Audacity

Basic Use

OTS PUBLICATION : MS06

3/8/10 TRAINING @ TOWSON. EDU OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES =Shortcut =Advice =Caution

Introduction

Audacity is a powerful sound editing tool. With this program you can record and edit your own audio tracks for narrations, music, recorded lectures, etc. In this self help document, you will learn to record, play, and save an audio file using this program.

Process Summary

Introduction Preparation Basic Recording Editing an Audio File Saving an Audio File 1. 2. 3. 4. Save As Feature Export Feature Export as WAV Export as MP3

Preparation

Before you can record any audio you must first download and install Audacity. You can obtain the software for free from the following link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Follow the installation wizard to download the program.
Once you have downloaded Audacity, a microphone is required to record. It is recommended that a USB microphone headset be used with Audacity to ensure the best sound quality. The headset will also optimize convenience for the recording user. Once you have Audacity installed and a microphone, you are ready to record your audio file.

Basic Recording

1. Open Audacity from your Programs menu. 2. To begin recording, click the Record button in the main toolbar (Fig 2, 1). As you are recording, you should see the sound waves recording on an audio track in the workspace (Fig 1, 1). Figure 1
3. To Pause recording so that you may resume it on the same audio track, select the Pause button (Fig 2, 2). Click the Pause button again to resume recording. If you select the Stop button rather than the Pause button, any additional recording will be made on a separate track. This will mean a little extra work in editing the final file. 4. When you are done with your recording, click the Stop button (Fig 2, 4).
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A UDACITY : B ASIC U SE 5. To preview the audio quality of your recording, click the Rewind button (Fig 2, 4) and then click Play (Fig 2, 5).

Figure 2

Editing an Audio File
1. To delete a track from your Audacity project, click the X (Fig 3, 1) on the left-hand side of the selected audio track.

Figure 3

2. To select a portion of the track, click the Selection tool (Fig 4, 1). Click and drag the tool to highlight a portion of the recording.

Figure 4

Figure 5
3. Once you have a section selected, you can make a number of changes. - To delete that section from the recording, click the Cut tool (Fig 5, 1). - To copy the selected clip, click the Copy tool (Fig 5, 2). 4. You may insert a snippet of copied audio by moving the Selection tool to the appropriate location in the audio track and clicking the Paste tool (Fig 5, 3). 5. If you would like to delete all of the recording outside of a selected area, click the Trim tool (Fig 5, 4).
A UDACITY : B ASIC U SE 6. If you would like to replace a selected area with silence, click the Silence tool (Fig 5, 5). 7. You can adjust the volume of the track by selecting the appropriate area of the track and clicking on Effects > Amplify from the menu bar. 8. You can make the track fade in or fade out by selecting the appropriate area of the track and clicking on Effects > Fade In or Fade Out from the menu bar. 9. To adjust the track forward or backward over the project timeline, select the Time Shift tool (Fig 3, 3). Click and drag the track to the appropriate position. The Time Shift tool allows you to move portions of audio around your project.

Saving an Audio File

In Audacity, there are two ways to save your work. The first is by actually saving it as an Audacity file. Only use this option if you wish to continue to work on your file by using Audacity at a later date. If you wish to use your file with any other program, you must use the export feature. Both the Save As and Export features are useful and will be covered in this next section.

Save As Feature

1. In the menu, bar select File (Fig 6, 1). 2. Select the Save Project As option (Fig 6, 2). 3. Select the appropriate drive and directory in the Save Project dialog box that appears. 4. Click the Save button to save your file as an Audacity file. Only use this option if you are saving the project with the intent to edit it further in Audacity. If you want to use the file in any other program, use the export option which is detailed in the next section.

Figure 6

Export Feature
1. In the menu bar, select File (Fig 7, 1). 2. Select either the Export as WAV (Fig 7, 2) or Export as MP3 option (Fig 7, 3). 3. Choose the file type that is best for your needs. The processes are slightly different, follow the instructions below for your particular file type. Figure 7

Export as WAV

1. Click Export As WAV (Fig 7, 2). 2. In the Save Project dialog box, select the appropriate drive and directory to save the file. 3

A UDACITY : B ASIC U SE

Export as MP3
1. Prior to exporting files from Audacity into an MP3 format, you must download the LAME MP3 encoder. 2. Go to http://lame.buanzo.com.ar/ 3. Click on the Lame_v3.98.2_for_Audacity_on_Windows.exe link to start your download. 4. The file will be saved to the following location: "C:\Program Files\Lame for Audacity" 5. Go back into Audacity and click File > Export as MP3 (Fig 7, 3).
6. Audacity will ask for the location of lame_enc.dll Follow these steps to get there:
Go to My Computer Click on the C Drive Click Program Files Click Lame for Audacity Select lame_enc.dll
7. Click Open. 8. A window will appear where you can type in Artist, Title, Album, Track Number, Year, and Genre. Complete the fields or leave them blank and click OK to save your file as an MP3.

InstallingAudacityandLAME
WhenyouutilizeAudacity,youwillneedtodownloadboththeAudacity.exeandtheLameaddon.The reasonfordownloadingLameisthatAudacity,whileitisanexcellentsoundeditingprogram,doesnot havetheabilitytocreateMP3filesonitsown.Rather,itcreatesWAVfiles.
WhyuseMP3filesinsteadofWAVfiles?
TheadvantageofMP3filesasopposedtoWAVfilesisthattheyarenotaslargeasotheraudiofile formats,whichmakethemeasiertotransportoruploadtoyouronlinecourse.Theyarealsothe primaryfileformatforAudioPodcasting,soifstudentsarelisteningtoaPodcast,itwillhavetobein MP3format.ThefreeLameencoderprovidesAudacitywiththeabilitytocreateMP3files.
HowtoInstallAudacityandtheLAMEMP3fileencoderaddon: DownloadAudacityandLAMEFilestotheComputerDesktop
1.DownloadAudacityforWindows98/ME/2000/XP/Vistafrom: http://Audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows Filename:Audacity1.2.6installer(ornewer) 2.DownloadLAMEForAudacityonWindowsfrom: http://lame.buanzo.com.ar/ Filename:libmp3lamewin3.97.zip(ornewer)
InstallAudacityfromtheDesktop
1.DoubleclickontheAudacity1.2.6installer. 2.ClickRunontheOpenFileSecurityWarningprompt. 3.ClickNextontheSetupAudacitywindow. 4.ChecktheradiobuttonnexttoIAccepttheLicenseAgreement thenclicktheNextbuttoninthelowerrighthandcornertocontinue. 5.ClickNextontheInformationwindow. 6.PickNexttoacceptthedefaultinstallationlocation. 7.ThedefaultdesktopiconcreationandAudacity projectfileassociationshouldbecheckedthenPickNext. 8.PickInstall. 9.WhentheinstallationiscompleteUnchecktheLaunchAudacity checkboxandpickFinish.
TheAudacityinstallationisfinishednowitstimetoinstallLAME. InstallLAMEfromtheDesktop
1.Doubleclickonthelibmp3LAMEwin3.97.zipfile. 2.WinZiporzipfileextractorwillopenClickExtract 3.ExtractthecontentstoC:\ 4.TheLAME_enc.dllwillextractedintoanewlycreatedfoldernamed C:\libmp3LAME3.97
LAMEisinstalledandreadytobeconnectedtoAudacity ConfigureAudacitytousetheLAMEMP3encoder
1.DoubleclickontheAudacitydesktopicon,toOpenAudacity. 2.LocateandclickontheAudacityEditMenuOption. 3.PickthePreferencesoptionatthebottomoftheEditMenu. 4.LocateandClickontheFileFormatsmenutabonthePreferenceswindow. 5.LocatethesectionheaderMP3ExportSetupontheFileFormatspageand ClicktheFindLibrarybutton. 6.AnexplanationonwhyyouwouldwanttouseLAMEisdisplayed. PicktheYesbutton. 7.TheWhereisLAME_enc.dllwindowopensbrowseyourcomputer tothefolderC:\libmp3LAME3.97andclickonLAME_enc.dll. ThenpicktheOpenButton. 8.TheMP3LibraryVersionshoulddisplayLAMEv3.97(ornewer) ClickOKtoclosethewindow.
AudacityisconfiguredtouseLAMEtoexportfilesintheMP3audioformat