Class PowerPoint: Audio Project Step #4 Recording Narration

1. AUDIO PROJECT –
RECORDING NARRATION
COMM 106

2. AUDACITY-BASICS
ALWAYS plug headphones in before starting AUDACITY
NEVER drag your work off your USB to the desktop/lab
hard drive
ALWAYS click on the PROJECT file on your USB to open
your work – that file’s icon should look like this

3. RECORDING TIPS
oBe animated and lively – you have to be interested and
engaged with your own work in order for the listener to
do the same
oRecord it until you get it right – this is what lab time is
for!
oDon’t worry about people in the lab hearing you –
they’re all doing the same thing

4. AUDACITY-WRITING THE SCRIPT
* The script includes 3 parts:
◦THE INTRODUCTION; set up the story for us – DO NOT INTRODUCE
YOURSELF – you’ll tell us who you are at the end
◦THE TRANSITIONS; you may need to provide information between the
bites to move your story along but YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TRANSITION IF IT’S
UNNEEDED
◦THE CONCLUSION; In addition to any closing info you have, everyone will
finally conclude with the same “tag” = “This is *YOUR NAME* for W-C-C
news.”

5. AUDACITY-CLOSE RAW TRACK
•If you’re certain you have
all the bites you
want/need, you can close
your raw interview track
by clicking the “X” – if
you’re not certain, just
mute it.
•If you do close it, you’ll
just have the one track
with your chosen bites

6. AUDACITY-RECORDING NARRATION
* Be sure your existing
tracks are MUTED
* Use headphones with a
microphone attached
* Make sure the
MICROPHONE selection is
“LOGITECH” and that
you’ve chosen “MONO” for
the recording

7. AUDACITY-RECORDING NARRATION
* Click on the red RECORD
BUTTON at the top and a new
mono track will be made and
you’ll be recording automatically
from the play-head on

8. AUDACITY-RECORDING NARRATION
* It is entirely possible your levels
will be too high and/or the
microphone won’t work at first so
be patient
* Record all your narrations in
one track at one time and push
STOP when you’re done – just like
with the raw interview, you will
edit it down next step

9. AUDACITY-CHOOSING NARRATION BITES
* You will now DELETE the
audio/bites from your
narration track that you
DON’T WANT to keep
* You highlight the audio
you want to DELETE by
clicking inside the audio file
and dragging to the left or
right while keeping the
mouse button depressed

10. AUDACITY-CHOOSING NARRATION BITES
* When you are certain that
the dark gray area contains
only audio you DON’T want
you are ready to delete that
portion – TIP: you can
visually see where audio
begins and ends

11. AUDACITY-CHOOSING NARRATION BITES
**DIFFERENT TECHNIQUE**
* Go EDIT REMOVE
SPECIAL  SPLIT DELETE to
remove that portion, leaving
a gap between the portions
you are keeping
* Repeat for each piece of
narration you want to save

12. AUDACITY-ASSEMBLING
* When you’re done you
should have one track with
all your interview bites and
one track with your
narration bites
* Make sure they are both
active and unmuted
* When you play you’ll hear
both tracks alternate based
on where you put them

13. AUDACITY-ASSEMBLING
* You can move these bites
around within the tracks by
using the TIME-SHIFT tool found
up by the CUT, COPY, & PASTE
buttons (see arrow)
* Selecting that allows you to
grab and move the individual
bites independently inside the
track and put them in order

14. AUDACITY-ASSEMBLING
* You will also use the VOLUME
slider on each track to make sure
the tracks are similar in volume
when they play

15. AUDACITY-LOOKING AHEAD
* Before you leave today you should have recorded your narration and
put all your bites in order and with proper volume in respect to each
other
* Remember your segment should be between 90 seconds and 2
minutes long
* Next class we will add music so think about what you’d like to add
and bring it with you as an MP3 file on your USB drive – NO LYRICS
(unless they are to be part of the story)