Once the download is complete, the installation file should be available on the ‘Download’ folder (or wherever your browser is set to store downloaded files).

Please note: each toolbar is hyperlinked to provide further explanation.

1. Menu Bar

   

2. Transport Toolbar

   

3. Tools Toolbar

   

4. Recording Meter Toolbar

   

5. Playback Meter Toolbar

   

6. Mixer Toolbar

   

7. Edit Toolbar

   

8. Play-at-Speed Toolbar

   

9. Device Toolbar

   

10. Unpinned Play/Recording Head

    

11. Timeline

    

12. Scrub Ruler

    

    The Scrub Rule is not enabled by default. To enable it, you need to go to the Menu Bar > Transport >Scrubbing > Scrub Ruler

    

13. Selection Toolbar

    

14. Time Toolbar

    

15. Status Bar

    

16. Track Control Panel

17. Audio Track

You can customise the toolbars by dragging and dropping them to create more space for your toolbars. You can also choose which toolbar to display or hide by clicking Menu Bar > View > Toolbars and checking/unchecking them. Or click Reset Toolbars to reset all toolbars to their original settings.

When you have finished recording, you should see your voice represented as an audio ‘waveform’, as shown on the screenshot below.

Single-track Recording using a single microphone ‘1 (Mono) Recording Channel’

If you recorded using a single microphone, your recording will look like the screenshot below

Multi-track Recording using two microphones ‘2 (Stereo) Recording Channel’

If you recorded using two microphones at once, your recording will look like the screenshot below

Transport Toolbar

Mixer Toolbar

1. Click ‘File’ from the ‘Menu Bar’ > Save Project > Save Project > Ok

2. Select a drive/location to save your project in

3. Give your project an appropriate name

4. Click ‘Save’

WAV files are lossless, uncompressed, broadcast CD quality files. Some podcast hosts support WAV formats such as Soundcloud. The drawback with WAV format is that the file size is almost 10 times bigger than an equivalent MP3 file of the same length.

MP3 files are compressed and 10 times smaller than WAV files. They are very useful for Internet
distribution and still play with very good sound quality. If you are looking to upload your podcasts to Moodle, then MP3 is the recommended format.

1. Click ‘File’ from the ‘Menu Bar’ > Export > Export as WAV/MP3

2. Select a drive/location to save your file in

3. Give your audio file an appropriate name

4. If you have chosen to export as WAV, click ‘Save’ and go to step 5. If you have chosen to export as MP3, you will see a bunch of options (Bit Rate Mode, Quality and Variable Speed) which can be left as preset except for Channel Mode as you need to choose ‘Stereo’ if you have recorded using two microphones and the left and right are different, otherwise choose ‘Force export to mono’ if you have recorded using a single microphone and this is would be the case for most podcasts.

5. You will be prompted to complete a metadata form, but this is optional and isn’t necessary so you can just click on ‘Ok’.

To delete a section of your recording:

1. Open your project/WAV file that you wish to edit by going to the Menu Bar > File > Open > double click on your file

2. Click on the Selection Tool in the Tools Toolbar

3. Go to the Waveform of your audio track

4. Click and drag the part of the audio waveform you wish to delete in the audio track

5. The selected portion should be highlighted. It is recommended that you first click the Play button in the Transport Toolbar and listen to the highlighted portion to ensure that you are deleting the right portion of your recording

6. You can press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete it or go to the Menu Bar > Edit > Delete

7. The unwanted audio is now removed, and the audio either side of the selected region is joined together leaving no gap.

8. Save your project or export it as WAV/MP3 file

To add a new piece of recording to an existing recording:

1. Open your project/WAV file that you wish to edit by going to the Menu Bar > File > Open > double click on your file

2. Click on the Selection Tool in the Tools Toolbar

3. Go to the Waveform of your audio track and click on the point from where you wish to add the new piece of recording

4. Go to the Menu Bar > Tracks > Add New > Mono Track. You should now have a new audio track created.

5. Go to the Transport Toolbar and click on the Record button to start recording your new piece of audio and when you have finished, click on the Stop button

6. Now the two tracks overlap and if you press the Play button, your two recordings mix together in the middle. To resolve this issue, you will need to move the second half of your original recording to a new audio track.

7. Create a new audio track for the second half of the original recording by going to the Menu Bar > Tracks > Add New > Mono Track. You should now have a new audio track

8. Go to the original audio track and use the Selection Tool, and highlight the waveform from the point the second track starts to the end

9. Go to the Menu Bar > Edit > Clip Boundaries > Split (alternatively, press Ctrl+I on your keyboard). This will split the highlighted section from the original track.

10. Go to the Tools Toolbar and click on the Time Shift Tool, then click and drag the highlighted waveform to the new audio track so it lines up with the end of the waveform on the above track

11. Now if you playback the recording from the start, it will play as a one piece of recording without any overlapping

12. Save your project or export it as WAV/MP3 file

Copyright: When importing music into your podcast, ensure that you obtain them from royalty-free music sites to avoid copyright issues. For example, Bensound and Mixkit. Further information on copyright can be found here.

To add an intro/outro music to your recording:

1. Open your project/WAV file that you wish to add an intro/outro music to by going to the Menu Bar > File > Open > double click on your file

2. Import your intro/outro music by going to the Menu Bar > File > Import > Audio… > find your music and double click on your file. (Audacity allows you to import audio in WAV and MP3 formats.) Audacity will add it as a new track below your recorded audio. The music file you have imported is likely in stereo, so it looks different from the track you have recorded with the microphone having two waveforms, one for stereo right and the other for stereo left.

3. After importing your music file, you may find the volume needs to be adjusted to match your recording. To do this, go to the Track Control Panel and click and drag the volume slider.

4. Now you need to move the original track that you have recorded to the right, by 5,10 or 15 seconds, completely up to you how long you want the intro to last for so that you allow the intro music to be heard without overlapping with your recording. To do this, you need to use the Selection Tool in the Tools Toolbar and highlight your entire waveform recording and then click on the Time Shift Tool and click on the highlighted waveform and move it to the right depending by how many seconds you would like the intro to last.

5. You may wish to create a gradual fade in at the beginning of your audio track to create smooth transitions between your audio clips to make a seamless listening experience for your audience. To do this, use the Selection Tool and highlight the intro music track from the beginning until your original audio track starts, and then go to the Menu Bar > Effect > Fade In.

6. Now when you playback, you will notice that after the intro, your audio recording starts but the background music is too loud and you may wish to adjust the volume manually to fade away to nothing. The Envelop Tool gives you more flexibility and allows you to manually fade in and out. To do this, go to the Tools Toolbar and click on the Envelop Tool, you will notice grey bars appear at the top and bottom of each clip, bordered at the edges by a purple line. Click on the waveform of the background audio, this will create a control point. You may wish to create multiple control points to give you more flexibility when adjusting the volume. Now click and drag up or down the control points to adjust the volume.

7. For your outro, you may wish to create a gradual fade out at the end of your audio track similar to the intro in step 6. Use the Selection Tool and highlight the portion for your outro music, go the Menu Bar > Effect > Fade Out.

8. If the music track you have imported is too long and you wish to delete the end of it, use the Selection Tool and go to the waveform and highlight the portion you wish to delete. Then press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete it or go to the Menu Bar > Edit > Delete.

9. At this point, if you are happy with your editing, save your project or export it as WAV/MP3 file.