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Start hereWhat is a podcast?A plain-English definition: episodes, the RSS feed, subscriptions and how a podcast differs from a video or a radio show.Start hereA short history of podcastingFrom RSS enclosures in 2000 to iTunes support in 2005, the long quiet years, Serial and the video-podcast era.Start hereSeven reasons to create your own podcastWhy people start shows: expertise, community, a voice, teaching, business, creative practice and long-lived archives.PlanHow to podcast: the four PsThe whole process in four stages: plan, produce, publish and promote. Start here if you want the map before the steps.

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Audacity lessons

GUIDE 09 OF 17

Audacity lesson 1: set up Audacity for podcasting

Install Audacity, pick your microphone, set the project rate and check your recording level before you press record.

Updated

Ten minutes of setup saves hours of fixing. In this lesson you’ll install Audacity, point it at your microphone, and set a recording level that won’t distort.

1. Download and install

Get Audacity from the official Audacity download page; it’s free for Windows, macOS and Linux. Install it like any other program and open it. You’ll see an empty project with toolbars at the top and a blank area where tracks will appear.

2. Plug in and choose your microphone

  1. Connect your microphone (or audio interface) before opening Audacity. If you plugged it in afterwards, use Transport > Rescan Audio Devices.
  2. Click the Audio Setup button on the toolbar.
  3. Under Recording Device, choose your microphone or interface, not the computer’s built-in mic.
  4. Under Playback Device, choose your headphones.
  5. Under Recording Channels, choose 1 (Mono) for a single microphone. Voices don’t need stereo, and mono files are easier to edit.

3. Set the project sample rate

Open Audio Setup > Audio Settings and set the project sample rate to 44100 Hz (CD quality) or 48000 Hz (the video standard; use it if you also publish video). Either is fine for podcasts; just keep it the same for every episode and every co-host.

4. Set your recording level

The recording level is how loud the signal is when it reaches Audacity. Too quiet and you’ll amplify noise later; too loud and it clips, which distorts in a way you can’t undo.

  1. Click the recording meter (the one with the microphone icon) to start monitoring without recording.
  2. Speak at your normal podcast volume, at your normal distance from the mic.
  3. Adjust the gain on your microphone or interface (or the recording volume slider in Audacity) until your loudest words peak around −12 to −6 dB on the meter.
  4. Laugh and say something loudly. If the meter reaches the right-hand end or shows red, turn the gain down a little.

Rule of thumb: aim lower rather than higher. A slightly quiet recording is easy to fix in lesson 4; a clipped one is not.

5. Make a test recording

Press R (or the red Record button), wait five seconds in silence, say a few sentences, then press Space to stop. Play it back on headphones. Listen for hum, echo, distortion and popping. If it sounds good, you’re ready.

Next: lesson 2, the tools and toolbars you’ll use every day.