Audacity is a powerful, robust and open-source audio recorder and editor that offers you much more than what you would expect from a free application. Its interface can be cryptic in some cases, so you may feel intimidated the first time you use it.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Recording
Step 1. Connect your devices
Configure the output destination of each tool from the "Preferences". Set the Audacity input to match the instrument's output. In this example, the signal is routed through the Soundflower interface from the output of a software synthesizer to the audio input of Audacity.
Although sound cards and interfaces vary, it's a good idea to test your tool to prevent latency issues. Latency is a factor to always consider when checking the recorded signal and it is therefore very difficult to find the right rhythm while playing. In Audacity, set your preferences as shown in the image:
Step 2. Confirm the connection
Check to make sure the outputs and inputs are routed correctly by first selecting "Start Monitoring" from the popup menu located below the input indicators (next to the microphone icon), and then playing your instrument.
- The stereo input indicators should respond.
- If the meters reach 0db, use the input volume selector to reduce the input volume so that the meter approaches 0 only in the loudest sections.
Step 3. Choose how to activate the recording
When the connections are correct and your levels are set right, you are ready to record. You have two options:
- Press "Record" and start playing. Usually this will generate silence at the beginning of the track. You will be able to delete it when you are done recording.
- Alternatively, you can enable "Sound Activated Recording" in the recording settings. Check the relevant box, then set the "Sound Activation Level (dB)" - the lower this number, the lower the volume that will determine the start of the recording. This is useful if you are recording from a room other than your computer and don't want to generate a long silence at the beginning of the track.
Step 4. Record your track
Whichever method you choose, we are at the moment of truth! Hit the red "Record" button (or hit "R"), and when you're ready, start playing. You will see the waveform of your track generate as you play.
Note: If you have everything configured as described so far, this should not be the case, but if the waveform is flat, it means that the signal is not going from your instrument into the track. Confirm that all connections are right and try again
Step 5. Stop recording
When you are done, press the yellow square "Stop" button. You should see something similar to the image for this step.
- If you choose sound activated recording, Audacity will automatically stop recording when the sound drops below the threshold level.
- To add more tracks while listening to previously recorded tracks, make sure "Overdub: Play another track while recording another" is checked in "Settings: Recording".
Step 6. Set a date and time for registration
There is an alternative recording option that most of this type of software does not offer, "Timed Recording".
From the "Transport" menu, select "Timed Recording" or press "Shift-T". In the window that appears, you can select the date, time and also the recording end date and time, or the duration. This will allow you to start a recording without being physically present on site
Step 7. Extend your registration
If you want to add extra material to an existing recording, press "Shift-Record", or type Shift-R: the new material you record will be added to the end of the existing recording of the current track.
Part 2 of 4: Playback
Step 1. Check the registration
When you're done creating your track, try listening to it. Click on the green triangular "Play" button (or press the space bar). The track should play from the beginning and will automatically stop at the end.
- Pressing "Shift" while clicking "Play" or pressing the spacebar will play a loop of your track until you click "Stop" or press the spacebar again to stop playback.
- To loop a specific section, make sure the "Selection" tool is activated, then click and drag the cursor along the section you want to play. Note: After selecting the section, pressing "Z" will cause the program to automatically locate the zero crossing points - the point where the start and end of the waveform are 0 amplitude. Depending on the nature of the loop and source material, this will often allow you to get a very clean loop with no clicks or pops.
Step 2. Change the playback speed
You can easily alter the playback speed, which can be useful if you're trying to work on a solo or learn a difficult piece.
Drag the "Play speed" slider to the left to slow down the track or right to speed it up, then press the green "Play at speed" arrow to play your track at the new speed. To make changes, adjust the speed and press the arrow again
Step 3. Select the track view
The default view is the linear waveform. Without going into detail, the linear scale is seen as a percentage of the level, between 0 - silence - and 1 - the maximum level. You can also view the track in other formats:
- "Waveform (dB)" which shows the waveform according to the decibel scale. It will generally be "larger" than the linear view.
- Spectrogram, a colored view that offers a Fourier transform of the audio signal.
- Frequency, which shows the highs at the top of the track and the lows at the bottom. It's a very interesting visual if the track has complex composition and chords.
Step 4. Isolate a track
If you are playing many tracks but want to focus on just one, click the "Solo" button in the track control area to the left of the waveform.
The volume of all other tracks, apart from those on which you pressed "Solo", will be reduced to zero. It is very useful if you want to adjust for example the levels between bass and drums
Step 5. Mute the tracks
If you are playing multiple tracks and want to mute one or more of them, click the "Mute" button from the track control area, to the left of the waveform.
All tracks will be played except the mutated ones. This is very useful if you want to compare for example two recordings or temporarily lighten the mix
Step 6. Adjust pan and levels
The pan control will change the stereo reproduction of the sound, between the left and right channels. The level control adjusts the volume for that track.
Part 3 of 4: Editing
Step 1. Shorten the track
If you've recorded more than you need, trim the tracks while keeping only the one you want to keep to save editing time. Start by saving a backup copy to avoid problems in case you damage the track and then do the following:
- Choose the "Selection Tool" from the toolbar. Select the part of the track you want to keep. Choose "Play in Loop" (Shift-Space) and listen to that section a couple of times to make sure it's good quality. Make the necessary adjustments until you get the sound you want, then from the "Edit" menu, select "Remove Audio" and then "Trim", or just press Ctrl-T (Command-T on a Mac). Audio outside the selection will be removed from the track.
- After cropping, move the section to the correct position if necessary by selecting the "Time Shift" tool and dragging the section to the desired position.
Step 2. Apply Effects
You can use many different effects, effects built into Audacity, VST effects and effects built into your operating system.
- With the Selection tool, select all or part of the track.
- From the "Effects" menu, choose the desired effects. For this example we will use Echo, applied to a simple track with the click.
- Set any parameters required by the effect, listen to the preview and, when you like it, press "OK". The effect will be processed and the results will be displayed. The example below is the original one-click track at the top and the click-and-echo track at the bottom.
- You can process the same track with many effects, although it is possible that the waveform is amplified too much, causing unpleasant distortion. If this happens, go back one step before causing distortion and instead of applying the next filter, apply a "Amplify" effect, set to -3dB. If your next process still causes distortion, increase the Amp intensity down to -6dB.
- Note: It is always a good idea to duplicate a track (Command or Control-D) before making any edits that change its waveform.
Step 3. Experiment freely
Try all the filters and check to know their effect and how they affect your original track.
Step 4. Save your finished audio file
When you're done editing, mixing, trimming and refining your audio file into a gem of rare musical beauty, you'll want to save it for everyone to hear. From the "File" menu, select "Export…", then choose the desired format - AIFF, WMA and many more.
Part 4 of 4: Explore
Step 1. Audacity may be free, but it is an immensely powerful audio application
It is packed with great effects, sound generators and has a fairly flexible editing system. Once you get the hang of it, it will help you create great tunes.
Advice
- Search the internet for audio effects you can use. There are many sites that offer a large selection of free effects. Or you can buy an audio effects CD.
- You can record and play instruments within Audacity by downloading a virtual piano program. Select the stereo microphone input and let it record while you play. One such program is Simple Piano.
