All music enthusiasts dream of being dj's or some sort of music media guru. We will present way to transfer old vinyl records, tapes, etc into digital form using a computer. We will also tell you about different music software to create mixes, mix cd's, and convert audio from the wav format into windows media(wma) or REAL(rm) format for internet presentation.
www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia
There are some who create music mixes for fun or for friends and some people even play music at events with a computer. A lot of music players even have a crossfade option to blend music. This is where most music lovers or computer dj's start believing they can be a real dj. We will show you tell you how to turn you old record or tape collection into digital form on your computer. You will actually learn to record sounds from almost any source with the proper cables.
RECORDING
To record you want to first set the recording properties of your sound card
to either 'line-in' or 'mic' if that's your only input on your sound card.
Just right click over the horn icon usually next to the clock on your
taskbar, and click on properties. When the volume window opens click on
file, properties, then advanced properties. From the drop down list choose
properties for recording. This is where you can select either 'line-in' or
'mic'. You may also choose 'wave' for primary sound capturing properties if
you want to record sounds that is actually coming from within your computer
like an internet mix.
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No that you've set your properties you can attach your cable. If you're
recording from record player or a boom box you will need a cable that looks
like the end of a pair of head phones. Except this cable will look like on
both ends. Plug one end into the source like the headphone jack. Then plug
the other end into the computer's line-in or mic(if you don't have a line-in
on the sound card). You can use the built-in recorder program that comes
with most Windows machines but it won't allow you to record lengthy
sessions. When completed a recording session the file will be in a WAV
music format. This is a very large raw file that is usually converted
to WMA, MP3, or REAL(rm) audio format. You'll have to purchase
software to do this. Most new computer come with some sort of Music software
program. We will give our suggestions on the software to use.
SOFTWARE
First you'll need a program to record your music or create mixes. Audio
Studio by Magix will record your music with a volume meter so you'll know if
the sound is too loud. Magix(www.magix.com) also has another jewel of a
program called Audio cleaner. That program can actually record and
clean up 'hisses' & 'crackling' noises from old records and tapes. It
can also export files into mp3 or wav format. When it comes to trying
to be a laptop DJ you probably will like the
following programs. PCDJ by
Visiosonic(see link)
is a very nice dj software program that allows you to mix songs live, see
Beat per minutes, volume levels, etc. Another very nice program from Magix
is the PlayR Deluxe. This software is like a small virtual studio
where you make create music mixes with manual or automatic crossfades.
You can also add sound effects like echoes & reverbs and synchronize bpm
between two tracks. One of our favorite and fun DJ programs is the
free Tactile12000 (see link). You can actually scratch records with
your computers mouse.
MUSIC PLAYERS(burn cd's)
There are also programs that will burn CDs from songs and play lists already on your computer. Some of the top programs are Windows Media Player (v7,8 or 9), Real Jukebox/player (v8 or One), Media Jukebox by JRiver(v8 or 9), and MusicMatch Jukebox (v6 or 7.5). One of the best programs we recommend for burning CDs is Easy Creator 5 Platinum from Roxio. This program allows you to created mix CDs and create crossfades on a track by track basis.
CONVERTING
When making live recordings the output will usually come out in the WAV format which are incredibly large files. For example a 60 minute recording could be well over 600mg.
Files are almost never left in the WAV format. They are converted into mp3(industry standard), wma(microsoft), rm(real), or in some cases burned directly to a cd.
MP3 can convert cd 700mg music cd down to a about 2% of it's original size. This is why MP3 players are so popular now.
WMA format converts/shrinks a mix cd down to about 3% and with a better quality for internet streaming.
RM audio format doesn't convert down as small as mp3 or wma file formats (about 5%) but it is currently used by the majority of websites fo streaming media with Microsoft's wma format gaining in popularity.