Your objective in this exercise is to learn TEN basic editing tricks with AUDACITY - here's how:
Your computer should have audacity on it, if it does skip ahead to "What to do in this Exercise"
Open or Install the latest version of Audacity (download the INSTALLER) for this exercise so the menu commands are accurate
(Click the INSTALLER for the latest version to download it - let it install to "C:/Windows/Audacity")
Use Earbuds to complete this assignment - headsets can also be borrowed from the front of the class
Record (or download if need be) the "Countdown WAV" file to your drive, then open it in AUDACITY for this exercise
AUDACITY SETUP
If Audacity can't read your file (M4A for instance) you have a few choices:
Use a proper recorder app that allows you to SAVE to WAV or AIFF ("Recorder Plus" for IOS, or "Audio Recorder" for Android
If you goofed up, you can still convert your M4A files into a WAV format using online converters (be careful not to fall for ads or scams)
Properly install the LAME and FFMPEG libraries to allow Audacity to read those files - go to EDIT - PREFERENCES - LIBRARIES and follow the instructions on how to DOWNLOAD and INSTALL
Use EFFECT-NORMALIZE to improve the overall levels and quality of the recording
Use the NOISE REMOVAL effect to clean up the background noise in the recording
(NOTE - The DEFAULT settings should read: 12db Reduction, 6 Sensitivity, 3 Frequency Smoothing)
Use the SELECT TOOL to highlight, and CTRL-E to ZOOM IN on segments of your recording
Use CTRL-F to ZOOM OUT to the full recording
Select a section and hit DELETE to TRIM unnecessary parts of the recording
Use the Split Clip function (CTRL-I) to segment the recording
Use the TIME SHIFT TOOL to adjust the space between segments
SELECT a sample area, and use the SPLIT NEW function (previously CTRL-ALT-I) to copy the segment to a new track
Use CTRL-SHIFT-F to ZOOM VERTICALLY to see ALL the tracks on one screen
Click and DRAG tracks to stack them in a new order
Use the TIME SHIFT tool to alter the recording and invert the count from 1 to 10
Hold the [CTRL] key to SPECIFICALLY SELECT the EVEN numbered tracks, then
Use TRACKS | MIX | MIX & RENDER to combine them into a single track
Hold SHIFT SELECT to select the top and bottom even numbers, and mix them to THEIR own track
Use the PAN controls to put the even numbers toward the left channel, and the odd numbers toward the right
EXPORT the final mix into a WAV file
Complete all of these steps. We will be completing a more difficult exercise by the end of this week and it will make your life a lot easier if you know how to do these things.