The Audio Studio at the DMC is an ideal place to record voiceover narrations or interviews. The studio is equipped with an iMac running Audacity, an Apogee Duet interface, and two Shure SM58 microphones labeled as MIC1/IN1 and MIC2/IN2 respectively.
Please open Audacity from 
from the dock and follow the instruction below to record your audio.
- Using Duet interface control:
- There are two input and two output options on the Apogee duet interface: Mic input 1 (IN1), Mic input 2 (IN2), Duet USB Speaker output
, Due USB headphone output 
. - To switch between these options, press down the selection wheel repeatedly until your desired input or output is highlighted.
- There are two input and two output options on the Apogee duet interface: Mic input 1 (IN1), Mic input 2 (IN2), Duet USB Speaker output
- Adjust input level:
- Speak to the mic at the level you are wishing to record at;
- Observe the audio meter on the Apogee interface, adjust the Mic input level by turning the wheel clockwise to increase or counter-clockwise to decrease;
- Make sure the bar only goes up about ¾ of the way. If it touches the red square, your mic volume is too high. The input levels should barely be into the yellow part of the bar.
- Check Audacity settings
In Audacity make sure the following options are set
- Output –
- Choose “Built-In Output” for the built-in iMac speakers, or
- Choose “Duet USB” if you wish to use headphones plugged into Apogee Interface
- Choose “Duet USB” as audio input.
- Channels -
- Choose “2 (Stereo) Recording Channels” when using both mics (MIC1/IN1 for left channel, MIC2/IN2 for right channel). Use this setting to record interviews, conversations, or collage play.
- Choose “Mono recording channel” when recording solo. The primary mic you chose in step 1 will be used to record solo voice.
- Output –
- Monitor recording level in Audacity:
- Click the Microphone icon to monitor your input level. Talk into the microphones again at the level and distance from them that you will be recording at.
- You should try and keep your levels around -12 for best results. If your levels are too high or low in Audacity, refer to step 2 to fine-tune the microphone levels on the Duet interface.
- Start to record with Audacity
- To start recording, press the “R” key on the keyboard or the red circle up near the top left corner. You should see sound waves forming on the tracks as you talk.
- To stop recording, press the space bar or click the square stop button on the top.
- To resume recording at the end of your existing track, hold down “shift” and press “r” or “shift” and click the red record circle to resume recording. If you do not hold down shift it will begin recording on a new track.
- To playback your recording, press the “spacebar” or click the play arrow up near the top left corner.
- To delete a recording, click and highlight the area you wish to delete, or double-click to select the whole recording. Press the “delete” key on the keyboard.
- To start recording, press the “R” key on the keyboard or the red circle up near the top left corner. You should see sound waves forming on the tracks as you talk.
- Export your recording
- Go to File>Export Audio
- Choose a name to save it as and a destination
- Format:
- Choose WAV 16 bit or AIFF 16 bit for audio CD quality or archival purpose.
- Choose MP3 for smaller file size.
- Click “Save”