Recording Sound

15.2. Recording Sound If you hope to record new sounds, you need amicrophone. Your microphone situation depends on the kind of Mac you have:
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Recording Sound15.2. Recording SoundIf you hope to record new sounds, you need amicrophone. Your microphone situationdepends on the kind of Mac you have: • Laptop, iMac, eMac. You have a built-in microphone, usually a tiny hole near the screen. This microphone couldnt be more convenient; its always with you, and always turned on. • Other desktop Macs. You can plug in an external USB microphone (the Macintosh Products Guide at www.guide.apple.com offers a list) or use an adapter (such as the iMic,www.griffintechnology.com) that accommodates a standard microphone.Tip: No matter which model you have, an Apple iSight videoconferencing camera workswell as a microphone.The Sound pane of System Preferences lets you choose which sound source you want theMac to listen to. Click the Input tab, and then click the sound source you want: externalUSB microphone, external analog microphone (that is, something plugged into themicrophone or Line In jacks of Macs that have them), built-in microphone, iSight, orwhatever.15.2.1. Making the RecordingOnce youve got your microphone situation taken care of, you need to get your hands onsome sound-recording software. You can use shareware programs like Amadeus II, or tryiMovie, GarageBand (both came with your Mac), or QuickTime Player Pro (read on).15.2.1.1. The GarageBand methodAlthough you might never suspect it, every Mac comes with a basic recording program.Its GarageBand, which lurks in your Applications folder. Figure 15-2. GarageBand opens with a Piano track in place. You can delete it, though (Track- Delete Track). What you want is a new digital-audio track,which you get when you choose Track New Basic Track. Youre ready to record sound!Open GarageBand; on the welcome screen, click Create New Music Project. Name yourproject and click Create.When you arrive at the main GarageBand track layout, choose Track NewBasicTrack(Figure 15-2). Click the red Record Voice button and begin to speak. Click Stop tocomplete the recording. To play it, press the Home key to rewind, and then the Space barto play. (If you hear nothing, choose GarageBand Preferences Audio/Midi, andmake sure the correct microphone was selected as the audio input. Oh—and make sureyour Macs speakers arent muted.)When youre satisfied with the recording, choose Share Send to iTunes. If you haveGarageBand 08, youre now asked what file format you want (MP3 or AAC). If not, therecording pops its way into iTunes.Either way, once its in iTunes, youll have to convert it to the AIFF format to use it as astartup beep. Visit the iTunes Preferences Advanced Importing tab; chooseAIFF Encoder from the Import Using pop-up menu. Click OK. Finally, back in theiTunes list, click the name of your recording and then choose Advanced ConvertSelection to AIFF.When the conversion is complete, drag the new AIFF file to the desktop. Drag it into oneof your Sounds folders, and presto—youve just created a new alert sound!15.2.1.2. The QuickTime Player Pro methodOpen QuickTime Player (in your Applications folder). Choose File New AudioRecording. Click the round, red Record button and begin to speak. Option-click whatsnow the square Stop button to pause the recording, or click without the Option key to end(Figure 15-3).Tip: Dont adjust the tiny speaker (volume) slider in the Audio Recording window unlessyoure wearing headphones. This slider lets you monitor the sound—and turning it upwhile the Macs speakers are live risks producing the hideous shriek known as feedback. Figure 15-3. The primary design element of QuickTime Players audio-recordingconsole is a live VU level meter. Test your setup by speaking into the microphone. If this meter twitches in response, youre ready to record.When youre satisfied with the recording, choose File Export. In the resulting dialogbox, choose Sound to AIFF from the Export pop-up menu. Make sure the file nameends in .aiff, then navigate to a Sounds folder, and click Save. Your sound is ready toplay.