In this Audacity tutorial set I will be showing how to adjust the input or recording level of Audacity. This is very important when trying to get good recordings. We will also be looking at how to make your recordings mono or stereo - very useful.

This video tutorial #7 of #24 in this series. You can see a full list of the available Audacity tutorials at the end of this post.

7 How to Adjust Input Levels in Audacity

Procedure:

The quality of your recording depends on many things and the input level is one of the most important. If your input level is too high your recording will ‘clip’ and cause distortion. If your input level is too low then background noise will be heard.

Audacity provides an input level meter to help you set your levels. To turn on the input level meter you need to click on it. If your microphone is configured properly you will begin to see the input level meter indicate your input level. You can adjust the input level by moving the Input Volume slider to the left (down) or right (up). By watching your meter and speaking or playing into your microphone your meter will show your level. Make adjustments to the Input Volume slider until your signal never goes above 2/3 of the way up the meter.

Now that your level is set you can do a test recording to see how it looks in the track waveform. You need to try and get a thick waveform that does not touch the top or bottom limits of the track.

24 Stereo and Mono in Audacity

Procedure:

In a mono recording what you hear in the left ear is exactly what is heard in the right ear. There is one single channel of sound. In a stereo recording there are two separate channels of sound – one for the left and one for the right. Audacity lets you work in both mono and stereo.

To configure Audacity to record in mono or stereo you need to make a simple adjustment. On the toolbar of Audacity you will find a pull-down menu that lets you choose between mono and stereo.

Learn Audacity Series

The following is a list of all the Audacity tutorials and activities found in this video series

TUTORIALS
1 How to Create a New Audacity Project

2 How to Open or Import Audio Files in Audacity

3 What are Audacity Tracks

4 Audacity Transport Controls

5 How to Save an Audacity Project

6 How to Record

7 How to Set Input Volume Levels

8 How to Export MP3 and WAV Files

9 How to Select and Delete Sound

ACTIVITY 1 - My First Recording

10 How to use Undo and History in Audacity

11 How to Use the Zoom Tools

12 How to Use the Time Shift Tool

13 How to Use the Change Pitch Effect

ACTIVITY 2 - Make Your Voice Sound Like a Chipmunk

14 How to Use the Fade In & Fade Out Effects

15 How to Download Sound Samples from the Internet

16 How to Use the Amplify Effect

17 How to Edit Metadata

18 How to Multitrack Record

19 How to Use a Click Track

ACTIVITY 3 - Multitrack Recording in Audacity - Beatbox

20 How to Make Silence

21 How to Use the Change Tempo Effect

22 How to Use the Equalization Effect

23 How to Reverse Sound

24 Stereo Mono

ACTIVITY 4 - How to Mess Up a Piece of Music

25 How to Remove Vocals from a Recording

SETUP TUTORIALS
SETUP 1 How to Install Audacity

SETUP 2 How to Configure Recording and Playback Hardware

SETUP 3 How to Install the LAME Encoder

PROJECTS 
PROJECT 1 - Create a Halloween Soundscape

PROJECT 2 - Interview a Superhero

PROJECT 3 - Create a Radio Play

 

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Posted on Utopian.io - Rewarding Open Source Contributors

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Posted on Utopian.io - Rewarding Open Source Contributors

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