- Download the Audacity software from the website  http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download, choosing the right version for your operating system, and install it.

- In order to export into MP3 you have to download the Lame encoder from this website http://lame.buanzo.com.ar

- Once the installation process is over, open  Audacity.
The first time you use it, it will ask you to select the language.

That done, it’s good to set up some of the options in the Preference section:

- audio input-output: you have to set up the input and output device and choose if you want to develop the project as stereo (choice suggested if there’s music along with the voice) or mono.
With some type of USB microphones you need to set up the mono mode; the imported files will keep the stereo traces anyway.

- quality: give it a value of 44100 Hz, that is the typical quality of the CD sound.
- file format: in the field “preferences to export MP3″ look for the Lame encoder you previoiusly downloaded and installed, and select it.
For a good on-line reproduction of the exported MP3 files, it is suggested to set the bit rate as 128.
- directories: it allows you to select the folder where the audio files will be saved during the recording.

Now you can proceed to the next step: Recording the voice.