Audacity is an easy-to-use, open-source audio editing software program that is available as a free download for desktop computers that run Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems. Audacity has a variety of features that can meet the needs of a range of audio recording projects, from a very basic short live recording to more elaborate, multi-track projects that combine audio from a variety of sources.

See our Audacity article for audio software installation and additional support.

See our Podcasting Tools article for an overview of options and resources.

Session Recording

Watch the following video from our Ed Tech support videos from our Audacity Workshop. If you have questions, please reach out to Educational Technology.

Agenda

For a more detailed version with how-to directions, visit or download a copy of this Word document Audacity Workshop agenda.

1. Installing the software
2. Introduction to basic tools
   • Record, Pause, Stop, Open
   • Play, Loop (Loop button), Zoom in, Zoom Out
   • Clips: Select, Delete, Trim
   • Clips: Move, Copy/Paste
   • Tracks: Select, Mute, Solo, Gain
3. Import sound effects or soundtrack
   1. Finding Royalty-free/Copyright-free music
   2. Download music track or effect
   3. Import music track or effect into project
   4. Install the optional FFmpeg library in order to import and export more audio formats
4. Editing Audio Tracks
   • Envelope tool
   • Fade In, Fade Out 
   • Auto duck  
5. Applying Effects
   1. Noise Reduction
   2. Amplify
   3. Normalization & Equalization
6. Saving, Exporting, and Sharing
   • Save the editable Audacity project as an .aup file 
   • Export as a sound file
   • Share to Audio.com

Files used for the workshop:

Download example audio files here to practice using Audacity.

• Soundtrack music
• Sound effects

For copyright-free media such as soundtracks and sound effects to use in your projects, see our Copyright-free Media post.

For additional resources:

See our Podcasting Tools article for more details on

• software tutorials
• audio recording equipment and resources (Digital Studio in Andrews Library)
• staff support for your project including student Digital Media Assistants available for consultations at the Digital Media Bar in Andrews Library CoRE.

See our Audacity article for

• Audacity software installation
• additional support for exporting and sharing audio files (assignment submission)