These days, there is a plethora of audio content available to stream over the Internet. Even traditional terrestrial radio often offers content streamed over the Web, diversifying the choices for how consumers can enjoy music and other audio. Although the legality is questionable, there are--and will always be--ways to record these streams. Streamed audio recordings for music are not going to offer the same sound quality as a ripped CD or even a purchased MP3, but it's a good option for talk programs and mixes that might not be available in other formats. This tutorial will show you how to record streamed audio as an MP3; just be sure to read the usage rules for any recording source before beginning.
Editors' note: This tutorial was completed using Windows XP.
Cost: Free
Time commitment: Varies
System Requirements: Windows
If you're a blogger, you know that finding images, videos, and audio for your blog without worry of copyright issues can be difficult. Either the content is copyrighted, or you need to pay for it. In either case, it's not as tempting as freely available, copyright-free media.
Luckily, there are resources across the Web that allow you to use multimedia content for free with some simple attribution. It's a great way to add interesting flavor to your blog without worry of copyright issues.
Let's take a look:
Go public
Creative Commons A search for public-domain multimedia content usually starts with Creative Commons. The site is one of the best places to go, if you're looking for content to add to your blog.
When you get to Creative Commons, you'll find a search box where you can input a query. From there, a handy tabbed-browsing interface is shown, allowing you to send your query to Google search, Google Images, Flickr, and more.
Creative Commons' site is quick to point out that all the searches bring you to third-party sites, and there's no guarantee that the content is free to use, but you'll notice under the search box that the page automatically searches for content that's "free to use, share, or modify, even commercially."
I've used the search engine on numerous occasions and had some success using it. Try out Creative Commons, if you want to search several sites for some photos.
Creative Commons' tabbed search feature.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)EveryStockPhoto EveryStockPhoto is a search engine for those who want free, public-domain photos to use on their site.
Overall, I was really impressed by EveryStockPhoto. When you get to the site, you have the option of viewing photos in popular categories or using the page's prominent search box to find photos. When you search the site, it finds images from several resources, including many of those mentioned in this roundup. Flickr is one of its most used sources.
When you click on an image in EveryStockPhoto, you can see who owns it, the licensing rights associated with it, and more. I really liked EveryStockPhoto. Check it out.
EveryStockPhoto helps you find public-domain images across the Web.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Most of the audio engineers I've met--both home and professional--are Mac people, and Avid's ProTools running on a Mac is often cited as the industry standard. But there are Windows loyalists out there.
In late 2007 I took an introductory audio production class taught by David Huber (who wrote one of the bibles on the subject, "Modern Recording Techniques") and Scott Colburn (who has produced albums by The Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, and Sun City Girls, among many others). Both of them used Nuendo from Steinberg (which is basically the upmarket version of Cubase) as their primary digital audio workstation (DAW), and they ran it on a Windows PC.
Windows 7 should offer better performance for digital audio than Vista.
A Windows XP PC, that is. Both were very diplomatic when discussing software and other gear, but they expressed pretty serious reservations about Vista. Microsoft made a ton of changes in Vista that were supposed to improve performance, including moving certain audio capabilities out of the kernel, but these experts--whose livelihood depends on having a high-performing DAW--thought it was too untested and unknown.
Although they didn't say so, I imagine that the driver incompatibilities reported with other hardware could have been an absolute nightmare with all the gear in a professional recording rig. There were also reports of unstable MIDI timing, drop-outs, latency, and other problems (many of which were addressed by Service Pack 1). They weren't alone: the general advice for audio engineers on Windows was stick with XP. (If anybody had a success story using Vista to build a DAW, I'd love to hear about it in comments.)
In case you haven't heard, Microsoft releases a new version of Windows next week. I've been using the RTM version for a few weeks now and find it far more stable and inviting than Vista was at launch. (Although a colleague did uncover a gnarly power-management problem in Media Center related to a faulty audio driver.) Now, some of the audio experts are starting to weigh in, and it looks like the work Microsoft did to improve performance and compatibility with Windows 7 are paying off in the world of audio production.
Noel Borthwick, the chief technical officer for Cakewalk--which makes a wide variety of audio software for Windows, including the Sonar DAW line--has posted a blog entry describing how the new OS should dramatically reduce latency, particularly on x64 multicore processors. (Borthwick also went into more obsessive detail on Peter Kirn's Create Digital Music blog.) His conclusion: "I will be building a new DAW soon and Windows 7 X64 will be my OS of choice."
The long and short of it? If you're building a new recording system, Windows 7 sounds like a more reasonable choice than Vista. But if you've got a system that's already working well, don't mess with it--there still might be driver incompatibilities with older gear, and upgrades from Windows XP require a clean install, meaning your old settings will be lost and you'll have to reinstall your apps.
Correction, 2:34 PDT: This post incorrectly characterized the audio-related changes that Microsoft made in Windows Vista. Microsoft moved certain audio functions out of the kernel and into the user stack.
FiRe brings professional recording features to the iPhone and iPod Touch.
(Credit: Audiofile Engineering)There are dozens of voice memo applications available for the iPhone and iPod Touch that do a decent enough job for dictating your grocery list. Professional recording applications, however, are much harder to come by.
Audiofile Engineering's FiRe application ($5.99) is by far the most advanced stereo audio recording application we've seen for the iPhone and iPod Touch, going far beyond the limitations of previous go-to apps, such as BIAS' iProRecorder. To get stereo audio into FiRe, you'll need to use compatible microphone accessories, such as the Alesis ProTrack, or our current fave, the Blue Microphones Mikey. You could get away with mono recordings using the iPhone's internal mic or headset mic, but that's certainly not the point.
Advanced features such as location tagging, overdubbing, waveform editing, and Broadcast WAVE metadata make FiRe a powerful tool for journalists and musicians. One of FiRe's coolest tricks, though, is its capability to upload recordings directly to the online audio hosting service SoundCloud. Once a recording is uploaded, you can publicly share and embed the audio just like any other SoundCloud recording, or download the original file to your computer at a later time. It's a nifty trick, and the FiRe application is the first to pull it off.
For screenshots of FiRe in action, check out our photo gallery.
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(Credit:
HearPlanet)
As I made my way around Vancouver, B.C., last week on a business trip and admired the futuristic high-rises and sweeping vistas of ocean and mountains I felt curious--and lost. I wanted to know what the buildings and landmarks were and why they were so striking.
My questions could easily have been answered with the HearPlanet Premium iPhone app. The new version of the "talking tour guide" mobile program, released publicly on Thursday, includes an integrated, interactive map and human voices, in addition to the computer-generated audio.
The HearPlanet Premium app, available for download from the App Store for $5.99, provides text and spoken descriptions for nearly 250,000 points of interest in locations around the world. A free version also is available.
The interface is fairly intuitive, allowing you to type in options to search on "what" and "where." The default is set to the location of the phone and offers a list of items in the vicinity, with thumbnail images and locations on a map.
You can click on the map view to see the items displayed as pushpins and use a pinch-together or pull-apart technique to zoom in and pan out, as well as move the map around with your finger. It's easy to navigate through various content items by toggling between them either in the list view or on the map.
In addition to the computerized audio, HearPlanet has created its own audio descriptions with human readers and has partners that provide additional content. The readings provided by San Francisco Sightseeing Tours, for instance, really lend that feel of hearing it from a tour guide. You can also click a link to visit the content partner's Web site or even to book a reservation on a real-world tour.
You have the ability to read or listen to the descriptions while simultaneously using the map. HearPlanet also allows you to save on power by shutting off the screen with the power button while still playing the audio.
I found the descriptions very informative, detailed, and comprehensive. For instance, I learned that Grouse Mountain, where I went while I was in Vancouver, is a small but well-known ski area overlooking Vancouver to the north. I only needed to type in "Grouse Mountain" when I did my search, and picked the Vancouver mountain (as opposed to the Grouse Mountain located in California).
The map took a little while to display for Grouse Mountain, but was quick when I searched for "Vancouver." That listing offered a variety of options for descriptions. I chose to listen to the information under "architecture and cityscape" and learned that the skyscrapers are positioned in such a way as to preserve mountain views for other buildings because of city guidelines that require that.
I did another test for points of interest in my location in downtown San Francisco south of Market and learned that the monstrosity of a high-rise that arose to obscure my view of the Transamerica Pyramid Building while I was on vacation in August 2007 was expected to take 22 months to complete. Unfortunately, that fact is correct--looking out my window I can vouch that it is done.
On the HearPlanet iPhone app you can search for "what" or "where" and see results in a list view or on the map.
(Credit: HearPlanet)
HearPlanet Premium includes an interactive map that allows you to toggle between items by clicking on the pushpins.
(Credit: HearPlanet)
Correction: Muziic creator David Nelson's age was mistakely listed as 14. David is 15 years old. Apologies, David.
Most of us are likely very familiar with YouTube, the online video hosting and sharing service that lets anyone upload videos for a global audience. The site hosts a wide range of video content--from major motion-picture trailers to that guy down the street who films his own puppet shows.
Among YouTube's massive catalog lies a myriad of music videos, live musical performances, and other audio recordings that have been captured on video or converted to the Flash video format. You can watch and listen to historical footage of great blues musicians like Robert Johnson or the latest Top 40 music videos, and now you can do it in a standalone music player specifically built to listen to audio from YouTube.
The Muziic Player looks slick, yet leaves a heavy system footprint.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)Muziic is a music player and converter developed by the son-and-father team of David and Mark Nelson. Fifteen-year-old David is the technical lead, having developed the actual software.
Muziic lets you create playlists of streaming-audio files from YouTube, as well as convert your own audio files for submission to the site. According to the creators, Muziic adheres to the YouTube terms of use (which is why it includes a little video player), but not everyone is so sure about that.
After you install and start Muziic, it might hang a little as it connects with the YouTube server. Then you'll see a list of genres like Alternative, Classical, etc., in the left-hand column and a list of random tracks in the main window. A search box above the main window lets you search for any artist, song, or keyword, while the left-hand window lets you browse genres by YouTube user. Clicking on any user will list tracks in the main window.
To start listening to music, click the plus sign next to any of the available songs in the main window to add them to your playlist. A basic set of player controls--play, pause, stop, next track, and previous track--sits in the upper left-hand corner, and the tiny video player mentioned above rests directly to its right. A full-screen button lets you expand the video if you so choose.
The playlist controls are placed in the top-right corner of the interface. When you click on the plus sign next to any song, it will immediately be placed into this playlist. You can save and load playlists for later listening, and a "Clear Playlist" button" lets you start all over.
The Muziic Player looks slick and works fairly well, but it does use quite a bit of system memory, akin to Mozilla Firefox with many tabs open. I also found that while listening to an active playlist in Muziic, browsing the Internet via Firefox or any other browser slowed down considerably.
The standalone Muziic Encoder is a nice bonus. The simple tool lets you select an image (for the video) and an MP3 file, then it creates a formatted video version of your song that you can upload to YouTube directly from the Muziic interface.
For more about Muziic, read Greg Sandoval's report on CNET News. Better yet, give it a try and tell us what you think in the comments.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Playing with sound files is something not all of us aspire to do in any greater detail than clicking "Buy Now" in iTunes. But this is one of those cool Mac niches that is filled with possibilities you might not have thought about before.
For instance, have you ever wished you could easily record a phone call for a job interview? How about automatically record your favorite radio program from the Internet, even if it's on in the middle of the night? Ambrosia Software's WireTap Studio, recently updated to version 1.0.8, is an inexpensive and efficient way to record and edit pretty much any audio that you can play on your Mac. You can select any combination of software application (Skype, for example) and hardware device (say, your Mac's microphone), and record the output quickly and easily.
WireTap Studio's dynamic formatting means you can check your sound quality on the fly before deciding on a format.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Once you're set up, simply click record, and the end result will be a clean recording of your conversation for your job interview, podcast, custom playlist, or iMovie project.
WireTap Studio offers a complete set of editing tools and lets you export to a variety of compressions and audio formats. Possibly my favorite feature is called LivePreview, which is a button that allows me to hear what my audio will sound like in different formats and levels of compression, before I start recording. This is great when your needs require the file to be under a specific size, yet you want the best quality possible.
Want WireTap to record while you're asleep? Simply setup a time and date for your session and the software does the rest.
(Credit: CNET Networks)WireTap Studio costs $69 for the full version (link above is to 30-day demo), but if you have specific recording needs, this is the perfect software for the job and may be worth the price.
You must have treated somebody well this year, because you've got a new computer to start 2009 off right. In this edition of the Download.com Windows Starter Kit, we've expanded our collection to include both the recommended free programs you've come to expect from us, and suitable alternatives if our choice doesn't make your grade.
This year's categories include Web browsers, e-mail clients, office and productivity tools, parenting, image editors, music jukeboxes, video jukeboxes and players, file compressors, chatware, torrent clients, and seven five-star, must-have utilities.
Notice the lack of security programs? Check out the Security Starter Kit for our freeware choices to help keep you safe when you surf.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
In some great news from Mac Mojo, the Office for Mac team blog, it looks like Windows Live Messenger for Mac will receive a major update sometime early next year. The biggest new feature update will be AV support for the personal client, which means users will be able to participate in cross-platform audio and video chat using the personal version of Microsoft Messenger for Mac. They are also working on additional features for the personal Windows Live Messenger client and are on track to preview some of the new implementations at Macworld in January at the MacBU booth. The new Windows Live Messenger for Mac with AV support should be available as a beta sometime early next year.
Miranda IM lacks the slick design of many instant-messaging programs, but makes up for it by supporting most IM clients in one fully customizable package. There's also a portable edition, designed for carrying around on a USB key. Like Pidgin or Trillian, it's easy to add your various IM accounts--including AIM, Yahoo, ICQ and MSN--and you'll have the same icons and status messages for each program. You can even manage the personal information for all your accounts from one central control panel.
Miranda IM's plain, gray instant-messaging window offers just the basics for typing and viewing messages; you won't find the text formatting options, heavy-duty emoticons, or links that a program like Yahoo Messenger offers. You will find numerous options to customize how chat or IM windows behave, including a handy option to have messages from a specific person always appear in the same location on your screen. You also can assign hot keys for a few actions, like opening the program or reading a message.
Miranda forces users to give up some of the unique features of the individual-IM programs, but it allows you to conveniently monitor and manage many of your chat and messaging programs in one place.
