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Station 7 - "Stevie Ray Vaughan"

Recording Audio from minidisc or other portable audio player

with Sound Forge

[for information about how to use the minidisc player/recorder, see the DMC minidisc guide]

1.  Turn on the AudioSource stereo preamplifier.

2.  Connect your (minidisc) audio player:

    A.    At the computer station, locate the loose 1/8" stereo phono plug at the end of the audio cable connected to the 'video' input in the back of the Parasound stereo preamplifier. Plug it into the headphone jack on your player.

    B.    Make sure the button marked 'Aux' is selected. If it isn't, push it.

    C.    Turn the volume on the minidisc player all the way up.

3.   Turn the volume on the preamplifier to somewhere in the middle range.
4.   Test the volume: Put on the headphones and press play, you should hear your audio through the headphones.

**If you are not hearing anything, or it is not at the desired volume, there are several different volume controls to check and adjust.

• Make sure the headphone preamplifier is somewhere in the middle range.
• Click on the speaker icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen, in the control bar, and make sure the master volume is pretty high up and that none of the other bars are turned down either.
• Make sure the minidisc player is turned up.

5.   Open Sound Forge (more detailed guides to Sound Forge are available on this site, this set of instructions, however, will take you through only the basics of recording).

6.   Press the round red 'record' button in the upper left hand corner of the window, so the 'record' window opens up. The default recording attributes are 44,100 Hz, 16-bit, stereo--these settings are best for most applications. Go ahead and set the device to 'SB Audigy 4 Audio [C8C0].'

7.   Check the recording volume: Play back a length of your audio and observe the sound bars at the right of the 'record' window. The loudest part of your audio should register at the highest recording level possible without clipping, or overload, occurring. (The sound bars should never rise out of the green range--clipping is designated by yellow and red.)




        Adjust your recording volume with the preamplifier volume control--this is the only volume control that will effect recording volume (besides your audio device, which should just be left at maximum output), though others might effect your listening volume.

**If you begin playback on your audio device, and the sound bars in the 'record' window are not registering anything, but you can hear your audio through the headphones just fine, the computer might be set to the wrong recording source:

• Open Creative MediaSource Player from the programs menu, under 'Audio Editing.'
• Click on 'Play' > 'Recording Source' > 'Line-In 3.'

8.   Record your audio.

• Begin playback on your audio device, just before the part you wish to record.
• Immediately press the red 'record' button in the 'record' window to begin recording.
• Press the blue square 'stop' button when done recording.
• Stop playback on your audio device.
• Close the recording window, so a window opens up with your newly recorded sound clip.

9.   You may edit this wave file as you see fit.

10. When you save your file, go ahead and save it in standard WAV audio format to retain best quality while editing. If you need it in a different format, convert it later when you are finished editing.

For more information, see the DMC's Sound Forge tutorial.

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Creating CD Tracks

If you simply want your recording to be one track on a CD, then save your file. If you have too much blank sound at the end or beginning (an area where there is no visible wave), you can mark it and hit delete before you save the file, just as you would mark and delete text in a word processor. See the Sound Forge tutorial for more information on editing sound waves.

If you intend to have multiple tracks, you can either record each track by itself, and save as a separate file (RECOMMENDED!), or you can record the entire length of your project and split up the tracks later (MORE COMPLICATED.)

To split up tracks, first highlight the area of the wave that will be your first track. In order to figure out what area you want, click on the wave and hit play in order to identify sections. If you are recording music, or other sound with definite silences between your intended tracks, the breaks will be easy to see. Cut (Ctrl-X) the selection, open a new Sound Forge file and paste. Save the file.

A section of "sound 1" is selected here, and could be cut and pasted to another file.

Go back to the main file, and repeat this process until all your tracks have been saved as files.

To record to CD, use Easy CD Creator.

Note: when recording CDs from this computer (or any others in the DMC), you can use normal ("data") CD-Rs. "CD-R music" discs were created specifically for consumer stand-alone recording units, and while they "should" work for recording audio tracks from the PC, they sometimes are less reliable, and are not recommended. When using either type of CD-R: Always test your CD on an audio CD player before sending it off to an important audition/competition/important destination! "Regular" audio CD players can be less forgiving than computer CD-rom drives.

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Converting Files/Creating MP3s

Any supported audio file can be opened in Sound Forge or Cool Edit, and converted to another type by using the SAVE AS option, under the File menu.

Sound Forge supports:	Cool Edit supports:

 

MPEG Layer 3, also known as MP3, is becoming the standard for audio file compression. It can cut an audio file down to as little as 10% of the original size, while still retaining good audio quality. MP3s can be played back on many standard computer programs, such as Windows Media Player and Quicktime. This is a good choice if you need to e-mail a short audio file as an attachment, or if you need to fit a large amount of audio on a CD.

NOTE: MP3 files copied directly to a CD will only play back on computers with compatible players, or special stand-alone CD players. When using EZ-CD Creator with the "create an audio CD" option, MP3's will be converted to much larger Wav files, and will play back on any CD player. If you wish to make a special MP3 CD, which is readable on specially marked CD players, you can do this through Toast Titanium on one of the G4 Macs, using MP3 CD mode.

In order to make an MP3 file in Sound Forge or Cool Edit, simply select File>Save As, and change the type of file to MP3. In Sound Forge, you can also change the MP3 settings. This is important if you are using your MP3 over the internet, and you need to make sure that the sound file will be readable with a certain speed of connection.

If you need to convert many files from one format to another, it is most convenient to use the Batch Converter program.

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Saving Audio for the Web

There are a number of considerations when you are placing audio on the web. The first question is whether you will stream your audio, or whether other users will simply download it from your website.

 

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1. Delay/Echo
2. Equalizer
3. Fade In/Fade Out
4. Insert Silence
5. Noise Gate
6. Noise Reduction (listed under "DirectX" effects)
7. Normalize
8. Reverb
   

All the effects allow adjustments of various parameters. For quick use, many of them also have presets, available from a drop-down menus.

Delay/Echo

This effect creates a repetition or echo of the selected area of the sound file. It is found under the "effects" menu. There are two options: simple, or mulit-tap.

Simple can create a single repetition of the sound, or multiple ones. There are two sliders: delay time, and decay time. Delay time is the amount of time between the original sound and the repetition. If you select the "multiple delays" box, you can also select the decay time, or fade-out time (as an echo will eventually die away.)

Multi-tap offers more sophisticated control over multiple delays. You can select each "echo", or tap, and specify when it should occur (unlike the simple, which spaces the delays evenly.) To do this, select taps 1-8, and move the delay slider to the amount of time you wish. If you do not want all the taps to sound, simply move the slider to the left ("no delay") on each echo you do not want.

Equalizer

The equalizers are listed under the "process" menu. There are three options, but graphic is the most straight forward to use.

Low frequencies are towards the left, and high ones are to the right. Click at any spot on the line, and drag it upwards or downwards. Press preview to hear the change before you process. REMEMBER: go easy on the EQ!! One of the most commonly made mistakes in using effects is to over-equalize sound. While it will sound more and more impressive in the moment to increase the bass in a male announcer's voice, for instance, it may sound very over-done when you listen to it a few hours later!

Fade In/Fade Out

Probably the most common effect, fading in and fading out are very useful in many situations. The fades are listed under the "process" menu. You can select fade in, fade out, or graphic. The first two options are presets, and generally work well. If you wish to have more control, use the graphic fader.

Move the slider on the right downwards to create a fade out, or move the slider on the left downwards instead to create a fade in. Test your settings by using the "preview" button before processing.

Insert Silence

This is a very simple tool, listed under the process menu. It allows you to insert a specified number of seconds of pure silence anywhere in your sound file.

 

Noise Gate

The noise gate, listed under the effects menu, allows you to "mute" any sound below a certain level. This can be useful for any file that has a low level unwanted hiss or noise between the "good" sounds. The gate "opens" once the sound becomes loud enough, and "closes" when the sound falls below the set level. The attack time slider sets how quickly the gate opens, and the release time slider sets how quickly the gate closes. For quick peaks, such as recordings of percussion, a fast attack is preferred. For more ethereal sounds, a slower attack is better.

Normalize

This tool, listed under the process menu, allows you to boost the volume level of your selection as high as possible without distorting (assuming that your orignal file is not distorted.) The normalizer sets your highest "peak" to the maximum volume, and raises all other sound proportionally.

 

 

Reverb

Another popular tool, listed under effects menu, the reverb adds a little bit of echo to the sound. This can fill out a "thin" sounding voice or musical instrument, for instance. NOTE: reverb effects all sound in your selected area. This includes any hiss, hum, or background noise. It is best used only on recordings that have little else except the main subject. And, of course, best used with discretion.

 

Advanced Effects

Many more effects and processors are available on Sound Forge.

Under the "process" menu:	Under the "effects" menu:
There is also a section with DirectX effects. Some of these (including a list of "Sonic Foundry Express FX") are identical to those above, but a number are unique.

Unique DirectX Effects:

Noise Reduction

In the situation that you are working with poorly recorded audio or other audio with extraneous sound, you can sometimes fix this with the Sonic Foundry Noise Reduction, listed under the DirectX menu.

The easiest method is to use one of the standard presets. If you wish to tweak the settings, click the "help" button for information on each attribute.

Click and Crackle Removal

This tool is useful for removing clicks and pops from records, as well as other sources that may have had static or other brief, loud noises introduced. This is not a good process to use if there is a good deal of extra noise, as it will only removed extremely short "peaked" waves.

 

Vinyl Restoration

This is similar to Click and Crackle Removal, but it gives several more options that are useful to cleaning up records. As with the other advanced effects, it is best to start with a standard preset, and then fine-tune the controls.

High-End Effects

Not all effects processors are the same, as many audiophiles will tell you. This explains why in the world of "outboard" effects, many people still use vacuum tube equipment, or rely on effects made by certain manufacturers.

The DirectX menu features three effects created by TC Electronics, a well-respected manufacturer of stand-alone effects units. You can use the presets on any of these effects, or change each of the parameters manually.

The Dynamics processor can make audio sound more even and music more "punchy"
The TC EQ is a "parametic" equalizer that allows you to select three frequency ranges, and cut/boost them.
The TC Reverb is a warm-sounding effect, with control over the amount of reverb that is mixed with the "clean" signal.