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Thread ID: 104692 2009-11-05 05:08:00 Sound recording Bryden (4161) Press F1
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827310 2009-11-05 05:08:00 Hi Everyone

I have been asked by an elderly (ssshhh.....) friend how to record stories which he wants to write to disk for his grandchildren in Canada etc. I think maybe Audacity is the way to go - or is there anything simpler please? Format - should he save the files as MP3 or what other suggestions are there?

This is something about which I know absolutely nothing.... so baby steps please...

Bryden
Bryden (4161)
827311 2009-11-05 05:20:00 Audacity is good for this.
It is reasonably easy to record mp3s:

1. Open Audacity
(there may be a step here picking the bitrate)
2. Press record
3. When done, press stop.
4. File -> save as mp3.

Note that mp3's need the lame encoder, the software will bring up a prompt with instructions on how to install this when you try.
Dannz (1668)
827312 2009-11-05 06:08:00 Showing my ignorance (VBG) with is bitrate? Lame encoder? Is this another software required to save in the MP3 format?

TIA

Bryden
Bryden (4161)
827313 2009-11-05 06:19:00 Yes Lame encoder is required by audacity.
Bit rate is the number of bits per second in an audio file.
For spoken word the default should be fine.

You can find a howto about setting up Lame for creating mp3s here:
audacity.sourceforge.net

However if you are writing to disk, wav is fine. It's higher quality than mp3.
Dannz (1668)
827314 2009-11-05 19:23:00 Check out http://librivox.org where everybody can upload recorded public domain books. Most users there use Audacity. If you have any questions ask the question in the forum where one of the friendly LibriVoxers will help you. Cyberhuskey (13067)
827315 2009-11-05 19:32:00 Hi Everyone

I have been asked by an elderly (ssshhh.....) friend how to record stories which he wants to write to disk for his grandchildren in Canada etc. I think maybe Audacity is the way to go - or is there anything simpler please? Format - should he save the files as MP3 or what other suggestions are there?

This is something about which I know absolutely nothing.... so baby steps please...

Bryden
The first question to ask here which no one has is what is the source. Cd, record, tape or are they already on the computer.
:)
Trev (427)
827316 2009-11-05 20:45:00 My friend wants to read the stories, using a microphone attached to the computer, and ultimately write them to CD so his grandchildren can listen to them, presumably using a "regular" CD player (not on a computer).....

Thanks (in advance) for any further advice....

Bryden
Bryden (4161)
827317 2009-11-05 20:45:00 Woops, should have asked if the .wav format will play on CD players?

Bryden
Bryden (4161)
827318 2009-11-05 22:05:00 .WAV files will probably work on no CD players, MP3 might if the CD player supports it.

But normal audio CDs are in neither of these formats.

If you want to make a normal Audio CD, then save the files as either, it won't matter (mp3 is probably a better idea though if you want to save space) and when you burn the Audio CD (Make sure whatever burning program you use, you have chosen Audio CD) then it will automatically convert them for you anyway.
Agent_24 (57)
827319 2009-11-05 22:13:00 My friend has Nero on his computer - will this convert to an appropriate format for him please?

TIA

Bryden
Bryden (4161)
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