Audacity and Podcasting Workshop

Resources:

PDF version of this document

http://www.podbean.com

My Podbean Testing site

1. What is Audacity?

Audacity is a multi-track recording program that is standard on GSSD laptop and desktop computers. It is a versatile program that can be used for creating simple recordings or for doing more complex multi-track recordings.

2. What do I need?

• Audacity prograrm …downloadable from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
• Lame encoder (for mp3 files)….Instructions and the download from http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Lame_Installation
• A decent microphone…either a headset mic or stand mic…do not use a handheld mic….too noisy
• Note: if you use your laptop Audacity with the encoder is preinstalled plus the laptop has a built in microphone that works reasonably well. Desktop http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Lame_Installationcomputers also have the Audacity software and encoder preinstalled…you can add it to your class grouping for your students through School Connect.

3. Creating a Basic mp3 file using Audacity

• Open Audacity – located on your program menu….you may wish to create a shortcut to your desktop
• Basic Controls:
• Record / Play / Stop / Pause buttons
• Sound / Recording Levels – adjust the microphone level so that “clipping” does not occur
• Zoom Tool – allows you to zoom in or out of a section of sound – left click zoom in…right click zoom out
• I-Bar – selection tool
• Scissors – cutting a section of sound
• Time line – measured in seconds
• Envelope tool – use to fade in/out as you see fit

 

• To Record a file
• Make sure your microphone is ready…
• click on the speaker icon
• Click on mixer link – applications-system sounds icon
• Click on the recording tab
• If the mic is working you should see a meter which shows green when you speak…you can adjust the level by clicking on the mic icon and choosing properties
• choose levels and you can adjust the mic level
• you can also adjust the mic boost…be careful with this setting as it can lead to issues with feedback…usually about halfway works fine
• If you are using a USB headset/microphone, you must set Audacity to recognize it….In audacity click on Edit-Preferences and set the playback device and microphone to your headset.

 

• Get ready to record
• have your “cheat notes” ready to read…try to avoid having to turn pages over as the sound can be picked up easily
• may wish to notify the office to avoid calling your room
• be aware of bells and announcements etc…that occur routinely in the day….

 

• Click the record button
• speak clearly and avoid rushing
• click the stop button when done
• press play to listen to the recording

 

• Saving the project
• Audacity creates a project file that can be saved…note that this file can only be played back within audacity…this is the working file only and should not be posted online.
• To save the project file
• File-Save-Project-As
• Give the project a name
• Make note of where you save it

 

• To create an mp3 file requires exporting the completed project…Mp3 files are downloadable and can be easily shared.
• in Audacity click on File-Export
• Give the file a name
• Make a note of where you are saving it
• To play back an mp3 file, you should be able to find the file, click on it and the file should open and play
• The file can be transferred to others using a USB stick or posted on a blog so that it can be downloaded…

 

• Simple Editing of a Project file

 

• Editing an Audacity Project file is relatively easy…the most common reason for editing a file is to eliminate “dead air” or to erase portions that you don’t need

 

• Selecting and cutting a portion of the project file
• Listen to the file and determine the point that you wish to start erasing…you may have to listen several times to determine the section you wish to erase…watch the timeline as you do so and try to note the start and finish times of the section you wish to eliminate. Use the zoom tool if needed to expand the timeline.
• Select the section (use the I Bar tool) you wish to get rid of by clicking and dragging over the area you wish to cut….once the section is highlighted, click the scissors tool and the section will be erased
• Play back the section to determine if the cut was what you wanted…if not…click on Edit-Undo and the section will reappear…

 

• Fading Out and In and special effects
• Using the selection tool, select the area that you wish to cause to fade out or in
• Click on Effects and choose the appropriate selection
• There are additional special effects on the menu that can be implemented in a similar fashion

 

• Advanced Techniques
• Adding additional tracks to the recording
• You can record additional tracks in the project such as adding sound effects
• Click Tracks-Add New-Audio Track
• The new track will appear underneath the existing track
• Locate the pointer where you wish to start recording
• Record the new track

 

• You can also copy and paste a selection from another Audacity audio file by using the I – Bar, choosing the section of audio you wish to copy and selecting Edit-Copy….You can then click into the location on the track you wish to copy to and select Edit-Paste.

 

• You can also import an mp3 file into a new track
• Click on File-Import and choose the file you wish to import
• The new track will appear underneath the last track

 

• Adjusting the volume of a track

 

• On the left side of the track there are two sliding controls
• The top slider controls the volume of the track – this is useful if you wish to add background music….be aware of copyright issues when doing this please
• The bottom slider controls the amount of sound that goes to the left and the right….this allows you to determine which speaker and sound plays from in a stereo system

4. Distributing and Posting Your Podcast

• ­Podcasting is a free service that allows Internet users to pull audio files (typically MP3s) from a podcasting Web site to listen to on their computers or personal digital audio players. Users download the podcast on demand or subscribe via an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed, which automatically downloads the podcast to their computers. Users can listen to the file on their mobile device or on their computer.

 

Source: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/podcasting.htm

• Where can a podcast be published?
• WordPress Blog
• A podcast can be uploaded to a WordPress blog hosted by GSSD (if you don’t have an account, talk to a DLC about setting one up)
• To upload the file:
• Click on the media upload button on the post editor
• Browse to the file on your computer
• Upload/insert the file
• click upload/insert above the toolbar
• click the select files button or if the file has already been uploaded, click on the media library tab
• If you are uploading the file will be transferred to the site…when done the information for the file will appear.
• if the file was previously uploaded click on the file you wish to use and you will see the information for the file
• in either case, scroll down and you will find the link for the file…
• if you wish to use a link to connect to the recording then click on Insert into Post and a link will be posted onto the page…this will allow users to download the file
• if you wish to simply play the podcast back using a player then click on the button called audio player…then click Insert into Post…this will embed an audio player for the file but won’t allow the file to be downloaded….
• You may wish to use both methods on the page, giving your users a choice as to what they can do….
• On WordPress, you can create a password protected page if you don’t wish the podcasts to be public-when you create the page just change the visibility of the page to password protected…you will need to enter a password for the page that you can give to whoever you wish to have access.
• The other choice is to use a podcasting service such as Podbean.com
• Podbean allows you to create a free podcasting page that users can subscribe to.
• RSS subscriptions can be done through Internet Explorer – when a feed is available the RSS buttton will light up and the feed can be added to favourites….
• click on the feed button and an option to add the feed will appear
• when you add the feed it will appear under the feeds tab in the favourites menu