Audacity Free Open Source Audio Editor

Audacity is an open source program that allows you to record from a microphone or to alter and edit sound files. It is available from sourceforge.net and has been one of that group's most successful programs. Like a lot of open source programs, there is a minor complication in setting it up; you have to download not just the program but also a file called "LAME" which the website has a link for. Audacity works without the LAME file but some of its special features don't. For example, the first time you convert an Audacity file to mp3, the program will ask you to locate the LAME file. After that, there is no problem.

There are two versions of Audacity: a "stable" one and a "beta." Both work well; the beta has a few more features. The features of Audacity are basically intuitive and easily figured out. You can listen to each track by itself or any combination of tracks. You can also select any portion of one or more tracks and apply a number of special effects. If you have some music that is too fast, you can use the special effects to slow it down. The special effects will also allow you to change the key (pitch) of the music. You can magnify the wave patterns so you can edit at a very fine level. Once you get Audacity and LAME downloaded and installed, a world of possibilities opens up. For example, if you like to play an instrument or sing, you can record yourself. If you don't have another musician to work with, you can record one track of yourself doing one thing and then another track of you doing something different. Turn this into an mp3 and you can share it via a podcast. Another possibility is to use Audacity to create radio shows. You can easily find wav files of sound effects that can be put into your radio show.

Also, because it is easy to edit in Audacity, if you mess up a piece of the show, you can easily fix it. If you are considering spending some time learning about how to use a sound recording program, Audacity is a great place to start because it does not require a large investment in functionality you may decide you don't really want. In fact, you might find that once you start using Audacity you won't be tempted to spend lots of money on a commercial program.