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Audacity is a robust, powerful open-source audio recorder and editor that can do much more than you would imagine from a free application. Its interface is a little cryptic in places, so you may find yourself a little overwhelmed when you first use it.

Method 1
Method 1 of 4:

Recording

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  1. In your instrument preferences, set the output destination of your instrument. Set the input of Audacity to match the output from your instrument. In this example, the signal is routed through the Soundflower interface from a software synth’s output to Audacity’s audio input.
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  3. When everything is connected properly, and your levels are set, you’re ready to record. You have two options:
  4. Whichever method you choose, it’s now the moment of truth! Press the red Record button (or press “R”, and when you’re ready, start playing. You’ll see the waveforms written to your track as you play.
    • Note: While this should not generally be the case, if everything is set as described above, if you are flat lining (i.e., the waveform displays as a straight line) when you record, that means that signal is not getting from your instrument to your track. Confirm your connections and try again.
  5. When you are finished, press the square yellow Stop button. You should see something similar to the image above.
    • If you chose Sound Activated recording, Audacity will automatically stop recording when the sound drops below the threshold level.
    • To add additional tracks while listening to previously recorded tracks, make sure “Overdub: Play other tracks while recording new one” is checked in Preferences: Recording.
  6. There’s an alternate recording option that most software sound recorders do not have, and that is Timer Record.
  7. If you want to add additional material to your existing recording, press Shift-Record, or type Shift-R, and new material will be appended at the end of the existing recording on the current track.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 4:

Playback

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  1. When you have finished your tracking, give it a listen. Click on the triangular green Play button (or press the Space bar). Your track should play from the beginning and will automatically stop at the end of your track.
  2. You can alter the playback speed easily, which can come in handy if you are working out a solo or trying to learn a difficult piece of music.
  3. The default view is the waveform viewed in linear form. Without going into detail, the linear scale is viewed as a percentage of level between 0—or silence; and 1, or maximum level. You can also view the track in other formats:
  4. If you have multiple tracks playing, and only want to hear one of them, click on the Solo button in the Track control area to the left of the waveform.
    • All other tracks except those that are soloed will be silenced. This is very useful if you want to, for example, get a good level between the bass and the drums.
  5. If you have multiple tracks playing, and want to silence one or more of them, click on the Mute button in the Track control area to the left of the waveform.
    • All other tracks but the muted track or tracks will still sound. This is very useful if you want to, for example, compare 2 takes, or thin down the mix temporarily.
  6. The Pan control will place your sound in the stereo field, from left to right, to any point in between. The level control sets the volume for that track.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 4:

Editing

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  1. If you’ve recorded more than you need, to save editing time, trim your track to only what you intend to keep. Start by making a safety backup in case things go awry, and then proceed as follows:
  2. You can apply a variety of effects, from those built into Audacity, to VST effects, and effects native to your OS.
    • With the selection tool, select all or part of your track.
    • From the Effect menu, choose your desired effect. For this example, we’ll use Echo, as applied to a simple click track.
    • Set any parameters called for by the effect, listen to the preview, and when it’s how you like, press OK. The effect will process and display the result. The example below is the raw click track on top, and the echoed click track on the bottom.
    • You can process the same track with many effects, though it’s possible to amplify the waveform too much, resulting in ugly digital distortion. If that happens, undo to the last step before distortion kicked in, and instead of applying your next filter, apply an Amplifier effect, set to -3dB. If your next process still results in distortion, undo the distorting effect and the Amplify effect, then redo the Amplify effect at a stronger level. -6dB would be good.
    • Note: It’s always a good idea to duplicate a track (Command or Control-D) before doing any editing that changes the waveform.
  3. Try all the filters, and see what they do and how the sound with your source material.
  4. When you’re done editing, mixing, trimming, and polishing your sound file into a rare gem of musical beauty, you will want to save it for posterity and possible fame and fortune. From the File menu, select Export..., then choose the desired format—from AIFF to WMA and many others in between.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    After recording sequential tracks (vinyl records), can I play back only selected tracks?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    You need to make each track into its own file when importing them through Audacity. You can record the whole album into one file to start with. Then, you'll take the .WAV file for the entire album, which you just created, and make a copy of it under a different name. Then, edit this file down to one track - hit "save as" or export under the name of that track.
  • Question
    I would like to use Audacity to record myself playing multiple instruments on one track. How do I accomplish this?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    You can record each instrument on its own track, then merge them all down to one after all the trimming and editing and all that jazz.
  • Question
    When recording a new voice section or word correction and inserting it into an existing solo voice track, what is the best method of matching the volume of the inserted piece to the rest of the track?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Use the Gain tools on the left side of the track, and drag it up or down, like a volume switch, until it matches your liking.
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Tips

  • You can record and play instruments in it by downloading a virtual piano software. Then select stereo input in the microphone and let it record while you play. software examples like Simple Piano.
  • Look on the Internet for sound effects you can use. There are many Web sites that offer a large range of free ones for your use. Alternatively, you can buy a CD of sound effects.
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Things You'll Need

  • Audacity
  • Microphone or sound generator (synth, for example)
  • Speakers or headphones
  • Computer

About This Article

Tested by:
wikiHow Technology Team
wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 36 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 548,204 times.
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Co-authors: 36
Updated: July 26, 2022
Views: 548,204
Categories: Audacity
Article SummaryX

1. Connect your gear to your sound card to use Audacity for recording.
2. Open audio files for editing.
3. Use the editing tools in Effects to edit the track.
4. Import multiple tracks to play at once.
5. Export files in high-quality formats.

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