How to Record Music From a Video
- 1). Download the latest stable version of the Audacity program and install it to your computer (see Resource 1). Make sure you choose the one that fits your operating system requirements.
- 2). Download the "LAME MP3 Encoder" if you would like to save your audio files as MP3s (see Resource 2). Install the encoder, following the setup prompts and save the file in "C:\Program Files\Lame for Audacity" as suggested by setup.
- 3). Open Audacity and you will see a drop down box on the screen with an option for "Stereo Mix" or "Microphone." Choose the "Stereo Mix" option.
- 4). Eliminate any source of sound coming from your computer other than the video. Audacity will record every noise your computer makes, including clicks. To be safe, it's best to close all other websites and programs.
- 5). Prepare your video. If it is streaming, make sure it is fully loaded so there will not be any glitches in your audio.
- 6). Test run both Audacity and the video, to make sure they work together and to adjust the settings. Press the red circle button in Audacity to start recording and press play on the video as soon as possible. Adjust the volume so that the loudest moments of the video, which are measured by the blue spikes, are within the top and bottom range of recording (which is 1.0 and -1.0).
- 7). Create a new file in Audacity, start the video over again and record it. Stop the recording by pressing the yellow square button when the video is done.
- 8). Edit the music file in Audacity. There will be space at the beginning and end of the file where you took time to switch between programs. This will appear as a flat blue line. Click and drag your mouse from the beginning of the flat lines to the end of them. Press the button with the scissors on it to cut these portions.
- 9). Export and save your file as an MP3 by clicking on "File" and choosing "Export as MP3... ." The first time you do this, the program will ask you to find the "lame_enc.dll" file. Navigate to where you saved the encoder and click on this file to locate it for Audacity. Now save your file as an MP3 in any folder you wish.