Audacity Tips
Jenny Moon Technology Training Center YOU DO NOT NEED AN iPOD to podcast! You will need a microphone to connect to your computer. Download Audacity (Free) and Lame MP3 Encoder
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Before you begin you will need to make some changes to the program: Click on ―File‖ or ―Edit‖ (depending on your version) and go to ―Preferences‖. Click on the ―Audio I/O tab at the top. Click the Arrow next to the white box under Playback – Device: There should only be one other option there besides the Microsoft Sound Mapper – Output. Choose the other option. Make the same changes to the Recording—Device. Click OK at the bottom of the screen. You should now be ready to record. Recording Levels Green: Very Soft Voice Yellow: Can hear you but still soft Orange: That is a good voice Red: Powerful Voice Red with Double Bars: Why are you shouting?
Be sure not to use any COPYRIGHTED material in a recording you want to post to the web. Students want to get very close to the mic and you can hear their breathing or ―puffs‖ when you play it back. Be sure to record the students voice and let them hear it once or twice before you record for the final project.
Steps to Record:
Open Audacity Click on the Red Circle to start recording. If you are going to have more than one student record or if you just need to pause for a few minutes then click on the two vertical blue lines next to the record button. (This is the pause button) When you are ready to start recording again, then click the pause button again and you are recording. When you are finished with your recording click the yellow square to stop the recording. Click ―File‖, ―Save Project As‖ and name your project. Click on ―File‖, Export as MP3. You will have to name the mp3 file, (You can give it the same name as you gave the project). CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You have just recorded your first podcast.
If this is a recording you are only going to use in your classroom, be sure to burn the recording to a CD. You can make copies of the CD to share with other teachers in your building and you will also have it just in case your computer decides to ―Crash‖! Since this is an mp3 file, it will play on your computer or in most CD Players. If you want to post your recording to the web, email the file to me or you can call me and I will come by and put it on a flash drive. jmoon@gcs.k12.al.us or 256549-2957.