On some occasions we may be interested in recording the sound that is emitted from the speakers of our Windows computer, for example, if we want to record our own voice or if we want to capture the sound that we are listening to from a website or from a music program. For this, no special equipment is necessary and it is something that we can easily do with Audacity , one of the best free programs with which to record and edit audio.
What is Audacity and what is it for?
Audacity is a completely free open source multitrack audio editor and recorder in Spanish, which we can download from this link . It is a program with which we can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, as well as record the reproduction that is playing through the speakers of our Windows computer. It can also be used to convert tapes and records to digital recordings or CDs.
Since we are talking about multitrack recording software, Audacity can be considered to perform home recording studio functions . Although it does not have the functionalities and power of commercial programs such as Pro Tools or FL Studio, it is a useful tool for users who decide to start in the world of multitrack recording.
The app supports AC3, M4A / M4R (AAC), WMA, as well as other formats. With it it is possible to cut, copy, splice or mix all kinds of sound together. It includes numerous effects such as changing the speed or pitch of a recording. In addition, we can edit our sound files in WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP2, MP3 or Ogg Vorbis format, and export our recordings, including several files at once.
Audacity supports 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit , converting frequencies through high-quality sampling and screening. It has support for LADSPA, LV2, VST, Audio Unit and Nyquist effects plugins. Nyquist effects can be easily modified in a text editor or we can even write our own element.
How to record sound from speakers with Audacity
To record the sound of our computer with Audacity, the first thing we must do is activate the “Stereo Mix” , which will allow us to collect the audio that is transmitted through the sound card of our equipment. To do this, we will write “sound” in the start menu and the “Sound configuration” will appear. Once here, we must click on “Manage sound devices”. From here we can enable “Stereo Mix”.
Now we will proceed to run Audacity and its main menu will appear with a very simple and somewhat retro interface. Here we must go to the microphone section, open the menu and select “Stereo Mix” . Just to the right we should notice that 2 recording channels are selected, so that we can record in stereo. To the left of the sound we will change the main source of MME to “Windows DirectSound” .
The only thing we have left is to start recording is to record the sound of the system by pressing the Record button. Then the sound will start recording from Windows. Once the recording is finished we can export the result. To do this, click on File> Export and select the format in which we want it to be recorded (MP3, OGG, WAV). Once selected, we give it to save and a menu will appear so that we can edit the metadata tag (Artist, Track name, Album Title, Track number, Year, Genres and comments).
On the other hand, we have the option of saving the audio itself as a project to be able to open it later and continue working with it, either to edit it or add effects. In this case, to save the file that we have created we must follow the path “Files> Save project”. Here we can save the file with the name we want. It also incorporates the possibility of “Save a lossless copy of the project” or “Save a compressed copy of the project”.
With Audacity we can also edit the audios we record. For this we can select a fragment of the recording with the mouse by dragging from one point to another that will appear as shading on the screen. Now we can play with this selected fragment, being able to cut, copy or paste. For this we can use the keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl + X to cut, Ctrl + C to copy and Ctrl + V to paste) or by selecting them from the Edit menu at the top of the screen.
If we want to make some more advanced adjustments than those offered by the Edit function, we can choose to add Effects . This feature is also at the top of the menu. Here, we will find a selection of options with which we can add effects to our sound such as: Speed change, Noise reduction, Reverse, Bass and treble, distortion, graphic equalizer, Repeat, Repair, Compressor, Echo, among others.
