- Setting Device Order
- Setting Device Properties
- Recording Audio
- Extracting Audio from CDs
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Recording Audio
Digitizing and storing audio is one of the core capabilities of Audition. You can connect microphones, musical instruments, tape decks, turntables, and just about anything else capable of transferring music to the Line In jack of your sound card for recording in Audition. You can record in either Edit or Multitrack view, and you can specify sampling rate, bit depth, and resolution to suit your equipment and the way you want your audio output to sound.
Audition also offers Timed-Record mode, which allows you to specify a maximum time for recording or to set Audition to record and stop recording at a particular time, as with a VCR.
It's a good idea to check the level of the source signal coming from your sound card before you start recording. You want to get a good, loud, "hot" signal—but not too hot, or your recorded audio will be marred by ugly digital distortion, known as clipping.
To adjust your sound card's input level
- Locate and open the Windows Volume Control window (
Figure 3.12
).
On my computer, running Windows XP Home Edition, it's located in Start > All Programs > Accessories > Entertainment.
Figure 3.12 The Windows Volume Control window as it appears in Windows XP Home Edition.
- Choose Options > Properties.
- Select the Recording radio button and click OK (
Figure 3.13
).
The Recording Control window opens ( Figure 3.14 ).
Figure 3.13 The Properties window for the volume control allows you to adjust settings for your sound card.
Figure 3.14 Use these faders to control the level of incoming audio.
- Set the recording level with the faders that appear in the window.
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Tip
- For a shortcut to the Recording window of the Windows mixer from Audition, choose Options > Windows Recording Mixer (
Figure 3.15
).
Figure 3.15 You can access the Windows Recording Mixer easily from Audition's Options menu.
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To record audio in Edit view
-
Do one of the following:
- To create a new, blank audio file, from the Audition menu, choose File > New, or click the Create New File button on the toolbar (
Figure 3.16
).
Figure 3.16 The Create New File button.
- To record in an existing file, open the file and place the current-time indicator in the spot where you want your new recording to begin (
Figure 3.17
).
Figure 3.17 The current-time indicator is an arrow at the top of the Display window connected to a line that acts as a cursor in a waveform (Edit view) or multi track composition (Multitrack view).
- To create a new, blank audio file, from the Audition menu, choose File > New, or click the Create New File button on the toolbar (
Figure 3.16
).
- Click the Record button in the Transport Control window to start recording.
- When you're done, click the Stop button to stop recording (
Figure 3.18
).
Figure 3.18 The recording and playback buttons at the bottom left of the screen.
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TIP
- If you're worried about pressing the Record button accidentally, you can disable it by right-clicking it and selecting Disable Record Button (
Figure 3.19
).
Figure 3.19 To disable the Record button, just right-click it and select Disable Record Button.
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To record audio in Multitrack view
- For each track to which you'll be recording, click the In 1 button in the Display window.
Audition selects the correct sound card input (
Figure 3.20
).
Figure 3.20 When you click the In 1 button next to a track in Multitrack view, you can select and configure the device from which you want to record.
- Click OK.
- Click the red Record-Enable button, marked R (
Figure 3.21
) for each track to which you'll be recording.
Figure 3.21 The R buttons for tracks 1 and 2 are both enabled, meaning that audio will be recorded on both tracks when recording starts.
- Make sure the current-time indicator is at the right place in the Display window, or make a selection to mark the desired place for your recording in the session.
- Click the Record button to start recording.
- Click the Stop button to stop recording.
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To record audio using Timed Record mode
- Enable Timed Record mode by doing one of the following:
- Choose Options > Timed Record Mode.
- Right-click the Record button and select Timed Record Mode (
Figure 3.22
).
Figure 3.22 You can right-click the Record button and select Timed Record Mode to specify a particular length for a recording or to set a date and time for recording to begin and end.
- Click the Record button.
- In the Maximum Recording Time field of the Timed Record Mode window (
Figure 3.23
), click the Recording Length button and fill in the desired maximum time.
Figure 3.23 The Timed Record Mode window.
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