Audacity is probably one of the most well known and most popular open source applications. I thought seriously about just not posting about it, but recently used it to do some fun things with capturing old vinyl records to my computer and thought I should at least put a plug in while I was thinking about it. Audacity is an audio editor and recorder that runs on the three major platforms, Windows, Macintosh and Linux. It is simple to use for basic things and can be as complex as you want it to be. In my most recent use of Audacity, I was digging through my many boxes of old vinyl LPs (records, or big black CDs as my children once called them) and found some old 78s from the early 1950s. My turn table only has settings for 33 and 45 revolutions per minute. The LP that interested me was the classic children's story "Sleeping Beauty." This particular version included the "Sleeping Beauty" score by Tchaikovsky. I wanted to see if I could listen to it and get it in digital format so I could play it for my neices and nephews.

I plugged he turntable into my computer and fired up Audacity. I then carefully placed side one of the first 78 LP on the turntable and kicked the speed up to 45 rpm, hit the play button in Audacity, lowered the needle to the LP and began recording side one. It was interesting listening to the narrator speak in "slow motion. "After a few minutes the LP was finished and I could now begin the process in Audacity. The first thing I did was to select the entire track and then select the "Change speed" option in the effects menu. This particular effect gives you the option of selecting the starting speed and then the speed that you want to change it to. I clicked "OK" and presto, I now had a narrator that was completely normal. Of course the recording was of pretty bad quality, as the LP hadn't had the best of care over the years (no it wasn't mine, it belonged to my mother.) So, for those of you old enough to remember listening to LPs, the recording was full of pops and hiss from the scratches in the vinyl.

Next I experimented with the "Click removal" effect to see if I could remove some of the pops. This was very unscientific, as I just played with the settings until I found the balance I was looking for that didn't degrade the sound too much but removed a fair amount of the pops and clicks. It actually did a pretty good job of removing most of the real bad pops. (Listen to a short  excerp.)

So, this is the reason I had to write about Audacity. It is kind of the "Swiss Army Knife" for audio recording and editing in the open source world. So let me list a few more examples of how Audacity could be used in the classroom or elsewhere for that matter. 

• My daughter and her boyfriend created a project for their AP Government class. They had to take a historical event/person and write a Christmas carol using the description of the event. They took Audacity and created a 4 part carol sung to "Carol of the Bells" with the lyrics talking about Vladimir Putin. They then added the audio file to a video editor and created a music video for their carol. The carol was a huge hit with the class and judges when contest day arrived.
• Make CDs that have three out of four parts for music students allowing them to listen and play along on the missing part. This is a great way to get students involved in small ensemble playing.
• The ever popular podcast. Many classrooms are now using audacity to record and edit podcasts about a variety of subjects.
• Audio books - This has been very popular in some schools where older students read the books aloud so that younger students can listen and read along. This is a great confidence builder for the kids doing the recordings and a good tool for new readers.
• Recording students as they read and let them listen to themselves after they have read the book.
• Recording stories that students have written for podcast material.
• Use it will language students to record themselves and play back.
• Language teachers can use it to record phrases that could be posted on their Moodle sites.
• Recording playing tests for both instrumental and vocal students

Do you have a favorite use for Audacity? If so, please feel free to comment on this post with your ideas.