http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Control Toolbar
Editing Tools
Selection tool - for
selecting the range of
audio you want to edit or
listen to.
Envelope tool - for
changing the volume over
time.
Draw tool - for modifying
individual samples.
Zoom tool - for zooming
in and out.
Timeshift tool - for sliding
tracks left or right.
Multi tool - lets you
access all of these tools at
once depending on the
location of the mouse and
the keys you are holding
down.
Audio Control Buttons
Skip to Start - moves the cursor to time 0. If you press Play
at this point, you project will play from the beginning.
Play - starts playing audio at the cursor position. If some
audio is selected, only the selection is played.
Loop - if you hold down the Shift key, the Play button
changes to a Loop button, which lets you keep playing the
selection over and over again.
Record - starts recording audio at the project sample rate
(the sample rate in the lower-left corner of the window). The
new track will begin at the current cursor position, so click the
"Skip to Start" button first if you want the track to begin at
time 0.
Pause - temporarily stops playback or recording until you
press pause again.
Stop - stops recording or playing. You must do this before
applying effects, saving or exporting.
Skip to End - moves the cursor to the end of the last track.
Audio Recording on your Computer
1. Gather the equipment you’ll need.
See the box to the right.
To start recording audio…
2. Plug your headset into your
computer. The red plug goes
into the Microphone port, and
the black plug goes into the
headphone port.
these plugs…
…go here for a laptop,
Hardware Needed
1. A desktop computer, or a laptop
computer.
or
2. A headset with both a microphone
and headphones.
Software Needed
3. Audacity is open-source (free!) and
can be downloaded from this site:
…and go here for a desktop.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
If your computer asks about the device, select
“microphone” from the list of options, check “Don’t show
me this again,” and click the “OK” button.
3. Open Audacity. (Start->Programs->Audacity)
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Audio Recording on your Computer
4. You’ll need to tell Audacity where your microphone is, and what Audio drivers to use for recording.
Once Audacity opens, from “Edit,” select “Preferences…” from the drop-down menu.
a. Under the “Audio I/O” tab, select “Sound MAX HD Audio” or “Sigma Tel Audio” for the
recording device. Set the Channels to “1 (Mono)” for a simple voice recording.
Sound MAX HD Audio
b. Make sure your computer is setup to export your podcast as an mp3 file ( smaller file size!)
Click on the “File Formats” tab. Click on the “Find Library” button.
The lame_enc.dll file should be at the following location: C:\
Highlight the file and click the “Open” button.
c.
Click “OK” when you are finished setting the Preferences.
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Audio Recording on your Computer
5. Audacity records just like a tape deck—click the “Record” button to start recording, and the “Stop”
button when you’re finished.
Use these buttons to
start recording!
6. You can play the audio file back to check it, or record a second track, etc.
If you want to do something more complex than just record your voice, from “Help,” select
“Contents” from the drop-down menu. Audacity’s built-in user guide is very comprehensive!
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Audio Recording on your Computer
7. When you’re ready to save your audio project file, from “File,” select “Export as MP3” from the
drop-down menu.
8. Name your file something memorable, and click the “Save” button.
It’s a good idea to edit the ID3 tags so that if students import the file into their iPods, cellphones, or
other mp3 playing devices, they can easily group school related information together. Click “OK.”
9. CAVEAT: Even saved as an mp3 file, audio recordings are large files—you should save files to your
computer’s hard drive (C:), if possible, and then move the finished audio recordings to your H: drives
or to another network location.
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