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How to Record Audio for TTRPG Sessions

#1 TIP:  Do a test recording before your session to ensure the players AND Game Master voices are all captured clearly.

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:

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 Audio Formats

If your recording is in an unsupported format, you can convert it to MP3 using Audacity, a free and open-source audio editor available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

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

Using Handbrake (Windows, Mac & Linux)

  1. Download and install Handbrake
  2. Open Handbrake and drag your video file onto the window
  3. Go to the Audio tab and confirm the audio track is selected
  4. In the Summary tab, set Format to MP3 (via the Matroska or MP4 container)
  5. Click Start Encode

Using OpenShot (Windows, Mac & Linux)

  1. Download and install OpenShot
  2. Import your video file and drag it onto the timeline
  3. Go to File → Export File
  4. Under File Type, choose Audio Only and select MP3
  5. Click Export Video

Ripping Audio from YouTube

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