Audacity QuickStart Guide

What is Audacity?

Audacity is a free audio recording and editing tool.  It's especially useful for podcasters because you can easily create mp3 files for your podcasts.  Additionally, it allows you to mix and edit multiple audio files. So, for example, in your classroom you might have each student create a small audio file using audacity and then pull all those audio files into an audacity project for one big podcast episode.  Audacity makes it very simple to do.

Getting Started

There are many great audacity tutorials on the Internet.  So, instead of re-creating the wheel, I've collected many of those resources here for you.  There are plenty of resources here to help you become an audacity master!

Downloading and Installing Audacity

Of course, you have to download and install Audacity to use it!  :) 

• Read the Audacity text tutorial or
• Watch the Audacity video tutorial

Setup Audacity to Begin Recording

After downloading and installing, you need to set up Audacity so that it records a good audio file.

• Read Setting Up Audacity or
• Watch Setting Up Audacity

Explore the Audacity Interface

If you'd like to get to know the Audacity interface before you begin recording and editing, check out these video tutorials covering all the basic interface options. If you're comfortable learning about the interface as you go, then skip to the next section.

• File Menu
• Edit Menu
• View Menu
• Project Menu
• Generate Menu
• Effect Menu, Pt 1,  Effect Menu Pt 2
• Track Tools

Begin Your Podcast Project

In this step, you will create an Audacity project file that has all your audio. The project file is also where you do all your editing of the audio.

• Watch how to set up your audacity project file
• Watch how to begin a basic recording
• Watch how to do a few basic edits to your recording
• Watch how to adust the volume of all or part of your recording
• Watch how to add music to your recording

Save Project and Export Your Podcast

Using Audacity, you end up with a project file that has an extension of .aup (e.g  mytestfile.aup).  It's good to save your  project files because you can always go back and edit them.  But, you also want to export the file as an .mp3 (e.g.  mytestfile.mp3) because that is the file format you will use for podcasting.

• Watch how to save your project and export it as an mp3 file

I've got my mp3 file so what do I do with it?

Podcasts are, in general, a collection of mp3 files that people can subscribe to.  In order for your mp3 file to become a podcast, you have to upload it to a hosting site (a server on the Internet that will store your files).  The hosting site will either already have a feed for your podcast publised for you (e.g. GCast) or you will have to link your file in a blog post and enable the feed for that blog so people can subscribe.