Using “Audacity” to record directly into your PC or MAC.

1.  You will need to download and install Audacity and the “Lame mp3 encoder.”  This allows you to use Audacity to export or convert audio files into an mp3 format.  Directions for download and installation are on the Audacity website.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

2.  After the program is downloaded, unzip and save the “Lame encoder.dll” on your computer.  (Remember the directory in which you placed it!)

3.  Plug in a microphone to the port on your computer (red input jack) to record.  (Or your computer may have an internal microphone).

4.  Click “RECORD” and talk into the microphone; then click “STOP” when finished.

6.  Go to “effects” to change volume – click “normalize.”

7.  The file can be exported as either a WAV file (to burn a CD) or as an mp3 (to put on an iPod).  It will use LAME to convert to a "WAV" format.