changing the speed of a recording

[jennyb57]

I am a new user of audacity (1.2.6.exe).
I use windows XP home edition.
I would like to know how to change the speed of a recording, ie to slow it down. I have a transcript of a (research interview I conducted) which I need to transcribe/type and am planning to use audacity.
thanks jenny b

[waxcylinder]

jenny,

just select the portion of audio you want to slow down (CTRL+A for the whole project) and use Effect>Change Speed.

WC

[jennyb57]

Hi WC
thanks for your prompt reply. i tried that by still no joy. Okay I get how to select all and go to effect, however 'change speed' is not bolded/highlighted, as an option to use? further instructions please
thanks
Jenny

[alatham]

Okay I get how to select all and go to effect, however 'change speed' is not bolded/highlighted

Actually, that's all you need to do. Once a piece of audio is highlighted you should be able to apply any effect to it.

I recently read a post where a user was unable to apply effects after using the [ctrl]+a shortcut, but was able to highlight the audio normally and everything worked. But this was an isolated case and nobody has been able to recreate it.

Please try highlighting the audio in the same way you would highlight text in a text editor. That is, left click and drag using the default tool (the cursor will look like a capital 'i'). Now you should definitely be able to apply an effect.

[jennyb57]

Thanks alatham for your suggestion - that worked! now my next question: can anyone recommend a good speed, tempo and pitch. I am needing to slow down a conversation recording so that it is at a typeable speed (i am a touch-typist at least).
thanks
jennyb57

[steve]

Don't try to slow it down too much, or it will be difficult to understand.

Try using "Change Tempo" and set it to -25 (minus 25)

If you need to slow it down more than this, you may be better just using the "P" key to Pause the playback (start playback, press the "P" key to Pause, press "P" again to resume playback....)

[waxcylinder]

I am needing to slow down a conversation recording so that it is at a typeable speed (i am a touch-typist at least).

Jenny,

you may want to ty the Beta version of Audacity - the latest release is actually pretty stable. It has a new feature which could be of good use to you for this application. There is a new toolbar called the "Transcription Toolbar" - it enables you to speed up or slow down the playback, without affecting the recording.

Be aware that you can have 1.2 and 1.3 on the same PC - but don't try to run them both at once. And be very aware that projects created in 1.2 can be opened in 1.3 (Audacity will warn you - but the project should open) - BUT once a file has been opened or created in 1.3 it can never be re-opened in 1.2.

WC