Record Audio on Mac With Soundflower

These instructions are meant for a specific person using a specific computer, so the instructions are probably incorrect for general use.

These directions tell you how to record the audio that is playing, (e.g. an internet radio station or live conference being broadcast), on a Mac that already has Soundflower installed on it.

Before you start these instructions, you should get the audio you want to record ready to play.

Click on "Applications" in the Toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

Click on the "Soundflower" folder.

Click on the Soundflowerbed icon.

Click on the tiny Soundflower icon in the top right corner of the screen.

Select the "Built-in Output" item in the dropdown menu.

Click on the "System Preferences" icon in the Toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

Click on the "Sound" icon in the "System Preferences" window.

Click on the "Output" tab.

Click on the "Soundflower (2ch)" item.

Click on the "Input" tab.

Click on the "Soundflower (2ch)" item.

Click on the "Applications" icon in the Toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

Click on the "Quicktime" icon.

If the menu bar at the top of the screen is not currently displaying "Quicktime Player" in the top left corner, you should select the Quicktime icon in the Toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

Assuming "Quicktime Player" is the active application, and that "Quicktime Player" is displayed in the top left corner of the screen:

Click on the "File" menu.

Click on the "New Audio Recording" menu item.

Click on the button (red dot) in the center of the "Audio Recording" window.

Start playing the audio you want to record. For example, click the play button.

Turn the computer's volume all the way to the maximum.

Please note, in order to avoid having a long silent area at the start of your recording, you should make sure that you have the audio recording ready to go before you start the Quicktime audio recording.

You probably should also avoid making the browser full screen so you don't "lose track" of the Quicktime audio recording window.

You should see the horizontal bars on the "Audio Recording" window moving as the sound is playing on your computer. If you don't see this, yet you hear sound, then something is not correct.

You probably want to turn off the speakers so you don't have to listen to your computer playing at full volume. (You should not adjust the volume down because that will reduce the recording volume. But, turning off the speakers is OK.)

To turn off the speakers:

Click the tiny Soundflower icon in the top right corner of the screen.

Click the "None (OFF)" menu item.

Confirm that you still see the horizontal bars on the "Audio Recording" dialog moving.

(The next time you make a recording, just follow the directions again from the beginning, and they will make sure you select "Built-in Output" again.)

Once you are done recording, click the round button in the center of the "Audio Recording" window. (It will have a small black square in the center.) That stops the recording.

To save the recording:

Click "File".

Click "Save..."

Give the recording a unique name.

If you were not actively listening for the end of the recording, you probably ended up with a recording with silence at the end, or perhaps you just want a subsection of the full recording you made. In either case, you can use Quicktime to trim the recording.

In order to make it easy to accurately trim the file, you probably should make the "Audio Recording" window as wide as you computer screen will allow. After sizing the window:

Click "Edit".

Click "Trim..."

Move the start or end controls to trim off the start or end of the audio recording.

Once you have the controls positioned where you want them, click the "Trim" button.

Save the file using the "File" menu. You might want to use the same file name in order to overwrite the original file that you are trimming. Alternatively, you can use a new file name in order to leave the original file as it is.