Recording on a CC using a microphone
LongTimeAlaskan
recorder to record sounds/songs for playback. I plugged a microphone into
the back of my computer but it doesn’t appear to be activated. When I try to
record on the sound recorder nothing happens. Can anyone tell me how to
activate the microphone?
I would like to prepare verbal exercise instructions with some soft music in
the background and record them on a CD for my brother-in-law who is
recuperating from surgery. Any advice how to accomplish this would be
greatly appreciated.
Neil Smith [MVP Digital Media]
<LongTim...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>Windows XP has SoundMAX digital audio on the control panel and a sound
>recorder to record sounds/songs for playback. I plugged a microphone into
>the back of my computer but it doesn’t appear to be activated. When I try to
>record on the sound recorder nothing happens. Can anyone tell me how to
>activate the microphone?
The Sound and Volume control in windows is probably the key (**
assuming you've plugged it into the correct hole, these days it's
usually colour coded pink ;-). Try going to the start menu, then
programs and find your way to Accessories-> Entertainment-> Sound
Levels.
In the controls which popup, you'll find they're usually set to show
only the *playback* controls. You need to see the *recording* controls
which are separate. So go to the Options nenu, and choose 'Properties'
(utterly counter-intuitive BTW).
Now you can see 2 radio buttons, saying "Show controls for playback"
and "Show controls for recording". Select the recording radio button,
and ensure that the checkboxes below it labelled "Show the following
controls" shows your microphone and that it's checked.
OK that and you'll see a bunch of sliders, make sure the microphone
slider is initially at 100% (the top) and that the "Mute" checkbox
isn't checked. You may not hear the microphone when speaking into it
(and you shouldn't cause it would create feedback to your speakers)
but you can also select it for Playback (un-mute it temporarily) so
you can hear what it's picking up.
>I would like to prepare verbal exercise instructions with some soft music in
>the background and record them on a CD for my brother-in-law who is
>recuperating from surgery. Any advice how to accomplish this would be
>greatly appreciated.
Do you have any sound recording software installed on your PC ?
Cheers - Neil
LongTimeAlaskan
I can record sound but when I play it back I have to turn the volume way up
and the sound is still fairly faint. At least it is recording now. I will
play with the volume controls some more.
"Do you have any sound recording software installed on your PC ?"
I have Pinnacle Instant CD that I use to edit music. I also have Windows
Media Player, which is what I usually use to burn music on to the CD. Will
one or both work for my purpose, assuming I can figure out how to record my
voice? The Pinnacle software might work better to record my voice and
background music than the Sound Recorder on the computer.
Neil Smith [MVP Digital Media]
<LongTim...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>Thanks Neil,
>
>I can record sound but when I play it back I have to turn the volume way up
>and the sound is still fairly faint. At least it is recording now. I will
>play with the volume controls some more.
>
>"Do you have any sound recording software installed on your PC ?"
>
>I have Pinnacle Instant CD that I use to edit music. I also have Windows
>Media Player, which is what I usually use to burn music on to the CD. Will
>one or both work for my purpose, assuming I can figure out how to record my
>voice? The Pinnacle software might work better to record my voice and
>background music than the Sound Recorder on the computer.
Then I'd stick with Pinnacle - windows media player like most players
"doesn't do" recording really. A new tool which is out recently you
might want to look at is "Mixcast" : http://mixcastlive.com/ and I'll
have a tool real-soon-now for basic broadcast on the web and podcast
archiving.
RE levels : Have a look at your microphone cable - some of them,
especially headsets, have a slider on the stem or cable to adjust the
playback volume, and sometimes the recording level too.
One possibility if it's still *very* faint *and* sounds odd (mushy or
poor treble) would be that you've plugged it into the Line-In socket
by mistake.
Line-in takes 1 volt signal levels, and Mic-in takes usually 0.01-0.1
volt inputs. So it would always be way below the level your sound card
needs to work with if it was plugged into line-in.
You're sure you've got your playback volume controls (master volume
etc) turned up properly, and not just the input level ? May be worth a
check...
Cheers - Neil