Hmmm… Some Features I’ve Seen Before Somewhere!
If you are used to using a computer, there will be things about ‘Audacity’ that are already familiar to you. In many ways, working with ‘Audacity’ will be just the same as working with a word processor.
If you can
… then using Audacity is going to be really easy for you!!
In the top left-hand corner of the screen there are number of menu items. You can see the ‘File’, ‘Edit’, ‘View’ and ‘Help’ menu’s which in many ways have exactly the same features as a word processor.
The ‘File’ menu (above) for example has these familiar functions
(A ‘project’ in ‘‘Audacity’’ is a collection of all the different sounds and recordings you have in one recording project – for example, your voice and some background music – which you can ‘save’ as a project to finish working on another day).
The ‘Edit’ menu (above) has
The ‘view’ menu (below) has a ‘zoom’ facility.
I have clicked on the zoom ‘ + ’ a few times in the above picture, and you can now see the magnified soundwave in more detail.
Please note: it’s much quicker and easier to use the ‘magnifying glass’ zoom tool (with the ‘ + ’ and ‘ – ’ signs) towards the right hand end of the tool bar.
So as you can see, so far many of the basic functions are pretty much the same as you would use when writing a letter or any other text document and the basic principles of editing an ‘ audio document’ are exactly the same.
Simply select the area you want to delete, cut or copy by clicking and dragging your mouse to highlight it (just as you would in a standard word processor) and then delete (or select or new point in the audio to paste from the clipboard– just as you would in a letter or e-mail).
If you make a mistake, simply ‘Undo’ (in the ‘Edit’ menu or use the ‘control’ & ‘Z’ keys).
This is just a brief overview and introduction to audacity, and as you can see it is a very simple programme with familiar controls and concepts which you will find yourself getting used to and using quickly and easily.
The Complete Recording Studio in One Box!
Audio recording on a computer is without a doubt the most powerful and flexible way to record. Once you have learned the basics of recording on computer there is no going back!
And it is actually a lot easier than you think.
Many people just want to record their own voice at home on their own computer. To do this as a basic level, you will need two things
This will give you a reasonable to good-quality recording system (in my professional opinion – great quality to most other people!), depending on what microphone and connectors you choose to use.
To get really high-quality sound recording using a computer, you will need to invest in at least a studio quality condenser microphone and maybe an external USB soundcard, the most convenient way to upgrade to high quality digital recording.
As far as recording and editing software is concerned, there is a huge range to choose from. To save you the time, trouble and expense of trying to find suitable software, I recommend the versatile, powerful and easy-to-use programme I use every day for my own recording and editing work – ‘Audacity’.
‘Audacity’ is a simple, user-friendly, ‘multi platform’ (Windows, Mac and Linux) sound recording and editing package for everyone from the complete beginner to the experienced pro.
This is all you need to record and edit on your computer
Computer Housekeeping: ‘Where’s That *#%@* File?’ Keeping It All Organised!
A quick note on ‘computer housekeeping’!
What I mean by this is, please get into the habit of keeping your files on your computer in some sort of order, so you know where to find them.
We’ve all ‘lost’ files…documents…letters…photographs… on our computers because we just save them anywhere and don’t keep them organised.
I highly recommend that before you start any recording project (audio or video) that you create a folder to keep your data and files related to that project in one place.
This includes any software that you might use for your audio or video projects – keep it all in one folder.
That way you will always know where it is, and if you ever need to reinstall any of the you can go straight to that ‘Software’ folder and find it easily.
And if you get into the habit of doing this for your audio and video projects it makes them really easy to back up because you can drag the whole folder onto your backup disk, USB stick are external hard drive for safekeeping, knowing that every single file in your project is contained in that folder and that the project will always open with all files included and nothing missing.
Do You Realise Just How Many Products You Can Make Out Of Just One Audio Recording?
If you speak or present live in any way on any subject to any number of people, then you have great potential to instantly & easily create audio products simply by recording your voice as you deliver your presentation.
There are a number of ways to do this. The easiest and least expensive way it a basic lapel or tie microphone and a pocket digital voice recorder.
I have used this simple set up for many reasonable to great quality recordings – totally usable as saleable products:
Olympus WS series recorder
Audio Technica 3350 tie-clip microphone or any decent minijack/3.5mm jack microphone from Maplin/Tandy/RadioShack/JB HiFi/Dick Smith – depending on your country. Remember to make sure the microphone battery has plenty of juice to last your recording time.
Click here for recommended low cost, super easy audio tools then follow this step by step guide to recording your presentation
Positioning the Microphone
1) You will need to clip the microphone to your clothes, so wear something that can hold the microphone in place without moving. You don’t want the microphone to fall inside your shirt or blouse and record the sound of clothes brushing across the microphone, or a muffles sound from inside your jacket.
2) Pass the microphone up under your shirt or inside your clothing and then clip the lapel microphone to your lapel just below your collarbone and as near to the centre of your body as possible.
Tuck the cable neatly out of the way so that you don’t pull on it by accident.
3) Make sure you can move your arms and body without covering the microphone or pulling on the cable.
NOTE: Your microphone may be battery powered. Remember to switch it on and use a fresh battery!
Connecting to the Voice Recorder
1) Check that the voice recorder has lots of battery power.
2) Connect the microphone jack (or plug) into the ‘microphone’ socket on the voice recorder.
3) Do a short test recording to make sure everything is connected, working and that you have good sound quality. Do this by playing the audio recording back, ideally through good quality headphones to really check on the audio quality before going ahead and recording your presentation.
Recording Your Presentation
1) I know this is obvious….but remember to PRESS RECORD before you start! Even after years of recording people professionally, I have to confess that very occasionally I have forgotten this myself…but luckily never missed anything too vital.
2) Start your recording with a spoken ‘audio’ label. Just say a few words straight after pressing record to clearly show what the recording is about. For example, your audio label maybe something like this:
‘21st of July 2011- Business presentation at the UK Professional Speakers Association on how to use video in social media, session 1 – why video and social media is important to your business…’
This is so that when you transfer your audio to your computer, you will easily be able to identify the recording and its contents just by listening to the first few seconds, and you can then label the file with the right details for easy reference.
3) Ideally your voice recorder will have a safety switch of some kind to ‘lock’ the record button in position so you are unable to accidentally switch the recording mode off while the recorder is in your pocket. Make sure this is on.
After Your Presentation
1) Create a folder on your computer to save all your recordings in, together with any other files you may have used during a presentation e.g. slide show, graphics, handouts etc. This is so that you have the option to create further products with your audio recording by adding slides and other visual material to the audio and creating a video from your MP3.
2) Transfer your recording(s) to your computer and label them with the right file name.
3) Your audio can now be edited by using a super easy editing program like Audacity to remove any gaps or mistakes from the recording. This can be done by simply selecting or highlighting the parts of the audio you want to remove and deleting them in exactly the same way as you would when working on a word processing document.
Once that’s done simply ‘export’ your edited audio as an mp3 and your audio product is ready to go.
Basic Equipment To Record At Home
I recommend using a microphone with a USB connector because the built in sound chip generally means better quality recording through the digital USB connection.
Minijack connectors go through the ‘standard’ computer sound card which can be noisy in some cases, but can also give good recording audio quality on some computers (mine sounds fine) – you’ll simply have to test for yourself.
Using a microphone with a deetachable USB adapter means more flexibility – you can to use either minijack or USB connectors depending on the circumstances.
The headset I use and recommend is the Sennheiser PC135 PC with a USB connection for high quality digital recording.
Sennheiser headsets have some simple but really useful features that adds to user comfort, flexibility and quality of any audio recording.
This is why I use them:
Take it everywhere. Record everything. Take opportunities… and get creative!
Here is a list of Important specifications to consider when choosing a Digital Voice Recorder:
Audio Technica ATR35S – High-quality omnidirectional condenser microphone
Recommended Models:
Edirol R-05 WAVE/MP3 Recorder
Other Options
Olympus WS-600S and Olympus WS-710M
Click here to read more
Editing Audio On Computer – Screenshot
It can be quite a challenge to find good music that you can legally use for any kind of media production:
Thought Sounds is a large collection of soothing, high quality, royalty-free soundtracks designed from the ground up to be used with brainwave entrainment, hypnosis and relaxation.
It is rare to find soundtracks that can be used effectively for therapy and hypnosis. As any experienced hypnotherapist will tell you, backgrounds need to be both slow in tempo and consistent throughout the entire session. If they are too distracting, the impact of the hypnosis script and any other elements will be severely diminished. A soundtrack ideally suited for therapy is incredibly hard to accomplish without creating a boring, overly repetitive composition. As a result, therapists can spend years building up a collection of acceptable compositions that only a handful of clients actually enjoy.
70 soothing and thought-provoking soundtracks
66 soundtrack variations
In addition to the 70 main soundtracks, we have also included 66 variations. Variations are based on the main 70 soundtracks, but use different arrangements, instruments and techniques. This gives you more flexibility and many additional options. You could, for example, have a single soundtrack as a main theme for your audio production, and use the variations to set a different mood or add variety.
Here is a short sample of 12 of the tracks
Right click and ‘Save As’ to download
Perfect Loop is a simple, easy to use application designed to work with Thought Sounds soundtracks. Its main function is to allow you to expand a soundtrack to any length you require. It also allows you to add fades, Volume and other effects to the soundtrack.
Collection Features:
By themselves, even without added scripts, effects, or entrainment, these Thought Sounds soundtracks are profoundly relaxing. Brilliantly composed, they are also fascinating and innovative musical pieces, adding a new dimension to any audio/visual experience.
These ‘Easy Audio‘ ebooks below tell you everything you need to know about recording audio, editing your recordings (including deleting mistakes) and creating your own CDs and mp3.
Now available at less than half the original price.
Lots of people ask me about recording Skype calls, for
There are two products I recommend that make recording Skype calls ‘Super Easy‘: Prettymay & Pamela
They both offer a wide range of features and can trial each product for free.
I chose ‘Prettymay‘ because at the time I researched both programmes it had some features that ‘Pamela‘ did not.
The latest version of ‘Pamela is now ahead of Prettymay with the ability to record video calls.
Click on the links to compare.
I’m creating my own on screen video tutorial product to answer all the questions I get about recording, editing and creating finished audio products from Skype calls.
I’m planning the content and want to include all common problems and questions about recording skype calls and editing audio, so to help me out and make sure it’s complete, please type your qustion into the survey below.
Thank you.