Audacity is a free, cross platform sound editing program. This is the basic layout. The default input source, the built in input in most computers, will be selected until you change it. If you plug in your micro-phone......and go to Audacity -> Preferences ->Audio I/O, you can change the input from the built in microphone to Built In Input.In this preference panel, you can also choose the Audio quality settings. The defaults should be fine for this assignment.Hit record (red button) to start your audio recording. New tracks can be added under a current track by going to Project -> New Audio Track. New tracks will also be added each time you hit record.The Selection tool (shown in the upper left toolbar) is used to select a piece of your recording. Using this, you can cut out chunks or add an effect to a specific part of your track.The Envelope tool (next tool in the toolbar) allows you to make simple fades. Simply click on the track in one point and again, play with the movement up and down, and the vi-sual representation of the sound envelope will help you.Here’s an example of a simple cross-fade.When finished, use File -> Export as MP3 to save the file. It may ask you to edit the ID3 tags. Add at least the Title and Author (your groupsmates). That’s the Audacity basics. If you need more in-depth help, see me in the lab during my lab