Let’s talk about your 1-minute intro to your research project due next week. Also, want to see if there was any downloading issues for Audacity. For instance don’t do the “MuseHub” option. For Windows, do 64 bit or 32 bit though you almost certainly have 64 bit (confirm what your device is by following these steps). For Apple, I’m less sure, but do one of the ones that is not for MuseHub. Alternatively, for Apple, your device likely comes with GarageBand and you are welcome to use that (fairly easy to learn, like Audacity is).

Use the Audacity tutorials I have linked here as well as resources for sound effects, music, etc. listed here (see under “Sites that offer sound recordings in the public domain and under creative commons license” but there is a lot of good information here about public domain and creative commons license). 

IMPORTANT: when finished with editing audio and you want an audio file, you have to export your file as an audio file. I recommend mp3. Go to: File>Export Audio>Export to Computer>Format>MP3 Files>Export. Make sure you know what folder it goes to (it will automatically go to your “Audacity” folder that you create when installing Audacity)

The key is to just play around for a bit and seek help from online resources.

Here are some tips for steps to take:

1. Open Audacity to start recording and editing. Make sure you save as the Audacity project somewhere to your device. And then repeatedly save as you work. You might also save different versions as you go if you see yourself tweaking things a lot and might want a historical record—this is a good practice as you start working on bigger projects so you can go back to earlier versions.

• When ready, test things out and then start recording your thoughts in Audacity.

1. Make sure you are in a quiet place (as much as possible).

• Test out recording by just talking about anything for 30 seconds to a minute.
• Stop test recording and then play it back.
• If you can’t hear anything, it might be because you didn’t have the correct microphone selected or you don’t have the correct speakers highlighted (see beginning of first video.
• Once you have tested everything, start recording. Make sure you hit “stop” when done.
• I said it had to be at least one minute but there is wiggle room here.
• When you complete the recording, listen to it. If you are happy with it, move on. If not, either re-record or edit out portions (NOTE: some things are easy to edit out, like things at beginnings or ends or things with lots of silence in between them—which is the “generate silence” tool can sometimes help with—but sometimes it is just easier to re-record).
• Try to add another track! E.g., some intro and outro music at beginning and end, some ambient noise that might thematically tie well into what you are saying (like when the sounds of classrooms or meetings added to what Joffe-Walt was narrating). Make sure you go back to the videos for help with adding tracks as both touch on this. Also try to add effects! Fade in/fade out is especially helpful for intro and outro music.

Here are some resources of audio files you could download and then import into your Audacity project (IMPORTANT: Note the descriptive text beneath it as it will sometimes request that you credit the creator; if the creator wants an attribution, make sure you include that attribution when you submit your audio file):

1. Freesound – Freesound (will need to make a free account, and then can just browse for any type of sound or kind of music you’d be interested in).

• Free Sound Effects, Royalty Free Sound Effects, Nature Sounds (partnersinrhyme.com). Especially note “free royalty free music” and “free sound effects.” Some audio files (like much of “royalty free music” have a fee, so be sure to avoid those). You can just click download mp3 or download wav version, either will work. For “royalty free music,” right click options in middle of page and open new tab, then click the three vertical dots to download.
• Free Sound Effects to Download | ZapSplat . This just has free sound effects but is very easy to navigate and download stuff.
• Free Sound Effects Same as previous: free sound effects only, but easy to navigate and download stuff.
• Wikimedia Commons. If you search for something, make sure “audio” is clicked after searching to see all audio options. You can also try searching “music” or by genre of music to see what comes up. Sometimes there are some good musical or instrumental tracks you can download for free.
• Free Music Archive – Free to share and royalty free music. This has great music options. Make sure you credit creators by naming and linking to their stuff (or anything they specifically ask for).
• To get a file into Audacity, click “File” and then “Import” and then select “Audio.” Select the file from wherever you downloaded to on your device.
• NOTE: try to only use MP3 or WAV files as they are easy to import into Audacity. There are ways to use other audio files, so let me know if you want to and I can work with you on that (e.g., sometimes MP4A will be a thing). Usually, though, there will be an option to do MP3 or WAV.
• If you tried to add a track, listen to it and play around with it as much as you want based on what you learned from the videos. Don’t stress about it! This is all just practice. If you did not add a track with other sounds or music, that’s okay! This will be something you will have to do at some point, but you don’t have to do it now. Could be good practice, but not required.
• When ready to create an audio file, go to “File” and then “Export” and then select “Export as MP3” to save on your device as that audio file.