Audacity:  Recording, compressing, and saving sound files                                 

 TO RECORD        
1.     On a pc first check the sound levels on your computer by double clicking the sound icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.  The levels for every setting should be around the middle.  Scroll up the Start menu in the bottom left-hand corner to Programs, and then Audacity.  A window with six buttons will appear.  If the microphone volume is low, slide the gain control next to the icon of a microphone to the right.

2.   On a Mac in the dock below click on the Class Applications folder (the folder without the letter A ).  In the window click on the Audacity folder and then Audacity.  The program will open and a window with six buttons will appear.  Check the sound controls by scrolling Apple to System Preferences and then click on Sound.  Click on the Input Tab and make sure the iMic UBS option is highlighted.  Speak into the mic and check the Input Level for activity.  Click the Output Tab to make sure the iMic USB option is highlighted.  You may have to move the output sound bar to the middle or hit the sound button on the upper right side of the keyboard several times to hear anything.  Close that window.

 3.     To record, click on the button with the red dot in the middle.  Begin speaking immediately.

 4.     When finished speaking, click the button with the yellow square in the middle.

 5.     To play the recording, click on the button with the green triangle in the middle.

Condensing Recordings into One File
Follow the usual procedures to record.  If you then have a few different recordings, you can copy and paste them into one file just as you copy and paste in a Word document.

1.     Click on the mouse at the end of the track and scroll to the right the amount of time you want the pause to last.  That area will be highlighted.  Scroll Generate and then Silence to add the pause.

2.     Highlight the area of the track you want to copy and paste.  Scroll down Edit to Copy.

3.     In the track into which you want to paste, put the cursor at the end and then scroll down Edit to Paste.

4.     When all tracks are in your main track, click the box with the X in the upper left-hand corner of all the copied tracks to delete them.  You may have to delete any recording in those tracks first, and then click on the X.  You are then ready to save your main track as an MP3.

TO SAVE AND SUBMIT A COMPRESSED RECORDING INTO AN E-PORT
To compress and save a recording to put in the e-port, scroll down File to Export as MP3 while the recording is open in Audacity. 
DO NOT SCROLL TO SAVE PROJECT OR SAVE PROJECT AS. THIS WILL CREATE A LARGE ANALOG FILE AND DATA FOLDER.

1.   The recording file name should resemble this: "ClassNameYourLastNameAudio#.mp3" (for example, Span202SmithAudio1.mp3). 

2.   Save the file in the Audio folder within your Spanish e-port folder on My Documents.  On a Mac click the triangle at the far right next to the word Where, and move the blue bar at the bottom all the way to the left, click on Macintosh HD, Users, Home, Username, Documents, the e-port folder and the Audio folder.  When done, click Save.

3.   If a gray box entitled "Edit the ID3 Tags for the MP3 File" appears, click OK without filling it out.

4.   If on a Mac, you may want to test your saved MP3 file before closing the original recording to make sure the quality sounds good.  If it sounds tinny or muted, try resaving the original as an MP3 again.

5.   Create a link on the class homepage on your e-port in Dreamweaver and connect it to the MP3 file.  Save the class homepage, make sure the top folder is highlighted in the right-hand column, and upload the file to your e-port website.  You should check the class homepage with a browser to make sure your assignment link is working properly.

Download a free version of Audacity at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ and click on a download link on the left side.  Download both Audacity and a program called “LAME MP3 Encoder Library” on that page.  Version 1.2.2 for XP on pcs and 1.1.3 for OS X on Macs.