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Audacity is a free audio recording and mixing program for PC and Mac. If you've done video editing (which you have!!) it's similar to that except with sound. For this introduction you will be using some drum sounds to create a short audio clip. This is to just learn the basic of importing and arranging audio, and then exporting it as an MP3.
Closely read and follow the steps below to get started. Use the pictures to help you find what you're supposed to be doing.
Need help understanding beats? Watch the video on the left!
You can also experiment on this site with setting up different rhythms. You can't save and download these, but pay attention to how each sound is positioned. You can use a similar arrangement in Audacity for your beats.
STEP 1
Download the 3 audio files from Google Drive to your own folder on the computer. There is also a sample beat
STEP 2
Open Audacity on your computer.
Go to File>Import and import 1 of your audio files. Just do one at a time for now.
STEP 3
You should see your audio clip in the timeline.
Just above it you will see a small upside down triangle. Click it and choose Beats and Measures. We will use this since we're creating a drum beat.
STEP 4
You can zoom in and out on your timeline with two magnifying glass buttons or the keyboard shortcut it shows when you hover over it.
STEP 5
If you have an audio clip that's too long like the one in the picture you can quickly trim off the extra by clicking and dragging to select the part you don't want. Then just press the delete button.
To split or cut a clip in two you can place the marker where you want to split it, right click the clip, and select Split Clip.
STEP 6
As you import more audio clips you may notice it's hard to see them. Go to Edit>Preferences select Tracks and check the Auto-fit track height.
STEP 7
Since we're doing music you'll also need to turn on snapping. Look at the bottom of your screen and check the Snap box. Then set the timing to 1/64.
STEP 8
Now select your imported audio and copy and paste it to start creating a beat. Place how ever many you want but don't go past the 2 at the top of the timeline. The 2 starts a new measure.
The speed of your beat will depend on how many times you repeat the audio clip within the measure. The more clips you place between the 1 and 2 the faster it will be.
STEP 9
Import your other sounds and continue copying and pasting until you have a beat. Remember to stay within the 1 and the 2 on your timeline.
STEP 10
When you've finished your beat you can copy and paste all your clips to make it longer. It should repeat 4 times.
Just click and drag from the bottom (or top) of timeline to select everything.
If done correctly all your clips and tracks will be highlighted.
Copy with Ctrl+C, click on the 2 on your timeline and press Ctrl+V to paste. If you did it correctly all your clips will be pasted right into place. If it adds extra tracks you did it wrong. Just press Ctrl+Z to undo it and try again!
STEP 11
When you're done first save your project to your folder. This will let you return to edit the project if you need to.
STEP 12
After saving your project it's time to export an audio file. Go to File>Export Audio.
Name it an appropriate name.
Select Browse and choose your folder.
Choose MP3 from the Format menu.
The rest of the settings you can leave.
Click Export
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