Windows Sound Recorder

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

I apologize if this is the wrong group for this question. If there's a
better group to ask, please point me in that direction.

I have an audio cassette I need to record onto my hard drive, so that I can
decrease the speed, then put it onto a CD-ROM.

A little background information so you know why I need to do this...

My unemployment appeals hearing took place over the phone, and was recorded
by the appeals court for records. They sent the tape to me and when I play
it back, it's way too fast. Because some of these hearing can last a long
time, and to conserve audio tapes, they record them at half-speed. My
attorney needs to hear this tape and be able to understand it, but at the
current speed, it just sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks on meth...

I've attempted to play the tape on a tape player and record into "Windows
Sound Recorder", and this works great, except that it won't allow me to tape
anything of any length. I get 60 seconds into it, and it stops recording.
I need to tape approximately 45 to 60 minutes and can't figure out how to
accomplish this.

Can you tell me how I can accomplish this without having to buy equipment
that I'll probably never need again? Is it even possible?

Thanks in advance for any ideas, advice or direction to where I can go for
help.

Thanks,
Brigitte

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

"Adrian Brentnall" <adrian@ambquality.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9tn5e099fj9e2h8p2r8o6i050m5flqqj7q@4ax.com...
> HI Brigitte
>
> >I apologize if this is the wrong group for this question. If there's a
> >better group to ask, please point me in that direction.
> >
> >I have an audio cassette I need to record onto my hard drive, so that I
can
> >decrease the speed, then put it onto a CD-ROM.
>
> To record the cassette onto your computer you could use any number of
> free or shareware programs. I've been using Audacity (search for the
> download on Google).
>
> Alternatively - you could use Goldwave (free for evaluation purposes)
> - which will record your tape onto your PC as a .wav file.
>
> To change the speed of the recording you can use Goldwave - it has an
> effect called 'timewarp' - which will slow down or speed up the
> digitised audio. If you have a CD-writer on your PC you can then
> 'burn' the speed-corrected audio onto a CD - failing that you should
> be able to record it back onto your cassette tape recorder (on a
> different tape!)
>
> You should not need any new hardware - as it sounds as if you already
> have 'proved' that you can get sound from your cassette tape onto your
> PC via Windows recorder.
>
> If it's only for speech then you could reduce the 'sample rate' of the
> recording - which will make the resulting file smaller and easier to
> handle on the PC.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Adrian
> Suffolk UK

Hi Adrian,
Thanks for your quick response. I've been using a microphone strung across
the room to the "boombox" that's playing the tape. I suspect I'll need some
sort of different connection??...Like a device that plugs into the tape
player, then into the sound card on my computer??...Would I need this sort
of device in order to use the programs you recommend?

Thanks,
Brigitte

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

On 6/30/2004 09:04, Brigitte J. wrote:

> "Adrian Brentnall" <adrian@ambquality.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:9tn5e099fj9e2h8p2r8o6i050m5flqqj7q@4ax.com...
>> HI Brigitte
>>
>> >I apologize if this is the wrong group for this question. If there's a
>> >better group to ask, please point me in that direction.
>> >
>> >I have an audio cassette I need to record onto my hard drive, so that I
> can
>> >decrease the speed, then put it onto a CD-ROM.
>>
>> To record the cassette onto your computer you could use any number of
>> free or shareware programs. I've been using Audacity (search for the
>> download on Google).
>>
>> Alternatively - you could use Goldwave (free for evaluation purposes)
>> - which will record your tape onto your PC as a .wav file.
>>
>> To change the speed of the recording you can use Goldwave - it has an
>> effect called 'timewarp' - which will slow down or speed up the
>> digitised audio. If you have a CD-writer on your PC you can then
>> 'burn' the speed-corrected audio onto a CD - failing that you should
>> be able to record it back onto your cassette tape recorder (on a
>> different tape!)
>>
>> You should not need any new hardware - as it sounds as if you already
>> have 'proved' that you can get sound from your cassette tape onto your
>> PC via Windows recorder.
>>
>> If it's only for speech then you could reduce the 'sample rate' of the
>> recording - which will make the resulting file smaller and easier to
>> handle on the PC.
>>
>> Good luck!
>>
>> Adrian
>> Suffolk UK
>
> Hi Adrian,
> Thanks for your quick response. I've been using a microphone strung across
> the room to the "boombox" that's playing the tape. I suspect I'll need some
> sort of different connection??...Like a device that plugs into the tape
> player, then into the sound card on my computer??...Would I need this sort
> of device in order to use the programs you recommend?

If your tape player has a line-out connector, connect that to the line-in
connection on the sound card. If you don't have a line-out connector, you
can use the headphone jack, but it will be much louder. If you have to
go this route, make sure you start with the volume on the tape player
really low, and take some test recordings to see how it sounds.

As far as the physical connection, radio shack will have any cable you
might need. The line-in connection on the sound card is probably a 1/8"
female two channel (stereo) jack, so you'll need a cable that terminates
with a 1/8" make two channel (stereo) jack. The other end of the cable
just needs to be what ever the connector on your tape player needs.


>
> Thanks,
> Brigitte
>
>

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

"Brigitte J." wrote ...
> Thanks for your quick response. I've been using a microphone strung
across
> the room to the "boombox" that's playing the tape. I suspect I'll need
some
> sort of different connection??...Like a device that plugs into the tape
> player, then into the sound card on my computer??...

You need to identify what kind(s) of audio input your computer has.
If it has "Line In", then a simple ~$5 cable will directly connect
whatever output (headphone, speaker, line-level) your cassette player
has directly to the Line In on your computer. This is the most desirable
method.

If your computer has only a "Mic Level" input, you can get a special
cable (for not a lot more $$) that has an attenuator that allows connecting
a line output to a microphone input. These are sold by Radio Shack, etc.

> Would I need this sort of device in order to use the programs
> you recommend?

The interconnection method should be completely independent of
which program you end up using.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

HI Phil

>Audacity can speed shift. Menu: Effect/Change Speed. I just tested it to
>be sure. Version 1.2.1.

Ah - thanks - I'm on V1.0.0 - just off to get myself an update <g>

Thanks!

Adrian
Sufolk UK

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 15:31:16 GMT, "Brigitte J." <bas3@rocketmail.com>
wrote:

>I've attempted to play the tape on a tape player and record into "Windows
>Sound Recorder", and this works great, except that it won't allow me to tape
>anything of any length. I get 60 seconds into it, and it stops recording.
>I need to tape approximately 45 to 60 minutes and can't figure out how to
>accomplish this.
>
>Can you tell me how I can accomplish this without having to buy equipment
>that I'll probably never need again? Is it even possible?

I see you've solved your main problem.

But, for the record, the way to make WSR record longer files is to
record into an existing wav file of the required length.

You can make one by cut-and-paste within WSR. Or you can use an
existing one, if available. It doesn't matter what the audio content
is - you're going to "record over" it anyway.