **Normalize** (it's roughly in the middle of the list):

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-5-2)

Click Edit to adjust parameters. Here are mine:

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-6)

### Step 3: Add "Filter Curve"

Find **Filter Curve** in the list (it should appear near the top).

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-7)

I'm following settings I found in other tutorials here:

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-10)

### Step 4: Add "Compressor"

Find **Compressor** in the list (roughly in the middle) and adjust the parameters.

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-9)

Based on the references I consulted, here are the settings I use:

*   Threshold: -12 dB
*   Noise Floor: -40 dB
*   Ratio: 2:1
*   Attack Time: 0.20 seconds
*   Release Time: 1.0 seconds

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dycjoye5f/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/ijuhsu/image-8)

### Step 5: Add "Normalize" Again

Insert another **Normalize** step with the same parameters as before. That's the full chain — setup complete!

### Step 6: Apply the Macro

Once everything is configured, here's how to use it:
Select the audio you want to process (I usually select all), then:

**Tools > Apply Macro > select the macro you named**

Give it a moment to process, and you're done. :D

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## References

I'm very much a beginner when it comes to audio processing, and I'm genuinely grateful to the many people who've shared their knowledge online. Here are the resources I referenced:

["How to use Audacity Templates to Save Time in Podcasting"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeOjT6TSG7Y&ab_channel=ColinGray%3APodcastingLaunch%26GrowthAdvice)
["科技女伶 Toolbox. 4 — 剪輯音檔的開源選擇 Audacity (下)"](https://medium.com/20-20-women-lead-podcast/audacity2-2-fc204647e71)
["Audacity後製音檔步驟和巨集(Macro)設定"](https://medium.com/gcake-podcast-tutorial/audacity%E5%BE%8C%E8%A3%BD%E5%B7%A8%E9%9B%86%E8%A8%AD%E5%AE%9A-6ca94dca28c7)

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### Thanks for reading :D

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