Audacity - Analyze Menu

# Analyze Menu

The Analyze menu is intended for effects and plug-in effects that do not modify the audio, but simply open a dialog with some descriptive information. Audacity also supports Analyze commands that create annotations in a Label Track.

Plot Spectrum - To use this feature, first select a region of audio from a single track, then select "Plot Spectrum". It opens up a window that displays the Power Spectrum of the audio over that region, calculated using the Fast Fourier Transform. The graph represents how much energy is in each frequency. As you move the mouse over the display, it shows you the nearest peak frequency. This window can also display other common functions that are calculated using the Fast Fourier Transform, including three versions of the Autocorrelation function. The Enhanced Autocorrelation function is very good at identifying the pitch of a note.

Audacity does not come with any built-in Analyze commands, so anything in this menu must be a plug-in. It is possible for a poorly written plug-in to crash Audacity, so always save your work before using a plug-in.