Kickstart your audio editing or take your podcasting skills to the next level
What’s it about?
Good quality audio can make your recordings stand out from the crowd. Whether you are podcasting, creating audio for social media or the internet, good audio editing skills are a wonderful way to ensure your content shines.
This half-day workshop is aimed at those who have little or no previous experience of audio editing software, or those who have completed a podcasting course such as the NUJ’s Launch Your Podcast in a Day.
During a morning of hands- on learning from home, you will learn all you need to edit your podcast using Audacity, the number one free audio editor for Mac and PC. The workshop will cover essentials such as importing, trimming and exporting audio in the optimum format for podcasts, but go further to explore multi-track editing, effects and filters that will make your audio files pop.
The learning applies primarily to podcasts, but is also of value to any kind of audio editing. A PDF toolkit will be shared on the day, with links to tutorials and other resources.
Who’s it for?
The workshop is suitable for those who who want to learn the basics of audio editing with a voice-based podcast in mind, or who have already completed the NUJ Training Wales Launch Your Podcast in a Day workshop. Please note it is a beginner standard workshop.
What will I learn?
This hands-on workshop will teach you how to:
- Navigate and operate the Audacity interface with confidence, including shortcuts
- Edit and trim voice and music files quickly and efficiently
- Record audio directly into Audacity, including microphone and recording tips
- Apply audio filters and effects to improve audio quality, including EQ, normalisation and noise reduction
- Source and edit music that may legally be used in podcasts
- Mix music and voice to create professional-sounding intros and outros
- Use audio excerpts to promote your podcast on social media
- Apply the recommended audio output settings used for podcasting
What equipment will I need?
- Laptop or desktop computer (PC or Mac. Not Chromebook) with reliable internet connection
- Free account with Zoom (zoom.com), with free Zoom application installed on your computer
- Audacity software downloaded and installed from audacityteam.org
- Email access for file transfers (if required)
- Optional: Headphones, earbuds and microphone are not essential for this workshop, but participants are welcome to use them if available
Learners will be sent a link to a pre-course instruction video, which explains the process of downloading Audacity and becoming familiar with the basic controls.