Through the course of this unit, we have all discovered that knowing stuff about triangles casts a scholastic light on at least three secrets of the universe. Musicians have long realized this, and they have written a handful of songs about this three-sided polygon. An Internet search reveals song titles like New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle,” which is a classic song from the 1980s, and Frente’s cover of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle,” which I just heard for the first time about a minute ago. (To be quite honest, I think the Frente version saps most of the life out of the original, but what do I know about Australian alternative rock?) Then there’s “Triangle Walks” by Fever Ray, an unusual song you’ve probably never heard. Come to think about it, there aren’t that many songs out there about triangles. This project aims to change that by injecting a well-known song with an infectious dose of triangular lyrics… and perhaps a little synchronized dancing, all of which will be captured on video to be shared with future generations of bored web surfers with a curiosity for the Euclidean and Non-Euclidean nature of the world’s third favorite polygon.
Audacity is a robust, multi-track audio recording and editing program. Most importantly, it is freeware. Audacity is available as a download for either PC or Mac, but unfortunately, it is not available for Chromebooks or mobile devices.
This software allows you to import an .mp3 or .wav of your instrumental track (On the menu bar, select File > Import > Audio...), record separate tracks for your actual lyrics (just hitting the red Record button creates a new track that does not interfere with your main track or subsequent tracks), edit the audio tracks (copying, pasting, deleting, shifting things around), add effects (pitch shifting, cross fading, noise removal), and export the final project as an .mp3.
A quick YouTube search will reveal a number of tutorial videos to improve your voice, provide effects, and even AutoTune your pitch-deficient voice. To get you started, watch the videos below.
Basic tutorial on how to import an instrumental track, sing over it, do some basic editing, and export it as an .mp3. Duration_6_10.
This tutorial demonstrates the ease with which you can export your Audacity audio project as an .mp3. Duration_2_29.