My First Auido Recording Project

[pokeplayer984]

Okay, I finally got myself a microphone.  A very nice one in fact.  Had to do a bit of adjusting, but I was able to record my voice onto my computer and save it into a file.

Now, I just need to know one little thing.  I know there to be places on the net where you can upload your own voice, but I don't know where they are.

Any places you guys know of will be very much appreciated.

[action9000]

oh coolness!

If you just want a place to upload the sound file to for others to download, I like yousendit.
http://www.yousendit.com
I used it for most files which I transfer to and from the members here.

[pokeplayer984]

oh coolness!

If you just want a place to upload the sound file to for others to download, I like yousendit.
http://www.yousendit.com
I used it for most files which I transfer to and from the members here.

Um... Can't figure out how to do it.

A little help here, please! :^.^:

[action9000]

I'm not sure about your knowledge of audio compression, sampling rates, quality, stuff like that, but trust me: Compression is your friend when uploading anything online, or keeping it long-term on your hard drive.  Quality can be very low or very high, just with the click of a single option.  If you know what you're doing about compression and quality, skip this post.  Otherwise, read on:

First of all, let me point you to this audio recording/editing program: Goldwave
http://www.goldwave.com/release426.php

The Following instructions are all about Goldwave.  If you choose not to use Goldwave, skip this section.
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In my experience, it is the most user-friendly, yet powerful, free audio recorder/editor available.  Unless you have a method you really like, I'd suggest Goldwave for all your recording needs (no, I don't work for goldwave! I just like it. )

When creating a new recording in Goldwave, Always use a sampling rate of 44100 kHz.  This will make sure the sound will be of CD quality and useful later on.

Next, specify the sound length to be longer than you need.  It's better to have too much than too little.  You can always cut blank stuff out at the end.

The basics of the interface:
Left click: Select starting point
Right click: Select ending point

This can be useful for choosing the recording time, or for selecting an area to edit or delete. To delete part of the sound, just select it and press DELETE on your keyboard.

To start recording:
Tools -> Make sure Device Controls is checked ON
on the Device control panel (the small window with the buttons such as PLAY, PAUSE, RECORD, etc), press the OPTIONS button (the one with the checkmark and the dot).
On the "Record" tab, deselect "ctrl key safety" unless you really want this feature.  When it's on, you have to hold CTRL while pressing the record button.

Next, go to the "Volume" tab and check ON the device you want to record from (microphone, wave out, line in, what u hear, etc. depending on your sound card).  Set the level with the slider next to the selection box.

Now select the area, press record and do your thing!
When you're done, go file -> Save as... or "Save Selection as..." (if you only want to keep the part of the sound that's selected at that moment).
Here's another VITAL step:
When saving the sound, make Completely sure that the sampling rate of the file you are saving is the SAME as the sampling rate when you first made the new file (44100 kHz)!!  

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.WAV will give perfect results in the saved file but the file size will be huge.  .MP3 is a more common choice in most cases. The bit rate of the MP3 controls the quality:size ratio.

Here are a few rules of thumb which seem to apply in most cases:

-Use 44 100 kHz sampling rate whenever possible.  It is compatible with the most devices and systems.

Use .wav files (no compression) when perfect quality is necessary or desired.  Be aware the .wav files are Huge compared to MP3s (about 8 MB per minute, depending on various factors).

Use .mp3 when some quality can be sacrificed for compatibility, storage size, or portability.  The following bitrates are commonly seen:

48 kb/s: Very low quality, sometimes used for internet radio and demo songs.  The audio files on my lyrics site are mainly 48 kb/s

64 kb/s: Higher quality internet radio, demos of songs, *Maybe* voice if you don't need to use the voice in a CD quality song or vocal track.

96 kb/s: Lowest bitrate for "Okay" quality.  Some music, for space-saving purposes

128 kb/s: Commonly seen in MP3s downloaded from the Internet. High-definition internet radio.  Satisfactory qualtiy. Okay for CD ripping or portable devices.

192 kb/s: Good-quality music: Minimum quality recommended for vocal track to be put into a CD-quality recording.  Most people will say it sounds very similar to .wav.  Very Good for CD ripping.

320 kb/s: Very similar to .wav in quality.  Slightly lower resolution in the highest sound frequencies than .wav.  recommended for CD rips and vocal recordings if size isn't an issue but wavs are too clumsy due to their Huge size or incompatibility with Mp3 players.

If you want to send me vocals to use in music, 192 kb/s MP3 or higher please (or equivalent WMA, OGG, etc.)! B)

Um... Can't figure out how to do it.

A little help here, please!

I sent you a PM about this one.

[pokeplayer984]

Thank you so much, Action9000.

Well, it's done now.

http://download.yousendit.com/C6567CD4301EEDD5

This is a partial recording of me singing "Bestest Friends".  It's partial because the program I used to test it only allowed 1 minute long recordings.  Remember, this is only a test.  The full version will come out once I download a program to do longer recordings.

There is NO music.  Only my voice.  That's all this is.

Also, note that it is wise to adjust your volume prior to listening.  This first test was recorded at full blast. :

Hope you enjoy it. :^.^:

[Petrie.]

I think you have your mouth too close to the mic.  Also, did you do anything to add that echo on the test track?

[pokeplayer984]

I think you have your mouth too close to the mic. Also, did you do anything to add that echo on the test track?

My microphone is actually a headset with a mic attached.  The mic part is a little more than long enough to go from my ear to my mouth.

I had the mic right up against my mouth when I first recoded it.  I shall adjust it for the true test.

And the program I used to test this did have an Add Echo feature, so I used it.  For the remaining tests, I won't be using an echo feature.

[Petrie.]

Yeah, no reverb for testing....hard to test for quality when the echo can make it sound worse.  I didn't hear a lot of static either, so you've got a good mic and good recorder.

[pokeplayer984]

Newest test finished.

Full song, lower volume and less feedback.

Might've messed up on the lyrics a bit, but you be the judge.

Note that this one is .mp3 to ensure it would fit the 100MB limit.  It is only about 3MB.

Special thanks to Action9000 for the Goldwave download.  It really helped out. :^.^:

http://download.yousendit.com/4651DDFB509BAFEF

Now if only I could figure out how to add the music. -_-

[action9000]

Now if only I could figure out how to add the music. 

It's *possible* in Goldwave to add music to the voice, but you don't have a lot of control.  Here's how I think you can do it.

Open your voice file in goldwave.
Open the music as another file in goldwave.

Precisely figure out Exactly where in the voice file you start singing (you need to be extremely accurate, within a few milliseconds.  Zoom in to help you get it accurate).

Cut or copy the voice.
Go to the music file, find *exactly* where the vocals should start. Make that your Start point.  Make the end of the music the end point.
Click "mix" and choose a volume for the vocals.

See what happens. B)

The results may not be all that great since all you did was layer the two sound files together.  When I do it, I use an audio production program called FL Studio to mix each invidiaul instrument with each voice, and I have full contol over equalization, effects such as reverb/echo, volume, everything, at every point in the song, making it much easier to make the voice blend with the music.

[pokeplayer984]

Guess I need to practice a little then before I go for it.

I thought I had a full version of what Action9000 once did for it. (You know, with all those insturmental sounds that play when the lyrics play.) Yet, I sadly only had the tested partial ones.

Do you still have the full version of that?  It would be very much appreciated if you do.

[action9000]

Oh, that one.  You bet I do!
Here's the link: B)
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?acti...FB7CDDD3F112D0C

I was thinking of updating it, too.  Haven't gotten around to it yet though.

[pokeplayer984]

Thanks!

Geez!  I'm STILL having trouble keeping in-sync with the lyrics.  I may have to watch the movie while I'm doing it to keep with the accuracy.

[action9000]

I may have to watch the movie while I'm doing it to keep with the accuracy. 

Only problem is, you need to sing along to my version of the song in order to make the recording useful for our song.

This is because I can't guarantee that my version is EXACTLY the same tempo (speed) as the original song. If you sing to the original song, your recording may not be completely in sync with my version.  My version is *close* by not *exactly* the same as the original for tempo.

[pokeplayer984]

I may have to watch the movie while I'm doing it to keep with the accuracy.

Only problem is, you need to sing along to my version of the song in order to make the recording useful for our song.

This is because I can't guarantee that my version is EXACTLY the same tempo (speed) as the original song. If you sing to the original song, your recording may not be completely in sync with my version.  My version is *close* by not *exactly* the same as the original for tempo.

Yeah, I noticed.  According to the YouTube version, Petrie starts singing at 0:17, while your insturmental recording has his insturment starting at 0:19.  That's just one small example.

Anyways, here's my latest version of vocal only, which I hope is accurate with the YouTube recording. (There are a few points you don't see the gang sing, so you have to do it by memory.  I could've messed up there.)

http://download.yousendit.com/6387C686072CDC92

Here's hoping it's good.