Audacity is free, open source, and powerful enough for professional work. It is also completely silent about where to begin – which is why most people record one muddy, echoing take and quietly give up.

This handbook fixes that. It starts with an empty screen and finishes with a clean recording you would be happy to publish, taking one step at a time and never assuming you already know the vocabulary.

Every topic gets two pages: a plain-English explanation of what you are looking at and what to do, then a full-colour screenshot of the actual screen with a short exercise to try it yourself. Forty-five topics, in the order you actually need them.

Inside:

Choose the right audio system, microphone and sample rate – the settings that cause most beginner problems

Set a recording level that is loud enough to use and quiet enough to survive

Record, then cut, trim, split and rearrange without leaving clicks behind

Remove background hum, hiss and clicks without turning voices watery

Even out loud and quiet passages so nothing gets lost

Duck music under a voice so every word stays clear

Export the right format at the right loudness, every time

No jargon, no filler, and nothing you have to already know.