How to Use Audacity 

Recording

(For more information directly from Audacity, click here - https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/devices_preferences.html )


1. Download and open Audacity.
    (This link opens a new browser window. Return to this page to resume the course.)
2. Push Record (red circle). Once a blue line appears, count to 3, then start speaking.
3. When you're done, push the stop button (black square). If you just need to pause, and plan to continue recording, push the pause button (two black lines).
4. To review the recording, push the back button (backward arrow with a line behind) then play (green triangle).
5. If you like what you hear, File › Save. If you don't like what you hear, and you don't think you can edit what you don't like out, delete the track. (To do this, on the track, below the buttons and above the waveform, click on the title [Audio 1 or something similar] until the whole track is highlighted light blue. Then, hit the backspace button on your keyboard.) You can then, begin recording again. (Return to step 2)

Editing

1. Track - Note many features of Audacity work when a selection is made. You can do this by clicking anywhere on the track (along the waveform) and dragging to highlight the portion you want to edit.
• Cut - If you want to edit a segment out, highlight what you want to cut and hit 'backspace' on your keyboard.
• Silence - If you want to cut the audio, but leave silence in its place, use the 'silence audio selection' button . If you want to keep the audio, but silence the surrounding sound, use the 'trim audio outside selection' button .
• Split - If you'd like to make one track into two, place your cursor on the waveform where you'd like the split to be. Right-click and choose 'split clip.''
• Merge - If you'd like to join two clips together to make one, click on the line between the two clips.


2. Effects - Use these effects to improve the quality of your recording.



Amplify	Change Tempo	Reverb	Echo
How to turn the volume up or down	Use to speed up or slow down, without changing how high or how low it sounds	Make it sound like you're recording in a big room	Add a delayed repetition of sound

Sharing

1. Set up an audio.com account (preferred) or open your own cloud storage account.
2. 'Share Audio' and 'Link account' if you are using Audio.com . Click 'Continue,' then 'Go to file.'
3. On Audio.com, choose a category for your recording, and set a privacy option to 'Public' or 'Private' (only viewable by those with a direct link).
4. The other option is to 'export' your recording. File › Export › Export as MP3 or WAV. Choose where on your device you would like to save the recording.
5. Upload your recording to audio.com (see step 3) or another cloud storage account.

Importing Files

You can edit audio recorded somewhere other than Audacity

1. Import the existing recording to Audacity by going to File › Import › Audio.
2. Note that Audacity takes only .wav, .mp3, and .flac file types.
   But iPhones and Zoom meetings record audio in .m4a file type. Or you may have a video (.mp4 or .mov file types) from which you'd like to use the audio.
3. You will first need to convert these file types using a free audio file converter like "Switch Audio Converter." You can download it here.