podcasting

Once your microphone, track, and levels are set, you are almost ready to record. Before you record, familiarize yourself with the script. Mark words that you want to emphasize (referred to as the "operative words"). Rehearse the script out loud a couple of times. Change words and phrases that don't read smoothly.

Now that the setup is complete and the script is ready, make sure your narration track is selected by clicking the track name or track icon and verify the record button is red (simply click the button if it is not red).

Press the large red Record button to the left of the playback controls or use the keyboard shortcut: r. Start speaking. The Record button will glow red and you will see the sound waves of your voice appear, in red, on the selected track. Press the Spacebar to stop recording and stop the playhead.

If you are under a time deadline, you may only have time for one take. If you have time to clean up your narration, you have options.

If you don't like a portion of your recording, you don't have to start over from the beginning—you can simply move the playhead to where you would like to start re-recording and press the r key. The new recording will overwrite the old one on the same track.

You can also put the playhead at the end of the track and record an entire or partial second (or third) take. Then you can copy portions of the new take that are better and insert the new sections. 

Basic editing is covered covered in the next section. 

Save your project! Choose File>Save in the menu or press Command-s on the keyboard. Elementary editing techniques are covered next.