How tin I record sound from YouTube videos?

Updated: 06/02/2020 past Calculator Hope

YouTube logo

If yous want to download or capture the sound of a YouTube video, you have a few options. You tin can use a third-party online service to download the audio and convert it to mp3, or capture the audio with software on your Windows or Mac calculator.

Use an online service

Below are steps on how to record audio in a YouTube video using an online YouTube to MP3 conversion service.

Tip

We have constitute the steps below to piece of work best using the Chrome or Firefox browser. If you are using Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer and accept problem downloading the MP3 file, effort Chrome or Firefox instead.

  1. Get to the YouTube video page and copy the URL of the video you lot desire to salve as an MP3 audio file.
  2. One time the URL is copied, access the YouTubetoMP3 Converter site.

Note

The YouTubetoMP3 Converter service is complimentary to use. The site may display ads to pay for their service, just you are not required to pay whatever coin to utilize information technology.

  1. Paste the copied YouTube video URL into the text box near the top of the folio.
  2. Click the cerise Get button next to the text box.
  3. A preview of the YouTube video is displayed. To the right of the preview, click the drib-downwards carte and select the MP3 quality yous want to set for the conversion.

YouTubetoMP3 Converter - MP3 quality selection

  1. Click the red Convert button to begin the YouTube video to MP3 audio conversion.
  2. When the conversion is complete, click the Download button beneath the MP3 quality drop-down menu.

YouTubetoMP3 Converter - download MP3 file

Capture audio with Audacity

Audacity logo

If you want to manually record the sound, or only need a segment of the video's sound, you can use the costless software Audacity to capture the audio. To proceed, follow the steps below.

Note

If your computer has an integrated sound menu, you'll not be able to download streaming audio. Therefore, the steps in this department will not work for you. Information technology's all-time to utilise an online service, equally discussed above, to download sound from a YouTube video.

  1. Download Audacity from the Audacity official website.
  2. Once the download is complete, run the setup program and follow the steps to install Audacity on your computer.
  3. Open up Audacity using the shortcut on your desktop, or run it from your Start menu.
  4. In the card bar at the top of the Audacity window, click Edit, so Preferences.
  5. In the Preferences window, in the Devices section, locate the Recording section.
  6. In the Device drop-down list, select the Stereo Mix option. If Stereo Mix is not available, it is likely disabled. To enable it:
  1. Open the Command Panel on your computer and click Hardware and sound, and so the Sound icon in the Control Panel window.
  2. In the Sound window, click the Recording tab, right-click in a blank space in that tab, and select Show Disabled Devices from the drop-downwards carte.
  3. The Stereo Mix device should now exist visible. Right-click that device and select Enable.

Note

If the Stereo Mix option is still not bachelor, information technology is likely because your computer has an integrated sound carte. Stereo Mix is not available with many integrated sound cards and y'all cannot download streaming audio from a YouTube video. Nosotros recommended trying the online service or YouTube-dl solution instead.

  1. Click OK to salvage the sound settings alter.
  2. If Audacity was open when you lot enabled Stereo Mix, close and re-open the programme. Stereo Mix should now be available in the Recording Device list.

Tip

You tin can select the settings in steps four and v in the main Audacity programme window likewise. At that place are iv drop-down lists located above the center of the program window. The second drib-down list from the left is for the Recording Device (next to microphone icon). Select Stereo Mix in this drib-down list.

Audacity Recording Device setting

  1. While still in Preferences, select 2 (Stereo) in the Channels drop-down list to enable stereo sound.
  2. Click OK when y'all are satisfied with your settings.
  3. Access the YouTube video yous want to record. Unless you have a fast connexion, we advise getting the video fully loaded (let it to complete the buffering procedure) before recording.
  4. One time your video is loaded on the YouTube website, click the tape button (red circle) in Audacity, then switch dorsum to the YouTube video and click play. As the video is playing, you lot'll meet action in the sound moving ridge department in Audacity. When done recording, click the stop button (black square to the left of the record button) in Audacity.

Tip

Doing it this way causes a section at the beginning of the audio file to be bare. To remove this section of bare sound, highlight it by clicking and dragging your mouse, and so press the delete key on the keyboard. Y'all can as well enable the Sound-based Recording option in Brazenness to eliminate the blank section of audio.

  1. When y'all have completed your recording, click File, select Export, then select Export as MP3. Brand sure MP3 Files in selected in the Salve as blazon drop-down listing. Choose a location to save the MP3 file, enter a file proper name, and click Save.

Note

For older versions of Audacity, yous may demand to install LAME MP3 file support to save the recorded audio as an MP3 file. See the department below for additional data.

Getting MP3 back up for Audacity

  1. To save the file in MP3 format, you need to get LAME for Brazenness from the LAME download site. LAME is available for both the Windows and macOS.
  2. In one case downloaded, install LAME on the computer.
  3. When you accept completed your recording, click File and choose Export. Select MP3 Files in the Save every bit blazon drop-down listing. Enter a File name and click Salvage.
  4. After selecting the MP3 Files type, yous may be prompted for the location of the LAME file. Point to the lame_enc.dll file, located at C:\Plan Files\Lame for Audacity if you lot used the default install location. If y'all extracted from a compressed file, it's in the extracted folder.

Download sound with YouTube-dl

Youtube-dl and FFmpeg commands

If you use the Windows command line, y'all can download the audio component of a YouTube video with YouTube-dl, a free, open-source program that downloads streaming audio and video.

For example, you can download the audio in m4a format with the command:

youtube-dl -f 140            url

Where url is a web address in the class: https://world wide web.youtube.com/sentinel?5=ID .

Convert to mp3 with FFmpeg

To convert the m4a file to an mp3 file, you tin can use the open-source program FFmpeg. For example, this command:

ffmpeg -i "Input file.m4a" "Output file.mp3"

Would convert the file named Input file.m4a to a new mp3 file called Output file.mp3. In the command above, the file names are enclosed in double-quotes considering they contain spaces.

Running these commands looks similar to the following picture. In this screenshot, we use the dir command to verify the mp3 file was created.

YouTube-dl and ffmpeg

For more information, see Downloading audio with YouTube-dl.