Recording With Audacity

Audacity is the Open Source (free) sound editor that I prefer over either GoldWave or Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit).  It is available from http://audacity.sourceforge.net (note: no www)

There is a brief Audacity Tutorial available in your DanceMaster\Documents folder, and more help in the Audacity manual.

Note: If you get asked whether to save the tutorial or open it from it's current location, choose "Open".

Audacity Basics:

Each recording is a “project”.  Projects consist of one or more “tracks”.  Each time you start recording, you will (normally) create a new track.  When you have the result you want, you will “export” the track to an MP3 file.

Don’t be afraid to experiment.  It is easy to make a copy of your current track to try things on.  If it doesn’t work, delete the new track and make another copy of the original.  Plus, you can “undo” anything you do – all the way back to the beginning.

Don’t forget that in order to export music in MP3 format, you’ll need to install the LAME encoder.  It is free; you can get it from the Audacity website among other places.  If you don’t see it there, “Google” for “lame encoder”. The first time you try to create an MP3, Audacity will ask you for the location of the encoder you downloaded, and will remember this location for use after that.

Set Preferences

Open Audacity.  At the top of the screen, Click File | Preferences; the preferences window will open.

If the Audio I/O tab is not visible on the left, use the arrows at the upper right to scroll to it.

Make sure “Play other tracks while recording” is checked.

On the “Quality” tab: Change “Default Sample Format” to16 bit (unless you have a very fast computer and want extremely high fidelity).

On the “File Formats” tab:  Click “Find Library” and specify the location you put your lame_enc.dll file into.  Then set the Bit Rate to either 96 (good fidelity) or 128  (CD quality).

On the "Interface" tab, make sure "Enable Mixer Toolbar" and "Enable Meter Toolbar" are checked.

Click “OK”.

Open the Windows Volume Control

Right-click on the yellow (Windows 98/ME/2000) or gray (Windows XP) speaker icon in the lower right part of your screen (near the clock) and choose “Open volume control”.

Click Options | Properties, then Recording

Choose the correct signal source, make sure it is selected (check-marked), and set the volume slider about halfway up.

Don’t close the volume control.  You’ll probably need it again.  Audacity's Mixer Toolbar has volume controls too.  These work in conjunction with the Windows Volume Control, so if Audacity's volume controls don't give you enough range, use the Windows Volume Control to get the signal level into the ballpark, and use Audacity's to make the fine adjustments.  After the first time, you probably won't need the Windows Volume Control.

Open Audacity and Record Music

In the window near the top right corner of the screen, select the proper audio source (Microphone / Line-In)

Click the RECORD (round) button and put the needle down. (Assuming, of course, that you have already connected your turntable or other sound source to the computer.)

You should see the track appear with the audio signal being drawn on it, and the red recording level meter should be jumping around at the top of the screen.  If not, then you probably have the wrong signal source selected, or the music source isn’t properly connected to the computer, or the volume control isn't set high enough.

Set the input volume control (top of the window, next to the microphone symbol) to the middle of the range, then click on the Windows Volume Control in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen to bring the volume control to the foreground.  Adjust the volume slider until the loudest audio signal almost (but not quite) touches the top / bottom of the track window.  The recording level meter should be approaching, but not quite touching, the right side of the scale.

Stop the recording and discard (X) the track.

Click Record to start a new track, re-start the music source (put the needle down again), and record!

When the music stops, press the STOP (square) button and zoom to view the full track <Ctrl-F>.

Choose the SELECTION tool. ( the I-beam looking button in the upper left corner of the window – just below the word “File”)

Click & drag to select the beginning of the track, zoom in to view just that <Ctrl-E>

Click and drag to select the “needle pop” and the silence before the music, press <Del> to delete it.

Adjust the volume level as necessary, perform any other desired edits.  (Those are beyond the scope of this tutorial – you’ll just have to have the fun of discovering it for yourself.  And it IS fun.)

To record a voice track:

Connect your microphone (and earphones, if desired).  Use the input selector (to the right of Audacity's volume controls) to select the microphone input.

Click RECORD and cue to the music, using the volume control slider to adjust the volume.

Stop the recording, discard the voice track with the volume adjustments on it (X), and click RECORD again

Cue to the music. Click STOP when done.

To save the music track alone, or the music and voice as two separate files (recommended):

Select the music track by clicking in the control area to the left of the track (The track will turn dark).

Choose File | Export Selection as MP3, and save it in your DanceMaster\Music Files folder.  Use the name of the song (Not the name of the dance you are going to cue to that song.). You can ignore  the ID3 tags info (DanceMaster won’t use it), and click “OK”.

Select the voice track as above, Export it as MP3, naming it the name of the dance from the cue sheet (i.e. "Waltzing with M.E. Cues"), and save it in your DanceMaster\Voice FIles folder.

To save the voice and music files together as a stereo file:

Use the Time Shift Tool (the double-headed arrow) to move the voice track into alignment with the music track.  (Play and adjust; repeat as necessary)

Select the music track by clicking in the control area to the left of the track (The track will turn dark).  Then select the voice track too by holding the shift key as you click on the voice track control area.  Both tracks will turn dark.

Click on the track name button for the top track.  Choose “Make Stereo Track”.

Choose File | Export Selection as MP3, use the dance name from the cue sheet and save it in the DanceMaster\Music Files folder.

Tips:

If you get dropouts in your recorded files (especially your voice file):