Pitch change

I am having trouble making the pitch-change stay where I set it. This is the procedure I am using: I start the monitor. set the levels, then hit start on my tape deck while simultaneously hitting the record on Audacity. Then I stop both tape and the Audacity stop button. I go to Effects, and on the drop-down choose Pitch Change, determine the key of the song, lower the key to fit my vocal range, then go back to record and “Play” on the tape deck. Ok, is the sound on the monitor going to reflect the key change I have chosen, or will the key change only be present after I have burned the song onto CD? I cannot afford to waste discs with trial. Red Baron

Effects in Audacity are not “real time” effects. They do not change the audio while you are recording. Audacity effects need to be applied to the Audio after the recording is done and after you have pressed Stop.