Audacity

Audacity is sound editing software used by professionals and notices alike. There are virtually countless features and special tools included in the software, which can initially seem a little intimidating. However, a basic knowledge of some of the more common tools can be very useful for music teachers:
 * Make a new sound recording using built-in or external microphones
 * Multi-track recording and layering
 * Import music/recordings from your computer's library
 * Volume adjustment
 * Delete sound clips
 * Zoom in up to nanoseconds of recording
 * Zoom out to see overall pattern of recording
 * Background noise reduction
 * Copy/paste small segments of a recording
 * Export projects to other file types to play across different platforms
 * LAME for Audacity to convert to MP3.
 * Change tempo, speed, or pitch

Getting Started with Audacity Uses for Music Class Resources
 * On this page:**



Getting Started with Audacity
First, you will need to download Audacity (free). You will also want to download the LAME MP3 Encoder to export your projects to MP3 and other file formats.

Katie Wardrobe has created a five-part series of tutorials specifically for music educators. Watch them all or jump to one topic:
 * 1) How to import audio and playback your track like a ninja
 * 2) How to shorten a song and add a fade-in or fade-out
 * 3) How to change the key or tempo of a song
 * 4) How to remove a verse or chorus from a song
 * 5) How to remove vocals from a song

 media type="youtube" key="IO4GFTZXKTQ" height="353" width="425" Back to section  media type="youtube" key="mXh05tl08cs" height="353" width="425" Back to section  media type="youtube" key="S03KZi5OcVk" height="353" width="425" Back to section  media type="youtube" key="Sfn2CxoDTs4" height="353" width="425" Back to section  media type="youtube" key="d9rqseCch_8" height="353" width="425" Back to section Back to top



Uses for Music Class
If you watched the tutorials above, you probably thought of many ways you can use Audacity in the music classroom. Feel free to add to this list:
 * Slow down the tempo of a song to make it easier for practice
 * Speed up the tempo of a song to make it harder and/or create a fun challenge
 * Adjust the pitch to a more kid-friendly key/range
 * Adjust the pitch to an easier key signature for instrumental play-alongs/accompaniments
 * Create dance-friendly versions of songs by copy/pasting sections to repeat over and over in one track rather than having to restart a track
 * Remove all or part of an instrumental interlude or additional verses that make a song too long
 * Remove vocals to allow students to sing without backup
 * Create and edit sound recordings of your in-class performances
 * Use the multi-track feature to layer student recordings on top of each other to demonstrate texture and harmony
 * Mix and overlay vocals and musical recordings to create professional-sounding podcasts


 * Make sure you are following Fair Use guidelines when editing a non-original recording.

Back to top



Resources

 * Audacity How-To Wiki
 * Katie Wardrobe Amazing Audacity Online Course
 * Katie Wardrobe Favourite Shortcuts

Back to top