Audacity is a free, open-source program for recording and editing audio. It’s available for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. For classroom podcasting projects or other classroom audio recording projects, it is hard to beat Audacity. The only trouble is that it can feel a bit overwhelming the first time that you open it up on your desktop. Fortunately, there is no shortage of YouTube videos that will show you everything you need to know and then some.

One of the better sources of Audacity tutorials for beginners is Mike Russell’s YouTube channel. Mike is a professional voice-over artist who uses his YouTube channel to teach others how to make their spoken audio sound better. On his channel you can find this playlist of seventeen Audacity tutorials for beginners. The playlist covers everything from downloading and installing Audacity to isolating vocals to removing background noise from your tracks. I’ve embedded his How to Record In Audacity tutorial below.