Andrew Mercer
Explore strategies on the effective integration of technology in education.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Audacity Tutorial How to Multi Track Record Guitar and Voice at Same Time
Audacity tutorial on how to record 2 tracks or multi track at the same time. This tutorial shows how to record voice and guitar at the same time in Audacity.
Recording multi-track in Audacity is very simple. There are a number of ways to multitrack, but in this tutorial I will show one of the simplest ways. You need to have some way to get your microphones/instruments into your computer. To do this you will need a mixer.
We will be using the 2 channels of stereo for our multitracking. The guitar will be on the right channel and the voice will be on the left channel. Make adjustments to your mixer to place the guitar on the right and the voice on the left.
In Audacity you will need to open preferences and select devices. Choose the input you need for your mixer and make sure "Channels" is set to stereo.
As you record now Audacity will create a stereo track with guitar in right and voice in left. Once you have finished recording open the pull down menu on the right of the new track and select "Split Stereo Track."
Now you will have have 2 separate mono tracks, one with voice and one with guitar.
That is it. Good luck.
Andrew
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Audacity Tutorial Multi Track Recording How to Keep Tracks in Sync
In this multitrack recording Audacity tutorial I show a simple way to keep your tracks in sync using the editing software Audacity.
As you record multiple tracks in Audacity your computer may not keep them perfectly in sync. If you do not have a clear way to keep them in sync it would be nearly impossible to fix. This trick really helps out.
As you are preparing to play the first track of a recording count in 1 2 3 4 1 2 and 2 beats of silence. Be sure to make your count very percussive so it will be easy to line up later. This will end up on the recording, but you can remove it later.
As you record the second track in Audacity count along with the count-in from the first track.
After you have finished recording use the Time Shift Tool to move track to back and forth to line up with the count-in of the first track. If you said your counts very percussive then you should be able to see the peaks of the audio in Audacity and line up that way. Always check with your ears though.
If you are recording through a DI, like an electric guitar, then make sounds on the instrument in place of a vocal count in.
Once you are all done you can erase the count ins and your all good.
Rock on,
Andrew
Saturday, February 11, 2012
How to Save an MP3 in Audacity
This tutorial shows how to save an MP3 with Audacity.
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To get started, drag and drop a file into Audacity. It can be an MP3 already if you like. Now go to the FILE menu and select EXPORT. At this point you will be asked the name of the artists, song, ect. You can put in whatever you like or just leave it out for now. Click OK.
Next you will give your file a name and choose the file type. When you choose MP3 you will be asked to locate the LAME encoder. This step is NOT difficult. You should follow the instructions in the video tutorial for guidance.
Audacity Tutorials
Audacity is a free, easy to use sound recorder and editor. Audacity may be simple to use, but very powerful in its features.
This series of easy lessons is meant to help solve the most common issues faced by musicians using Audacity to record their music.
Audacity is a great educational tool for use in the music room. There are countless exciting ways to use Audacity with your students.
Friday, February 10, 2012
How to Rosin your Violin Bow
In this tutorial I show how to put rosin on your violin or fiddle bow. This can also be applied to cello and viola.
If you find that you are not getting very much volume from your violin or that the tone sounds very breathy, then you may need to put some rosin on your bow. Also, if you just bought a new fiddle then it most likely does not have any rosin on the bow.
When you rosin your bow for the first time you will need to wipe the rosin up and down the bow hair probably 100 times or more. This is needed to get the first layer of good rosin down on the bow hair. Once you have a good layer of rosin you will only need to apply 15 or so wipes each day or two.
As you apply rosin you should put your thumb over the little metal piece where the bow meets the frog. If you hit your rosin on this metal piece your will crack your rosin. Covering it with your thumb will protect your rosin.
Never touch your bow hair with your fingers, as the oil from your skin will stick to the rosin and make it clumpy and dark.
Good luck,
Andrew
Thursday, February 09, 2012
How to Change Pitch in Audacity | Make Chipmunk Voice
In this video you will learn how to change the pitch of a sound using Audacity. You can use this technique to make your voice sound like a chipmunk :)
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Pitch is also called the frequency of a sound. A referee's whistle will have a high pitch and the rumbling of thunder is a low pitch.
Open the sound your want to change in Audacity. Select the portion of the sound sample that you want to alter. You can do this by clicking and sliding your mouse over that part of the sound sample.
Next, go to the EFFECT menu and select CHANGE PITCH. The Change Pitch window will open. There are several ways to adjust the pitch in this window. You can explore them all. We are going to use %. You can raise the pitch by 40% by typing in that window, then click ok.
Hit the PLAY button and listen to what you have. If you do not like what you have then FIRST go the EDIT menu and select UNDO before you make any further changes.
Good luck and happy recording,
Andrew
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Looping Samples in Audacity Tutorial
This tutorial shows how to loop a section of a sound sample many times over to create a pattern or texture in Audacity.
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Open up a sound sample that you would like to work with in Audacity. Once open, pick out the portion of the sample that you would like to loop. Remove any unwanted sound at the end of this section by selecting the sound with your mouse and deleting with your delete key.
Next, place your cursor at the very beginning of the section that you wish to repeat. You can do this by just clicking your mouse in that spot. Now go to the EDIT menu in Audacity and go to SELECT - CURSOR TO TRACK END. This will select everything from the cursor's position to the end of the track.
Next, we need to copy that sound section. Go to the EDIT menu again and select COPY. Now press the RIGHT ARROW key on your computer%27s keyboard. This will place the cursor at the very end of your sound sample. PASTE is next. You need to go back the EDIT menu and select PASTE.
Now you will have 2 copies of the sound sample. To add more copies all you need to do is RIGHT ARROW and PASTE over and over and over.
That is it. Have fun and please leave comments and suggestions for new tutorials in the comments section of this page.
Happy recording,
Andrew
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Audacity How to Record | Click Track | How to Make and Use in Audacity | An Easy Tutorial
This tutorial shows how to easily create a click track in Audacity when recording.
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A click track is an essential tool for recording. Without a click, even the most talented musicians would find it difficult to keep each track exactly in time as they record. While recording, your click track serves as your conductor or metronome to keep you exactly in time. Nothing says 'amateur' like a recording that slows down and speeds up! Learn to use a click and it will be your best friend in the studio.
When you first begin playing with a click track you may find it a little strange. The more you play with a click track you will become more comfortable with it. Eventually you will be completely at home playing with the click and your recordings will sound VERY professional.
Audacity has a built-in ability to create a click track designed to your exact specifications. Some of the specific items you can customize are, the number of bars (measure) or duration of the click track, the number of beats per bar or meter, the sound of the click itself, and the strength of pulses of the click track.
To create a click track you can follow these steps:
1. Open Audacity, start a new recording and go to the GENERATE menu
2. Select CLICK TRACK...
3. You will now see the Click Track window.
4. Go through all the settings to create the click track you need.
When creating a click track for a recording figure out how long you want your track to be. You may not know the number of bars you need exactly, so estimate. Once you have created your click track do a quick run through your song to ensure you have enough bars. Give yourself a few extras at the beginning of your recording for your convenience when getting ready to start.
As you record each of your tracks it is a good idea to count out loud along with the click before being playing. Counting can be edited out later and will give you a clear visual and sound reference as you sync up your tracks.
Audacity Tutorials
Audacity is a free, easy to use sound recorder and editor. Audacity may be simple to use, but very powerful in its features.
This series of easy lessons is meant to help solve the most common issues faced by musicians using Audacity to record their music.
Audacity is a great educational tool for use in the music room. There are countless exciting ways to use Audacity with your students.
If you are looking for some guidance or advice on an Audacity or recording issue that you have, please feel free to put a comment here. I will try my best to answer your question or create a new how-to tutorial focused on your studio challenge.
Happy recording,
Andrew
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