Many different types of Sound files have been produced over the years as the modern PC has evolved. You will probably be fully aware of WAV files, which produce the introductory sound as Windows starts up, along with other warning sounds such as when we make mistakes etc. I find it amusing how some PC users. (especially may I say some of the older generation) refuse to switch on the amplifiers or even plug in the speakers They seem to be oblivious of the presence of audible warnings we get when using Windows, and it is little wonder some folk find computers difficult to use. The WAV sounds made by Windows can be easily changed using the SOUNDS option found in the CONTROL PANEL. WAV files take up considerable more Disk space compared with other types like MP3/WMA, allowing for time of running.

 

Another popular sound is the MIDI file, some 150 of my favourites can be played or downloaded  from http://www.sigord.co.uk/MID/TuneList.htm, and there is a vast selection from http://www.mididb.com/  Their popularity stems largely from their small size, and the fact, they can be easily created using a fairly inexpensive synthesizer keyboard. There is ample shareware software available capable of both playing, and editing and also producing a printout of the Sheet Music such as if you click on Procyon although multi-tracking will produce very complex printouts. This appears to make something of a mockery of the laws on music copyright, although it might be argued, that such a printout is not necessarily of the original score, but of the pianist's interpretation. The audio spectrum of a MIDi file is limited by the capabilities of the synthesizer used. One of the more popular music files is the MP3. because there appears no limit to its audio quality, even although it is about a tenth of the size of an equivalent WAV file, and the WMA files are often even smaller. There is plenty of shareware capable of producing a MP3 from tracks of a music CD, the latest Windows Media Players can produce the smaller WMA files. VOC sound files tend to be quite small, of only a few Kb, and mainly of use for short sounds. There are many other sound files to be found such as MOD, CMF, SND, ROL, SP3m etc which I find are also capable of producing high quality sound, but favoured more in Europe. Although Windows Media Player will not play many of these files you can download the Freeware WINAMP player which will play many more formats, and has superior skin patterns. There are free MID, MP3, and MOD players from this site if you click on PROGRAMS  some display patterns or clipart at the same time.

 

It should be possible to create WAV, MP3, or WMA files from ANY sound coming from your stereo speakers. On my system I would first double click on the little grey speaker icon on the bottom right toolbar, and then the Options to access the Recording sections. Then I would make sure all the boxes are ticked to ensure all the volume recording options are active in case I need any of them. Next I click on the Stereo or the Mono Mix block. Next I either use the Windows Sound Recorder or something like the FREE Goldwave or Audacity available over the internet to record while playing any sound, such as a MIDi file, or something connected to the sound board Line In. You should see volume level showing to avoid overloading. Depending on the software used, you can then save the file as a WAV or MP3 etc, and later convert it to another format later if necessary.

 

It also possible to produce a WAV etc file from any Analogue signals fed direct into the line input to your Sound Board, such as Tape, Radio, or Vinyl Record, but here you need to check the Line In box is ticked, or the Microphone if used instead. Always try to avoid making recordings using the Microphone for music, you should get far better quality using the Line In and avoid extraneous noise in the room picked up by the Mic. You may need to set it to record at 44100 Hz Stereo sampling rate and PCM 16 bit. Some sound editing software can be used to alter the sampling rate.

 

Unfortunately the majority radios and Hi Fi now are not fitted with say Din output sockets for connecting to the sound card Line input of a PC, so you may have to search for suitable earlier S/H equipment. Also I have found that unfortunately some Hi-fi equipment is incapable of producing a strong enough signal for this, so I was obliged to build the simple pre-amp shown below. It is worth testing the signals on all the pins of the usual 180-degree DIN plugs used for audio equipment for the strongest. Many mono cassette tape recorders, such as the type use for Computer Data, produce a very strong signal from pin 3 of a 7 pin DIN plug  In the pre-amp below the values of the capacitors are not too critical, and the components should fit into a 4 x 3 inch approx. tobacco tin. The 100K gain controls are not essential, and could be replaced by fixed 100K resistors, but are intended to correct any unbalance of gain between the two channels,. This could also be corrected with the left/right balance controls in the software or Hi-fi, remembering to return them to a central position afterwards. I would suggest you run the pre-amp from two 9 volt batteries or nicads, avoiding any risk of damage to the PC, by using a Power Supply. I find the best procedure of balancing the two channels is to set the recording software to stereo, then feed in a Mono signal from an old tape, or record, or use a Medium Wave AM signal. The Nero software often supplied with a CD burner maybe capable of converting WMA, MP3 or WMA files to produce a standard music CD.

 

You will really need some software like GOLDWAVE above to edit the WAV etc file after recording. It is very difficult to start and stop a recording exactly when the sound starts and finishes, thus the need to edit out any unwanted silence. You can avoid the need to record each track separately, by recording the whole side of an LP or Tape as one large WAV file. Some software will stop after a short period of silence and save to separate files. Otherwise use CUT to remove each track, and create a NEW file by Pasting in the CUT data. It should be easy to identify the position of each track by the short silence spots between tracks showing on the spectrograph display, though some ROCK musicians etc delight in never keeping silent between tracks. GOLDWAVE will also allow you to maximise the volume such as with the Normaliser. You can create simulated Stereo from Mono data, insert Fade in or outs, insert silence and a lot more. It will also allow you to eliminate some noise during the silent passages by filtering. You can of course store many more MP3s on a data CD than tracks on a music CD, and modern DVD players will recognise and play these MP3s both from a CD or DVD disk, though some may not cope with WMAs. They should all be able to display clipart/photos in JPG format.