# Can not get recorder to work right, Help?



## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

> *Hay folks, greeting and salutations! I have a confusing problem and I need help!!
> For some weird reason, My recorder well not pick up input from my micphone which is very clear feeding thru sound card and out to speakers. I wanted to connect a guitar to the input to record a song, but noticed that I can not get Windows media to pick up mic on sound card. I am open for ideas folks.
> 
> Also I was wondering how can I record a whole song on recorder (say 3 min)*


God bless all 
Konnichi wa DC


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

don't know much in this area
have you a setting 
what you hear


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Are you using Windows Sound Recorder (sndrec32.exe)? I think it has a 1 minute recording limit, but I'm not sure. Try using *Audacity* and use the dropdown menu in the toolbar to select your recording source. With Audacity you can record for as long as you like, and you can cut out the parts you don't want to keep.

Go to Volume Control > Options > Properties > Recording, check the Select box under Stereo Mix, Microphone or Line-In, whichever you want to use and raise the volume slider to just below maximum. Selecting stereo mix will allow you to record whatever you hear through your sound card. Selecting Mic or Line-in records from whichever line your guitar is plugged into. 

I've never tried recording a guitar direct through the soundcard. It might work but I think you need some extra hardware to get good results. Let us know if it works.... and post an MP3 :grin:


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

If you plan to record guitar then you'll want to get extra hardware to buffer the audio signal. The raw signal can easily blow out your audio hardware.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Are you using a microphone to record from an acoustic guitar or are you trying to plug an electric guitar into your soundcard? Good advice from ebackhus :sayyes:


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## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

:grin:


> Hay folks, greetings and thanks for responding.
> 
> I am using a acouactic mic to guitar, Boy! plug and electric in, "Sound Card Blowout!! Outch". I am using Wins recorder and My standard computer mic to the recorder. Great sound come from Mic to computers speaker but when recording mode in place, same good sound but recorder, records nothing but white noise.
> I will give the adjusting a try, believe I have done that.
> ...


 God bless DC


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Don't bother with Windows Recorder, it's too basic.

*Audacity* is all you need for recording, editing and simple multitrack mixing. I use it all the time, along with Sound Forge, Acid Pro, Adobe Audition, etc.

Click on the bold underlined word to download it (it's a link :wink: )


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## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

*Hay Koala, sorry for the delay in getting back but its planting time here.Thank you for the advice on Audacity. I have downloaded it and will try it in a short. 

I am interested Koala in what is; Sound forge and adobe audition? *


*Koala, this is another question that go's along with this, maybe you can answer it. 

Is there a way to connect a chessette player to my computer?, I have a song that is no chessette I want to recored to CD or DVD Disk so to use it as part of a home movie I am working on*

God Bless DC


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Sound Forge is a professional-level audio editor, as used in recording studios. It allows you to record and edit audio, create accurate loops, apply special effects, create acoustic environments, restore poor quality recordings, etc and can use 3rd party plugins for more features.
 

Adobe Audition is a multitrack recorder and editor, mostly used for sequencing loops and samples, it also has many of the features found in Sound Forge.


Both of these programs are expensive and possibly too advanced for the type of recording you're trying to do. Stick with Audacity and you'll be fine :winkgrin: 

---------------------------------------------------------------
To record from cassette to hard drive, use the same method as microphone recording in Audacity, but change the input source from mic to line-in. Then connect the cassette player's line-out to the soundcard's line-in. Press play on the tape and record in Audacity and you're done. It will be recorded as a WAV or MP3 which can then be burned to CD.

You may need to buy a cable like this, where the red and white jacks are for left/right stereo and plug into the cassette player, and the black one plugs into the soundcard.


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## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

Koala, I realy thank you for that info, I can not say it enough, I have been racking my brain, what is left of it, on trying to figure it out. I once thought I was smart but I am begining to wonder who I am, an more. Thanks again. 
Many blessings to you and yours. DC


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

No problem, glad to help. Post an MP3 when you're done, I'd love to hear it. :sayyes:


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## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

Hello Koala and all the folks at TSF :sayyes: 



> * Good News Koala!!! "It Works". I took your advice and used Audacity To record a sample song. Here's what I did to make it work.
> 
> I connected directly to the earphone connection of my Chessette/CD player( my is non stero to headset so I bought a adpt. from momo to stero at Re-di-O Shack)
> 
> ...


I am now going to download some more fetures to Audacity Koala. 
Thanks again, now that I have this I want to add a few more fetures to my input needs. God Bless everyone. DC


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## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

*Hello Koala and TSF friends.*

*:winkgrin: I needs to ask some more Questions, please?

Now that I have gotten it to work, partly. I wanted to send it to my Grand onions via EM, but when I do, nortons come up saying "sanning Files 1 of 1" and is as slow as malices on a cold winter day, I never could get it to complete the task. I sent it using Outlook Express 6.0 which I get music messages, etc from people all the time and it works except for a pause to load the rest of the song now and then.

I want to connect my guitar and mic and chesstte up to input of sound card at one time so to be able to play alone with an accompant tape. Should I use or could I use a mixer from Re-di-O Shack to do this?

I am a bit puzzeled, I want to sent ed you folks a MP3 recording of what I have done put not sure how to, can you help me out here? *

God Bless all, DC: ::sayyes:


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Hi DC,



> I wanted to send it to my Grand onions via EM.....


If the file has been saved as an MP3 then to send it via email you simply add it to the email message as an attachment. Then the person receiving it double-clicks the attachment to open it and play it in their media player. 



> I want to connect my guitar and mic and chesstte up to input of sound card at one time so to be able to play alone with an accompant tape. Should I use or could I use a mixer from Re-di-O Shack to do this?


I think the easiest way to do this would be to use Audacity's multitrack capabilities. If you're going to use the computer as a recording studio, you might as well take the next step and move into multitracking. :winkgrin: 

First record the music from the tape into 'track 1'. Then record the guitar part into 'track 2'. Then record the vocals into 'track 3'. Now you've got all the parts recorded in 3 separate tracks you can alter the volumes of each part individually, fade sections in and out, correct pitch and speed, etc and when you're happy with the result, mix all 3 tracks into a final mix and save as MP3.


So, to clarify... Start Audacity and go to Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O tab, and enable *'play other tracks while recording new one*' This will allow you to hear the previously recorded tracks (the backing music) while you're recording the guitar and vocals to a new track. 

1. Connect the cassette player to the soundcard, set the recording source to Line-In and start recording the backing music. This will be 'track 1' and will appear as a waveform at the top of the window.

2. Connect the microphone to the soundcard, set the recording source to Mic and press the Record button. You will hear 'track 1' playing and see a new track created below it. This is where your guitar will be recorded.

3. Repeat step 2 to record the vocals to 'track 3'. The window will be filling up now, so you may need to scroll down to see everything.

You now have 3 stereo tracks. Save them and then make a backup save in case anything goes wrong during editing.

Press the Play button and you will hear all 3 tracks playing at the same time. You can use the controls on the left to mute individual tracks or control their volume and left/right balance, and use the Edit and Effect menus at the top for simple editing. When you're happy with the final result, go to File > Export as MP3. If you don't want to include the original tape recording in your MP3, simply delete 'track 1' before saving. This will leave you with just guitar and vocals.



> I am a bit puzzeled, I want to sent you folks a MP3 recording of what I have done put not sure how to, can you help me out here?


To let us hear what you've done, you can upload the MP3 to a free webhosting service like http://www.putfile.com/ and post back here with a link.


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## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

> * Hello Koala my STF friend and Konnichiwa(Hello) to all the other STF folks. Started to respond to you last night but we had some very nasty weather last night, it looks like the hurricane and tornato sessions is here. *





> *That sounds like the way to go, I will give it a try. You are right I am trying to build a mini recording studio. This is part of something I am putting together as my evangelistic work I do for the fellow up stairs. I am hoping to use my singing and messages on to Cd's/DVD's to give to people, well you know what I am saying, using me as an instrument, God thru me to do his work. Hopefully give me the exrta cash to buy the additional things to get my work on the road for him, sorry didn't me to get Spiritial on you. But as they say when he call you up, you got to do it.
> 
> Got a dummy question? how can I tell weither I have recorder my song as mpg3, wav, etc. before I put it on disk or send it out via net. I know that most DVD, CD players use or excepts mpg3, am I right?
> 
> ...


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Well, now you've got the big fella upstairs involved, the pressure's on. I'll try and give the best advice I can... don't want Him getting angry. :1angel: 



> I am trying to build a mini recording studio.


You've got all you need to get started... a microphone, a CD writer and recording/mixing software.



> how can I tell weither I have recorded my song as mp3, wav, etc.


The default is to save as MP3. There's a dropdown menu below the filename when you're saving that lets you choose the format. It doesn't make any difference to the CD, because the burning software can use either WAV or MP3 and the result will be the same, an audio CD that can be played on any CD player. Make sure you check the 'finalise' box before burning. Depending on which software you're using, there will be an option somewhere to burn as either 'audio' or 'data'. Choose 'audio' and you'll have no problems.

The main difference between WAV and MP3 is the ammount of hard drive space required to store the files. MP3s are about 10 times smaller. But the audio CD will sound the same whichever format you use.

I'm not sure what would have caused the error on the last song. Maybe your car CD player's lens needs cleaning. If it's an 80min CDR it might have trouble reading the last few minutes as 74min is the standard length. Try burning at a slower speed, that might help.


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## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

> *Yap!Yap!Yap! the big fellow up stairs is got all the buttons on this one and I have a few Christian brothers beating my doors and net down to hear me sing and pass the message of good news. Don't know why, my voice is terrible, my guitar playing is out of phase, but the big fellow takes over and it all comes together. You heard of someone getting happy in the Spirit, that's me.*





> *Hay Koala, Thinks for the input "as Johnny 5 Says", So far you've been a hundred percent right on !! THANKS, Well maybe 99%, Got to have 1 percent for my miss takes to ask questions, hay?
> 
> Whoop!!!, speaking of which, On the CD I recorded, last song did work fine but like a lot of cd's they will loop back to the beginning and start over. I have my CD prayer set to loop back, but in this case it just stops, cold turkey. That's why I was wondered if there was something Like finalization needed on CDR disk or is it there is a differents in CDR and Audio Music disk that does this?
> 
> Anyway got to work on my "talking mail box project" a bit and then my new program toy again, for the fellow upstairs. Many blessing to you Koala and your family *


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## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

> *Hello Koala & all the TFS Folk, In regard to Audacity, how do you get some of these effects online with your program. I have notices that when I click on effect tap there is nothing highlighted to chose from.
> 
> Second question; In the Sound Forge program, what is accurate loops do?
> 
> ...


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

To apply effects, you need to select the track (or highlight a section of the track). Which effects are you trying to use? All the built-in ones should be available for use.

If you want to try some extra effects, you could install the *VST Plugin Enabler *to allow the use of 3rd party plugins which can be downloaded from *here*. There are some free ones but they are mostly demos.



Sound Forge loops are for editing samples, the kind you hear in dance music. For example, you can record the sound of a single drumbeat, use Sound Forge to stretch the sound, alter the pitch, add effects to it, etc and then repeat it 4 times to create a bar. Then do the same with other sounds to create a full drum track.

See *http://www.geocities.com/moon_jihad/loops.html* for an example of loop editing. In the last image, the vertical dotted lines show how a short sample is broken up into individual sounds. Each of these can be repositioned and edited to create a new drum pattern. But unless you're planning on making techno or dance music, you probably won't need Sound Forge.


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## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

Hay Koala, Thanks for the info, yap! think I would like to adventure into the effects a bit. Just courus about the loop stuff. About ready to release my recorded song on the website you told me about. O found out what the problem was on my CD recording I did. I forgot that you have to index the disk tracks. Now I am trying to found a way to have near 0 lap between tracks. I have one Cd that between songs it has oneliner comints from different movies makes it interesting. You take care Koala and God Bless. directcurrent


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## Direct Current (Apr 8, 2005)

:4-idea: :4-idea: Thank you Koala for all your help with Audacity. I have been doing quick a bit of work with the program and learn a lot about it. 
However remember me talking about the need for a mixer to plug all the inputs into. Well I plug in my mic and my chessette and found a problem with mic., the mic plug input does not have enough to amplify the signal. So I brought out my O'silly Scope and did some checking. found I need some more ampification from mic. to computer still but not to much to over drive the input to the sound card. I have adjusted the signal to the sound card via programming but it was still not enough. I built a preamp out of left over parts I had to go between the mic and computer. added a limiter to provent over driving to the sound card, it worked fine. When I started playing the guitar I discover that, The guitar had aa high pitch tone to it and needed a better bass voice alone with my squicke singing, so I found a 8 channel mixer with bass and a few extras I could used, did a bit of modifying and It work fine. Now I have my chessette, guitar mic, Voice mic. sound effect box and a place for an old record player, which I am now looking for. the amp and mixer cost me 40.. greens. still Have to do a bit of praictes and get off this foot medicine before final recording. Think that by adding a better sound card would added to sound quality. You take care and thanks and God bless


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