Re: Composing

--- Sally Caves <scaves@...> wrote:
> How does anyone record on MP3?  I have an MP3
> player, but not the recorder.
> Is the software expensive?  Could I upload a CD onto
> it?  It takes a
> GODAWFUL long time to load on my machine, mainly
> because I still have
> dial-up.  hissss!
>
I use the free Audacity program. It allows you amazing
freedom to record separate tracks, mix them any
way you want, and then export the whole thing as an
mp3 (with another free plug-in), or as an ogg (which
my son tells me is superior, but which has too weird
a name for me!).  Audacity lets you play existing
tracks as you record new ones, which is neat. You can
also import existing sound files as wavs, mp3s or
oggs. It also doesn't have the 60-second recording
limitation of the Windows Recorder. Your piece can
literally be any length you want, with as many tracks
as you want, until you have filled up your harddrive!

I've produced several Klingon parody songs
(http://www.geocities.com/teresh_2000/klinbom.html, if
anyone is interested) using Audacity.

The only thing it won't do is import midi files, but
we got around that by plugging the speaker line into
the microphone line and then playing the midi in
WinAmp and recording it in Audacity.  I also found a
free midi editor (whose name escapes me at the
moment), using which you can remove the melody track
that a lot of midis have and keep just the
instrumentals.

Of course, if you're recording your own music, you
just need a microphone and Audacity.

If you wanted to import music from a CD into Audacity,
you'd either have to use the patch cord method I
mentioned above, or, if your sound card supports it,
change the input device for the sound recorder to the
CD player (my son can do this on his computer, but I
can't on mine, hence the need for the patch cord).

-- Terry Donnelly


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