Looking for a software based audio mixed for OS X

November 30, 2005 7:55 AM

I am looking for a simple to use, Mac OS X based, audio mixer that my son can use to edit mp3 clips for a class project. And I need it today!

My son, who is 9, is doing a report for class and wants to present it as a radio interview. We have software to record clips and save them as mp3, but we need a way to mix the clips and any background sound fx. Multi-track capability is a must, and free, or low cost, would be great!

We are using an G3 iBook running OS X 10.4, if that makes a difference.

posted by jazon to technology (7 comments total)

Audacity is the classic open-source answer.
posted by chrismear at 7:58 AM on November 30, 2005

remember that you need to separately download the mp3 encoder for audacity - detailed here - without that you cannot save as MP3.
posted by chr1sb0y at 8:10 AM on November 30, 2005

Tip -- When you save the clips and FX that go into the project, save as AIFF (uncompressed audio). Only save your final mix as MP3 (or just burn to CD uncompressed.)
posted by omnidrew at 8:15 AM on November 30, 2005

Wouldn't GarageBand handle a lot of this? I was able to drag in MP3s and trim them, you can mix multiple tracks, it should have come with your Mac... even comes with a library of "musical phrases" for background music...
posted by neustile at 8:18 AM on November 30, 2005

I forgot about Audacity! That may be the way to go. Thanks for the extra tips on the encoder.

(two good bits of advice from two seperate chris's!)

neustile, we're using an older G3, and GarageBand needs a G4 or better.
posted by jazon at 8:39 AM on November 30, 2005

If you have trouble with the encoder, remember that iTunes can convert just about anything into an MP3 file.
posted by aladfar at 9:29 AM on November 30, 2005

FOLLOW UP: Audacity worked great, and we got his project finished in a couple hours. Thanks for the advice!
posted by jazon at 8:38 AM on December 1, 2005