Using Lynda to teach yourself Audacity

Audacity 

1. In your browser navigate to www.lynda.com and click on login as shown below
   
2. Login through your organization or school by entering www.mtholyoke.edu 
   
3. Enter by using your MHC username and password                                                                       
4. After you have successfully logged in, enter Audacity into the bar at the top of your page 
   
5. You will get a list of suggestions. Choose the video, course or article of your choice and hit Search. 
6. You will be navigated to the corresponding search. For beginners you may start my choosing the video What is Audacity.  Hit the Play button and enjoy your video!!! 
   

Exporting Files from Audacity

To export the file you are currently working on in Audacity, go to File and then Export.

 

Give a filename and location and select the format that you want to save the file in. 

For more advanced export options, click on 'Options' button next to the Format drop down menu.

 

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For more information about file formats  and exporting options,  see the Audacity Manual section on exporting audio. To learn more about using Audacity, try some of the Audacity tutorials.

Recording Audio with Audacity

In order to record your voice on Audacity, check that your microphone/input systems are properly connected, especially if you are not using your computer’s built in microphone. We don't recommend using the inbuilt microphone because the sound quality is likely to be poor. 

Make sure you have the right settings in Audacity.

You can select the input system you are using for your recording session on the drop down menu.  

Now you are ready to record. 
Click on the Red record button and start recording.

You will immediately see a track being built. 

To pause your recording, click on the blue pause button. 
When you are done, click on the yellow stop button. 

You can now edit and export your recording.

For more information on Recording in Audacity:

A Beginner’s Guide To Producing Home Music Recordings With Audacity

How to Record a Song With Audacity

To learn more about using Audacity, try some of the Audacity tutorials.

Soundflower and Audacity for Recording Audio

Using Soundflower and Audacity to Record Audio from Computer 

Soundflower is an OS X extension that allows applications to move/pass audio to other applications. (Warning, Apple does NOT recommend this app for Mac OS X 10.8)

Once Soundflower is installed, you need to change settings in the preferences of both Audacity and the Mac system as follows: 

Audacity:

Open Audacity, go into Preferences>Devices

Audio I/O:
            Host: Core Audio
            Playback: Soundflower (2ch)
            Recording: Soundflower (2ch), Channels: 2(stereo)

MAC:

Apple System Preferences > Sound

Set Input: Soundflower (2ch); Output: Soundflower (2ch)

Start playing something (try a Youtube, for example), hit record in Audacity.

When finished recording, go back into Apple System Prefences > Sound and Audacity Preferences > Audio I/O to reverse settings.