Recording audio from youtube directly from the audiofile?

[theprizerevealed]

How can I record audio from youtube directly from the audiofile? I want to capture a portion of audio from a youtube video. I know about the method using Quicktime and New Audio Recording but this method appears to work through the computer microphone and thus captures many other ambient sounds; besides being very tinny audio quality.

I have heard about old programs called blackhole and another older one which no longer works with the current macOS. But I am leery about installing such programs for privacy reasons. Is there any program from Apple or other certified developers? thanks

 

[BrianBaughn]

Not sure about "certification" but I installed Soundflower for that purpose.

Alternately, you could find a browser plugin that will download audio and/or video from YouTube…and then edit it as you need with your audio editing software.

 

[bogdanw]

youtube-dl http://ytdl-org.github.io/youtube-dl/
You can use the --extract-audio option to save just the audio track of a video.

 

[Dave Braine]

Piezo.

Piezo - Charmingly simple audio recording for Mac

In seconds, you can record from any audio device or app on your Mac.

rogueamoeba.com

The free version gives you 10 minutes before adding noise.

 

[MacPeasant123]

I don't record audio files directly from Youtube, but here's how I would extract the audio from a Youtube video:

1) I first download the Youtube video with either:

a. ClipGrab, currently at version 3.8.10

ClipGrab - Free YouTube Downloader & Converter

ClipGrab is a free downloader and converter for YouTube, Vimeo, Metacafe and many other online video sites

clipgrab.org

b. In the Firefox browser, I use a Firefox add-on:

Easy Youtube Video Downloader Express

Easy Youtube Video Downloader Express â Get this Extension for ð¦ Firefox (en-US)

Download Easy Youtube Video Downloader Express for Firefox. A simple extension for superfast and easy YouTube downloads in FLV, 3GP, MP3, MP4, 720p, and 1080p formats.

addons.mozilla.org

After it's installed (you may have to restart Firefox, I can't remember), just load up the Youtube video, and then a green "Download As" rectangular box to the left of the red Subscribe box will appear.


2) after I get the video file, I can extract the audio from the video using Smart Converter that I get from the Mac App Store:

‎Smart Converter

‎Smart Converter is the fastest, easiest to use video converter on the App Store, thanks to it's Smart Conversion technology. Smart Converter handles 100s of file types including MKV and AVI, and converts so they play on your favorite devices. It will also add your converted file to iTunes...

apps.apple.com

Just drag the video into Smart Converter and then on the right side, click the three dots menu, go all the way down to audio and select mp3 and then convert

 

[Nermal]

MacX YouTube Downloader (the free one on the left) offers an "Audio Only" option that'll do it all in one step.

Despite looking a bit spammy, I've had that downloader for a couple of years and haven't had any issues with it.

 

[GarryB]

youtube-dl is the best downloader. It is embedded in a number of commercial apps. It can convert the audio file downloaded to another format if you wish. It would be best, also if you have a copy of FFmpeg. FFmpeg is also used by a lot of other tools.

To use, assuming you want mp3 in the best quality, open Terminal and type:

youtube-dl -v --extract-audio --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 <insert URL>

If you are not comfortable with using Terminal there are many free apps/applets around. I have one that is mentioned in my profile.

Once you have the audio file, you can edit the sound and/or extract a clip using tools such as Audacity.