Audacity is a great free tool for recording and editing audio. One of the great features of this program is the ability to insert sound files from your computer into your project. However, what if you want to add a sound that you can’t download? Or if you just want to add a short snippet of a sound and don’t want to download a large file just to use a small piece? In these situations and others, you can use a piece of software called Soundflower to record the audio from your computer in Audacity. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to use Soundflower to record computer audio. (I’d like to mention that these instructions are for MacOS, I am not sure if this trick works with Windows or not.)
1. Download Soundflower
Soundflower is free to download and available at https://soundflower.en.softonic.com/mac. What this program essentially does is allows your computer to send audio from the sound card to an application rather than to a speaker. In this case, that application is Audacity.
2. Set audio output to Soundflower (2ch)
To access audio settings, click on the System Preferences icon on the dock and then click Sound. Once you’re in the sound settings, go to the Output tab and select Soundflower (2ch). This setting means that your computer’s audio is being sent to Soundflower instead of your speakers or headphones, and “2ch” means you’re working with 2-channel stereo audio, which is what you’ll want for audacity.
Also important to note: under the Sound Effects tab, be sure to set sound effects to use a setting other than Soundflower, so that notifications and other system sounds do not interfere with your recording.
3. Set Audacity to receive input audio from Soundflower
Now that your computer is sending audio to Soundflower, you’ll need to set Audacity to be able to hear it. This can be accomlished by selecting Soundflower (2ch) from the “input” drop-down menu.
4. Start Recording
Everything is now set up to record your computer’s audio output with Audacity. All you’ll have to do is play your desired audio on the computer and hit record on Audacity. Remember when you’re done to set your audio settings back to default, or else you might be left wondering why your speakers aren’t working later.
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