The following video provides an excellent introduction to sound recording using Audacity.  Audacity is a free piece of software that you will need to download and install on a computer.  It is available for both Windows and Mac.  The first 22 minutes of the video provide a great overview, but you may want to watch all of the video and refer back to it when completing upcoming assignments. An outline of the video's timeline is provided below.

Here are some guiding questions while you are reviewing the following video:

1. What is clipping?
2. Why leave a quiet or dead space?
3. Why use headphones instead of speakers when editing?
4. What does a background filter do?
5. What is a noise profile?
6. What should we be cautious of when using noise removal?
7. What does the amplify tool do for your audio?
8. How do change the speed and change the tempo differ?
9. What is the quick way to “go back” if you make a mistake?
10. What is the Time Shift tool for?
11. What is the Envelope Tool?

Video Player Controls: Audacity: A walk through on the basics of editing audio using Audacity

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Embedded Video Player: Audacity: A walk through on the basics of editing audio using Audacity

Video Timeline:

First 22 minutes explain the basics of Audacity.

25:30 – adding background music (works with any recordings)

29:30 – explains Sample Rate

31:50 – How to fade out your background music.

32:25 – How to export your audio.

38:20 – How to save your Audacity project (so you can return to it and keep editing).

39:50 – Creating a ringtone.