Audacity Chains + Hotkeys

 

What are audacity chains:

Basically, they can keep a list of effects that will get applied to a selection of audio. They’ll be applied one after another. OR they’re also useful to keep track what you’re using particular parameters for. Like, if you use a 0.3 decay + 0.2 delay echo for telepathy and different settings for inner thoughts, but it’s the same setting. Instead of having to write those settings down and constantly switch them, you can have them saved as a chain that just applies a single effect - one which you’ve namd “telepathy” or “inner thoughts.”

Where?

File -> Chains -> Edit Chains (to add or change a chain)

File -> Chains -> Apply Chains (This will apply the chain over a selection. Importantly using the repeat effect will not “repeat” the chain. Also, I’m pretty sure there isn’t a hotkey to apply a chain. But I would advise setting one up if you’re going to regularly using them.)

((If you don't see this, you might have a newer version of audacity which this got moved to the Tools menu and renamed to "Macro". Alternate instructions for that can be found: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11i2zUA2yffEKaxPoYahJJp7XznzZHFJ6brFoB-nskqE/edit?usp=sharing)

Setting up a chain:

1. First you want to add a chain (on the left side where it’s listing all the chains). It’ll prompt you to name it. 

2. Start “Insert”-ing effects

3. If you click “Insert,” it’ll bring up a list of effects. Then once you select on you can click “edit parameters” and alter the effect as you like.

4. NOTE: When using Amplify it’s going to force you to “allow clipping”.

You are free to reorder them with the “move up” and “move down” options for the effects. They’ll be applied top/down (starting at 01). 

Applying a chain:

The chains will be ordered alphanumerically when applying them.

Similar to applying an effect, you’ll select the audio you want to apply the chain too (in the case of “FINAL CLEAN UP”, unsurprisingly I’m applying it to the whole of the audio.) But in general, it works just like you’d normally apply an effect. 

You select the effect you want to apply and choose “Apply to Current Project.” When you bring up the Apply Chain menu, it’ll automatically select the one you’ve last applied.

Create hotkey: 

Since I suggested adding a hotkey - mine I set up to be CTRL-L which is something else by default in audio, you don’t have to do one but you can get to altering the hotkeys in

Edit -> Preferences -> Keyboard. 

1. Search for “Apply” and you can set something up (though you might want to check and see if assigned to something else first).

2. Select the thing you want to make the hotkey for, and in the box below click the keys like you would like the hotkey to be. Then click “Set” and it’ll apply it to the thing
   

Other useful hotkeys I use:

I have two chains I use quite a bit - pitch up and pitch down. All they do is apply a +2% or -2% pitch alteration effect. But because I've made them chains, I can assign them hotkeys as you see in the below section. If you choose "apply macro - CHAIN NAME", you can make a hotkey for a specific chain if you use it a lot.

The other two hotkeys I like having assigned are:

* Export - Export As MP3
(self explanitory I think)

* Export - Export Audio
The reason for this one is there isn't by default an "Export as M4A" option. However, this is the default audio exporter which can export in any manor you audacity is set up to. The nice thing about it is, it remebers what you last chose. So if you only ever export as M4A and use the other export options to export as WAV or MP3 and only ever use this option to export as M4A, then it always keep that as the default option.