Adobe Audition is an audio editing program used to repair audio and add effects. It lets you record, edit, mix and repair audio tracks for videos and podcasts. Audition is part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud, along with other software like Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and more. Being part of the Creative Cloud, it meshes comfortably with Premiere Pro to make the audio portion of video production flow smoothly.

What Can Adobe Audition Do For You?

Audition is used for audio repair and sweetening, a term that refers to adding audio effects to enhance a recorded performance. What makes Audition so popular is the multitrack editing feature that lets you make changes to audio without destroying the original files. There are many useful presets that make alterations simpler, and the batch processing feature makes changes across all of the tracks at the same time.

Waveform and Multitrack Editing

There are two methods of working in Audition, waveform, and multitrack editing. Waveform editing is destructive, meaning it permanently changes the file you edit. You can use the waveform editor to splice together audio clips, edit volume, remove noise, or perform audio sweetening on a file-by-file basis.

The multitrack editor is the non–destructive composer of the application. It allows you to layer multiple audio files together to create music, podcasts, or fix up the audio for your video files.

Essential Sound Panel

One of the newest features of the Adobe Audition Multitrack editor is the Essential Sound Panel. Essential Sound includes many presets to help beginners get started with sound editing. Experienced professionals appreciate Essential Sound, too, because it helps them automate their workflow. Essential Sound breaks audio clips into four audio types: dialog, special effects, music, and ambient sound. Once defined by its audio type, Audition will then give you specialized options for editing your clips.

  • Dialog - Dialog is obviously the speaking portion of the file. Audition can make some voices louder, change the sound quality, or match the dialog tracks so all of the voices are equal. One especially useful feature is the automatic noise reduction tools which can quickly eliminate harsh background noise.
  • Music - Music lets you add a soundtrack under the dialog or fix the music that was playing when the file was recorded. Effects like Normalize help to balance the sound across all of the tracks while auto-ducking allows you to animate the volume of music tracks in relation to the other clips in your session
  • Sound Effects - Sound effects can be added to the clip and this is where Audition really shines. Essential Sound offers libraries of sound effects that can be added to the audio to support the story the video is telling. From a creaking door to footsteps on the stairs, sound effects round out the narrative.
  • Ambient Sounds - Audition lets you reduce ambient noise that you don’t want or add sounds that you do, such as the murmur of voices and the clink of cutlery in a restaurant setting or street sounds like car horns and engine noise. Essential Sound lets you craft exactly the audio tracks you want.

Essential Features of Adobe Audition

Video Editors use Audition to repair the sound on video projects. Adaptive Noise Reduction reduces hiss and cleans up vocal tracks. Spectral Analysis locates and removes isolated noises like doors slamming, phones ringing, dogs barking or garbage trucks backing up. Editors also sweeten the sound by adding to it with background music, sound effects, and ambient sounds.

Podcasters also use Audition. They can record straight into multitrack with each participant on a separate track and set gain levels appropriate to each person’s voice. This is useful for recordings of roundtable discussions. Podcasters also use sound effects and add music to their recordings. If you have an ear for music composition, it can also be used to score your video projects.

History of Adobe Audition

Adobe Audition began as an audio program called Cool Edit in 2000 from Syntrillium Software. Adobe purchased Cool Edit and Cool Edit Pro in 2003, changed the name, and released Audition in 2003. In 2004, Adobe released version 1.5 that included video editing features and integration with Premiere. The current version is number 14.2 and was released in May of 2021.

How to Purchase Adobe Audition

Adobe offers a monthly subscription to Audition with a 7-day free trial available before purchase. This allows you to try it before deciding if you want to pay for it. For a few dollars more a month, you can get the full Creative Cloud, which includes storage as well. The cost of a monthly subscription to Audition is $20.99. A monthly subscription to Creative Cloud is $52.99 and comes with more than twenty other Adobe applications, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and more.

How to Learn Adobe Audition

If you are starting out as a beginner with audio editing and mixing, the best way to learn Adobe Audition is by taking a class. While Adobe provides many high-quality tutorials to introduce Audition, if your goal is to change careers and become a Video Editor or Motion Graphics Designer, enrolling in a course will help you get started faster.

You can choose between in-person classes or online instruction. Some people prefer in-person learning, but that isn’t always available, so online classes are an option. Live online classes with a remote instructor run very much like in-person classes. They meet at a set time and you can interact with the instructor to ask questions and get help if you need it. The instructor can even take control of your monitor—with your permission—to give you extra help if you need it. You can choose a part-time or a full-time schedule during the day, in the evening, or on weekends. You can also choose where you attend class, from work or home, and you won’t have to look for parking.

When you are preparing for a career change, signing up for an intensive course like a bootcamp or certificate program gets you going quickly. The courses are structured to give you a portfolio of work when you complete all of the course assignments, and this is helpful in your job search. Bootcamps and certificate classes last from several weeks to a few months. When you are finished you will have the skills you need for your new career.

It’s easy to learn Adobe’s Audition and start a new career. Check out Noble Desktop’s courses on Video Editing that include training in Video Editing and Motion Graphics Design with additional instruction in Audition. Bootcamp and Certificate programs are available that include training in audio editing and mixing. Choose between in-person sessions in NYC at Noble’s location or sign up for live online Video Editing courses and attend from anywhere. Use Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me to find other courses in Video Editing in your area.