Automating effects.
Always wondered if that was possible in Audacity. I’d love to do it myself, but I can’t code well enough.
For example, if I wanted to use Wahwah, but make it so the Wahwah Frequency Offset % can be applied – not as a typical effect, but recorded in an applied and progressive way. Basically, as I moved the slider in the effect box, I could record that and apply it as an effect in itself.
Not sure if clear, not sure if possible.
Couldn’t find if that was already asked before. Thank you for your consideration.
Cordially,
Aurifaber.
To do that properly you need to use a “real-time DAW”.
There are basically two types of audio editing:
“Real-time” and “Destructive”.
These are sometimes referred to informally as “DAWs” (digital audio workstations) and “sample editors”. Audacity is the latter.
In a real-time DAW, edits and effects are not applied directly to the audio. When you apply an effect, the audio data is not actually changed (and often there is no visual indication that the audio has changed). The effect is applied on playback and / or mixdown. The classic example is Pro Tools.
In a sample editor, when an effect is applied, it is applied directly to the track’s audio. The audio will usually change visibly. The audio data in the track is modified immediately and permanently (though in the case of Audacity the original audio data is retained in backup until you close the project so that you can “Undo”).
For a real-time DAW, effect automation is relatively easy - the effect can be changed at any time because it has not actually modified the audio data.
For sample editors, a kind of simple “automation” is possible for some effects, though it is less flexible. For example: