Week 9: Recording and Editing Software

The recording software I am using is Audacity. In high school I used this software for another creative assignment and because I was familiar with it I decided to use it for the podcast as well. This software is quite popular because it’s free to download and it’s also fairly easy to use. Also, for these reasons there is extensive information and advice on how to use Audacity. The following is advice I have collected and am considering using.

Lewis, J. Daniel. (2013, Jan 22). 8 time-saving tips & tricks for Audacity. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gej3LVNKO0E

YouTube (Advice)

8 time-saving tips & tricks for Audacity

• Selection jump- Activate Selection Toolbar (View menu > Toolbars > Selection Toolbar), enter time under “Selection Start”, double-press spacebar and the view will jump to your selected location
• Backwards editing- By editing backwards, your logged times will always be correct. But if you edit forwards, then your proceeding times will be off-sync and editing may take longer
• Playback speed- If you can listen to audio at a faster speed and pitch, then you can edit your audio faster by dragging the playback speed from the Transcription Toolbar.
• Labels- Add notes at certain points which will help to mark and quickly find any portion you want to remember

From my past experience using Audacity I know that editing can sometimes be a long, grueling process. Knowing these tips to save time can be helpful to get things done and quickly move onto the next task.

 

Lewis, J. Daniel. (2011, Sept 19). How to Improve Your Voice from a Cheap Microphone with Audacity. The Audacity to Podcast. Podcast retrieved from http://theaudacitytopodcast.com/tap050-how-to-improve-your-voice-from-a-cheap-microphone-with audacity/?utm_source=wiki.audacityteam.org&utm_medium=wiki&utm_campaign=audacity_tutorials

The Audacity to Podcast

How to Improve Your Voice from a Cheap Microphone with Audacity

·         Get closer to the microphone (2-3 inches away)

·         Turn down input volume

·         Use the EMI 78 present in the Effects tab and click on Equalization to enhance quality

 

Even though this podcast provides advice to record with a cheaper microphone, if you have an average or fairly good microphone, this is good advice to improve your voice recording quality overall.

 

Pixel, Nixie. (2012, March 31). All Things Audacity. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnTpRWf_kmY

YouTube (Review)

All Things Audacity

In this review, the creator of the YouTube account Nixie Pixel mentions one of her favourite tools on Audacity which is the Noise Removal Tool. You are able highlight five to ten seconds of the recording that includes the sound that you would like to remove. This creates a profile for Audacity to identify what sound to remove. You can then select the entire portion of the recording that you would like remove noise from and then isolate or remove it. This is helpful advice for removing background noise, especially if you are in an environment where you cannot control the noise or sounds around you during your recording. This tool prevents you from having to go through the process of recording that portion of the podcast again. The Noise Removal Tool can be found by clicking “Noise Removal” in the Effects tab.

 

So far I have done a test recording and I am pleased with the way I sound. The basics of the software are fairly easy to use like recording; pressing play, pause, fast forward and rewind, along with setting up the microphone and cutting and pasting tracks. However, I do admit that there are a few settings that I am unfamiliar with but they are settings I will most likely not be using, as they are for more advanced recording purposes. If I do need to know more about Audacity I will definitely visit their tutorials website (http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Category:Tutorial).