- 1). Turn your computer on and connect the microphone and speakers to the computer. Some computers have both a microphone and a line-in port. According to Ron Morse in "Upgrading and Repairing Your PC" (2006), use the port labeled "mic" if your microphone does not use a battery, otherwise use Line-in to connect the microphone to the computer.
- 2). Open Audacity by clicking on the desktop icon. When it loads, click "Edit," and then "Preferences." The preferences window will appear.
- 3). Click on the first tab, labeled "Audio I/O." Use the drop down menu to set the playback and recording devices to your microphone and your speakers. Ensure the two boxes labeled "Play other tracks while recording a new one," and "Software Playthrough" are not checked. Click "OK" when finished.
- 4). Click the red circle on the control toolbar to begin recording.
- 5). Speak into the microphone. The meter toolbar will flash as the sound is recorded, and you will see a change in the waveform display.
- 6). Click on the orange square in the control toolbar when you are finished recording.
- 7). Click the green triangle to play your recording.
- 8). Click "File," and then "Save Project" to save your recording. You can also export your file to MP3, Ogg Vorbis, or WAV formats if desired. If you are done working with your file, export the file into one of the other formats, such as MP3 for playback in MP3 players. Otherwise, your project will save as an AUP file, which will only be playable by Audacity. Name your file and save it.
- 9). To export your file into MP3 format, click on "File," and "Export as MP3." You will see a warning that your tracks will be mixed down to two tracks. Click "OK." Give your file a name and click the "Save" button.
- 10
Play any files you export in MP3, OGG or WAV format in the media player of your choice.
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