Podcasting 101

Professor Herbert N. Ramy

Suffolk University Law School 120 Tremont St.

Boston, MA 02180 hramy@suffolk.edu

(617) 573-8709 (617) 305-3081

SSRN - http://ssrn.com/author=775136

Installing and Using Audacity

Audacity’s main page: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Tutorial for using Audacity:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/tutorials.html

Step-by-Step video download instructions: http://www.law.suffolk.edu/itunes/getting_started.cfm

At the bottom of screen, click on the “Watch the Video” link next

to “Using Audacity to create audio files.”

Podcasting Websites

iTunes U: http://www.itunesU.com

Suffolk Law on iTunes :

http://www.law.suffolk.edu/itunes

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Audacity Web Page http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

From the Audacity web page, click on this link to start the downloading process.

Mac users should click here for other options.

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Download Page

Next, click on the link that reads Audacity 1.2.6 installer.

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Audacity’s System Requirements

Once you have clicked on the link to “Audacity 1.2.6 installer,” you will have to work through the basics of saving and installing as you would for any software. Those steps include:

• Left click on the “Save File” button when prompted. • Go to the download box that will appear and left click on “open.”

o Depending on your version of Windows, you may have to double

click on “Audacity” in the download box. Then click “run” when asked if you are sure about this software.

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Setup Wizard

• Click “Next” to start installing Audacity. • When prompted, indicate that you “accept” the agreement.

• Continue clicking “next” until you reach the end, and then click

“install.”

• At the end of the installation process, click “Finish” to launch Audacity.

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Here is Audacity, but we still need more software!

• While you can record audio at this point, Audacity cannot save or export your recordings as MP3 files without an add on program.

• Minimize Audacity.

• Now go back to the page on your web browser from where you

downloaded Audacity.

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For Podcasts, we need the LAME MP3 Encoder.

Click here to begin downloading the LAME MP3 encoder. Without this add on, Audacity cannot save or export MP3 files.

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Then click on this link to bring you to the LAME download page.

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LAME MP3 Encoder download page

• Scroll down slightly until you see the above image. • Once you see the above image, click on Audacity for Windows

• When prompted, click the “Save File” or “Save to Disk” option

• Double click the program’s icon in order to start the Setup Wizard.

• Continue clicking “next” throughout the setup process.

o When prompted to choose a directory for placement of the

software, be sure that you remember the location. o The location of the program will be relevant later when we

establishing our preferences in Audacity.

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Establishing “Preferences” in Audacity

• Go back into Audacity. • Then, click on the “Edit” drop down menu and select “Preferences,”

which will appear as the last option. • This will bring up the screen you see above.

Under “Recording,” select “device” in order to choose your microphone option.

Also, be sure that “Channels” reads “1 (Mono).”

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More Audacity Preferences

• These steps are essential! • Audacity will not be able to create MP3 files, and thus Podcasts, if you

do not download and set up the LAME MP3 Encoder correctly.

• So that I can find downloaded files more easily, I often save them directly to my desktop.

• But, be careful if you save the file to your desktop. Some computer

systems automatically remove seldom used items from the desktop.

Now select the “File Formats” tab in the Audacity Preferences box.

Next, click on the “Find Library” button under the heading “MP3 Export Setup.” This is when you need to remember where you saved the LAME MP3 Encoder.

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Audacity Helps You Locate the MP3 Encoder

• Once you click on “Find Library,” the above dialog box appears. • Left click “Yes” in order to locate the LAME MP3 Encoder on your

system.

• Direct your computer to the location where you saved the file.

• The downloaded file will likely be located in a folder named libmp3lame-3.97.

• The only file in the folder should be named “lame_enc.dll.”

• Select this file and then click open.

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If you completed the above steps correctly, the MP3 Export Setup will read LAME v3.97

Finally, be sure that the “Bit Rate” reads 128

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Audacity is Now Ready to Record Your Podcasts! Reverse Play Record Pause Stop Forward Cut Paste Undo

• Above, I have tried to identify Audacity’s most used buttons. • As with most software, it takes a little trial and error before you

become proficient with using it.

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Recording Your Podcast

• To begin creating a Podcast, simply click on the red “record” button and begin speaking into your microphone.

• Audacity begins recording an audio track that will look something like what you see above.

• I recommend creating a script for yourself as opposed to speaking extemporaneously. This will help limit the number of mistakes.

Recorded Audio Track Record Button

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Correcting Mistakes – Two Options Option 1

• First, record your script from start to finish regardless of errors. • Next, click play and note your errors. Use the numbers on the

screen to reference the error’s location.

• I strongly recommend correcting entire sentences or even paragraphs to maintain continuity in the audio track.

• Click the record button a second time to begin recording your

correction – this will create a second audio rack.

• Mute track 1 so that you won’t hear both playing at the same time and listen to track 2. If you like it, highlight the section, click cut, and paste the information into the original track. Delete track 2.

These numbers help orient you to your location on a particular audio track.

Mute Track 1 Track 2 with correction highlighted for cutting and pasting.

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Correcting Mistakes – Option 2

• For this option, the speaker would take note of each problem as it occurs. Problems would include:

o Misstatements o Phone calls o Throat clearing o Or any other noise that you do not want in the final product

• Unlike in Option 1, the speaker should stop speaking for a moment

and then restate the entire sentence containing the problem. • Note – while the speaker should pause for a moment when an error

occurs, one should not pause or stop the recording itself.

• When completed, their will be only a single track to work with.

• All that is left to do is listen to the track and then delete any problematic aspects of the recording.

• Once you are satisfied with the Track you have recorded, you can

save it.

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Saving Your Podcasts – Step 1

• Saving Podcasts is a two step process. • First, click on the “File” drop down menu and click on “Save Project

As . . .”

• This will allow you to name and save the track as you would any other file.

Step 2 – Export As MP3

Step 1 – Save Project As

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Saving Your Podcasts – Step 2

• Next, click the “File” drop down menu again, but this time click on “Export as MP3.”

• Once again, you will be prompted to name the file.

• After you have named the file, the above box will appear asking you

to “Edit the ID3 tags for the MP3 file.”

• This is information that will appear once someone tries to listen to the file in their MP3 player – think iPod or iTunes.

• You’re finished! The file can now be posted to the web or sent to

students, friends and colleagues via e-mail.