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AUDACITY - Analysis
Remember learning your ABC’s? You were probably not even in Kindergarten yet. Nevertheless, you
knew them by sound because you knew the ABC song (the one that sounds like “Twinkle, Twinkle Little
Star”). Some readers may even remember “Fifty Nifty United States” that helped everyone in the class
memorize all of the states in alphabetical order (if not, I strongly recommend visiting
http://beemp3.com/download.php?file=4923531&song=Fifty+Nifty+United+States+P.286 for a copy).
Things are easier to remember when set to music, not only because it is more fun, but more pathways in
the brain are used, improving long term memory. A very effective tool that uses technology and sound
is Audacity. Audacity is a free, user-friendly audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, and
other operating systems. To download this software, go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net and select
Download Audacity 1.2.6 instead of Audacity 1.3.12, because the later edition is still a “work in
progress”.
Once you have downloaded Audacity, there are many things you can do with it, including:
Recording live audio
Converting tapes and records into digital recordings or CD’s
Changing the speed of the steady beat without changing the pitch (not like speeding up a
record)
Changing the pitch of a recording
Editing sound files – cut, copy, paste, delete, splice, or mix sounds
With these functions, there are endless possibilities in the classroom. The first area I thought of is
music, which is my field of expertise. However, the nice thing about Audacity, like most good tools, is
that it can be used to improve teaching in different subjects.
Music
Students can record themselves performing a musical piece, like what we used to do with audio tapes,
except now it is digital. Left alone, that is a motivator itself; I remember that one of my students, who
struggled in every other subject, would come down to my music room during his lunch just to record
himself singing Michael Jackson songs using Audacity. He would actually put his fingers to one ear like
the professionals do in a recording studio when listening to the instrumental track through headphones.
We were able to make an “album” by burning his digital recordings onto a CD. Additionally, there are
more ways Audacity can support learning in music, so the teacher can:
Have students critique their own playing or singing
Change the pitch of a recorded accompaniment or song that is too low or too high, making it in a
more suitable singing range for the needs of your group
Change the tempo (speed of the steady beat) without affecting pitch, so students can practice at
a slower pace
Record one part, then dub other parts to aid understanding of harmony
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AUDACITY - Analysis
Customize accompaniments by removing vocals in most cases(like karaoke), or by picking just
the parts of the music they need for singing or dancing
Make practice tracks for students to record onto, so when they eventually play the two tracks
together, they can compare themselves to the model example. This comparison can be done
not only by listening, but also visually, because Audacity gives the waveform representation of
the pitch and volume levels
Language Arts
Students can listen to and review a pronunciation exercises in a similar manner that music students use
Audacity. This comes especially in handy in foreign language training, for better understanding of
dialect. Furthermore, language arts teachers can use this software to:
Improve reading fluency – students practice reading a story before recording it on Audacity at
home or at school
Record speeches to share with a wider audience
Create sound stories for images using free sound effects websites (Flickr is a good source for
images)
General Ideas and Benefits
Slow down foreign language pronunciations
Make an audio/radio advertisement
Create podcasts
Record sound for PowerPoint slides
Record soundtracks for animations
Record comments or opinions (peer or teacher-originated)
Classroom management – for motivational or time-keeping activities, go to
http://www.educationtechnologies.com/modules/audacity03/index.html
When considering the different learning theories, behaviorists would be very interested in the modeling
exercises that Audacity can offer. Cognitivists especially would find many benefits in using this software,
because it can improve memory through:
1. Making it meaningful
2. Making it familiar
3. Making it organized
4. Using whole and part learning
5. Reciting
6. Rehearsal
7. Overlearning
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AUDACITY - Analysis
Recent research has also supported the use of Audacity in the classroom. According to a 2009 article by
Patti Shank on online courses, using audio clips enhances the learning experience of students by adding
“more depth of emotion, promot[ing] understanding and creat[ing] a personal bond between instructor
and students”. She discusses possible uses of audio clips in welcome messages, module introductions
and explanation of visuals. In another article that discusses Audacity specifically (Mazzoni and
Dannenberg, 2002) the tool has the ability to handle larger works than other editing tools. Additionally,
the spectrogram (the visual representation of digital sound) enables the user to visually “research” the
music, so students can analyze a grand piece of music like a symphony both aurally and visually – this is
a national standard in music education for 5th graders.
Audacity is an important tool for the classroom because it offers advantages that other tools do not
offer. Most audio-related tools simply record, cut, and insert audio. However, Audacity allows teachers
and students to speed it up or slow it down, make it higher/lower, and use unlimited undo or redo
commands. Moreover, the advanced features of Audacity are capable of:
removing lyrics
mixing tracks
smoothly fading or adjusting the volume louder or softer
removing static or other constant background noise
altering frequencies to bring out the bass or treble
altering individual sample points (like bringing certain sections out more) by using the drawing
tool directly on the spectrogram
adding effects like echo, reverb, etc.
The spectrogram is extremely useful, and it makes editing with Audacity easier and more efficient than
comparable tools. Students will be more motivated through the use Audacity, and I highly recommend
its use in the classroom setting.
RESOURCES
Shank, P. (2009). You Had Me at Hello: Pumping Up Your Online Courses with Simple Audio Clips.
Online Classroom, 11, 4-7.
Mazzoni, D., Dannenberg, R. B. (2002). A Fast Data Structure for Disk-Based Audio Editing. Computer
Music Journal, 26 (2), 62-76.