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CREATINGANAUDIOPODCASTWITHAUDACITYANDITUNES

ABOUTAUDACITY Audacityisfreesoftwareforrecordingandeditingsounds.ItisavailableforMacOSX,MicrosoftWindows,GNU/Linux,andotheroperatingsystemsandisinstalledinmanycomputerlabsacrosscampus.

INSTALLINGAUDACITY

ToinstallAudacity,gotohttp://audacity.sourceforge.net/,choosethedownloadtabandthenfollowtheinstructionsforyour

operatingsystem.

USINGAUDACITY

CONFIRMSETTINGS

ToconfirmthatAudacityisreadyforuse,checktheprogramsettings.

1. ChooseFile(PC)orAudacity(Mac)‐>Preferences.

2. OntheAudioI/OtabmakesurethePlaybackandRecordingDeviceselectedistheoneyouwillusetorecordandthatChannelshas1(Mono)selected.

CREATEAPROJECT

Beginbysavingaproject.Remember,yourprojectfile(.aup)cancontainmultipletrackswitheffectsappliedthatcanbeeasilymodifiedasyouedit,butthisfileonlyworksinAudacity.Theseinstructionswillcoveramethodthatcreatesastandardaudiofile

(WAV)aswellasanMP3file(whichiswhatyou'dneedforpodcasting).Besuretoreviewalltheinstructions.

1. ChooseFilethenSaveProjectAs…2. CreateaNewFoldersomewherememorablelikethedesktopandnameitsomethingyoucanremember,likethecourse

name.3. Selectthenewfolder.

4. IntheFileNamebox,nameyourprojectsomethingyouwillremember,likethetopicoftherecording.5. ClickSave.

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RECORDAUDIO

PLAYCONTROLBUTTONS

Youcanusetheplaycontrolbuttonslocatedinthetoolbaratthetopofthescreentorecordandplaybackaudio.

RECORDINGATRACK

Youwillprobablyneedtostartandstoprecordingseveraltimesasyoucreateyourpodcast.Eachtimeyoustartandstopanewtrackwillbecreatedbydefault.Thisishowyourecordasingletrack.

• PresstheredRecordbutton onthetoolbartostartrecording.

• Speakintothemicrophone.

• Confirmthatyouarerecordingbycheckingthatanewtrackhasappearedonthescreenandthatavisualizationofyour

soundisregistering.

• PresstheyellowStopbutton onthetoolbartostoprecording.

EDITAUDIO

EDITINGBUTTONS

Toperformtheseeditsyouwillneedtobecomefamiliarwiththesixbasiceditingbuttonslocatedtotheleftoftheplaycontrolbuttons.

COMMONEDITS

Thesearesomecommoneditsyoumayhavetoperformonavoicerecording.

DeleteHowtoremoveselectedaudio

1. UsetheSelectionTool toselecttheaudiosegmentyouwanttoerase.

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2. ChooseEdit–>Deletefromthemenuorpressthedeletekeyonyourkeyboard.

Trim

Howtoisolateselectedaudioandremovewhatisnotselected

1. UsetheSelectionTool toselecttheaudiosegmentyouwanttokeep.2. ChooseEdit–>Trimfromthemenu.

MoveHowtomoveanaudiotrack

1. ClicktheTimeShiftTool buttononthetoolbar.

2. Clickontheaudiotrackyouwanttomove.3. Holdtheleftmousebuttondownwhileyousidetheaudiotrackyouwanttomovetoitsnewarea.

IMPORTADDITIONALAUDIO

Tosupplementvoicerecording,youmaywanttoaddadditionalaudio,suchasmusictoyourpodcast.Toimportexternalaudio,followthesesteps.

1. ChooseProject‐>ImportAudio.2. Findtheaudiofileyouwishtoadd.

3. ClickOpen.

APPLYEFFECTS

APPLYINGAFADE

Onewaytomakeanaudiotransitionlessabruptistoapplyafade.Tryapplyingafadeouttomaketheendofapieceofmusicseemtohappenmoregradually.

1. Selectfromtheendofanaudiosegmentbacktothepointatwhichthefadeoutshouldstarttooccur.

2. ChooseEffect‐>FadeOut

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OTHERUSEFULEFFECTS

Amplify

Changesthevolumeofselectedaudio.+dBincreasesvolume.–dBdecreasesvolume.

ChangePitchChangesthepitchofasoundmakingiteithersounddeeperorhigherdependingonsettings.

ChangeTempo

Changesthepaceatwhichthetrackoccurs,makingtheaudioeithershorterasyouspeedituporlongerasyouslowitdown,withouteffectingthepitchoftheaudio.

NoiseReduction

Meanttoremovearepeatednoisethroughoutatrack.

NormalizeIncreasesthevolumeofalltracks,makingthemasloudaspossiblewithoutintroducingclippingordistortion.

EXPORTYOURFINISHEDAUDIOTOASTANDARDWAVFILE

Asmentionedabove,Audacitysavesyourprojectinitsownformat–greatforeditingagain,later,inAudacity,butnotcompatible

withotheraudioprograms.That'swhyit'sagoodideatoexportthefinalversionofyouraudioprojecttoastandardaudiofileformatthatotherprogramscanopen.You'llneedthistoconvertyouraudiotoapodcast‐friendlyformat,aswell.

1. SaveyourAudacityprojectagain,justtoensureyou'vesafelypreservedtheeditingworkyou'vedoneinAudacity.

2. OntheFilemenu,choose"ExportasWAV...",thengiveyourfileasuitablename(werecommendthesamenameyouuse

fortheAudacityprojectfile),andchoosethelocationtosavethefile.

YourfinishedWAVfileisreadytoconverttoMP3.It'salsocompatiblewithawiderangeofcomputers,software,andevensomeportableaudiodevices.WAVfilesaretoolarge,however,forpodcasting,soreadontolearnhowtoconvertthemtoMP3.

CONVERTINGYOURAUDIOFORPODCAST

TheiTunesprogram,freeforMacandWindowsusers,canconvertWAVfilestotheMP3formatmostsuitableforpodcastingatGeorgiaState.IfyouuseaMac,AudacitycanexportMP3files,butwerecommendusingiTunesforbetterflexibilityandsupport.

TheiTunesmethodisthesameonWindowsandMaccomputers:

1. SetiTunestoexporttoMP3:

a. OpeniTunes.Ifyou’reonaMac,clicktheiTunesmenu,inthetop

leftcornerofthemenubar.Choose“Preferences…”.OnaPC,clicktheEditmenuatthetopoftheiTuneswindow.Choose“Preferences…”.

b. Findthe"ImportSettings..."button,andclickit.It’sinthesamelocationforMacandPCversions,asofiTunesversion8.Here’sa

screenshotoftheWindowsversion,tohelpyoulocatethe“ImportSettings…”button(right).

c. Inthetopmostpulldownmenu,choose"MP3Encoder".

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d. Inthe"Setting"pulldownmenudirectlyunderneath,chooseaqualitysettingthatsuitsyou.The"HighQuality"setting(160kbps)shouldbefineformostneeds.

e. ClicktheOKbutton,thentheremainingOKbuttonon‐screen.You’vesuccessfullysetiTunestoexporttoMP3.

2. DragyourWAVfileintoiTunes.

3. Right‐clickyourWAVfile,andchoose"CreateMP3version”(thesamecommandisalsofoundonthe“Advanced”menu,bytheway).

4. Youraudiopodcastisreadyforupload!FurtherdocumentationandsupportforusingiTunesandiTunesUisavailableon

ourSupportandTrainingpageofouriTunesUsite(http://www.gsu.edu/itunesu/28420.html).Seethelinksundertheheading,"UsingiTunesU",whereyou'llfindstep‐by‐stepinstructionsonuploadingyourfilestoiTunesU.

Helpviaemail,forGeorgiaStateUniversityusers,isavailableatpodcasting@gsu.edu.

Bonustip:ifyouhaveseveralWAVfilestoconvert,iTunescandoalloftheminonebatch.Createanewplaylist,dragyourWAVfilesintoit,andselectthemall.Youcanright‐clickontheselectedfilesandchoose“CreateMP3version”orusethe

menuitemdescribedinstep3,above.iTuneswillconvertalltheselectedfiles,oneafteranother.

BESTPRACTICES

Toavoidpotentialissuessuchasdropouts(unexpectedsilencesinyourtracks)considerkeepingyourfilessmallandsimple.Dropoutsaregenerallycausedbyacombinationofatoofullharddrive,inadequateRAM(memoryavailableforrunningprograms),

ornotenoughCPU(programprocessing)power.Tokeepyourfilefrompushingthelimitsoftheprogramorthecomputer:

• Combinevoicetracks:ifyourrecordinghasmorethanafewtracks,considercombiningmultiplevoicetrackstogether,in

Audacity,asyouedit.Selectthetracksyou'dliketocombine,anduse"MixandRender"ontheTracksmenu.Thisfreesupmemoryandsavesdiskspace.

• Makemore,shorterfiles:ifapodcastbecomestoolengthytofolloweasily,youmightlookatbreakingyourpodcastsintosmallerones(arrangedbytopic,forexample).

ALTERNATIVES

• GarageBand(Maconly)‐YoucanrecorddirectlyintoGarageBand,whichcomesstandardonnewermodelMacintoshcomputers,andcanbepurchasedfromApple,butisnotavailableforMicrosoftWindows.TheExchange,forfaculty,containsarecordingstudiothatmakesGarageBandavailablewithotherrecordingequipment.

• WimbaVoiceTools–AllowyoutorecordandembedsimplevocalinteractionsdirectlyintothepagelevelofuLearn.• ProTools‐TheDigitalAquariummaintainsanaudiosuitewithmorecomplexaudiorecordingtoolsavailable,includingPro

Toolssoftware.

FURTHERSUPPORT

FurtherdocumentationandsupportforusingAudacityareavailableonlineundertheHelptabathttp://audacity.sourceforge.net/