How to Add Vocal Samples to Audacity
Audacity is an open-source, cross-platform digital audio editing application with a feature set comparable to many retail applications. Often used for podcasting, recording gameplay voiceovers and isolating the vocals on music tracks, Audacity is also sometimes used to create the raw material for audio loops and vocal samples. Once created, this material is exported to a loop production application, such as Propellerhead's ReCycle, for further editing. You can manipulate vocal samples in a multitude of ways using Audacity's editing functions.
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Instructions
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Open Audacity. The application loads, displaying a blank project screen.
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Import the first vocal sample. Click "File" and select "Open" from the drop-down menu. A file selection dialog box appears. Navigate to the first vocal sample in the file browser and double click it. Audacity loads the sample, presenting it as a waveform image on the track.
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Load a second sample. Click "Project" and select "Import Audio" from the drop-down menu. Locate the sample in the file browser dialog and double click it. Audacity loads the sample on a second track beneath the first. Repeat this step for each vocal sample you want to add to the project. Each one is placed on a new track.
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Use Audacity's editing functions to cut and paste samples, or sections of samples, between tracks. For example, if you want to create a single audio file containing all the samples in sequence for later editing in ReCycle or Apple Loops Utility, cut and paste each sample onto a single track. Most of Audacity's editing functions are represented by icons in the toolbar. When you're cutting and pasting, Audacity functions in a similar manner to a text editor: it inserts the clipboard information at the point you choose, pushing subsequent information on that track forward instead of pasting over it.
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Tips & Warnings
Pay attention to the file format of the samples you're using. Audacity can import most standard formats, but if you're planning to export the results to another application, you need to know which formats that application can interpret and use.
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