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Recording MP3s


ChrisOfDoom

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Ok, my band has a few songs recorded on a casette 4 track recorder. How might I go about recording those tracks onto my computer? I want to be able to post them on the internet and make CDs and all that fun stuff. I am guessing that this thing can do it, but I am looking for maybe a more cost efficient way to do it that doesn't involve me spending a hundred bucks or any money for that matter. My soundcard has some RCA inputs that I can plug my recorder into, I just think I need a piece of software to do it, but don't know where to start looking.

 

Thanks for any help!

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Chris:

 

You shouldn't need any additional hardware to do what you want to do. If the recording is cassette 4-track, then whatever soundcard already in your PC should be more than adequate in terms of noise levels, etc.

 

You do need a piece of software to record it onto the PC. You will just hook up the 4-track to the RCA inputs, tell the S/W to record, then press play on the 4-track, set the levels correctly, etc. Usually takes a couple or three tries to go from analog to digital in this manner, but it works quite well.

 

If whatever software you end up using doesn't have the ability to save to an MP3 format, in all likelihood it can save the songs as WAV files. You can burn CD's from the WAV files, and you can use something like something like RealPlayer (the free version) to convert the WAV files to MP3 files.

 

Now, on the software, I've got a copy of Cool Edit 2000. It's probably 4-5 years old...the company disappeared (I don't know if they went broke or were acquired by someone else). The unregistered version is fully functional, but you can only choose two functions to use at a time (like analog record and save...those would be your first choices). You could then close it and re-open using, say, compressor and save, etc. It would take a while, but it can be done. PM me if you want me to stick the software out on my homepage for you...I don't know of where else you could get it since the company who used to sell it is gone.

 

There's a package called PowerTracks that a lot of the computer-recording folks swear by. Here's a link:

 

http://www.pgmusic.com/powertracks.htm

 

The cheapest version is $50...not bad.

 

Here's a page with audio recording freeware...I don't know how good or bad any of these are, but they're free so give 'em a try. There's probably more out there, just search and ye shall find it!

 

http://www.snapfiles.com/freeware/gmm/fwaudiorecorder.html

 

If you decide to get more serious about recording your band (or just yourself), I'd suggest looking at some of the hard-disk based all-in-one recorders available nowadays. I've got a Zoom MRS-1608 and I think it's pretty awesome. There's the Fostex VF-16, Tascam 2488, a Boss unit, and several others in roughly the $1K price range (give or take a couple hundred), and they all sound fantastic...features and functionality, and the ease of use, are pretty much the only differentiators.

 

HTH,

Dave

Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs.

- Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006

 

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Originally posted by Luke73:

Check out these two free Programs:

 

Kristal Audio Engine http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/

 

Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/about.php

 

;)

I use Audacity. Free and everything you need for simple recording on one screen. Great little program. And once you download LAME (also free), you can make MP3's with it as well.

You can stop now -jeremyc

STOP QUOTING EVERY THING I SAY!!! -Bass_god_offspring

lug, you should add that statement to you signature.-Tenstrum

I'm not sure any argument can top lug's. - Sweet Willie

 

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