FREE OPEN SOURCE AUDIO RECORDING AND EDITING SOFTWARE

USING AUDACITY

WHERE TO FIND IT

• Audacity• http://audacity.sourceforge.net/• Or Google “Audacity audio”

• Audacity manual• http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/

• Audacity tutorials• http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/tutorials.html

• LAME encoder (for exporting.mp3s)• http://lame.buanzo.com.ar/• Audacity provides a link the first time you attempt to

make an ,mp3

AUDIO FORMATS

• Lots of formats• .wav – very common, uncompressed (big files), lossless,

nearly universal playback ability• .mp3 – very common, compressed (little files), lossy,

nearly universal playback ability • .wma – Windows audio, may have Digital Rights

Management for copy protection• m4p – ITunes format – WILL have Digital Rights

Management for copy protection (probably won’t play back on another computer)

• .ogg – free, open source, uses Vorbis format to play• Librivox – public domain audio books

• .ra – Real Audio, use in decline

CHOOSING YOUR MICROPHONE AND SPEAKERS

• Edit>Preferences>Devices• Set your mike, speakers, stereo or mono• I need to choose a different mike than the

Connect mike• Use a moderately priced headset for best results

RECORDING AND PLAYBACK

• Just like a tape recorder or VCR• Pause, play, stop, rewind, fast forward, record

• Recording shows up as a waveform• Useful to find silence, pauses or extraneous noises if

editing

EFFECTS MENU

• Effects>Amplify• May have to enable “clipping”

to apply the effect

• Effects>Fade In• Effects>Fade Out

• Effects>Remove Noise

EDITING TRACKS

• Playback to find the spot you want to cut• Use the waveform to find

the silences

• Use the selection tool to select the cut• Left click and drag• Hit Delete or Cut to make

the edit• Ctrl + Z to undo an edit

• You can also replace the selection with silence

cut Replace withsilence

Selection tool

EXPORTING (SAVING) FILES

• You don’t save sound files, you Export them

• File>Export>Choose folder, filename, and format

• MP3s require a download of a LAME encoder• Audacity guides you though

the process

• Because .wav is lossless, I edit and combine in .wav, and convert to .mp3 when I’m done

IMPORTING AND COMBINING TRACKS

• Record and export all your clips• Import all your clips• Don’t click Open, as they will open up in different windows• Import opens them all up in same window

• Copy and paste second clip onto end of first track• Close clip • Copy and paste third clip onto end of first track• Close clip• Repeat until al the clips are on one track

• Save the whole thing with a new filename when you’re done

LAME ENCODER

• Export as MP3• You’ll get this prompt the first

time• Click Download• Follow the links (there are 2)

• Download LAME• Click the .exe file• Export the file!

MIXING TRACKS

• Import tracks you want to mix• If music, make sure you have rights• LOTS of public domain music out there• http://www.mfiles.co.uk/ is where I got the Bach

• Edit tracks to same running time• Use Effects menu(Amplify, Fade In, Fade Out) as

needed• Export• Will automatically mix tracks together