Audio Recording and Editing Software for Linux - Audacity, Sweeps, Jokosher, and Rezound
Overview
Because Linux is very much a child of the open source movement, much of the software available on Linux is itself open source. Nearly every program that a person could ever need is available on Linux - even programs for multimedia, and often, “just for fun.” And better still, most of these programs are entirely free. Here are four of the more popular audio editing programs for the Linux operating system, all free, and all open source.
Audacity
Audacity is an extremely popular free open source audio editor for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. It is a graphical tool that enables you to perform a multitude of tasks, like recording live audio, editing recorded and other audio files, convert analog recordings from tapes or records into digital recordings, edit and convert multiple sound file types, and change the speed and/or pitch of recordings. It even has multitrack mixing capabilities. It is a very popular free solution for podcasters, in particular, as it can be used to quickly and easily normalize and finalize podcast recordings.
Jokosher
Jokosher is a free, open source audio editing application created for the Linux operating system. It got its name from the original creator, Jono Bacon. Get it? Jo No Bacon? Jo Kosher? I thought it was pretty clever. The program was designed from the ground up to be easy to use for anyone familiar with audio and recording. The interface is designed to be self explanatory. Jokosher can import and export multiple audio formats, including FLAC, WAV, MP3, and Ogg Vorbis. Some of Jokosher’s features rely on separate programs, namely GStreamer and Gnonlin, so in order to use Jokosher you must have the latest versions of all of them.
ReZound
ReZound is an audio editing tool primarily designed for the Linux operating system. ReZound is still in development though it has stable releases. ReZound supports an extensive library of audio file types, including WAVE, AIFF, NeXT, IRCAM, CARL, raw, Ogg Vorbis, MPEG, FLAC, and MIDI. ReZound specializes in handling large files and is capable of performing all the basic editing functions of a full-featured audio editor.
Sweep
Sweep is an audio editing program for Linux and BSD and supports a variety of file formats, including WAV, AIFF, Ogg Vorbis, Speex, and MP3. It also has multichannel editing and supports LADSPA effect plugins. Sweep comes with a special tool they call Scrubby, a stylus that can be moved around anywhere in the audio wave providing instant audio feedback, much like moving a stylus on a record player. It also supports full featured editing and highly customizable playback.
