The Macaulay Library recommends keeping two copies of your original sound files-for example, one on your computer and a second on an external hard drive-and using only one of these for editing and submitting to the archive. Therefore, it is extremely important to keep copies of your original field recordings that are not modified in any editing program. Many sound editing programs are 'destructive,' meaning that if you edit and save a sound file in the program, your original sound file is permanently changed. Try downloading both and deciding which better suits your needs.Įxample audio files for Audacity tutorial (27MB)ġ. Our Ocenaudio tutorial is a great place to start if you are newer to the process. We recommend our Audacity tutorial (in English or Spanish) for users who are interest in processing large numbers of files. We have two step-by-step tutorials for processing audio files for upload to eBird and the Macaulay Library.

Sound analysis programs, such as Raven, are generally less useful for sound recording preparation since they are not built for editing sound files. Note: These general guidelines are applicable to any sound editing program, but three popular editing programs are Adobe Audition, Ocenaudio, and Audacity. Follow the steps below to prepare your sound recordings before uploading them to an eBird checklist. This means doing a minimal amount of editing to sound files. Solution home Macaulay Library Preparing and uploading media Audio preparation and upload guidelinesĪudio contributed to eBird and the Macaulay Library should be an accurate copy of an original field recording.

Ocenaudio noise reduction