Even if you have little sound editing experience, using Audacity is pretty simple. After you download and install the program, double click its icon to start it.
Basic Recording Operation
Turn on the speaker or headphone. Select the “microphone” (it’s in the upper right). Press the red circle to commence recording. Your voice will now be recorded. Turn up the volume if needed. You’ll know it’s being recorded because a jagged line will be visible.
To select the sound, click and drag towards the right side. To modify the sound, go to the Effects menu. Click Amplify. Moving it to negative will lower the sound. Make the adjustments you want and click ok.
Adding Music and Trimming
When using Audacity, you can easily add some background noise. Click Project and choose Import Audio. Add the music and adjust the sound as needed. Select the music to be used with your voice and cut off the rest of the file.
To move the sound, click the Timeshift Tool icon. You’ll need to experiment a bit to align your recording with the background music.
Click the Selection tool and highlight the start of your background sound. Go to the Effects menu and click Fade in. Select the end part of the music and choose Fade Out. When you’re done, click File, Save As.
How to Create a Podcast Using Audacity
Get your microphone and plug it into the computer. Double click the Audacity icon to launch the program. Press the Record icon and start talking. Press Stop when you’re done. Press the rewind button.
Before you make a Podcast, make sure it sounds right. If there’s something wrong with it, record it again. Now save the file and include it with your Podcast files.
Do not export the file until you’re done editing. Doing so will result in loss of sound quality. If you want to add some files, use a WAV file. An mp3 file is already compressed. If you export it, the file will be compressed again and affect the quality.
Other Tips on Using Audacity
Experiment with the program’s features. There is no such thing as the right or wrong effect. Get an mp3 or WAV file and apply the various effects. Import background music and start recording.
Combine them in different ways. If you want to use iTunes, you need to use an iTunes to mp3 converter. There are many free tools available on the Web.
When you open a sound file, there will be markers there. Use it to determine how many seconds of the song you want to select. Begin at the zero mark with a right click. Click and hold the left mouse button and drag until you get the desired parts.
When you get to the end, let go of the mouse button. You don’t need to start at zero all the time. If you want to select the part from 25 to 60 seconds, right click at the 25 second area.
There are many ways of using Audacity. Be creative and you’ll have fun experimenting with its many effects.
