Tips and Tricks to record, import and export

Transcription

1 Interactive Media Center Tips and Tricks to record, import and export Audacity is a free audio editor for Macintosh, Windows and Linux machines. You can record and edit audio, import and export WAV, AIFF, Ogg Vorbis, and MP3 files. You can mix multiple tracks and create one or more audio files. Use it to edit and cleanup tracks, mix tracks together, or apply effects to recordings. Students use Audacity to digitize tape recorded interviews, create Podcasts or add audio to PowerPoint presentations. This handout supplements the Introduction to Audacity: class offered on WIN XP machines. The Macintosh version differs some. Additional handouts available in the Interactive Media Center or see: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the reproduction of copyrighted material. The person using this equipment and software is liable for any infringement. TIPS: Following are general guidelines. Your personal computer may be different than that used in our classrooms or in the Interactive Media Center lab. Keep this in mind when you are setting up your equipment. If you have problems, contact us To install Audacity, download from: To work with MP3 files, download the LAME MP3 encoder from: (accessed 2/19/09). Open Audacity and select Preferences. Select > File Formats > Find Library. Browse to the hard drive and select the location of the MP3 encoder (suggest searching the Programs/Applications folder). The Bit Rate may be increased or decreased dependent upon the file size and quality desired. Page 1 of 7

2 Open Audacity and select Edit > Preferences. Change recording to 2 channels for music. If you are use a microphone, single instrument or import vocals, select mono. You don t speak in stereo! Select Edit > Preferences. Select Quality. See default sample rate and default sample format. This controls the default format used to store audio samples. 16 bit takes up the least space and is equivalent to audio CD quality. 32 bit float takes up twice as much space but is much more flexible. If you have a fast computer and enough disk space, you should always use 32 bit float samples while editing, and then export your final mix as a 16 bit WAV file (the default). Excerpt taken from: accessed 01/14/09 The volume control within the program is secondary to the computer's volume control. In order to get appropriate levels of recording you will need to experiment with both sets of volumes. You can import sound from just about any device. How you do this will depend greatly on the current settings of the computer you re using. The quality of the audio is dependent upon the source, the computer s sound card and the software settings. Always work in.wav or.aiff uncompressed file formats; export to MP3 or Ogg Vorbis for use later on. If you are using multiple tracks they should all be the same format. IMPORTING A SOUND FILE Use this if the audio file already exists as WAV or AIFF. MP3 files are may also be imported but discouraged if editing is to be done. Every time you encode to MP3 you lose audio data (quality). Audio files from a CD must first be ripped or extracted using CD extraction software and then they may be imported. Rip to a WAV file on the hard drive. If you are using multiple tracks (more than one file) they should all be the same format. Select Project > Import Audio > Select File. Note: you cannot use these commands to use audio directly from CD. You will need to rip the audio file with other software. Page 2 of 7

3 IMPORTING / RECORDING FROM A DEVICE Recording from media devices will require the proper connection. Check your adapters for mono or stereo connections. If there is a problem with sound quality, check to make sure all volume control options are correct, all cables fit snug and if using a microphone, adjust how you hold it near your mouth. Be sure the operating system s Volume Control for recording is selected for the device you are importing from and it is not muted. On the Mac select System Preferences > Sound > Input. Select Line In if connecting a cassette player to the line in cable. Connect cable to the headphone/speaker port of your cassette deck/cd player. If using a USB microphone, power it on and select AK5370. Slide the input volume to adjust the recording volume. In Windows, select Start > Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Volume Control. OR! Double click on the volume control icon on the taskbar. Select Options > Properties > Recording. From this screen, select to display the volume controls for all of your devices. Then select where you are importing from Line In, for example for a recorder. Page 3 of 7

4 Record Stop In Audacity, use the drop down menu to select the source of the audio; select Analog Mix (Line ) if you re using the Line in option, microphone if you're plugging your device into the microphone port, and Stereo Mix if recording from the Web. If using a USB device, may vary Cassette tape recorder or CD player You will need an audio cable to connect the device to the computer. One end must be 1/8. The IMC has many cables and adapters available on loan. Plug the audio cable into the Ear port or the HP/SPKR (headphones/speaker) on the tape deck, and the other end into the Line Level Input (not mic) on the computer. In the IMC most workstations have a cable that extends from the back of the computer and is labeled Line in; use this. If the cassette tape recorder s port is ¼ use an adapter ¼ to 1/8. Borrow the tape recorder, cable and adapter from the Interactive Media Center service desk or the Circulation service desk, the first floor. To record, select the Red Record button in Audacity and the Play button on the recorder. Microphone [The IMC has microphones available for loan]. Connect the microphone to the dedicated Microphone port. In its absence use the Line In port on the computer. In your operating system s preferences and in Audacity, the input device must be identified the same. On a Macintosh computer the setting may not be available to select. At Finder, select System Preferences > Sound > Input. Select Line In if connecting a mic to the line in cable. If using a USB microphone, power it on and select AK5370. Slide the input volume to adjust the recording volume. Page 4 of 7

5 USB Microphone [The IMC has microphones available for loan]. Using a USB microphone can be tricky to set up. The IMC has handouts for the MAC and WIN XP to assist you. Most computers recognize the device as AK5370; some may display it as USB device. Plug the device into the computer and turn it on. First, review the computer s sound control and adjust settings. Does it recognize the correct Mixer (recording) device AK5370? NOTE: if sound is not recording, save the project, restart the computer and open the project file. After you verify that the computer is recognizing the device, open Audacity s preferences and see that USB mic. is the identified recording device. On the Mac., the input device may be grayed out indicating that a selection is not required. If recording fails, save project, close Audacity and reopen project and try again. Try selecting Wave In. When you are ready to record, press the record button and just start talking! Page 5 of 7

6 Sample mono wave file RECORDING WHILE STREAMING FROM THE INTERNET Audacity is capable or capturing audio while it is streaming. Select Stereo Mix in Audacity. Open the audio file in the browser. Select Record in Audacity and Play in the browser s audio player. [May not work on the Mac.] SAVE PROJECT Once you have tracks added to an Audacity session, select File > Save Project As. Save Project As is the Save choice available the first time you save your project. Save the project as an Audacity file project... filename.aup. Select File > Save Project as you work. Audacity writes all the changed and recorded audio to a directory called Projectname_data, which is located right where you saved the project file itself. Edit at will, saving as you work. Page 6 of 7

7 EXPORTING TO USE OUTSIDE OF AUDACITY Export to the hard drive or a usb device. Then burn to CD/DVD using additional software if desired. When you have completed your work and are ready to use the tracks you may export (save) each track as an individual file: File > Export Multiple... select file type WAV (or Mp3, etc.). Export all tracks as one file ("mixdown") or to export select File > Export as WAV (or Mp3, etc.) OR make a selection and choose File >export selection as Wav (or Mp3, etc.) Use Real Producer Basic for exporting Real media/audio format from Windows platform. Written by Regina Conboy 3/07; updated, 3/09 Page 7 of 7