Recording Voice

Open Audacity

Check if the microphone works.

Press the round, red record button and speak a few test lines into the mic.
Then end the recording and then play back your test message. If you
don’t hear what you just recorded, then adjust the mic. and volume
controls accordingly.

Prepare to create a new, clean recording.

Press File-New.
You may now start recording your programme.

Record your voice first. If you press the stop button and then record
again, this will record the new audio on a new audio track (use the pause
button instead, if you simply want to pause for a while).

Make sure you save the Audacity project after recording.

Editing
Once you’ve recorded the audio, you may want to take out a few blank
spaces (i.e. silent pauses) or unwanted portions, or bleep out
inappropriate words. You may also want to vary the audio levels on some
portions of the recording, or remove noise.

You can use Audacity to:

Delete any portion of the recordings. ( Highlight – Delete)

Bleep out portions. ( Highlight - Edit – Silence )
Change and vary the amplitude of the recording or any
other track. ( Highlight – Effects – Amplify- adjust slider )
Change the positioning of each track with the time shifting
tool.
Insert or move around portions of tracks by using copy/cut-
and-paste.
 Add Effects – Fade In/Fade Out/Echo/Repeat… (Highlight
then select - Effects – Fade In…)

Merge your voice recording into only one track, for easier editing later on.
(Select all tracks - Project – Quick Mix)

Extras to Improve Quality:

• Noise Removal – This effect allows you to eliminate static or noise

that was recorded with audio. To use this tool you need to have a
sample of 5-10 seconds of noise with no other sounds.
• Compressor – This effect will even out some of the loud and soft
peaks that occur in natural speaking.
• Amplify – Use this to even out sounds.

Mixing
You can now mix the audio recording with the other tracks.

(Create your own music or use podcast-safe music).

You can import MP3 music into Audacity. (Import – Audio – Select File)

You can then select and copy a few seconds, for instance, of the music
intro, into the beginning portion of the recording. You can adjust the
position of the voice recording using the time shifting tool.

Save the podcast. Once you’ve deleted the unnecessary

tracks, save the audacity project (with the music and voice
tracks separate). Then export the file into MP3 format with the
“export as MP3” function.
Planning a Podcast
It is a good idea to create a script.

Below is a guide:

• 10 seconds: Intro music or audio

• 20 seconds: Introduce the podcast. State the title, your
name(s), and the purpose of the podcast. Also state
the URL where your podcast and the show notes can be
found. Introduce your guests,
• 10 seconds: If you have any one to thank do it now.
• 20 seconds: Provide a brief outline of your show.
• ___ minutes: The main body or discussion
• 20 seconds: Wrap up the discussion, outlining your main
points. If you have guests, take this time to thank and
acknowledge them.
• 20 seconds: Introduce the podcast once more. State
the title, your name, and the URL of the podcast.
• 10 seconds: outro music.
• Optional: 3 to 5 minutes: Podcast-safe song or piece
from an independent band or artist at the end of your
show

Rochelle Jensen
rjensen@waikato.ac.nz