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The Center For Instruction and Technology Date last updated: 4/27/15
Recording and Editing Audio with
Audacity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS
X, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and other operating systems.
Why should I try Audacity?
It is a free and easy way to create an audio clip for your Canvas course site with just an
inexpensive microphone, a sound card (pretty standard on all computers) and speakers.
What can I do with Audacity?
You can use Audacity to:
• Record live audio.
• Convert analog audio from tapes into digital recordings or CDs.
• Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files.
• Cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together.
• Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
• And more!
Recording
Audacity can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from various
analog sources, like cassette tapes. With some sound cards, it can also capture streaming audio.
• Record from microphone, line input, or other sources.
• Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings.
• Record up to 16 channels at once (requires multi-channel hardware).
• Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during, and after recording.
Import and Export
Import sound files, edit them, and combine them with other files or new recordings. Export your
recordings in several common file formats.
• Import and export WAV, MPEG audio (including MP2 and MP3 files).
• Export MP3s with the optional LAME encoder library.
• Create WAV or AIFF files suitable for burning to CD.
Editing
• Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete.
• Use unlimited Undo (and Redo) to go back any number of steps.
• Very fast editing of large files.
• Edit and mix an unlimited number of tracks.
• Fade the volume up or down smoothly with the Envelope tool.