DE Oracle @ UMUC

Integrate Audio Clips: "Free Speech" in the Classroom

The POINT of this Training Exercise is to make certain you know how to complete the following procedures:

• Record voice using a Microphone connected to PC.
• Use a Sound Editor (Goldwave) to optimize audio clip for streaming.

*For instructions at a glance, click here*

GoldWave is a digital audio editor for Microsoft Windows.  It servers as a sound editor, player, recorder, and converter. 

Note:  If you have not already installed Goldwave, please do so now. 

Go to: http://www.goldwave.com/ and select the download tab and select the latest version from the menu. GoldWave for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000. Windows XP users must download Goldwave v5.11.

Next, click on Self-Installing GoldWave. Run the installation program. A Goldwave folder should now appear under your Programs menu.

1. Plug Microphone into your Sound Card.  The jack should be labeled "MIC".  Note:  You should now be able to hear your voice coming out of the computer's speakers when you speak into the microphone.

Tips to Improve Recording Quality:

1. Separate microphone cords from power cords (this reduces noise in the recording). 
2. Use a good quality microphone. 
3. Make sure the volume is loud enough. 
4. Record at 16-bit 44 MHz audio 
5. Record in a quiet room. 

Troubleshooting:

1. Make sure the power on speakers is turned on.
2. Check to see if Mute is selected on Microphone Volume.  (Start-->Programs-->Accessories--> Entertainment-->Master Volume).
3. Look at Multimedia settings under the Control Panel. Click on the Audio tab. Check to see your sound card is selected under Preferred device, both playback & recording. 
4. Be sure to load latest version of sound card driver and recheck above settings.

2. Open Goldwave by clicking on the Start button-->Programs-->Goldwave-->
.

Because this is a shareware version, the Goldwave Help file will likely open each time you launch the program.  Simply click on File-->Exit or the X in the upper right-hand corner to close the file. 

3. Click File-->New from the Toolbar.

4. Choose attributes for the new sound file.

Set: Channels to Mono Sampling rate (Hz) to 44100 from the drop-down menu.  Specify the length of time you want to record.  You can enter any time up to 3 hours for the length. For example, enter 1:00 for one minute or 1:00:00 for one hour. Click on OK.  You should now see the window below.

Channels Mono sounds have one channel of audio. Stereo sounds have two channels. Stereo sounds use twice as much storage as mono sounds and can take twice as long to process. Sampling Rate This value affects the quality and quantity of the sound. Higher values allow a wider range of frequencies to be recorded and give better quality. Smaller values require less space.    8000 Telephone quality. 11025 Low end radio quality. Good for voice. 22050 Radio quality.  Good for music and voice. 44100 CD quality.  Excellent for all sounds. Time This value specifies the length of the sound in minutes and seconds. You can enter any time up to 3 hours for the length. For example, enter 1:00 for one minute or 1:00:00 for one hour. taken from: Goldwave Help file

5. Select the correct recording source.

To select the microphone, use one of the following methods:  

Method 1: Use Device Controls Properties

1. Select the properties button .
   
   
   
   
2. Choose the Volume tab.
3. Check the Select box next to Mic
   
4. Adjust the volume.
   
   
   
   
5. Click on OK.

Method 2: Use the Volume Control Accessory

1. Select Goldwave Tools-->Volume control from the Toolbar.
2. From the Options menu, click on Properties.
3. Select the Recording option.
4. Make sure Mic is selected.
5. Click on OK.

You will now see the recording volume controls. Make sure the volume is not too low.

6. Prepare a short script. 

Create your own script, use the text below or select a paragraph from a Famous Speech.

You may be a great public speaker or great at ad-libbing, but it is still  important for you to prepare a script before  recording.  In doing so, you actually save time since you'll have to prepare a transcript for users with audio access difficulties.

Hello and welcome to Introduction to Management!  My name is John Smith. 

If you haven't already done so, please read over the Syllabus and Read Me First file.  Then, post a short biography as a response in the student introductions conference.  Also, be sure to look at the Weekly Lesson Guide, under the Course Content menu, for this week's lecture and assignment. I'm looking forward to working with you this semester.

7. Hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard and click on the Record button on the Device Controls window. 

8. Speak loudly and clearly into the microphone. 

9. Click on the Stop Recording button. 

10. Click on the Save   icon (or File--Save as) from the toolbar.  Name your file "lastname" and save in .wav format and save it to the desktop (e.g., C:\csmn_639\filename.wav).

1. Play full recording: 

Choose the Play  button on the Device Controls window.

2. Play part of a sound.
 

• Use the left and right mouse buttons to move the start and finish markers to select the part of the sound you want to play.   

• Choose the Play button on the Device Controls window. 

1. Click on the View menu from the Goldwave Toolbar. Select Zoom 1:1000

2. Remove silence from beginning of recording. Adjust the start marker by clicking the left mouse button on the graph at the point where you want to place the start marker.   

A flat line represents little or no sound at all, while the higher waveforms represents sound. The louder the sound, the higher the waveform.
Move the marker to the point right before the start of your voice.  This will likely be the point at which the wave form greatly increases in range. You may make review adjustments by clicking on the Play button on the Device Controls window.

3. Choose Trim from the Goldwave Edit menu or click on the Trim button. 

4. Review changes by choosing the Play button on the Device Controls window.

5. Remove silence from end of recording. Adjust the finish marker by clicking the right mouse button on the graph at the point where you want to place the finish marker.

6. Choose Trim from the Goldwave Edit menu or click on the Trim button. 

7. Review changes by choosing the Play button on the Device Controls window.

8. Click on the Save   icon (or File--Save as) from the toolbar.

Now that you've trimmed excess sound from your recording, we want to normalize the sounds. 

Normalization is a process that increases the overall relative levels of the sound file without increasing the level of noise.  Goldwave looks at the entire waveform and finds the distance from the highest peak to the zero decibel level. It then increases the rest of the waveforms by that amount. Zero decibels is the highest level that sound can get in the digital world without "peaking the meters" and causing a distortion in the sound.  The overall effect of normalization is increasing all the levels without ever going over the zero decibel cut-off level. [1]

9. Normalize by clicking on the Effects menu from the Goldwave Toolbar. Select Volume, Maximize from the list.

10. Set the New Maximum to 0.950. Click on OK.

11. Click on the Save   icon (or File--Save as) from the toolbar.

12. Next, we will use the Offset command to adjusts or removes a dc offset by shifting the waveform up or down.  It will appear on screen as your audio signal waveform residing mostly above or below the zero line.  You can hear it as a pop or click whenever you start or stop playback   Also, if you notice that silent sections of a sound are not at zero in the graph, you can use this command to adjust them to zero.  When you see or hear this problem simply apply the DC offset command to the audio to remove it.  (A positive value shifts it up, while a negative value shifts it down.)

Click on the Effects menu from the Goldwave Toolbar.   Select Offset... from the list.  Click on OK.

13. Click on the Save   icon (or File--Save as) from the toolbar.