Quote of the Day

If you really want something, you can figure out how to make it happen. ~Cher

Audacity for Podcasting

Recording and editing audio has become a relatively simple and cheap activity.  Some computers today come with built-in microphones, and those that don't can be supplemented with cheap plug-in mics.  You also don't need to purchase expensive software to produce reasonably good quality audio.  In fact, one of the most popular audio editing applications is an open source program called Audacity.

 
In addition to being free, there are a couple of other benefits to using audacity for sound recording and editing.  The first is that it is cross-platform, meaning that you can run it on both Macs and PCs.  The second benefit is that there are lots of tutorials on Audacity already on the web so you won't need to create your own resources if you use it with your students.
 
Here is an example of an audio file created using Audacity: Articulate Overview.

Some resources that you might consider include:

  1. Atomic Learning (PC version) tutorials on Audacity. (e-mail dawn.corley@pac.dodea.edu for a username and password)
  2. In addition, the Audacity Wiki Page includes information about Audacity including tutorials and tipsheets.
  3. How-to-podcast-tutorial.com - Jason Van Orden has a pretty thorough set of resources that will show you how to download and install Audacity and the LAME encoder (needed to covert files to .mp3) as well as how to set up, record, and edit using the program.

Specifically, focus your exploration of the Audacity resources on the following topics:

  1. Downloading and installing Audacity and the LAME MP3 encoder
  2. Adjust your microphone (recording) levels if necessary
  3. Record your voice
  4. Delete or move sections of audio
  5. Remove background noise
  6. Silencing portions of the audio
  7. Altering volume levels
  8. Importing an audio clip (e.g., music) 
  9. Fade volume up and down with the Envelope Tool
  10. Export audio in MP3 format

As a note, you can use this mp3 file to create a podcast.

Learn to make a blog and use your mp3 file created in Audacity to host a Podcast show!