Import and Time Stretch an Audio File
Follow these steps to modify a song’s playback speed in Audacity.
Save Changes to a New File
If you want to save the changes you made, export the audio as a new file. Here’s how: If you see a message saying that you can’t save in the MP3 format or you receive a lame_enc.dll error, download and install the LAME encoder plugin. For more information on installing this, read this Audacity tutorial on converting WAV to MP3 (scroll down to the LAME installation section).
Why Change the Playback Speed?
Changing the speed of a song or other type of audio file can be useful in many scenarios. For example, you might want to learn the lyrics to a song but can’t follow the words because it plays too quickly. Similarly, if you’re learning a new language using a set of audiobooks, you might find that the words are spoken too quickly; slowing things down a bit could improve your learning speed. The problem with changing the speed of a recording by altering the playback is that it typically results in changing the pitch, too. If a song’s speed increases, the person singing could end up sounding like a chipmunk.
