If you are interested in starting a podcast or you already have one, then you have probably heard of Audacity. It is an audio recording and editing software that is very popular with podcasters.
If you have never used Audacity before then you might need to invest in an online course to show you how. But which online podcasting courses are worth the money and which ones are a waste of time?
We have put together this review of ‘Audacity Bootcamp: Beginner To Advanced’ to help you understand whether this course is the right one to teach you how to use the software.
Keep reading to find out more, read our Audacity review to find out more about the software.
About The Course
‘Audacity Bootcamp: Beginner To Advanced’ is an online course available on Udemy.com. This course will teach you more than just the basics of the Audacity software.
You will learn how to become confident and proficient with Audacity so that you can record and edit top quality audio for your podcast and other projects.
This course offers advice that is specific to podcast creation, such as how to achieve proper loudness standards.
It will also show you how to use the various plugins that are on offer with Audacity software.
This course can be purchased for a one-off price with a 30 day money back guarantee.
About The Creator
This course was created by Mike Adams. He has a lot of experience hosting, editing and producing podcasts using Audacity software.
He is also a certified Audacity professional. He is a highly rated Udemy instructor and is very good at making his students feel confident and capable by teaching them the relevant skills and knowledge that they need to succeed.
What To Expect From The Course
If you purchase this course, what can you expect? What content will you learn?
Course Overview
This course has just over 7 hours of video content. It is made up of 61 lectures split into 4 sections. Upon completion of the course you will receive an online certification.
This is a very in depth course with a lot of information to absorb. You can complete it at your own pace.
Course Structure
This course is made up of four sections, with multiple lectures in each section.
Beginning Audacity Bootcamp
This is the first section of the course. There are a total of 18 lectures totalling 1 hour and 45 minutes of teaching time. It introduces you to the course and what you can expect from the first section.
It then shows you how to download the Audacity software and gives you some basic information about the userface.
One of the longer lectures in this section is about how to record audio.
You then have a series of short lectures about keyboard shortcuts, different functions on the toolbar, creating projects, selecting tracks, and some of the more basic elements of using the software.
Everything covered in this first section of the course is basically a beginners guide to using Audacity.
If you have already used the software then you may already be familiar with the content of these lessons, but it can still be useful to go over it again to refresh your memory and make sure you are using the software correctly.
Intermediate Audacity Bootcamp
As the name suggests, this section steps it up a gear and moves on to some more intermediate functions of the software.
It is made up of 14 lectures and a total of 1 hour and 53 minutes of teaching time.
After a brief introduction to section two, you will learn about importing audio and when to use stereo audio and when to use mono audio.
You then move onto various lectures in audio editing, such as volume distortion, fade in and fade out, how to reduce breath sounds, and much more.
At the end of this section you will have a much better understanding of how to edit audio.
Advanced Audacity Bootcamp
The third section of the course is the longest at 2 hours and 37 minutes. It is made up of 22 lectures which cover the more advanced aspects of the software.
In this section you will learn more techniques for editing audio – the auto-duck effect, graphic equalizing, voice frequency, bass and treble, high pass and low pass filters, compression, normalization and much more.
This section also covers the different plug-ins that are available with the Audacity software and how to use them.
By the time you finish this section you will have a lot more in-depth knowledge of Audacity and how to edit professional audio. This is invaluable information when it comes to making a podcast.
Updates
The final section of this course is an updates section. This is where the teacher has returned and added more content to keep up with software updates.
This is excellent as it means that the course is up to date. This section is made up of 7 lectures and takes a total of 56 minutes to get through.
Tone & Pace
This is quite a heavy course with a lot of technical information to convey. It is not always delivered in the most succinct way, but it is very detailed which is good.
You might need to take breaks or split the course up over a longer period of time in order to maintain focus and retain all of the information.
The flow of the course works well overall as it is split into beginner, intermediate and advanced. You can take your time and progress onto the next stage when you are ready.
Having the updates section at the end is good for staying up to date, but it does feel a bit out of place. It’s a shame that the updated lectures can’t be integrated into the rest of the lectures.
What Do We Think?
What was our overall impression of this course? What did we like and not like about it?
Pros
- Value – You get a lot of content for your money with this course. Not only is there a lot of teaching time, but all of the content is very detailed and technical.
- Structure – The course is structured to take you through the beginner content first, then into the intermediate content, and finally the advanced content. It flows nicely and you can progress at your own pace.
- Practical – This course gives you a lot of practical knowledge that is immediately actionable.
- Useful – A lot of people have completed this course and commented on how useful it is. Even people who have a lot of experience with the software have learned new things through this course.
Cons
- Flow – The flow is good overall, but is a bit compromised by the updates section at the end. It would be better if the updated content could be integrated with the rest of the course.
- Wordy – The content is very detailed which is good, but it is not always delivered in a succinct way. Some sections are very wordy and can be difficult to follow.
- Impersonal – There are no interactive activities to complete, so the course can feel a bit impersonal at times. Even though the information is useful, you will not feel confident with the software until you have put it into practice.
- Additional resources – Some courses come with additional resources like help sheets and extra reading material, but this course doesn’t.
- Sound – Ironically, the sound editing of the course itself is not very good quality. There are silent sections and some breathy parts which are uncomfortable to listen to.
Should You Purchase This Course?
The short answer is yes. Whether you have no experience with Audacity software or you have been using it for a while and want to get more out of it, this course has content that will be relevant to you.
Even if you think you know a lot about audacity, you may be surprised with some of the in-depth knowledge that this course will teach you.
You don’t need to worry about wasting your money as this course is very reasonably priced. Even if you already know some of the information it teaches you, the bits you don’t know are well worth the money.
If you have any interest in podcasting then this course is ideal.
It will give you the knowledge that you need to record and edit top quality audio for your podcasts, which is very important to the success of your episodes.
The only people who shouldn’t purchase this course are people who have no intention of using Audacity software.
Summary
This course is very useful and will improve your knowledge and confidence of Audacity software. It is good value for money and the teacher is very highly rated.
Whether you are a complete beginner or already have some experience, you will be able to get a lot out of this course.
Remember that you can take this course at your own pace, you don’t need to rush through it.
