Tài liệu Recording Sound doc

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: • Laptop, iMac, eMac. You have a built-in microphone, usually a tiny hole near the screen. This microphone couldn't be more convenient; it's 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 works well as a microphone. The Sound pane of System Preferences lets you choose which sound source you want the Mac to listen to. Click the Input tab, and then click the sound source you want: external USB microphone, external analog microphone (that is, something plugged into the microphone or Line In jacks of Macs that have them), built-in microphone, iSight, or whatever. 15.2.1. Making the Recording Once you've got your microphone situation taken care of, you need to get your hands on some sound-recording software. You can use shareware programs like Amadeus II, or try iMovie, GarageBand (both came with your Mac), or QuickTime Player Pro (read on). 15.2.1.1. The GarageBand method Although you might never suspect it, every Mac comes with a basic recording program. It's 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. You're ready to record sound! Open GarageBand; on the welcome screen, click Create New Music Project. Name your project 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 to complete the recording. To play it, press the Home key to rewind, and then the Space bar to play. (If you hear nothing, choose GarageBand Preferences Audio/Midi, and make sure the correct microphone was selected as the audio input. Oh—and make sure your Mac's speakers aren't muted.) When you're satisfied with the recording, choose Share Send to iTunes. If you have GarageBand '08, you're now asked what file format you want (MP3 or AAC). If not, the recording pops its way into iTunes. Either way, once it's in iTunes, you'll have to convert it to the AIFF format to use it as a startup beep. Visit the iTunes Preferences Advanced Importing tab; choose AIFF Encoder from the Import Using pop-up menu. Click OK. Finally, back in the iTunes list, click the name of your recording and then choose Advanced Convert Selection to AIFF. When the conversion is complete, drag the new AIFF file to the desktop. Drag it into one of your Sounds folders, and presto—you've just created a new alert sound! 15.2.1.2. The QuickTime Player Pro method Open QuickTime Player (in your Applications folder). Choose File New Audio Recording. Click the round, red Record button and begin to speak. Option-click what's now the square Stop button to pause the recording, or click without the Option key to end (Figure 15-3 ). Tip: Don't adjust the tiny speaker (volume) slider in the Audio Recording window unless you're wearing headphones. This slider lets you monitor the sound—and turning it up while the Mac's speakers are live risks producing the hideous shriek known as feedback. Figure 15-3. The primary design element of QuickTime Player's audio-recording console is a live "VU" level meter. Test your setup by speaking into the microphone. If this meter twitches in response, you're ready to record. When you're satisfied with the recording, choose File Export. In the resulting dialog box, choose "Sound to AIFF" from the Export pop-up menu. Make sure the file name ends in .aiff, then navigate to a Sounds folder, and click Save. Your sound is ready to play.  . 15.2. Recording Sound If you hope to record new sounds, you need amicrophone. Your microphone situation. The Sound pane of System Preferences lets you choose which sound source you want the Mac to listen to. Click the Input tab, and then click the sound