looking to do a 2 hours internet streaming radio show. Would like to re-run the show later on in the day, so would like to find a program that is easy to use, free or very cheap to record my show and play it back in an mp3 format thru my automation system. Any idea's?
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program recording
- Thread starter RadioJock77
- Start date
Sometimes in the middle of a conversation you will hear someone shout out: T M I. (too much information).
In your case: T L I. (too little information.)
How will you be creating the program? Will your computer produce the show? Will you use some studio equipment to mix and the send the audio into the streaming computer? What is your platform: Windows, MAC, Linux or other?
The odds are that you will be running the audio through a Windows PC at some point. If you roll back through the PRODUCTION forum and the ENGINEERING forum, similar questions have been asked and you will find many suggestions over and over. It is possible you will be running some software to create the program or stream the program that will not allow some of the usual suggested programs capture and record the audio, but from my memory, here are some starting places.
Audacity is a free, shareware program. I know it is available for both Windows and Linux machines. A quick peek at Google says Audacity is available for use on MACs up through OS 9, then there was a post that a test version is now available for OSX 10.
My favorite program... simply because I have it for other purposes... to capture audio that is coming through my Windows machine is Total Recorder from High Criteria. You could end up spending $40 or so to purchase the version that will do this for you.
There are others and from past experience, other forum participants will jump in and list them and talk about them.
I would assume ANY of these programs will record the file in the format of your choice: WAV, MP3, WMA, AIF, AU etc.
Why are you specifically asking that it "play it back in an mp3 format"? Will your automation system not handle WAV? Have you followed the discussions by the people at radio stations who used to store their files as MP3 back when hard drive space was small and expensive? Converting you program file to MP3 and storing it to hard drive, then pulling it off and converting it back to WAV and then having your streaming set-up convert it to maybe yet another compression format can really "put wrinkles in you program content" to use language my wife uses to talk about what happens to my shirts after I wear them a while.
Give us a more granular description of your system and the "work flow" or audio chain and we might have some interesting suggestion for you.
In your case: T L I. (too little information.)
How will you be creating the program? Will your computer produce the show? Will you use some studio equipment to mix and the send the audio into the streaming computer? What is your platform: Windows, MAC, Linux or other?
The odds are that you will be running the audio through a Windows PC at some point. If you roll back through the PRODUCTION forum and the ENGINEERING forum, similar questions have been asked and you will find many suggestions over and over. It is possible you will be running some software to create the program or stream the program that will not allow some of the usual suggested programs capture and record the audio, but from my memory, here are some starting places.
Audacity is a free, shareware program. I know it is available for both Windows and Linux machines. A quick peek at Google says Audacity is available for use on MACs up through OS 9, then there was a post that a test version is now available for OSX 10.
My favorite program... simply because I have it for other purposes... to capture audio that is coming through my Windows machine is Total Recorder from High Criteria. You could end up spending $40 or so to purchase the version that will do this for you.
There are others and from past experience, other forum participants will jump in and list them and talk about them.
I would assume ANY of these programs will record the file in the format of your choice: WAV, MP3, WMA, AIF, AU etc.
Why are you specifically asking that it "play it back in an mp3 format"? Will your automation system not handle WAV? Have you followed the discussions by the people at radio stations who used to store their files as MP3 back when hard drive space was small and expensive? Converting you program file to MP3 and storing it to hard drive, then pulling it off and converting it back to WAV and then having your streaming set-up convert it to maybe yet another compression format can really "put wrinkles in you program content" to use language my wife uses to talk about what happens to my shirts after I wear them a while.
Give us a more granular description of your system and the "work flow" or audio chain and we might have some interesting suggestion for you.
Over in the ENGINEERING forum today there was a post on a comparable situation. This gets pricey but here is what someone suggested for use in an on-air type station for capturing audio for playback later:
Rack Mounted Hardware Device <http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=199094.msg1770579#msg1770579>
Rack Mounted Hardware Device <http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=199094.msg1770579#msg1770579>
I will have the automation going thru a mixer board, so I can send it out thru mixer to a computer which would allow me to record into my mac or window's pc, so just a program that will record 2 hours of audio at a time would be great
Just about any of the audio recording or editing programs should work for you if you have an audio feed coming from a mixer into the sound board of a computer that is not also doing something else to the sound at the same time. Did your MAC come with a program called Garage Band? I have never used it but I gather a lot of people do.
I'm still not sure about the legality of using the program, but before Adobe bought the software, reworked it and named it Audition, there was COOL EDIT. Back then they would give you access to a slightly crippled version of Cool Edit for free. Think of it as a trial version that does not have a 30 day limit. You will still find copies of the old Cool Edit available for download on the Internet. I still have my copy which I paid paid for and they took away the "cripple" part. If you are not going to do serious editing, but just recording, the old Cool Edit would probably do well.
Many of the software programs you can get for free or very cheap has one feature that can be a problem: They record to a "temp" file. After two hours, when you stop the recording, then you have to do a "SAVE AS" which can take a long, long time. And remember, any kind of hick-up during the recording process or the SAVE AS process and you can lose your entire file. That is why I have this love affair with Total Recorder. You can tell it to start a new file every 3 minutes or every 7 minute or every 15 minutes or whatever. Without going through the SAVE AS feature, you immediately have a string of files. If you have a power company failure 1 hr and 53 minutes into your program that you are recording, you will lose only the content of the current short segment. That can, however, leave you with the task of putting all those short segments together as one two hour program. the .M3U process should handle that well if you are recording and .mp3 files.
When I have mentioned this automatic recording to short segments in the past, others have offered the names of other programs that will also do this, but i don't remember the names.
The Audacity program is free, and for RECORDING ONLY it is a great program. I don't feel it is as robust as Audition for "radio style editing" but as a recording program that will allow you to edit out the pre-roll that you captured before your 2 hour program began and trimming off any content that was captured after your program ended, Audition plays with the best of them with that kind of editing.
If you plan to do the recording on what amounts to a stand-alone computer, think your way through the process. When it comes time for playback, will you be able to play it back from that same machine back into the mixing board or into the automation computer, or will you need to be able to transfer the recorded program to another computer for playback?
I'm still not sure about the legality of using the program, but before Adobe bought the software, reworked it and named it Audition, there was COOL EDIT. Back then they would give you access to a slightly crippled version of Cool Edit for free. Think of it as a trial version that does not have a 30 day limit. You will still find copies of the old Cool Edit available for download on the Internet. I still have my copy which I paid paid for and they took away the "cripple" part. If you are not going to do serious editing, but just recording, the old Cool Edit would probably do well.
Many of the software programs you can get for free or very cheap has one feature that can be a problem: They record to a "temp" file. After two hours, when you stop the recording, then you have to do a "SAVE AS" which can take a long, long time. And remember, any kind of hick-up during the recording process or the SAVE AS process and you can lose your entire file. That is why I have this love affair with Total Recorder. You can tell it to start a new file every 3 minutes or every 7 minute or every 15 minutes or whatever. Without going through the SAVE AS feature, you immediately have a string of files. If you have a power company failure 1 hr and 53 minutes into your program that you are recording, you will lose only the content of the current short segment. That can, however, leave you with the task of putting all those short segments together as one two hour program. the .M3U process should handle that well if you are recording and .mp3 files.
When I have mentioned this automatic recording to short segments in the past, others have offered the names of other programs that will also do this, but i don't remember the names.
The Audacity program is free, and for RECORDING ONLY it is a great program. I don't feel it is as robust as Audition for "radio style editing" but as a recording program that will allow you to edit out the pre-roll that you captured before your 2 hour program began and trimming off any content that was captured after your program ended, Audition plays with the best of them with that kind of editing.
If you plan to do the recording on what amounts to a stand-alone computer, think your way through the process. When it comes time for playback, will you be able to play it back from that same machine back into the mixing board or into the automation computer, or will you need to be able to transfer the recorded program to another computer for playback?
Not exactly sure what you're looking for. Sounds like you want to record the show on it's first run and then re-run it later. If so, here's something that might work for you.
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/wiretap/
Let me know if it works for you.
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/wiretap/
Let me know if it works for you.
Audacity is free and way easy to use. (http://audacity.sf.net/). Hit record, then stop, file -> export, tada, you get an MP3.
I recommend it, plus it'll get you used to a pretty standard audio editing interface.
Or if you want to go old school you could use a tape recorder
I recommend it, plus it'll get you used to a pretty standard audio editing interface.
Or if you want to go old school you could use a tape recorder
I, too, recommend Audacity. I run a high school radio station and use the software as an introductory level to voice recording and simple production. Plus, the price is right.
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijackpro/
Indispensable. Mac only. Will let you record through AU and VST plug ins. I used this to record the last 4 days of WBCN, set it to start a new file every hour. Has silence monitor, you can set it to pause during silence, start a new file, or stop. An audio swiss army knife.
Indispensable. Mac only. Will let you record through AU and VST plug ins. I used this to record the last 4 days of WBCN, set it to start a new file every hour. Has silence monitor, you can set it to pause during silence, start a new file, or stop. An audio swiss army knife.
Count me as another advocate for Audacity.
If you need to schedule recordings, record long sessions to multiple files, listen as you record, time shift, and a lot of other features, check out Total Recorder Professional Edition (PE).
http://www.totalrecorder.com/features.htm
If you need to schedule recordings, record long sessions to multiple files, listen as you record, time shift, and a lot of other features, check out Total Recorder Professional Edition (PE).
http://www.totalrecorder.com/features.htm
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