Here’s my problem: I’ve downloaded a session from my Olympus voice recorder into my Windows Media Player.(It sounds great by the way). Now I would like to edit the talking out and make a learning CD of just the tunes. I've transferred the session, which is over an hour long to Audacity, but when I try to play it, the hour zips by in a second or two with just a screechy sound. How do I transfer from my media player, or if need be from my voice recorder to Audacity to get a true recording?
I use Switch ; http://www.nch.com.au/switch/plus.html
The basic utility converts .wma files
so you can use it as freeware/shareware
without having to buy the full package.
Audacity has a recording mode called "What You Hear". It will record anything that you hear through the computer speakers. It will record a WMA file or mp3, so you don't have to convert before recording.
After you do your editing you can convert to mp3 using Switch and burn to cd or keep them in memory or what you like.
Yes either convert to WAV format or.... you can do it in real time.... get a line out from the headphone jack on the Olympus, and stick it into the mike jack on your computer, press the record button in Audacity and it will record it.
Well I assume it will... I have done this from both an old tape recorder and my Sony Minidisc, from a disc that had already been transferred once. They don't allow you to transfer it more than once.... but ha ha, this works great!! Got them on that one! I assume it would do the same from the Olympus if all else fails. Radio Shack (if in USA) will have the cord you need.
Easier to convert to WAV. but you need a program that will rip it. You may be able to do it in I-Tunes, not sure. It may read WMA. Does the olympus not come with conversion software? Lots of CD players these days read WMA files, so maybe they don't feel the need.
Just bring the contraption.... actually Radio Shack carries Olympus so they would know, and a computer mike input jack is pretty standard. They have all sorts of cord jack adaptors too.
What comes out of the line from the headphone jack, the Audacity "hears" in effect, if plugged into the mike jack.
Another thought.... can't you burn an audio CD from a WMA? If so, do that, and then I believe you can bring into I-Tunes and it will convert into MP3 or WAV, you pick. then you can read in Audacity too.
Just open Audacity, start the recording, then open the session file in Windows media player and record it. Edit it in Audacity and then export as an MP3. .......
I have ocasionally had the same problem of a track appearing to be only a second or so long even though the file size indicates it should be much longer. I get around it by opening the track in another program ( I also have Creative labs studio on my computer) save as WAV and then Audacity will read the converted file no problem. I can't explain why the original problem is there though.
I agree with rogfox on this one. That's the way to go on Audacity - record what is played on the computer then export as WAV or MP3 (if you have the plug in). I also use Switch for converting WAV to MP3 ... but since I've had the Tascam and Cubase I prefer to record on Cubase because you can record in stereo, whereas Audacity only records mono. Can also get better quality sound with the external sound card in the Tascam and no issues of having to manually align multiple tracks as you have to be mindful of when recording in Audacity.
Clear Drop... you can in Audacity record two mono tracks together and then make a stereo track, but that's right, you need to either manually align multi tracks or make them into a stereo track first so the nips and tucks will happen together.
I have Cubase as well, but like Audacity's simplicity better. It doesn't do as much though, but for most of my simple purposes it is fine. I have another program I like too called Diamond Cut.
Iris, Core! Can you really do that? Record onto one track of a stereo track? Must give it a try. I get really annoyed aligning manually - but that is probably because my timing is pretty shoite anyway. I stopped messing with the output ages ago. My thinking being that it was better to learn from bum notes than to edit them out and pretend they didn't happen when they did.
May I take this opportunity to thank you for your advice re recording. Its been great. Really great. Spot on. The CO1 you recommended ages ago is working fantastically now with the external sound card (Tascam 122L). So thanks fer that. Really appreciate it. Now all I have to do is learn how to play the fiddle ... but it does help to be able to hear yourself back the way you think you sound rather than as if your playing has gone through some kind of black hole and come out warped the other other side, out of tune and fudgy. Then you know where you are going wrong and cannot blame it on the dodgy recording anymore. A steep learning curve. So thanks fer that. Great stuff.
I wish you luck with your recording crfiddler. There's a lot to learn. Cheers
Thank you all for your support. I went out and bought the cord, so I'll record into audacity.( Obviously it will be in real time). I did download the program to send to Windows media player a while back and I know that works. Your right Clear Drops there is a lot to learn. I thought I was just going to learn fiddle tunes. Never in a million years did I think I'd be concerned with all this geeky recording stuff.May we all live in interesting times.
Clear Drops.... I have generally added a track to the same page where there was one already, then could make a stereo track... You know now that I think of it...have I ever done say two lines in at once with Audacity and gotten two tracks? I think I have... I know I have with Cubase. Well, I will have to stop working a while to mess with that, LOL!
crfiddler.... the mosr you do this, the easier it gets, but you also realize there is years of stuff to learn literally.
Hopefully it will be a happy process for you, I enjoy it, enjoy the new discovery I have each time, learning more etc. I am no expert, that would likely take a good decade or a few years of schooling. I do a pretty darned decent amateur recording though, near professional so some say. I love live recordings, sessions, concerts, where you catch the talk and the spontaneous music. You can fix most mistakes if not attrocious, and it is a nice challenge. I really enjoy it.
A big part of it is instinctual too, the part that can be hinted at but not taught. You need a good ear for sound, you need to understand mike placement not only for each instrument, but also there is some guesswork for each room you record in. I record our monthly session in a large plaster walled hall, high ceilings. The sound in the recorder is horrible but in the EQ I can fix it up really well. I have figured out the best mike placements for that room. In my house, it is totally different. I like to record in my basement, cement floor, low ceilings. Beautiful natural reverb. I need to unplug computer printers, clocks, anything that hums. My living room, yet again different. When people are over I sometimes record.
People see me coming and know they will be preserved forever, whether on minidisc or on the "real" recorder. It's like my camera, only I like to capture sound. There is so much great music that happens, so many great stories told, that will never make it onto slick studio produced CDs. These are recordings of real people, some great musicians, just doing their thing they love best. I am really pleased with our session CDs for that reason. Some of the music is spectacular, but we also have people like Jim Coogan telling funny stories just months before he passed on, things like that are precious and will be I hope, important to future historians and lovers of the music. Live concerts too (with the musicians' permission always, and they get the recordings, we don't put them out) with the stories told between tunes, people playing at ease, playing wildly, to me they are better than most studio produced recordings. It's like being there.
Anyway....hopefully you will be inspired to carry on, it's fun to record and edit. Just take a step at a time, on a need to know basis, I wouldn't try to absorb all the facts at once and then try to remember and apply them.
A great book is from the Dummy series, Home Recording For Dummies. I learned a lot of good basics from it.
I'm a real Newbie to recording etc. I have only used Windows sound recorder creating small wav files, etc..
My question is..I would like to convert wav files to Mp3, and was told Audiacity would do it. But appearently it won't. It will edit recorded formats wav & Mp3, but won't convert from one to the other. What auxillary software is needed in conjunction with Audiacity to do that.
I am an Amateur radio operator, and would like to record audio from my Tranciever to computer, and then convert the wav files to Mp3 format to send send to reciepents. A fellow Ham does that with Audiacity, and says he does it with ease,but it sure doesn't work for me! I have searched the internet, and have seen suggestions to download a program called "lame" that will work in cojunction with Audiacity to make the conversion. I would like to keep this all simple for starters. Will the "Lame" software be of any help??
Thanks All , and any input would be greately appreciated..
Please Help with Audacity
Please Help with Audacity
Here’s my problem: I’ve downloaded a session from my Olympus voice recorder into my Windows Media Player.(It sounds great by the way). Now I would like to edit the talking out and make a learning CD of just the tunes. I've transferred the session, which is over an hour long to Audacity, but when I try to play it, the hour zips by in a second or two with just a screechy sound. How do I transfer from my media player, or if need be from my voice recorder to Audacity to get a true recording?
# Posted on August 13th 2007 by crfiddler
Re: Please Help with Audacity
It won't import .wma files - you need to rip it into .mp3 or .wav first.
Some free trial software like "Express Rip" might do it
# Posted on August 13th 2007 by Bren
Re: Please Help with Audacity
I use Switch ;
http://www.nch.com.au/switch/plus.html
The basic utility converts .wma files
so you can use it as freeware/shareware
without having to buy the full package.
# Posted on August 13th 2007 by Ben Steen
Re: Please Help with Audacity
Audacity has a recording mode called "What You Hear". It will record anything that you hear through the computer speakers. It will record a WMA file or mp3, so you don't have to convert before recording.
After you do your editing you can convert to mp3 using Switch and burn to cd or keep them in memory or what you like.
# Posted on August 13th 2007 by rogfox
Re: Please Help with Audacity
Yes either convert to WAV format or.... you can do it in real time.... get a line out from the headphone jack on the Olympus, and stick it into the mike jack on your computer, press the record button in Audacity and it will record it.
Well I assume it will... I have done this from both an old tape recorder and my Sony Minidisc, from a disc that had already been transferred once. They don't allow you to transfer it more than once.... but ha ha, this works great!! Got them on that one! I assume it would do the same from the Olympus if all else fails. Radio Shack (if in USA) will have the cord you need.
Easier to convert to WAV. but you need a program that will rip it. You may be able to do it in I-Tunes, not sure. It may read WMA. Does the olympus not come with conversion software? Lots of CD players these days read WMA files, so maybe they don't feel the need.
# Posted on August 13th 2007 by irisnevins
Re: Please Help with Audacity
This sounds promising irisnevins. Thanks for the tip about the cord at radio shack. Do you know what type of cord it is?
# Posted on August 13th 2007 by crfiddler
Re: Please Help with Audacity
Just bring the contraption.... actually Radio Shack carries Olympus so they would know, and a computer mike input jack is pretty standard. They have all sorts of cord jack adaptors too.
What comes out of the line from the headphone jack, the Audacity "hears" in effect, if plugged into the mike jack.
Another thought.... can't you burn an audio CD from a WMA? If so, do that, and then I believe you can bring into I-Tunes and it will convert into MP3 or WAV, you pick. then you can read in Audacity too.
# Posted on August 14th 2007 by irisnevins
Re: Please Help with Audacity
Just open Audacity, start the recording, then open the session file in Windows media player and record it. Edit it in Audacity and then export as an MP3. .......
# Posted on August 14th 2007 by tctelboy
Re: Please Help with Audacity
I have ocasionally had the same problem of a track appearing to be only a second or so long even though the file size indicates it should be much longer. I get around it by opening the track in another program ( I also have Creative labs studio on my computer) save as WAV and then Audacity will read the converted file no problem. I can't explain why the original problem is there though.
# Posted on August 14th 2007 by southsider
Re: Please Help with Audacity
I agree with rogfox on this one. That's the way to go on Audacity - record what is played on the computer then export as WAV or MP3 (if you have the plug in). I also use Switch for converting WAV to MP3 ... but since I've had the Tascam and Cubase I prefer to record on Cubase because you can record in stereo, whereas Audacity only records mono. Can also get better quality sound with the external sound card in the Tascam and no issues of having to manually align multiple tracks as you have to be mindful of when recording in Audacity.
# Posted on August 14th 2007 by Clear Drops
Re: Please Help with Audacity
Clear Drop... you can in Audacity record two mono tracks together and then make a stereo track, but that's right, you need to either manually align multi tracks or make them into a stereo track first so the nips and tucks will happen together.
I have Cubase as well, but like Audacity's simplicity better. It doesn't do as much though, but for most of my simple purposes it is fine. I have another program I like too called Diamond Cut.
# Posted on August 14th 2007 by irisnevins
Re: Please Help with Audacity
Iris, Core! Can you really do that? Record onto one track of a stereo track? Must give it a try. I get really annoyed aligning manually - but that is probably because my timing is pretty shoite anyway. I stopped messing with the output ages ago. My thinking being that it was better to learn from bum notes than to edit them out and pretend they didn't happen when they did.
... but it does help to be able to hear yourself back the way you think you sound rather than as if your playing has gone through some kind of black hole and come out warped the other other side, out of tune and fudgy. Then you know where you are going wrong and cannot blame it on the dodgy recording anymore. A steep learning curve. So thanks fer that. Great stuff.
May I take this opportunity to thank you for your advice re recording. Its been great. Really great. Spot on. The CO1 you recommended ages ago is working fantastically now with the external sound card (Tascam 122L). So thanks fer that. Really appreciate it. Now all I have to do is learn how to play the fiddle
I wish you luck with your recording crfiddler. There's a lot to learn. Cheers
# Posted on August 14th 2007 by Clear Drops
Re: Please Help with Audacity
Thank you all for your support. I went out and bought the cord, so I'll record into audacity.( Obviously it will be in real time). I did download the program to send to Windows media player a while back and I know that works. Your right Clear Drops there is a lot to learn. I thought I was just going to learn fiddle tunes. Never in a million years did I think I'd be concerned with all this geeky recording stuff.May we all live in interesting times.
# Posted on August 15th 2007 by crfiddler
Re: Please Help with Audacity
Clear Drops.... I have generally added a track to the same page where there was one already, then could make a stereo track... You know now that I think of it...have I ever done say two lines in at once with Audacity and gotten two tracks? I think I have... I know I have with Cubase. Well, I will have to stop working a while to mess with that, LOL!
This is why I am behind on work!!
# Posted on August 15th 2007 by irisnevins
Re: Please Help with Audacity
crfiddler.... the mosr you do this, the easier it gets, but you also realize there is years of stuff to learn literally.
Hopefully it will be a happy process for you, I enjoy it, enjoy the new discovery I have each time, learning more etc. I am no expert, that would likely take a good decade or a few years of schooling. I do a pretty darned decent amateur recording though, near professional so some say. I love live recordings, sessions, concerts, where you catch the talk and the spontaneous music. You can fix most mistakes if not attrocious, and it is a nice challenge. I really enjoy it.
A big part of it is instinctual too, the part that can be hinted at but not taught. You need a good ear for sound, you need to understand mike placement not only for each instrument, but also there is some guesswork for each room you record in. I record our monthly session in a large plaster walled hall, high ceilings. The sound in the recorder is horrible but in the EQ I can fix it up really well. I have figured out the best mike placements for that room. In my house, it is totally different. I like to record in my basement, cement floor, low ceilings. Beautiful natural reverb. I need to unplug computer printers, clocks, anything that hums. My living room, yet again different. When people are over I sometimes record.
People see me coming and know they will be preserved forever, whether on minidisc or on the "real" recorder. It's like my camera, only I like to capture sound. There is so much great music that happens, so many great stories told, that will never make it onto slick studio produced CDs. These are recordings of real people, some great musicians, just doing their thing they love best. I am really pleased with our session CDs for that reason. Some of the music is spectacular, but we also have people like Jim Coogan telling funny stories just months before he passed on, things like that are precious and will be I hope, important to future historians and lovers of the music. Live concerts too (with the musicians' permission always, and they get the recordings, we don't put them out) with the stories told between tunes, people playing at ease, playing wildly, to me they are better than most studio produced recordings. It's like being there.
Anyway....hopefully you will be inspired to carry on, it's fun to record and edit. Just take a step at a time, on a need to know basis, I wouldn't try to absorb all the facts at once and then try to remember and apply them.
A great book is from the Dummy series, Home Recording For Dummies. I learned a lot of good basics from it.
# Posted on August 15th 2007 by irisnevins
Re: Please Help with Audacity
Hi All..
I'm a real Newbie to recording etc. I have only used Windows sound recorder creating small wav files, etc..
My question is..I would like to convert wav files to Mp3, and was told Audiacity would do it. But appearently it won't. It will edit recorded formats wav & Mp3, but won't convert from one to the other. What auxillary software is needed in conjunction with Audiacity to do that.
I am an Amateur radio operator, and would like to record audio from my Tranciever to computer, and then convert the wav files to Mp3 format to send send to reciepents. A fellow Ham does that with Audiacity, and says he does it with ease,but it sure doesn't work for me! I have searched the internet, and have seen suggestions to download a program called "lame" that will work in cojunction with Audiacity to make the conversion. I would like to keep this all simple for starters. Will the "Lame" software be of any help??
Thanks All , and any input would be greately appreciated..
Thanks..Swanj
# Posted on August 23rd 2007 by Swanj