I need to record a T-bone
October 22, 2010 9:21 AM Subscribe
My High School student needs to record a sample of his trombone at home so he can take it to his teacher.
A song, scales etc.... We have a Windows 7 machine but no microphone or software. Woiuld like to be able to convert between all the formats.
Ideas on a microphone and software would be helpful.
A song, scales etc.... We have a Windows 7 machine but no microphone or software. Woiuld like to be able to convert between all the formats.
Ideas on a microphone and software would be helpful.
Best answer: Software: Audacity. Free, open-source, etc etc. Needs a plugin for dealing with MP3, but that's fairly straightforward.
Any cheap mic will be fine for your purposes. This one, for example, but it would need an adapter to go into your sound card. This is assuming your sound card has a mic input. If not, or if you want to play it safe, you can just get an inexpensive USB microphone, which has an A/D converter built in.
If you want to be fancy, and eventually make higher-quality recordings, I like this USB microphone a lot. Or you could get a SM-57 and an inexpensive USB audio interface.
posted by supercres at 9:36 AM on October 22, 2010
Any cheap mic will be fine for your purposes. This one, for example, but it would need an adapter to go into your sound card. This is assuming your sound card has a mic input. If not, or if you want to play it safe, you can just get an inexpensive USB microphone, which has an A/D converter built in.
If you want to be fancy, and eventually make higher-quality recordings, I like this USB microphone a lot. Or you could get a SM-57 and an inexpensive USB audio interface.
posted by supercres at 9:36 AM on October 22, 2010
The easiest, although not the highest quality, way is to record a video on your phone and then download it or send it via email or Google sms to your computer. This should suffice for educational purposes.
posted by caddis at 9:41 AM on October 22, 2010
posted by caddis at 9:41 AM on October 22, 2010
There are a lot of free software recording programs for Windows. I used Audacity, though for a Mac, several years ago and it worked fine. You might want to check to make sure your computer does not have an internal microphone. Many do. If so you can likely set your audio settings to use the internal microphone, fire up the software, hit record and basically point the trombone at the computer (probably from a good way off to avoid blowing out the levels).
If you have a webcam it may have a microphone as well. If you purchase a microphone you will want to check whether your computer has place to plug in a microphone. If it does it will likely be a 1/8" jack. You can get very inexpensive compatible microphones at places like Radio Shack or other electronics stores. If there is not a port you can find very cheap USB microphones and also little USB ports that then give you a jack to plug in microphones and/or headphones. None of these things need to cost more than a few dollars to make a passable recording. Cost increases with recording quality.
posted by nanojath at 9:43 AM on October 22, 2010
If you have a webcam it may have a microphone as well. If you purchase a microphone you will want to check whether your computer has place to plug in a microphone. If it does it will likely be a 1/8" jack. You can get very inexpensive compatible microphones at places like Radio Shack or other electronics stores. If there is not a port you can find very cheap USB microphones and also little USB ports that then give you a jack to plug in microphones and/or headphones. None of these things need to cost more than a few dollars to make a passable recording. Cost increases with recording quality.
posted by nanojath at 9:43 AM on October 22, 2010
Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have audio when yo ushoot in video mode. Depending on the camera, that file format will be .wmv .avi . or .mov which will open in windows media or quicktime. I use Picasa for my photo management, and it also works fine with videos for trimming out clips of most file types, so that's what I use. I think Windows moviemaker has an option to save the audio as a separate file, but I don't know if Picasa does or not.
posted by aimedwander at 9:56 AM on October 22, 2010
posted by aimedwander at 9:56 AM on October 22, 2010
Doesn't anyone have a tape recorder, anymore ?!
seriously, you can probably find a cheap one in a thrift shop...
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 11:16 AM on October 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
seriously, you can probably find a cheap one in a thrift shop...
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 11:16 AM on October 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
The easiest, although not the highest quality, way is to record
a sample using the Sound Recorder software included under Windows 7 applications. (Yes, you DO have the software!) This will make a .wav file you could place on a thumbdrive. You're limited to 60 seconds, but that sounds like enough time for your purpose.
Now all you need is to borrow somebody's microphone (with an 1/8th-inch jack). Maybe your son's teacher has one?
posted by Rash at 1:18 PM on October 22, 2010
a sample using the Sound Recorder software included under Windows 7 applications. (Yes, you DO have the software!) This will make a .wav file you could place on a thumbdrive. You're limited to 60 seconds, but that sounds like enough time for your purpose.
Now all you need is to borrow somebody's microphone (with an 1/8th-inch jack). Maybe your son's teacher has one?
posted by Rash at 1:18 PM on October 22, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ShootTheMoon at 9:27 AM on October 22, 2010