Audio compressor
Make an audio file small enough to send or store. Choose a target size or a bitrate, see the size before you press the button, and save a smaller MP3. This page shrinks the file; it does not change the loudness. Everything runs in your browser.
This page needs JavaScript for the tool itself. Open it in a browser to use it.
How it works
Drop the file on the page. Your browser decodes it and shows its length and size. Choose a target size or set the bitrate, sample rate and channels yourself; the expected size updates as you change them, because an MP3 at a constant bitrate has a predictable size. Compress encodes the file in a background thread and offers the MP3 for download.
Bitrate, sample rate and mono
The bitrate sets the size and the quality: 128 kbps is a good choice for music that will be heard on a phone, 64 kbps is enough for speech, and 192 kbps is hard to tell from the original. Lowering the sample rate to 22050 Hz halves the size again and suits voice recordings, not music. Mono halves the size of a stereo file and is right for a single voice.
Fitting a size limit
Choose a target from the list and the tool picks the highest bitrate that fits under it for your file's length. If nothing fits, which can happen with a long recording, drop the sample rate to 22050 Hz, choose mono, or cut the file shorter with the cutter first.
Not a loudness compressor
Compressor means two things in audio. This page reduces file size. A dynamics compressor evens out the loud and quiet parts of a recording, which is part of mastering; the online mastering tool does that, with a loudness target and a preview.
From the label's own toolbox
BeatRootRaga is an independent label. Sending a rough mix to a singer over a chat app means getting it under a size limit without making it unlistenable, which is exactly what this page does. For a different format rather than a smaller file, use the audio converter.
Featured releases
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Latest guides
All guidesTeentaal: the 16-beat cycle of Hindustani music
Teentaal is a 16-beat Hindustani rhythmic cycle counted in four groups of four, with claps on 1, 5 and 13, and a wave on 9. Its theka, or basic tabla stroke pattern, is dha dhin dhin dha | dha dhin dhin dha | dha tin tin ta | ta dhin dhin dha.
Taal for beginners: teentaal, keherwa and dadra with clap patterns
A taal is a repeating rhythmic cycle: count 16 beats for teentaal, eight for keherwa, and six for dadra. For teentaal, clap on 1, 5 and 13, wave on 9; for keherwa, clap on 1, wave on 5; for dadra, clap on 1, wave on 4.
Rupak: the 7-beat taal that starts on khali
Rupak is a taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, with seven beats grouped 3 + 2 + 2. Its opening closed strokes make sam, the first beat, sound light; this beat is khali, marked by a wave, rather than tali, marked by a clap.
Keherwa: the 8-beat taal of film songs, bhajans and folk
Keherwa is an eight-beat taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, arranged as 4 + 4. To recognise it, listen for two groups of four, a lighter second half, and the recurring drum pattern: dha ge na ti | na ka dhin na.
Jhaptaal: the 10-beat taal
Jhaptaal is a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, with ten beats. Its four vibhags, or divisions, follow 2 + 3 + 2 + 3, alternating two-beat and three-beat groups.
Ektaal: the 12-beat taal of khayal
Ektaal is a twelve-beat taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, divided into six two-beat sections called vibhags. Its stretched beats let the tabla player elaborate the stroke pattern in vilambit (slow-tempo) bada khayal, the slow opening composition of a khayal performance.
Questions people ask
Is the BeatRootRaga audio compressor free, and is my file uploaded?
Free, no account, and nothing is uploaded. The file is decoded and re-encoded inside your browser.
How much smaller will the audio compressor make my file?
The expected size is shown before you compress. A three-minute song is about 2.9 MB at 128 kbps, 1.4 MB at 64 kbps, and half of those again in mono at 22050 Hz.
Does compressing an audio file reduce its quality?
Yes, by an amount you choose. At 128 kbps most music still sounds fine on a phone; at 64 kbps music loses detail but speech stays clear. The result is always MP3, so a WAV source becomes much smaller even at the highest bitrate.
Can the audio compressor get a file under 16 MB or 25 MB for a chat app or email?
Choose the target from the list and the bitrate is picked to fit. Chat apps and mail services set their own limits, so check the limit that applies to you and pick the next size down if in doubt.
Does the audio compressor make the music louder or more even?
No. That is a dynamics compressor, a different tool. This page only reduces file size. For loudness and evenness, use the online mastering tool.