Tech question


CPNHOOK15

Member
Im thinking about starting to make my own disney cd. Now before anyone gets mad, it's all from cd's I have BOUGHT and Im making it for MYSELF.

I am about to make the trip to visit DL and I now live in Sacramento. My 7 hour drive would be nicer with a disney cd of my own.

I would like to be able to edit my mp3 files (preferably without having to switch them to wave files). Basic things include: fades, crossovers, add some chapter points to the longer tracks (in case I wanna skip some part) and maybe add some background noise ( like Im actually IN the park walking around If only I was in the park right now.....).

Anyway, what programs if any, do you folks use?
Any known problems with them or perks?

Thanks in advance! ;D

Tim
 

WishesFan

Member
Hey, Tim.

I?m right there with ya?! I?ve been editing my own park CD?s for years. The only difference is that I have been trying to get RID of the background noise! (from live recordings)

I use "Garage Band" for Mac. I don?t know if you use mac or not, but their audio editing software is AMAZING! So, I would suggest ?Garage Band? or ?iMovie.? Even though iMovie is mainly for editing movies, you can still edit and cross-fade your audio with the greatest of ease. Both programs work great! As for PC, I just don?t know enough to give an opinion.

Good luck! What songs are you planning on editing and what are you planning to do with them? I?d love to know. : )

-Rick
ONCE YOU GO MAC, YOU NEVER GO BACK!
 

CPNHOOK15

Member
I probably should have said that I use a PC, not Mac, in my original post.

Thanks wishes. Im not sure what tracks yet. Im trying to decide whether to do a WDW cd ( 'cuz I just moved from Tampa) or a DL cd.

Suggestions?

Tim
 

Zarpman

Member
Back in my PC days, I was absolutely in love with Cool Edit Pro. It would convert MP3 files to WAV, which are easily editable and compatible with most CD burning software. While the program was not as featureful as some of the others, it had everything a novice to intermediate sound editor might need. When I was finished with the music editing, I brought my tracks into Nero Burning ROM to burn out the finished product to CD.

Cool Edit Pro is now called Audition and is from Adobe. None of the aforementioned products are shareware or freeware, so be prepared to shell out some dosh for them.

Logic is a good audio editor for the Mac. I don't suggest Garage Band, as it is mainly a sequencer, and while you can re-arrange your tracks it doesn't have much built-in for the true editing purposes (noise filters, volume envelopes, effects beyond reverb, etc).
 

DisneyFox_1973

New Member
>I would like to be able to edit my mp3 files (preferably without having to switch them to wave files). Basic things include: fades, crossovers, add some chapter points to the longer tracks (in case I wanna skip some part) and maybe add some background noise ( like Im actually IN the park walking around If only I was in the park right >now.....).

First you have to work arond in the .wav format before you change them into MP-3's.

>Anyway, what programs if any, do you folks use?
>Any known problems with them or perks?

Being a PC user--(but not for too much longer-Yes, I too plan to 'Switch' to a Dual G5 Apple system someday soon),
I would suggest using the following things for the PC:

Sony's SoundForge Express...it has a great noise gate for getting rid of 'some' background noise, time compression/expanding, pitch changing, built-in EQ, bringing up or down the volume , ect.

And the other--Steinburg Tools Clean! program. I have been able to remove a good-sized amount of record surface noise with the system, and when it comes to removing minor to medium tape hiss from tapes, it comes in handy also. One of the other bonus's are that if you are using a 'one point stereo' microphone, you also have the 'Stereo Spread' tool that turns stereo sound from this:

Left-------------------------------Right

To This:

Left--------------------------------------------------------------Right

.....I should know. I've done that with a few of the Disney CD's like 'Sleeping Beauty', and it makes a world of difference!

Hope that helps....

"DisneyFox_1973"
 

narkspud

Member
The other side requests equal time:

I haven't heard DisneyFox's work so I can't comment on it directly, but I do have some advice: Take it easy on the audio processing. Most amateur remastering engineers (and a lot of professional ones as well) overdo it with the technology. Surface noise and tape hiss are preferable to underwater robots, IMHO.

And I'll save my stereo expansion rant for later, except to say that it might cause problems with your MP3 encoding quality. ;)
 

SharonKurland

Active Member
Audacity is freeware and it's very good for simple editing (cutting, pasting, a few SFX, etc.) on a PC. I'm going to keep using it until I get my Powerbook in the fall .

Yes, I'm making THE CHANGE.

Actually, it's my 2nd switch. My first computer, when I had from 1984 to 1992, was an Apple IIe .

-Sharon-
 

1313

Member
Audacity

Audacity is freeware and it's very good for simple editing...
Audacity can be utilized for far more than simple editing tasks. While not in the Pro Tools class, Audacity is a terrific multi-track audio editor developed under the open-source model: http://audacity.sourceforge.net

It features multiple built-in effects and can record/play/import/export audio in AIFF, WAV, Ogg Vorbis and MP3 formats (to name a few). Audacity includes an unlimited Undo feature, supports VST and LADSPA plug-ins as well as non-destructive editing and effects.

Audacity 1.2.1 is available in Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, Linux, Unix and Windows 98 or higher flavors. RedHat Linux 7.3/8.0/9 and Fedora Core Linux editions can also be found off-site.

There is no truth to the rumor that Audacity was known in alpha as Otitis Media. (Haron will understand.)

Now back to our show, already in progress...


1313
 

Zarpman

Member
Let me second the comment on Audacity. It is a terrific app. Not near as featureful as some, but has most anything the novie would need. The only problem I had form it was that it was quite demanding of my system, which admittedly is only an iMac G4 1GHz.

Hey Sharon, I wasn't far behind you. My first computer was an AppleIIgs (and it used all of the ProDOS programs from the IIc and IIe) from 1986 through 1992 when I made the PC switch. How silly was I back then? :p
 

SharonKurland

Active Member
Zarpman-

We had to buy a 2nd hard drive for my computer because of all the work I was doing with Audacity . It DOES eat up a LOT of space...but it's a GREAT program and does everything I need it to do.

I loved my Apple IIe. I understood it. I didn't have to look up ANY commands with my AppleWriter WP program, which I STILL have to do with MS Word. OK, the Dynax daisywheel printer was a bit noisy and slow..but the computer itself, for its time, was TERRIFIC for me.

My main reason for the switch back is that my hobby is surfing...and my husband is sick and tired of de-worming and de-virusing me all the time, even WITH Norton's working 24/7 . Most viruses don't attack Apples, so high-end 15" Powerbook, here I come.

1313-

Ayep, I got the joke.

-Haron-
 

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