Recording With Audacity -- Some Good References

Recording audio is all by itself worthy of years of learning and practice. Microphones, acoustics, live mixes, digital and analog recording equipment – it’s a vast, complex subject. What follows are some links to sites where you can get simple, straightforward information on recording equipment and techniques that are well within range of the beginning and intermediate podcaster.

First, there’s a diagram, a flowchart, and an illustrated list of equipment you need to record a live event:
http://kino-eye.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/07/Audio-Podcasting-v2.pdf

Here are the very basic – very basic – steps involved in making a simple voice recording using Audacity:
http://tinyurl.com/jwlrc

Next, Jake Ludington – he of the Podcasting Starter Kit – has a more detailed tutorial covering recording settings and procedures using Audacity:
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/lpt/a/5735

If you’re not satisfied with the sound quality of your recording, here’s a page from the folks who brought you Audacity on ways you can improve your recording quality:
http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php?title=Improving_Recording_Quality

Although this site has a lot of information about all aspects of Audacity, I place it here because of its excellent section of recording troubleshooting tips:
http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~raa110/audacity/AudacityHelp.html

Finally, for those of us with a bit too much time on our hands, here’s a way you can use Audacity to measure just how fast that speeding bullet is going:
http://nitricacid.blogspot.com/2005/11/using-audacity-recording-software-to.html

Next up: Help with editing. In the meantime, listen to the Audacity Audio Minute, my own series of (very brief) podcasts that provide specific tips and techniques aimed at helping you become more efficient and creative with the Audacity program. Until next time – sound off!