The Steel Guitar Forum Store 

Post new topic Need a free little recording program
This topic is locked: you cannot edit posts or make replies.
Author Topic:  Need a free little recording program
Jim Cohen


From:
Philadelphia, PA
Post  Posted 23 Jul 2008 8:47 pm    
Reply with quote

Anybody know of a little (free) program I can download that will record audio of whatever's playing on my speakers? I'm really looking for something simple like the little 'Sound Recorder' that comes with Windows, but it needs to record for several minutes (not just a few seconds), and needs to record whatever you are hearing, so you can for example, go to a website and record the music you hear playing there. The Windows Sound Recorder fails on both those counts.

Got one to recommend?
Thanks,
Jim
_________________
www.JimCohen.com
www.RonstadtRevue.com
www.BeatsWalkin.com
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Colin Goss


From:
St.Brelade, Island of Jersey, Channel Islands, UK
Post  Posted 23 Jul 2008 11:47 pm     Recording program
Reply with quote

http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 24 Jul 2008 2:26 am    
Reply with quote

The Audacity program will do that, providing your sound card has the "What You Hear" (System Mixer) option. Some newer Integrated Audio modules (on the motherboard) do not have the What You Hear implemented. If you want to record streaming audio from the internet (e.g. steel radio) you need the What You Hear option in your sound "card".

The Windows Sound Recorder will only record from the Microphone input and then only for 60 seconds. About all it's good for is testing your microphone.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Les Green


From:
Jefferson City, MO, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 24 Jul 2008 11:46 am    
Reply with quote

The last couple of years I've been using a little program called "Total Recorder". It's free or at least it used to be. Can't remember where I got it. It will record a whole program if you so desire. Also it's very easy to use.
_________________
Les Green
73 MSA D10 8&4, 74 MSA S10 3&5, Legrande II 8&9, Fender Squier 6 string, Genesis III, Peavey 1000
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Lou[NE]


From:
Weston, NE USA
Post  Posted 24 Jul 2008 3:33 pm    
Reply with quote

I've been using TotalRecorder for years - it's an excellent program. Not free, but not expensive either. The Standard Edition is $17.95 and will record anything you can put through your sound card. Find it at http://www.highcriteria.com/
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Bill Ford


From:
Graniteville SC Aiken
Post  Posted 24 Jul 2008 5:56 pm    
Reply with quote

This one works pretty good, been using it for a while with good results. Free to try.

BF

http://www.ripvinyl.com/
_________________
Bill Ford S12 CLR, S12 Lamar keyless, Misc amps&toys Sharp Covers
Steeling for Jesus now!!!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jim Cohen


From:
Philadelphia, PA
Post  Posted 24 Jul 2008 5:59 pm    
Reply with quote

Thanks everyone. How would I determine whether my sound card has the 'What You Hear' option?
_________________
www.JimCohen.com
www.RonstadtRevue.com
www.BeatsWalkin.com
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Bob Knight


From:
Bowling Green KY
Post  Posted 24 Jul 2008 6:03 pm    
Reply with quote

Windows Vista Recording Input Source selections for recording streaming audio, sound from media players or just about anything you can hear coming through your speakers are Hidden from view and Disabled by Default.

If your sound card/system supports recording streaming audio Input Source selections such as: Stereo Mix, What U Hear, Wave Out Mix, Wave or a similar selection, here's what you need to do to Enable it for recording:

Right-Click on your Speaker Icon in your System Tray, (near your clock), select "Recording Devices".

In the Sound window that opens, near the top, select the "Recording" TAB.

Move your cursor down to where devices are shown.

Right-Click in the blank white area and select "Show Disabled Devices".

If supported, new selections will appear such as: Stereo Mix, What U Hear, etc. Right-Click on "Stereo Mix", "What U Hear" or similar and select "Enable".

Right-Click on the same item again and select "Set as Default Device". Click OK.

Now in the recorder's Options in the "Input Source" box, you should have the "Stereo Mix", "What U Hear" or similar source available to select for recording streaming, etc.

(You can also Enable other hidden selections like Microphone, Line In, etc. if they are not already shown).

If the "Stereo Mix" type device did Not show up in the "Sound" window when right-clicking and selecting Show Disabled Devices, it may indicate that you have Integrated Sound, and recording streaming, etc. is Not supported. In that case (on a Desktop PC), installing a sound card into an available slot should solve the problem.

If you're using a Laptop or a Notebook and aren't able to get your preferred Input Sources showing, that is hard to resolve. The best thing to do in that case is to contact the manufacturer to see what they can recommend.

If your laptop has a PCMCIA slot, We have read on forums that it might be possible to use a PCMCIA sound card to resolve the problem but haven't been able to test that yet.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jim Cohen


From:
Philadelphia, PA
Post  Posted 24 Jul 2008 6:09 pm    
Reply with quote

Thanks for the very detailed response, Bob. I don't have Vista, though, I have XP. And when I right-click on my speaker icon, I don't get the options you cited. I get only 'Open Volume Control' or 'Adjust Audio Properties'. So, I don't be able to follow any of your suggested moves. But I appreciate the effort.
_________________
www.JimCohen.com
www.RonstadtRevue.com
www.BeatsWalkin.com
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Wiz Feinberg


From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 24 Jul 2008 9:22 pm    
Reply with quote

Jim Cohen wrote:
Thanks for the very detailed response, Bob. I don't have Vista, though, I have XP. And when I right-click on my speaker icon, I don't get the options you cited. I get only 'Open Volume Control' or 'Adjust Audio Properties'.

Double-click on the XP Systray speaker icon to open the Windows Mixer. Go to the Option menu item and select "Properties." Change the selection dot from Palyback to Recording. If there is an option called Stereo Mix, or What You Hear, select them and click OK. Those sliders will now open in a new smaller mixer window.

Hopefully, your sound card's software will allow you to record streams (What You Hear).
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Earnest Bovine


From:
Los Angeles CA USA
Post  Posted 24 Jul 2008 11:59 pm    
Reply with quote

Jim Cohen wrote:
Thanks for the very detailed response, Bob. I don't have Vista, though, I have XP. And when I right-click on my speaker icon, I don't get the options you cited. I get only 'Open Volume Control' or 'Adjust Audio Properties'. So, I don't be able to follow any of your suggested moves. But I appreciate the effort.

Each different sound card has different software to control it. So other people's answers will not work for you. What is your sound card? Do you know how to bring up the software that lets you control it? It probably looks like a mixer with some switching, such as selecting sources and destinations from a list. If you watch Audacity looking for signs of audio coming into it, while you poke around in your sound card's mixer, you may stumble across the signal routing that works.
View user's profile Send private message

Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 25 Jul 2008 2:18 am    
Reply with quote

If you have Integrated Audio that doesn't have the "What you hear", the $30 SoundBlaster Audigy SE, PCI Sound Card (even available at Wally World) is an inexpensive option that will give it to you.

The Audigy SE option is also a step up for MIDI playback as the hardware MIDI Synths on the board are much better than the poor Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth. I have one PC with the Audigy SE installed and I use the "A" hardware synth with programs such as Band in a Box and the synth is equivalent to the Roland VSC33 and since it's a hardware synth instead of software it doesn't require another program to be loaded.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jim Cohen


From:
Philadelphia, PA
Post  Posted 25 Jul 2008 6:19 pm    
Reply with quote

Thanks, everyone, for your help. I got it working. I used Wiz's instructions to set my input settings on the sound card (had a stereo mix setting, no 'what you hear' setting per se), and then just opened my Reaper software and it could record it readily. The only thing that was different from Wiz's instructions was that when I clicked on Options > Properties, the 'Recording' side of things was greyed out and not clickable. But I just changed the 'Mixer Device' from 'Audio output' to 'Audio input' and then it became clickable and then I could click on 'Stereo Mix' and from there eveything worked as suggested. Thanks again to everyone.

You can lock this one up, Wiz.
Jim
_________________
www.JimCohen.com
www.RonstadtRevue.com
www.BeatsWalkin.com
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website


All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  

Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction,
steel guitars & accessories

www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

Please review our Forum Rules and Policies

Steel Guitar Forum LLC
PO Box 237
Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA


Click Here to Send a Donation

Email admin@steelguitarforum.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for
Band-in-a-Box

by Jim Baron
HTTP