Installing Audacity, the ‘Shell’ of the Home Recording Studio

Stephen Wise writes about home recording.

Now that we’ve discussed hardware (see my previous post), it’s time to install Audacity®, the heart of our “free” studio. At one time, installing Audacity® was tedious, but popularity has resulted in some decent installation tools. If you are a MAC user, there is a version for you, too! I will try to make these instructions as generic as I can since all of these files are a work in progress and will change over time. Here is the download link:

Audacity® Download

Save the file to your hard drive. Now run the file (you remembered where you saved it, right?) that you just downloaded. Do not change the install directory.

So what do you have now? Audacity® is the “shell” of your recording studio. It is your editor, the main control panel for many functions, and the “receptacle” into which you can “plug” other processes. In the editing function, Audacity® is like a word processor for sound. If you work with a word processor, than you will find many of the operations familiar, such as copy, cut, paste, zoom, load, save, import, export, etc. Your input is “microphone” or “line” instead of keyboard and your output is “speaker” instead of screen. If you have used a photo editor, then the “visual editing” aspect of Audacity® should look familiar. For many of you, these functions will be all that you need.

Now, we will obtain the “LAME” encoder:

LAME Encoder

Be sure to download “Lame for Audacity® on Windows” (there is a MAC version too). Save it to your hard drive.

Now run this file (do not change the install directory).

You might be wondering, “Why do I want to install something called “LAME”. First the name: it literally is “lame.” The popular mp3 format is actually owned by Thomson and the Fraunhofer Institute. LAME began as a “lame” “home-brew” version of the popular encoder. The right to use mp3 has always been a little fuzzy. In the beginning, LAME was distributed only as source files, the thinking being that it wasn’t infringing on mp3 because it didn’t actually work (you had to compile it yourself, sort of like a software “kit”). Now, the “executable” version of LAME is distributed and it is left to you to decide whether or not you need a license.

Here is where it stands today with mp3 [in the USA. Other countries may differ]: Thomson only licenses larger companies to use mp3. They don’t seem to care if you create them for your own amusement or to share (free of charge) with your friends. If you want to make a business of selling mp3 files, then Thomson does care, but since they only license big companies like Microsoft, Apple, Sony, etc., where does that leave the little guy? I suggest that if you want to run a business that you consult a lawyer. Alternately, you can distribute through a company with a license, who will collect the fees and send them to Thomson for you. Don’t despair! There are alternatives that I will discuss in a future blog.

I will get into the details of Audacity® in future blogs. In the mean time, play with it! It’s the best way to learn! Plug something into your sound card and try recording it using the familiar buttons at the top left. [If plugging in from a headphone output, turn the volume on that device almost all of the way down to start.] If it doesn’t work, don’t worry. It can sometimes take a little effort to get things set up initially. I will help you set it up next time. You can also import a file to play with. If you want to play with mp3, then you must first export a file as “mp3″ so that Audacity® can “find” where you put the LAME CODEC.

Finally, a few comments about how Audacity® loads and saves files. Audacity® has its own format for saving files that is incompatible with other things. At first, that may seem like a dumb idea, but it isn’t. Audacity® saves your work in “project” files. These files contain not only the actual file that you are editing, but all of your settings and history. Thus, when you re-open a project, you can begin where you left off. You load files into Audacity® using “import” and save files from Audacity® using “export”. Both importing and exporting take a little time since a conversion is being performed. The source file that you import will not be altered unless you export to the same directory with the identical file name.

Next time: Setting up Audacity®

Stephen Wise has been designing electronic musical instruments since 1975. Steve specializes in realistic recreations of traditional instruments. He became interested in the field after hearing Walter/Wendy Carlos’ “Switched On Bach” and upon being introduced to the Allen Digital Computer Organ, the world’s first all digital musical instrument. Steve is currently designing instruments for Schulmerich Bells, maker of handbells, electronic carillons, and the breakout MelodyWave® instrument.