Angela
Member
I've been hearing a lot about a program called Audacity. I'm very interested in podcasting and possibly conducting interviews. Where can I find Audacity? Is it free? How does it work? What other programs do I need to work with it?
I know I have a ton of questions, but I want to make sure I understand the program.
Audacity is a program that you can use to create your podcasts. You can put intro music BEFORE you begin your podcast and put music at the end of it. If you're intro music is too long (I found this out), you can use Audacity to "trim" it. You can create a .WAV or MP3 file. To create an MP3 file you MUST download Lame for Audacity.
Audacity is free...download it at Audacity. Basically, you use Audacity to record an audio (podcasts) that you'd like to upload onto your blog/website. It's NOT used for interviewing. Although, Audacity does have importing capabilities. You could always IMPORT your interview and clean it up, i.e., take out noise, static, trim the audio, etc...
I only used it once and was satisfied. I'm still learning about it myself. If I discover anything new, I'll let you know. Hope this answered all of your questions 
Audacity will record audio only from your input source on your computer, such as a microphone, so in theory you could use it to record an interview ONLY if the person you are interviewing is also sitting with you at your computer, speaking into the same mic.
If that's not the case, for example if you're interviewing someone over the phone or over Skype, then you need another piece of software to capture the audio first, after which you can import it into Audacity and edit it - as Rebecca says to remove static or background hum or hiss, trim bits out or off either end, and add in some music for the intro/exit.
For recording audio there are a number of options - and as many opinions on what is best. Do some Google searching on "free audio recording software" to turn up a long list of options, and take a few of the higher-recommended ones for a test drive. Some of the free programs certainly do a fine job (after all, for audio editing Audacity is a really great application and it's free)....but if you're really serious about producing quality audio podcasts, at some point you may want to spend a bit of money on recording and editing applications.
Personally I use AudioHijack Pro (Mac only software) for recording, then Audacity for editing.
Last piece of advice: You cannot use just any music for your podcast - unless you purchase royalty-free music specifically licensed for podcast use, then it's likely copyright protected and you could get into trouble by using it - lots of folks have found this out the hard way, so be sure to search for royalty-free music and read the license rights carefully.
MetroCity1
Member
Thanks Trisha and Rebecca for the information on Audacity. I've been using it. I still have some "tinkering" to do with it like removing static and background noise.
If you're looking for music, check out a company called Loopsound -- they're out of the UK. They have many categories to choose from. Songs are 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or 1 minute. They have some great selections. Check them out @ Loopsound.
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