Welcome to the first instalment of an instructional series about the audio editing and recording software Audacity.
Audacity is a free and open source application that can run on any operating system. The fact that it is free, is no suggestion that it is in any way substandard: the project is maintained and updated by a large team of talented volunteers and is used by many businesses, musicians, universities and professional pod-casters. Some of its key feature include multi-track recording and a wide range of effects, including noise-reduction, equalisation and reverb.
If you do not already have a copy it can be download here from audacityteam.org
After downloading, you will find the installer file in your downloads folder or wherever you download your files.
On the window which appears next, click install and then launch.
You will be presented with a window like this
Whether you disable UUD is up to you. I leave it as is, because I feel it helps a worthy cause.
Next you will be offered cloud storage. Again this is up to you. I prefer to store my files locally, which you achieve simply by clicking continue.
Now you will have opened a blank Audacity workspace. You can access Audacity at any time via the MuseHub application in your start menu (Windows) and clicking launch. You may want to pin the Audacity icon to your task bar for convenience.
Thank you for your time. Next, I will be taking a look at the various controls and ways to add and edit audio to the workspace
KYLE
31.08.25.
As a 25-year power user of Audacity (and Cool Edit Pro before it) I’m looking forward to this series. There’s not much it can’t do.
In fact working with it has given me new respect for Rudy Van Gelder, George Martin and Teo Macero for what they were able to accomplish without such tools.
Thank you Robert. It certainly is a remarkable bit of kit. I do not have anywhere near the experience that you do, so don’t expect to learn very much, as this is primarily an introduction. I may even ask you for some help. Looking forward to reading your comments.
Kyle