First make sure your microphone volume in Audacity is set to 1.0. Then click Record (i.e. the red circle button) and begin speaking inyour normal voice for a few seconds, and then click Stop (i.e. theyellow square button).

In some cases, the Audacity not recording problem is caused by that Audacity is configured to use a sample rate or audio host. You can try adjusting the audio host and sample rate to bring the Audacity audio recording feature back to normal condition. The default audio host for Audacity is MME (Multimedia Extensions). Apr 15, 2021 This article is for Audacity 1.2.6 or later Audacity is a free recording program capable of a lot of things. You can do anything from recording a song to recording lines for a cartoon. If you've written a song, and need an easy way to record it, this article will tell you how to record your song with Audacity, and give it a professional finish. Nov 24, 2019 Audacity is a free, easy-to-use and multilingual audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems.

Look at the Waveform Display for theaudio track you just created (see image below). The Vertical Ruler tothe left of the Waveform Display provides your with a guide to theaudio levels. Try to keep your recording levels between 0.5 and -0.5,averaging around 0.3 to -0.3. It is OK to have a few spikes go outsidethe 0.5 to -0.5 range, but avoid having any go beyond the 1.0 to -1.0range, as this will generate distortion (see image):

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If your Sound Level is too Low

Ifyou have increased your volume in Audacity to the maximum and still arenot getting an acceptable sound level in your recording, you may needto either increase the volume settings or turn on the 'Mic Boost'switch in your Windows Master Volume Control utility. This utilitylocated in the Start>All Programs>Accessories>Entertainmentmenu, and is called 'Volume Control'.

The Windows Master VolumeControl utility controls the volume settings for many things on yourPC. Scan across the window and look for your Microphone volume controlslider.

If yourMicrophone volume control is not showing up in the 'Master Volume'window, click Options>Properties, and select Adjust volume for'Playback' button and select the Microphone box in the 'Show thefollowing volume controls:' selection list. Click OK. Ifyour Advanced button is not showing up under your Microphone VolumeControl, click the Options>Advanced Controls selection.

Why Is My Audacity Not Recording

Click the 'Advanced' button under the Microphone Volume Control (see image below):

and then select the '1 Mic Boost' box (see image below):

Hit the ctrl-z key in Audacity (to 'undo' your previous recording) and try recording again.

If your Sound Level is too High

Ifthe waveform display on your track beyond the 1.0 to -1.0 range (i.e.the waveforms have been clipped off at the top or bottom) your volumeis too high. Reduce it with Audacity's microphone volume control, andhit ctrl-z in Audacity and try again. It is better to err on the sideof having a lower volume level from a speech recognition perspective -clipped speech sounds distorted.

Once you are satisfied thatthe volume is acceptable, try playing the file back by clicking Play(i.e. the green triangle button) in Audacity. You will likely need toadjust the Master Volume for your speakers in your Windows 'MasterVolume' utility in your Volume Control utility (see image above).

Youneed to hear your utterances after each recording to make sure theysound OK (i.e. to make sure there are no non-speech noises - likebreathing noises). Make sure that your speakers are turned off whenyou are recording. Hit ctrl-z in Audacity to remove the track you justcreated.

Audacity doesn’t record when it worked correctly before

Question:

I used your advice to use Audicity. I copied 15 tapes successfully then rebooted my computer. I could not get Audicity to record again.

Answer:

So you’ve already used Audacity, correct? You were able to use it many times to record, then after one reboot, Audacity won’t record any more?

Audacity Not Recording Audio

The suggestions I have depend on what the actual symptoms are:

Is Audacity simply not running? As in, you start the Audacity program and it immediately crashes? If so, then I’d simply uninstall and reinstall Audacity – make sure you have the latest version (and not the “beta version”) from the Audacity website.

If the problem is that Audacity runs (you can start the program), but doesn’t record, I need to know what happens when you try the recording process. If it’s recording a track that turns out to be blank, then check your cabling and your recording device settings in Audacity (Edit menu -> Preferences -> Device) and make sure it’s recording from the correct input.

Audacity Not Recording Help

Worst case, if you still can’t get Audacity to record based on what I said above, you need to check every component in the recording chain and see what’s failing. I assume you’ve got something like this:

Cassette player headphone jack —> audio cable —> computer sound card MIC / AUX input —-> Audacity

Check each one:

• Cassette: Is the cassette player correctly playing audio through the output jack? Stick a pair of headphones in the jack and verify you hear it playing.
• Audio cable: Use a different audio cable, if available (this is probably not the problem, since it’s worked so often before).
• Computer sound card input: Depending on your operating system, you don’t have to use Audacity – Windows XP and Vista (and earlier versions also, I think) have a program that comes with Windows called “Sound Recorder”. It’s a very simple audio recording program. Get the connections hooked up, press play on your cassette player, and record on this program. If it doesn’t record, you may have problems with the sound card – check the recording levels in the Windows settings.
• Audacity: If it does record audio using a non-Audacity tool, you may have problems with the Audacity recording settings, or there’s something wrong with Audacity itself. Check the recording settings or uninstall / reinstall Audacity.

This should give you enough information to help troubleshoot why Audacity doesn’t record. Good luck!

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