How to Make MP3 Songs

The proliferation of lower-cost recording equipment has made it easy to record music at home. Record your own song and convert it to MP3 using free downloadable audio recording and editing software.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Recording console
• Microphone
• Computer audio program
• Media player, such as iTunes or Foobar
• LAME MP3 encoder

Record the Song

1. Connect your microphone to your recording equipment or computer. ProTools is the industry-standard software for professional recordings. Audacity is free, open-source software that allows for multitrack recording on your computer.

2. Install and configure your audio software to recognize your sound card and microphone. Record your song. Depending on your recording setup and the instruments you need to record, you may wish to record more than one track. If you have recorded your song on an external audio recorder, use the headphone jack or other output jack to input the sound into your computer.

3. Mix the recorded tracks using your multitrack recording software. Check the levels to make sure everything is balanced the way you like it. Have a friend listen to the song for a second opinion on the volume levels.

4. Output the recorded track. In ProTools, the output function is "Bounce." Output the track to a .wav file type. Remember where you put the file, because you will need to use the file later to convert it to MP3.

Converting to MP3

5. Download and access a music playing program with the ability to convert audio files. iTunes can switch files to MP3. Foobar is a free program that can convert audio files to MP3. Foobar is a smaller program, which is better for faster loading.

6. Get an encoder file, if needed. To convert audio files to MP3 in Foobar, you need to download lame.exe. Lame.exe is a free encoder that will convert an audio file's format. Lame.exe can be downloaded from Sourceforce. See Resources for download links for Foobar and lame.exe. Remember where you have saved your lame.exe, because you will need it for the next step.

7. Load your original .wav audio file into Foobar2000. Using your mouse, select the file, then right-click. In the right-click menu, select "convert to." A pop-up will ask you what file format to save the converted audio file in. Choose MP3.

8. Locate your encoder. After choosing MP3 as the audio file format for your conversion, Foobar will ask you to locate lame.exe. Locate lame.exe in the location where you downloaded it earlier, then choose where to save your new MP3 file.

9. Leave Foobar open while the file conversion is completed. Foobar will convert your audio file into a new MP3 file, while the original will stay as it is. Listen to your new MP3 song to make sure it plays without any errors.

Tips & Warnings

• To make sure that your song is a good volume range for audio play, compare its volume to another track played on the same player.
• If you plan to release your track publicly, make sure you have permission for any samples you might have borrowed from other artists and properly credit the artists whose work you used.

References

• Lame.exe Encoder Information
• Foobar 2000
• Audacity Free Audio Program

Resources

• Lame.exe Download
• Download Foobar2000