A Primer for Podcasting Oh, the ! "Audacity" is a trademark of Dominic Mazzoni Audacity Logo by Harvey Lubin A Primer for Podcasting This is a simple tutorial. It introduces the software and points out the principle features of this great software. There is much more than what will be covered in this presentation, but this will get you started and you will be able to create a wonderful audio file. Be sure to click on the speaker for further instruction. Mary Beth Lemoine Media 6467 – Spring 2009

Download the Software Go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ A is a free software available through Sourceforge. It is free but it the authors of the software should be referenced in your work.

Optional Downloads To create MP3 files In order to save your podcast, you need to download an additional piece of software. This allows compression of your work which allows for easier uploading to wikis and blogs.

Open Audacity This is the beginning interface. We will go through the features in future slides.

Set Preferences You will need a USB microphone/headset Your soundcard Your microphone Set to 2 (Stereo) It is important to set your audio preferences. Although your computer may have a microphone built in, your quality will be much better with a USB microphone. A Logitech microphone is featured here. Be sure that your microphone is the one found on the Recording line. Changing the channel from 1 (Mono) to 2 (Stereo) is not necessary, but is highly recommended. All of the remaining tabs are set as default and do not necessarily need to be changed.

Menu Options It is important to have a general familiarity with all the menus and features of the software so as know of the possibilities, but we will only use a few to make a basic, but effective, podcast.

Control Buttons Top Row: Selection Tool Envelope Tool Draw Tool Rewind Bottom Row: Zoom Tool Time Shift Tool Multi-Shift Tool Rewind Play Record Pause Stop Fast Forward The control buttons are very important. You will recognize most of them from using other technologies, but one important thing to note is that the Record button is red and the Stop button is yellow. This can be confusing.

Output Options From Left to Right: Cut Copy Paste Trim Outside Selection Silence Selection Undo Redo Fit Selection in Window Fit Project in Window Output Level Meter Input Level Meter You will see the input level meter turn red as you record. If this peaks too much, you can tone down the input level using the slider above. The buttons to the right are similar to those found in most other applications, but this is important to know that you can edit your audio after you have recorded it.

You are ready to record Record (Red Button)/Stop (Yellow Button) Microphone Input Level Meter Audio Recording OK, have a go! Remember the red button is record and the yellow button is the stop button. Notice the blue recording audio waves that changes with the intonation of your voice. With the Selector button, you can edit and delete. Using the Control buttons, you can further audit your work.

Background music? Drill down to audio files: mp3 files wmv files au files other file types? You may wish to add some background music to your voice. You will import an audio file and Audacity will find it. There are a number of audio types that you can import, but most are wmv or mp3 files. Hint: For those of you familiar with Windows Explorer, you can also drag and drop right into Audacity.

Edit audio Your voice is located on one line and the background music is on another. You will want to edit your work so that you can hear your voice well and that the music is not too loud. Delete – Use Selection Tool, Select and Delete (Hold mouse down and drag) Fade – Use Selection Tool, Select, Effects, Fade in/Fade Out

Save or Export? Save your project (not compressed) Export as a wav file (large) Export as an mp3 Don’t forget to save your work. You have a few options, but you may wish to export your work as an mp3 file since it is a smaller file. Don’t forget to save it to a location that you will be able to find at a later date.

Have fun! Play around, have fun, and let your students, faculty and others do the same. Thanks for watching!