Creating and Using Podcasts Stanford University Continuing Studies CS 43 Mark Branom Course Web Site:

2 Week 3 Agenda Obtaining ambient sounds or music for your podcast Adding ambient music as a new track Using Audacity to edit your audio podcast Edit Using Audacity Adding New Dialog (to fix problems)

3 Obtaining Music For Your Podcast

4 Adding ambient music as a new track 1.Obtain ambient music or other audio you wish to add to your podcast and save it to your desktop. 2.In Audacity, open the main podcast audio file. 3.Under Project, choose Import Audio. 4.Locate the ambient music you obtained in step 1. 5.Add silence (Generate > Silence), or other effects to the new track as needed.

5 Editing Using Audacity In Audacity, the sound is represented by a wave form. This wave form clearly indicates all words and pauses in the audio content. This representation is used to edit the sound file. Before editing, save your master file (it will be a.aup format). There is a time line above the wave form that indicates the length of the recording, and the cursor provides a mark on the wave form that indicates a point of time in the time line. Using the cursor, highlight any section of the wave form. You can cut, copy, or use one of the Effects to change the way the section sounds. You can be more precise in selecting sections (words) if you stretch the wave form by selecting View > Zoom in. The words then appear very distinct and allow you to make very fine edits. It's important when making fine cuts that you keep the rhythm of the conversation. Don't delete the word (um or ah) and not allow a natural pause (a breath or silence) between the words. This will otherwise sound very unnatural. In cutting ums and ahs, use your discretion. If it is preventing the flow of the information, cut them out. When selecting a word or phrase or sentence you wish to cut, highlight it, and then play it before making the cut, just to ensure your selection is right. If you made a mistake, you can undo (Edit > Undo). For detailed instructions, including screenshots, see the Audacity Reference book (

6 Adding New Dialog (to fix problems) If you need to re-record a portion of your podcast, simply press the Record button and begin speaking. A new audio track will be created. Be sure to add silence or other needed effects to the original section you want to replace and the newly created audio track (to lead in). Keep in mind that when you speak, you have different inflections in your voice, and different tones, depending on the topic and the previous words. For this reason, if you need to re-record something, try to re-record the entire sentence, not just the errant word.