Audacity Basics (NEW in 2023): Recording, Editing, Mixing

In 2015, I recorded a popular intro to the free audio editing program Audacity, but a few things have changed in the program, so I made a new one! It's for brand new Audacity users who have never used this software before.

This video shows some of the most common and simple tools in Audacity, especially if you're recording your voice and layering it with music. I cover the basics of recording, adjusting the hotness of the mic, audio compression, splitting clips, importing music, adjusting the volume of multiple tracks, saving, and exporting.

00:00: Intro
00:20: Mic selection & levels
01:49: First recording & zooming
03:06: Selecting audio & compressing
05:26: Importing music & deleting
08:42: Sync-lock, splitting clips
10:30: Mixing volume with the envelope tool
13:48: Saving project, exporting, metadata

Recorded in July 2023 with Audacity 3.3.3 on Windows 10.

[totallyfrozen]

Yup. Clearly you’re a college professor. Your delivery was very efficient, clear, highly informative. Obviously, you’re an experienced teacher. This was extremely helpful to me. Thanks a bunch for posting this. 👍🏻👍🏻

[robertmarum]

Thank you for a real tutorial. I have used audacity for quite a few years as an amateur cutting music for my wife’s choir program. The latest update left me stumped when I opened up the program tonight. You answered what I was looking for.
Sidenote, I have only subscribed to less than a handful of channels on YouTube, you are one of them!!

[Rassabollan]

Hi, speaking from a different corner in the world - not USA that is, where this tutorial originates from (I´m writing from Iceland) I just want to express my massive gratitude to Kyle Stedman for making this video - I am currently studying at a university, and I had to (to my pleasure) make a narrated presentation a few weeks back and I had absoloutely no idea what I was doing. I usually don´t depend on YouTube instructions and video tutorials (I learn best from reading written instructions) - but this video clearly and in a simple, accessible manner, shows what to do and how to do it. My presentation resulted in a 11 minute narrated video presentation (with licenced background music!) about the nature of Internet of Things and for that, I listened to, watched, and learned from these instructions, demostrated in this video. Now. My assignment has not yet been graded, and that - of all things - is clearly not the point. But. Fact of the matter is, that after watching this video (over and over again) for this video is not a "one time show" but a very valuable beginners tutorial on how to use Audacity. I learned so much, that I decided to purchase the Kindle Edition of the textbook Soundwriting: A Guide To Making Audio Projects on Amazon, written by Tanya K. Rodrique and Kyle Stedman. I´ve always wanted to learn how to work on sound for my projects - but never known how to. So here are massive thanks to Kyle Stedman for making this tutorial available on YouTube - and yes, I like the contents of the textbook and yes, I will return to this video tutorial more then once. Five Stars & Thanks! :)

[LisaLeitl]

Thanks for the clarity and getting us started! Greatly appreciate your time.

[kenchance]

Just started using Audacity and glad to watch your basics first. Thanks, Kenny

[aliyaw]

Thank u Kyle u are saving me rn. Been avoiding using audacity. THANK YOU SO MUCH

[cv-qxot]

Finally Ive found a video that is for real beginners. Im assuming you have more ... thank you so much

[bretel]

I went through 2 Audacity tutorials before finding yours, and this is by far the best and clearest —thank you!

[daveyoung]

Kyle: Mega Props. I'm 66 and I'm trying to build a song. I thought since I'd been editing analog music and audio formats since I was in my early teens I'd have an easy time with Audacity. Not so. I've spent several days trying to learn just the basics. Most other YouTube educators do not describe, then use, the features quite as well as you do. They've forgotten what they don't know. I see as I read down the comments I'm not the only one who's noticed.
Thank you for getting me on track faster! Cap'n Dave

[UrbnBarz]

Fantastic. One of the best and most straight-forward tutorials on 'any' subject I've come across on YouTube. Thank you so much. I have subscribed.

[janetownley]

Perfect getting-started tutorials! I watched all of them, practicing each thing on my other device. Just what I needed. Thank you so much!

[m.o.f]

👍👍Ditto to all the positive compliments and comments. Very erll presented. Been struggling with Audacity for some weeks and your tutorial has overcome most if not all of the difficulties that I encountered. Now I feel that I will be able to actually use and enjoy this awesome tool. Thanks and best regards.

[ceridwenmckenna]

Quick and cheerful, easy to follow. But so quick I don't think I breathed! ha ha. Thank you!

[vanderavortdebije]

Compact yet comprehensively explained. Thanks for your work.

[longevitystrong]

I appreciate your style of teaching 💙🙏🏼 well done, friend!! Thank you for this!!

[epiphonium]

I've used Audacity for way over 10 years and I learned a lot from this video. The newest version has got me interested in learning more ! Thanks !

[BerenBragg]

Thank you for this video. I downloaded audacity recently but haven’t gotten around to using it yet. Watched several beginner tutorials before finding yours, yours is by far the easiest to understand.

[SuperBartles]

You're a natural (and practiced) teacher - I see I'm not the only person to have noticed...
I've just been watching 1 or 2 other tutorial videos and this one stands out

[donbwilliams]

Kyle, I appreciate that you remember your student's level of experience (mine is zero) while explaining these sometimes overwhelming new concepts. Thank you for this video

[distantmaniacallaughter]

im a new user to the platform (and an aspiring VA!) and this tutorial is a LIFESAVER. thank you so much for this, maybe ill actually get something going!!!!