Prof. Cameron Blevins

Introduction to Digital Studies
HIST 3260/5260 | COMM 3081/5081
M/W 2:00-3:15pm
North Classroom 1608
Office Hours: W. 3:30-4:30pm
TA Office Hours: M. 12:30-1:30pm

Overview

You will be working in pairs today to learn how to use the open-source software Audacity to edit audio. The goal is to have a roughly one minute recording where you discuss ideas for what you’d like to do for your media project.

Part I: Recording

As a group we are going to watch 1:00-4:30 of Pat Flynn’s “How to Record and Edit a Podcast in Audacity (Complete Tutorial)”. Open up Audacity and follow along. Open the written manual here for reference.

You are going to record a short conversation in pairs using Audacity in which you ask each other the following prompt: “What are you thinking about doing for your media project?” Choose one of your ideas that you wrote down on your notecard.

Things to review before starting to record:

  • Make a new folder inside your tutorials class folder and name the folder audio-editing.
  • Start a new project and save it as audio-editing-1 under your new audio-editing folder.
  • Make sure to set the correct Recording Device
  • Click in the Recording Meter and make sure that the microphone is picking up audio.
  • Position your laptop as best you can so that you’re talking into it while also being able to converse with your partner
  • Record your conversation on both laptops (shoot for a maximum of 1-2 minutes).
  • When you are done recording, each person export the audio as a MP3 file named yourfirstname-yourlastname-audio-1a.mp3 and then share that .mp3 file with the other person over Slack DM.
  • Save your partner’s .mp3 file in audio-editing folder.
  • Import your partner’s audio file into your project by going to File > Import > Audio… and selecting the file

Part II: Editing

Watch 5:00-11:15 of Pat Flynn’s “How to Record and Edit a Podcast in Audacity (Complete Tutorial)”.

Then try to do all of the the following in Audacity:

  • Mute your partner’s track in your project (instructions) and then “scrub” through to listen to parts of your your recorded track.
  • Do the same with your partner’s track (muting your track)
  • Notice that your laptop did a much better job of picking up the parts of your conversation when you were speaking and vice versa with your partner’s laptop.
  • Use the Selection Tool to delete or cut the sections from your two tracks in which the other person is speaking (so that your track only plays your voice, and your partner’s track only plays their voice).
  • Use the Selection Tool to move each track so that they play back to back
  • Use the Envelope Tool to adjust the volume of your tracks or specific parts of each track so they’re relatively even (ie. one is not louder than the other)
  • Export your edited audio as an .mp3 file called yourfirstname-yourlastname-audio-1b.mp3
  • Reply in thread to Prof. Blevins’s post in the #in-class channel today and upload your recorded .mp3 file

General Podcast Resources

Updated: