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Using GoldWave to create an Audio Clip - Instructions At-a-Glance

CSI Staff

Staff Writer

Center for Support of Instruction

Category: » Tech-skills-software » Audio

Instructions at a Glance

A. Record Audio Clip

1. Check microphone connection. Make sure the microphone is on and working.

2. Open Goldwave (If you have not installed Goldwave, go to http://www.goldwave.com. After you have downloaded Goldwave to your hard drive, click on the Goldwave executable file to install the software). Once GoldWave is installed, select:

• Start -->Programs -->Goldwave

3. If the Goldwave Help window is open, close it.

4. Select File -->New to open the New Sound window.

5. Adjust the New Sound settings:

• Channels = Mono
• Sampling rate (Hz) = 44100
• Specify length of time (e.g., 1:00 = one minute)

6. Click on OK.

7. Hold down Ctrl key and the Record button on the Device Controls window (If the Device Controls window is not open, select Tools -->Device Controls). You can release the Ctrl key once you have clicked the Record button.

8. Begin speaking into the microphone.

9. Once you have finished your recording, click on the Stop Recording button.

10. Click on the Play button to listen to the recording.

11. Proceed to Step C.

B. Optimize Audio Clip

1. Remove the silence from the beginning of the recording.

• Adjust the start marker by clicking the left mouse button at the point on the graph where you want your recording to start (at the point where you the silence has ended).
• Play the recording to make sure the marker is in the correct spot. If not, move the marker to the correct location.

2. Click on the Trim button from the tool bar (or choose Edit -->Trim from the menu bar).

• Play the recording to make sure you have removed all the silence. Repeat Step 1 and 2 if you need to remove more silence. Note: You can select Edit-->Undo if you ame a mistake while triming.

3. Remove the silence from the end of the recording.

• Adjust the finish marker by clicking the right mouse button at the point on the graph where you want your recording to end (at the point where the silence begins).
• Play the recording to make sure the marker is in the correct spot. If not, move the marker to the correct location.

4. Click on the Trim button from the tool bar (or choose Edit -->Trim from the menu bar).

• Play the recording to make sure you removed the silence. Repeat Step 3 and 4 if you need to remove more silence. Note: You can select Edit-->Undo if you ame a mistake while triming.

5. Save the recording.

• Click on the Save button from the tool bar (or choose File-->Save as from the menu bar).
  

6. Select Effects -->Volume-->Maximize from the menu bar.

• Set New Maximum to 0.950 (you can type this number in, or use the scroll button).

7. Save the recording again.

• Click on the Save button from the tool bar (or choose File-->Save as from the menu bar).

8. Close Goldwave.

Congratulations you have created your audio file. You may now close Goldwave.

In order to use audio in your classroom, it's important that the .wav clip you just created be converted to RealMedia format. To do this, you will need to use RealProducer.