Capturing audio on macOS

Hey Daniel, thanks for your great blog! Quick question: how do you capture internal audio, let’s say some streaming in the browser or a dialogue in a film? I’m running macOS Sierra.

Anton

Anton, in order to capture internal audio, you need to change signal routing using a special tool. There are quite a lot of such tools out there, but among the others, I’d recommend checking out “Soundflower” — it’s a free, open-source, and tiny system extension.

Soundflower by Matt Ingalls on GitHub

Once installed, go to System Preferences → Sound → Output, and choose Soundflower (2ch):

System preferences

Now all you need is an audio recording software, whether it’s your DAW or an app like Audacity. Just choose Soundflower (2ch) in the audio recording settings:

Audacity recording preferences

And that’s pretty much it. Once you hit the record button, it should start recording any sound that is coming from applications on your computer.

Ask for advice

Since 2015, I’ve run an advice section giving my experience and answering readers’ questions on music production, DJing, performing, marketing, management, and other aspects of the music industry. The purpose of the series is to spread knowledge and cultivate professionalism in the music industry. The advice series works simply: you send me your questions, and I answer them with a blog post when I have something relevant to say. Send me your questions via the form.

Your password

Capturing audio on macOS