University of Rhode Island Multimedia Publishing Help-Total Recorder

Overview

There are several options for recording sound on a Windows platform. For all of them, your computer must have a sound card and you must have an external microphone. If you are going to record less than 60 second clips, you can use the free Sound Recorder (go to Start, select Programs, select accessories, select Entertainment, then select Sound Recorder). For clips over sixty seconds, you can use Total Recorder from High Criteria ($11.95) or Cool Edit from Syntrillium ($69.95).

Evaluation copies of Total Recorder are available for download from High Criteria. The free evaluation copy does not have all the features. These are unlocked with a registration key which you purchase.
With the full Total Recorder, you can:

Record sound being played by other computer programs (e.g. RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, Quick Time, WinAmp) including live Internet broadcasts.
Convert different sound formats to WAVE format (plain or compressed) or MP3 format.
Record Internet Telephony conversations - even full duplex.
Record from any external source through your computer's sound input jack.

IMPORTANT

Before you start, do you have a microphone that will work with your PC? Is it plugged into the sound in jack on the back of your computer?

Windows Sound Controls

REMINDER: THESE DIRECTIONS ARE FOR WINDOWS 98 AND 2000 OPERATING SYSTEMS ONLY.

1. No matter which software you use (Sound Recorder, Total Recorder or Cool Edit), you also have to manipulate the sound controls on your computer. You can find this utility within the Programs menu (START-> PROGRAMS ->ACCESSORIES-> ENTERTAINMENT-> VOLUME CONTROL). Open the Volume Control.

The Master Out window will open. To get to the microphone controls, pull down the Options menu. Select Properties.

Select the Recording Option and click OK.

Now the Volume Control should have the Line In and Mic controls. Put the volume at the max (the top) on both of these controls.
If the Line In and Mic controls did not automatically appear, close the Master Record panel and open it again.

Total Recorder

You can download the Total Recorder software from High Criteria. The file will self-extract and you can install it easily. The default location for the file is the Programs folder and it should appear (after installation) as a program in your Start menu. Open Total Recorder START > PROGRAMS> TOTAL RECORDER> TOTAL RECORDER
	The first thing you have to do is enable the program. To do this, pull down the Options menu and select Recording Sources and Parameters.
	A new window will open. In the Recording Source box, select the Sound Board option and Use current mixer settings. In the Recording Parameters box, if the Format is not PCM, click on the Change button and select PCM from the pull-down menu.
	When you clicked Change, a new window opened. The Attributes can vary on frequency (Hz) but the sound should always be 16 Bit. This is the highest quality and you always want to record at the highest quality. To change the Attributes, pull down at the arrow menu and select an option. When you click OK this box will close. (If not click the X in the upper right corner to close.)
	Now you are ready to record! Click on the red button and start speaking into your microphone. Hit the black square (stop button) when you are done. To listen to the recording, click on the triangle (next to the red button).
	If you decide to keep the recording, pull down the File menu and select Save as. Be sure to give your file a memorable name. If it is going on a web or media server it must have no spaces and no special characters. Web and media servers are case sensitive so remember if you use any capitalization! Also note where you saved the file.

You now have a .wav file that you can use on the web or embed in PowerPoint!

http://www.uri.edu/artsci/langlab/documentation/total.html