3 ways to record your voice on Linux
Are you looking to record your voice on your Linux PC? Unsure about what app to use to accomplish this task? We can help you! Follow along with our list as we go over three ways to record your voice on Linux!
Please note that you will need a functioning microphone configured correctly on your Linux PC as the default audio input device to participate with this guide. If you are having issues configuring your microphone, refer to your distribution’s official documentation. Alternatively, install the Pavucontrol control center application.
1. Audacity
The best way to record your voice on Linux is with Audacity. The main reason to go with Audacity above all other recording apps is that it’s more than just a recording tool. Sure, you can record sounds with an input device like a microphone, but you also get a full-fledged editing suite.
To record your voice with Audacity, you’ll first need to install it on your computer. To install Audacity on your computer, open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop. Then, follow the command-line installation instructions below.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install audacity
Debian
sudo apt-get install audacity
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S audacity
Fedora
sudo dnf install audacity
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install audacity
Flatpak
To get Audacity from the Flathub app store as a Flatpak, you must first enable the Flatpak runtime on your Linux PC. To do that, follow this guide. After setting up the Flatpak runtime on your computer, enter the commands below to get Audacity.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo flatpak install flathub org.audacityteam.Audacity
Snap package
To install Audacity as a Snap package onto your Linux PC, you must first enable the Snap runtime. To enable this runtime, follow our guide on the subject. When done, you can install Audacity using the following command.
sudo snap install audacity
Record with Audacity
After installing the Audacity app onto your computer, follow along with the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to record your voice with it.
Step 1: Plug in a microphone into your USB port or microphone port. Once it is plugged in, turn it on via its on/off switch. If you need to configure your device, consult the system settings.
Step 2: Launch Audacity by searching for it in the app menu. Once the app is open, dismiss the tip window that appears.
Step 3: Find the red recording button at the top-left section of the screen and click on it with the mouse. When you select this button, Audacity should start recording from the default recording device (which should be your mic).
Step 4: When done recording, press the stop button to stop it. Then, select the “File” button, followed by “Export” to export your voice recording as an audio file.
Need to edit your recording beforehand? Use the Audacity editor.
2. Audio Recorder
Another way to record your voice on Linux is with the Audio Recorder app for the Gnome 3 desktop. It’s an effortless, easy to use tool if you don’t care about fancy editing and want to record.
To get the Audio Recorder app for your Linux PC, open up a terminal window and follow along with the instructions below.
Arch Linux
Audio Recorder is available to Arch Linux users via the AUR. To install it, enter the commands below in succession.
sudo pacman -S git base-devel git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git cd trizen makepkg -sri trizen -S audio-recorder
Fedora
sudo dnf install audio-recorder
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install audio-recorder
Snap package
To use Audio Recorder as a Snap, first, enable the runtime by following this guide. Then, enter the command below to install it.
sudo snap install audio-recorder
Record with Audio Recorder
After installing the Audio Recorder app onto your Linux PC, launch it and follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Step 1: Find the “Audio settings” section of Audio Recorder, and click on it with the mouse. Then, use the “Audio settings” area to configure the app to use your microphone as an input.
Step 2: Find the “start recording” button in the Audio Recorder app, and click on it to start the recording process. When the recording is done, click on the “Stop recording” button to stop.
Step 3: Open up the Linux file manager and open up the “Audio” folder in your home directory to access the recording you’ve just made. Double-click on it to listen if you so choose.
3. Sound Recorder
Sound Recorder is another great app that you can use to record your voice on the Linux desktop. It is a straightforward application, much like Audio Recorder. To get going with it, open up a terminal window and follow the installation instructions below.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install gnome-sound-recorder
Debian
sudo apt-get install gnome-sound-recorder
Arch Linux
sudo pacman S gnome-sound-recorder
Fedora
sudo dnf install gnome-sound-recorder
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install gnome-sound-recorder
Flatpak
The Sound Recorder app is available on the Flatpak store. To install it, ensure you have the latest Flatpak runtime configured and ready to go. After that, execute the following commands to get it set up.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo flatpak install flathub org.gnome.SoundRecorder
Record with Sound Recorder
After setting up Sound Recorder, follow the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to record your voice with it.
Step 1: Plug in your microphone. Then, find the “Record” button in the top-left corner, and click on it with the mouse to start the recording.
Step 2: When you’ve finished recording, click on the “STOP” button to stop the recording process.
Step 3: After clicking on the “STOP” button, a pop-up window will appear. Use this window to save your voice recording file to your Linux PC.
You can listen back to recordings right in the app by clicking on the play button underneath a recording.
Conclusion
In this list, we went over 3 ways you can record your voice on Linux. However, new voice recording apps are being added to the Linux platform every day. So tell us: what is your favorite voice recording app to use on Linux?
