a. Beforebeginningtheinterview,itwouldbebeneficialtotestthemicrophoneswith
thenarrator(usingtheprocedureoutlinedinthestepsabove).Thishasthe
doublebenefitofensuringtheequipmentworksandconfirmingthatthenarrator
isaudibleintherecording.
5. Oncethelevelsarewithinanacceptablerange,clicktherecordbutton(Shift+R)to
beginrecording.
a. Pausingorstoppingtherecordingisnotrecommended,especiallysinceitis
relativelyeasytoeditarecordingafterthefact.Iftherecordingisstoppedand
restarted,Audacitymaybeginanewaudiotrackbelowthepreviousone.This
canbeavoidedbyplacingthecursorattheendofthepreviousrecording,which
startthenextrecordingatthatlocation.
6. Clickonthestopbuttonorpressthespacebartoendtherecording.
a. Replayingaportionoftherecordingwillgiveyouanopportunitytoensurethat
thesoundqualityisadequate.
7. SaveeachinterviewasanAudacityprojectusingthedateofrecordingandthe
narrator’sname.
a. AudacitysavefilesincludeanAudacityProjectFile(.aup)andacorresponding
folderwiththecomponentsegmentsoftherecording.Besuretoincludethedata
folderifyouarecopyingthissavefiletoanotherlocation.
ProcessingtheRecording
1. OpentheAudacityProjectFilethatyousavedafterconductingthe
recording.
2. Clickonthedropdownmenunextto“AudioTrack”intheupperleftcornerof
therecordingtrackandselect“SplitStereotoMono.”
a. Thiswillcreatetwoseparateaudiotracks—oneforthenarratorandtheotherfor
theinterviewer.Bymakingeachtrackmono,themicrophoneswillnotbepanned
toRandLastheyareintheoriginalrecording.Thiswillalsoallowforadjusting
thevolumeofthenarratorandinterviewerindependently.
3. Beforeeditingthefileanyfurther,youwillneedtoexportamaster/archivalversionofthe
file.Thiswillmaintaintheintegrityoftheoriginalrecording,whiletheaccesscopythat
willbeproducedlatercanbeeditedforclarity.