Re: TECH: software for recording your voice

On Mon, 28 Jun 1999, Sally Caves wrote:

>
> Well then where do I get Mp3?  RealProducer is freeware.  So the
> painfully expensive part is at least taken care of.  My question--will
> it do the trick?
>
Others have already posted pointers to mp3 software - mp3 is good
quality audio in a small package, but you won't hear a sound as soon
as the first bytes come trickling in, you must download the whole file. On
the other hand, once it's in, then you can save it on your harddisk and
listen to it again and again. I don't know how realaudio handles that. As
I said, I haven't succeeded in getting it to work, and I'm a very
experienced software installer.

>
> It took about forty seconds.  Yes, it's beautiful.  Now I've heard
> Lamay Narenmen spoken as Boudewijn meant it to be!  I just can't hear
> your instrumental music, B.
>
Forty seconds! You've got a good, fast link! I'm currently without
easy access to midi sounds, too: my synthesizer is in Irina's computer,
and the soundcard in my computer is - well, if I'd known beforehand, I
would have bought another one!

>
> I don't have the canyon.mid.  So I guess I've been had.  But I bought a
> very basic computer with Windows 98 already preloaded.  For a very
> reasonable price.  Is that what they want me to download when I get that
> warning message? "Canyon.mid"?
>
No, Canyon.mid is the standard midi sound file included in all full
installations of Windows, so people can test whether their computer works
according to specs - Microsoft has decreed that every computer must be
able to play wave and midi files. It's quite possible that your setup is
too basic for that - is it a real brand computer or a clone put together
by a local shop?

>
> I thought you said Mp3 didn't close people out.  Now I'm confused.
>
It's easy to get confused - what I meant was that not all people have
mp3 software already installed: and a lot of people have the same aversion
you have against downloading everything under the sun. Indeed, I don't
download Windows software at all, I'm far too afraid that side of the
computer will break, making me lose again the administration of the church
foundation I'm treasurer of.

>
> Streamed audio, I believe, is REALLY painfully expensive!
>
Realaudio is supposed to be streamed - but in my personal case it simply
doesn't work!

>
> not to sound like a broken record here, I don't have the faintest
> idea what an Mp3 is.  I think this is the prevalent theme of this
> post! ;-)
>
Just another type of sound file - this is software, which means there
are literally dozens of ways of doing something, some rather clever,
others rather basic, and mp3 is a clever way of storing good quality
sound in little space.

What I really want to recommend to you is getting a copy of _Web Design
in a Nutshell_, by Jennifer Niederst, published by O'Reilly - she has
a very thorough discussion of audio formats, much clearer than I can write
it, and Irina and I find this book indispensable when doing up our web
stuff. It's available from Amazon.(In my opinion O'Reilly is the only
publisher of computer-related books who produce books that are worth
the money.)

Boudewijn Rempt  | http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt