Audio Editing with Audacity and Intel® Core™ Ultra Processors

Let’s look more closely at how Intel® Core™ Ultra processors deliver the best AI PC experience1—and, specifically, how they deliver the performance and efficiency to support the advanced AI features available in Audacity.

Songs, podcasts, and other audio files can be huge, so editing them in apps like Audacity requires a lot of computing power. Editing with the help of AI places even greater demands on processors and requires added efficiency so customers can edit unplugged for hours.

AI acceleration for audio editing

Audacity is a popular audio editing and recording app used for everything from basic audio recording and editing to advanced audio production and mastering. The app’s versatility makes it popular with hobbyists to professionals, including musicians and music producers, podcasters, and anyone who publishes content on sites like YouTube.

Intel offers a free suite of Intel® OpenVINO AI tools customers can use in Audacity. The AI tools are optimized for Intel® Core™ Ultra processors, which have AI acceleration capabilities spread across the CPU, integrated GPU, and new neural processing unit (NPU).

Together, the AI accelerators provide fast, responsive, and intelligent performance enhancements for audio editing. The NPU enhances audio processing and effects, while the GPU accelerator speeds waveform rendering and visual effects. That leaves the CPU free to handle general software operations and any multitasking the customer performs.

AI-enabled Music Separation

The Music Separation tool in Audacity uses the GPU accelerator in Intel® Core™ Ultra processors to automatically separate music into individual stems, or tracks, for vocals and instruments like drums and bass.

Separating music is useful for a variety of purposes, including for musicians who want to sample the guitar part from their favorite record or content creators who want to remove the vocals from a song to create an instrumental version for their YouTube video, even without access to the original file.

AI-enabled Transcription

The NPU in Intel® Core™ Ultra processors is designed to efficiently run sustained AI workloads. That makes it ideal for the Transcription tool in Audacity, which can automatically transcribe the speech or vocals in sound clips into text or translate it into another language. The transcripts can easily be exported as text files, with time stamps automatically applied.

Here are some of the many ways the AI-powered Transcription tool benefits creators:

  • Musicians and podcasters can use the tool to create notes based on audio content and analyze audio performances, studying nuances in articulation and phrasing.
  • Music producers and remixers can isolate specific elements like vocals and melodies, and manipulate them into new arrangements.
  • Podcasters can create subtitles, captions, and transcripts of their podcasts. The transcripts are easy to search and edit, and the tool automatically applies punctuation and removes unwanted phrases like “um.”
  • Anyone who creates videos can download the transcripts and easily add them to their videos as ready-made captions.

AI-enabled Music Generation

With the Music Generation feature in Audacity, users can remix original music or use a text prompt to generate completely new music. It takes only a few clicks to remix a song—adding a new bluegrass twist or more bass, for example.

To have AI automatically create new music, users simply enter a text prompt like “acoustic guitar solo” or “funky piano.” The GPU accelerator in Intel® Core™ Ultra processors is designed to process large and complex AI workloads like music generation, so users don’t have to wait a long time to create a short audio file.

Summary

The latest AI features in Audacity have the potential to revolutionize the way music producers work—automating repetitive tasks, enhancing creativity, and providing new avenues for sonic exploration. And with a laptop powered by Intel® Core™ Ultra processors, customers can take advantage of those and other AI features while enjoying great performance and long battery life.