Using+audio


 * Using audio **

** Making your own audio files **
In preparation for doing an audio recording it helps to think about:


 * who your speaker is going to be
 * where and when you'll do the recording
 * what equipment you'll use

When making your audio recording it is important to consider:


 * how you have prepared your speaker
 * the place where you'll make your recording
 * preparing your recording equipment
 * the length of the recording
 * the size of the file
 * the format of your audio file and how it will be played
 * how you'll send your audio file or where the file will be hosted

**Audacity**
Audacity is a free audio editor. You can record sounds, play sounds, import and export WAV and MP3 files and edit and upload them to the web for audio activities. It can be downloaded for free and runs on both PC and Macs. []



How to use it
Audacity can be used to directly make a recording using your computer and a microphone. Many newer computers have a built in mic. Otherwise you can buy a headset with a mic, or buy a separate microphone. Audacity can also be used to import other files files that have been made on different recording devices. Files types include: WAV, Ogg Vorbis, MP3, or AIFF sound files. Once you have imported these you can edit them and save them in a format that you need. Before you can import other common formats such AMR files made in a mobile phone, you will have to convert them to MP3.

Getting started with Audacity
Download and install Audacity to your computer. When that's done watch these short videos:

Introduction to Audacity
Teacher Tube video clip. This demonstrates how to record audio directly using Audacity on a computer with a mic. It also shows how to save that file and then how you can play it back. []

Preparing your computer to use Audacity to export your file to mp3 format
setting up your Audacity software so that you can export files to MP3 format. You may need to download a small piece of software (called a LAME encoder) and save it on your computer. This video clip demonstrates this very clearly. Teacher Tube video clip []

Downloading the LAME encoder (File name: LAME_dlc.enc)
[] You need this piece of software to use with Audacity.

How to download and install Audacity and the LAME encoder.
A short video from Teacher Tube showing. (4 mins, 44 secs) []