Use a VoIP Recorder and Insert the File Into Audacity
Starting with version 8, Skype supports call recording, but only for Skype-to-Skype calls. Consider apps like Pamela to record your Skype calls outside the network, then place the file into Audacity for subsequent editing and mixing.
Mix Individual Tracks
If you’re working to create a polished final product, you may find value in having every participant in a Skype call record their own version, then have one person use Audacity to blend these files into one clean version that doesn’t necessarily sound like a VoIP call.
Use Two Computers
If one computer handles the Skype conversation or the Discord chat, push that computer’s audio-out into the audio-in of a different computer running Audacity. Many experienced podcasters or streamers use this approach. It requires a second computer and some dedicated hardware (like a mixer or patch cables), but it’s a bulletproof solution if you can afford the gear.
Monitor the Audio on Loopback
Because you can specify only a single audio-in connection, you can configure the application to record either the remote party (for example, your caller or your friends in a group audio chat) or the local party (that is, you with your microphone, talking into Skype or Discord). You can simulate both halves of the conversation in Audacity by setting the remote caller as the audio-in, then changing the microphone settings to monitor it. The audio quality will be awful for your voice, but in a pinch, it works. To set this up in Windows 10:
Get Clever With Speakers
If you have more than one audio-in device, configure Skype or Discord to use your external speakers and, for example, a webcam microphone. Then, configure Audacity to record using something like a Blue Yeti mic to capture the audio coming from your speakers and your voice. This approach may not work for some people, and it may be challenging to nail Audacity’s audio quality, but it just might work for you.
Limitations to Recording With Audacity
Although Audacity is a powerful, free, and open-source recording and editing application for audio, it suffers from one limitation: It only allows a single audio-in feed. Because VoIP calls in Skype and group-chat conversations in Discord require both inputs and outputs, Audacity cannot record both halves of the conversation. The real challenge is Audacity’s single-line-in recording logic. However, this problem isn’t unique to Audacity. The Windows platform relies on its sound card to compile audio-in and audio-out feeds. More advanced sound recording tools, like Adobe Audition, experience the same challenge in a Windows environment. However, Macs generally don’t have a similar all-or-nothing audio-management requirement built into the operating system. Professionals using Windows usually opt for a dedicated external mixer so that all inputs and outputs route to a hardware device. That device’s output may serve as a unified input for feeding into Audacity.
