AUDACITY VOICE PRODUCTION

Audacity Podcast, Voiceover & Spoken-Word Workflow

Voice production is a different job from music mastering. Speech needs intelligibility, natural dynamics, controlled noise, clean edits and a delivery format matched to the destination.

1. Capture clean speech

Place the microphone consistently, record in the quietest practical space, watch levels and capture room tone. For interviews, keep each speaker on a separate track when the recording setup allows it.

2. Edit content before polishing sound

Remove false starts, long mistakes and unwanted sections first. Preserve natural breaths and conversational timing unless the destination requires tighter pacing.

3. Repair only real defects

Use Click Removal/Repair for clicks, Noise Reduction for consistent background noise, and a gate only when low-level noise between phrases truly needs attenuation. Heavy cleanup can make speech metallic or unnatural.

4. Shape intelligibility

Use EQ and compression only as needed. Compression can make speech easier to follow when level varies, but too much can pull room noise forward and flatten expression.

5. Set delivery loudness intentionally

Audacity's Loudness Normalization works from perceived loudness. Podcast, broadcast, audiobook and web destinations can have different requirements, so follow the target for the actual destination rather than one universal number.

6. Export the right file

Keep an editable Audacity project and a lossless archive. Export a delivery copy appropriate to the platform. Mono can be sufficient for simple voice-only material when stereo directionality is not needed.

Audiobook note

Audacity publishes a dedicated audiobook mastering workflow and macro, including checks for peak, RMS and noise-floor requirements. Treat marketplace specifications as destination rules that should be verified when submitting.

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