How to Record Audio for TTRPG Sessions

General Tips

A few things to keep in mind regardless of how you record:

• Consider having a backup recording method or multiple participants record
• Background music is fine as long as it doesn't drown out participants
• MP3 is the preferred format, though all common audio formats are supported

In-Person Recording

The easiest setup is placing a phone in the center of the table.

Use one of these free apps:

• iPhone: Voice Memos (preinstalled)
• Android: Easy Voice Recorder or MyRecorder

Tips:

• Place your device on something soft to reduce table vibrations and dice-rolling sounds
• Use the highest quality audio setting available in your recording app
• Turn on airplane mode to prevent interruptions from calls or notifications
• Ensure your device is fully charged or connected to a power bank
• Check that you have enough free storage for the entire session

Online Recording

For online sessions, capture audio directly from your voice chat software:

• OBS Studio (Windows/Mac) — set up to capture desktop audio and your microphone
• Craig bot for Discord — free and easy.

Tips:

• Ensure all participants are using headphones to prevent echo
• Ask participants to mute themselves when not speaking to reduce background noise
• If possible, have each participant record locally as a backup

Converting Video to Audio

If your session was recorded as a video, extract the audio track before uploading.

Using VLC Media Player (Windows & Mac)

1. Download and install VLC Media Player
2. Open VLC and click Media (Windows) or File (Mac) in the top menu
3. Choose Convert/Save or Convert/Stream
4. Click Add to select your video file, then click Convert/Save
5. Select Audio - MP3 as the conversion profile
6. Pick a destination for your audio file and click Start

Ripping Audio from YouTube

• OnlyMP3.co — browser-based, supports videos up to 3 hours
• yt-dlp — command-line tool, no length limit