Step 1
The vast majority of sound cards that
come on computers today have three 1/8" (miniplug) jacks on
the back, plus a plug for attaching MIDI equipment. Plug in
the speaker's cable to your sound card's Line Out port. If
your speakers do not have a miniplug connector, you may need
an adapter.
Step 2
If
you want to record from your microphone, connect its cable to
your sound card's Mic In port. (If your microphone does not
have a miniplug connector, see the Recording and Mixing Audio
topic for how to use a mixer or microphone pre-amp)
Step 3
If
you want to record from another source, such as your tape
player or keyboard, attach its cable to your sound card's Line
In port. You will probably need an RCA to miniplug adapter in
order to attach a stereo component (such as your CD player) to
your sound card. You can buy this adapter at your local
electronics store.
Step 4
In
Windows, open up your sound card's mixer panel by
double-clicking on the yellow speaker icon in your system
tray, near the clock on your task bar. If you do not have the
yellow speaker icon in your system tray, you can make it
appear by going to the Start Menu, selecting Settings, then,
Control Panel, and then Multimedia. Make sure that Show volume
control on the taskbar is checked, then click OK. Some sound
cards provide their own mixer control panel, and so their icon
may be different. If you have such a sound card, refer to its
documentation on how to finish steps 4-6.
Step 5
The
standard sound card mixer looks like the figure in "Visual
Aids - Step 5". When you first open the mixer, you will see
all of the possible playback volumes. Make sure that wave is
NOT muted, and that its volume slider and the master volume
slider are both at least halfway up.
Step 6
Set
the sound card's recording devices by going to
Options->Properties, selecting Recording, and clicking OK.
Each of the devices your sound card can record from will be
listed here. If you want to record from the Microphone, select
it and make sure the volume is at least half way up. If you
are recording from some other device plugged into your Line
In, select Line and make sure its volume slider is at least
halfway up.
Step 7
Launch Cool Edit 2000 or Cool Edit Pro.
In Cool Edit, go to Options, select Settings, and then click
on the Devices tab. Make sure that your sound card is selected
for both Waveform Playback and Waveform Record.
Step 8
Test
your recording levels with Cool Edit's VU meters. Double-click
on the VU meters to turn them on, and then either test your
microphone or play something into the line-in, depending on
what you wanted to record. Use the recording control panel
from step 6 to adjust the levels until the VU meters peak out
around -2 or -3 dB. Double-click on the VU meters to turn them
off.
Step 9
Create a new file by going to
File->New. Choose your file type, and click ok. Click here
for tips on choosing file types.
Step 10
Click the record button and record away!
When you are done recording, click Stop.
Step 11
Edit your file and apply any effects.
Step 12
Save your file in your desired format.
Go to File->Save As, name your file, and then select the
format from the format list. To create an MP3 file, simply
select MP3 from the list and then click Options to set bit
rate and other options.
You're done! (print
summary)