Installing and Using Audacity Audio Editor on Ubuntu 20.04
Welcome audio enthusiast! In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll be showing you step-by-step how to install Audacity on Ubuntu 20.04, the popular free and open source digital audio workstation.
Whether you want to record podcasts, edit music, or master audio books, Audacity is a versatile tool used by audio engineers across Linux, Windows and Mac. We‘ll cover:
- A brief history of Audacity and its capabilities
- Installing Audacity via PPA repository
- Installing Audacity via Snap package
- A beginner tutorial on how to record, import and edit audio
- Customizing and integrating Audacity into your workflow
- Conclusion – what we learned and resources for next steps
So if you‘re ready to start audio editing on Linux, let‘s dive in!
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Audacity
Audacity was first released in May 2000 by Dominic Mazzoni while he was a PhD student. Over the past 20+ years, Audacity has gained widespread popularity across operating systems.
Some key statistics about Audacity:
- Over 275 million downloads as of 2021
- Estimated 4-6 million monthly users
- Over 1000 community contributors
- Supports 110+ languages thanks to translators
Let‘s see how Audacity compares to other digital audio workstations:
| Feature | Audacity | Ardour | Garageband |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open source | Yes | Yes | No |
| Price | Free | Free – $10 | Bundled with Mac |
| Supported platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux | Linux, Mac | Mac, iOS |
| Multitrack editing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Effects and plugins | Plugins only | Plugins and LADSPA | Built-in only |
This table shows that Audacity has very capable features rivaling paid software, while being completely free and open source.
Over the years, Audacity has been used by hobbyists, podcasters, musicians and audio engineers alike. The Audacity website showcases some glowing testimonials:
"We have used Audacity for basic recording and CD archiving/audio book creation for years. It does everything we need without having to purchase expensive editing software." – David McRaney (Author)
For my album Metanoia, I used Audacity paired with the iRig to record vocals, acoustic guitars and iPad synths. I then exported the parts to Ableton Live for composition and mixdown." – Adeyemi Adegeye (Artist)
As you can see, Audacity fills an important niche – it lets anyone start editing audio easily without needing proprietary paid software. Next let‘s look at installing Audacity on Ubuntu 20.04!
Chapter 2 – Installing Audacity on Ubuntu 20.04
There are two recommended ways to install Audacity on Ubuntu and related distros like Linux Mint, Elementary OS, etc.
The first method is using a handy Ubuntu PPA (Personal Package Archive)…
