Random access: smokin' technology for your studio. (Professional Resources).

When we speak of using technology, many of us tend to restrict the conversation to technologies that are very new or those used by a minority of teachers. This is unfortunate because we often forget how powerful certain commonly used technologies can be.

Today, CDs and CD players are everywhere. I cannot think of a single teacher who does not know how to use a CD player. It is not surprising, therefore, that I am frequently asked questions related to extended use of CD technology, such as:

* How can I make a CD of my student recital?

* How can I record a CD to send home with my student?

* How can I make multiple copies of my CDs?

* How can I change the key of a CD recording or tune it to my instrument?

* How can I slow down the tempo of a CD accompaniment for practice purposes?

Fortunately, CD and digital audio technologies have become so advanced and easy to use that you can do all the things suggested by the questions above. In fact, you already may have most of the tools you need!

What You Need

To do all the things listed above, you need either:

* a microphone

* a personal computer with a CD-burner

* additional computer software or:

* a stand-alone CD recorder/player, such as the Superscope PSD300 (www.superscopetechnologies.com)

CD Basics

If you purchased a computer during the last two years, there is a good chance it came with a CD burner. We call it a burner because it contains a laser that actually burns information onto the CD platter. By using a computer with a CD burner, you can create your own CDs.

If your computer lacks a CD burner but has a USB or a FireWire (IEEE1394) port, you can add an external CD burner to your computer. As an alternative, you can forget the computer and get a dedicated CD recording device--such as the Superscope PSD300--that works without a computer.

Some CD burners are called CD-Rs, and some are called CD-RWS. The R in CD-R means you can record once onto the CD. Of course, you can put multiple pieces of music onto the CD, but you must put them on all at once. After you have burned your pieces to the CD, you cannot erase them, change the order or add new ones.

On the other hand, the RW in CD-RW means you can rewrite the CD--you can erase, change the order and add new recordings whenever you like. To take advantage of the rewrite feature, you must use discs labeled CD-RW.

CD-Rs cannot burn CD-RW discs. CD-RWs, however, can burn either CD-R discs or CD-RW discs and therefore provide you with much more flexibility. Unfortunately, the CD-RW discs are not compatible with most consumer CD-players at this time. For this reason, you may find it convenient to burn CD-RW discs only for your own use or for students who intend to play them in computers. When making discs for anyone who is likely to play them in a regular CD player, you probably should stick with the CD-R type.

Recording a CD--Option 1

By far, the easiest way to record a music CD is to use the Superscope PSD300. This amazing $1,099 piece of equipment can record directly to CD using its built-in microphone or your own external microphone. It works with both CD-R and CD-RW media, has two CD drives so you can make CD copies and has a host of playback features, including pitch and tempo control.

If you have longed to record your own CDs with the simplicity of the obsolete cassette recorder, the PSD300 is the device for you. This unit is reasonably small (11" x 9" x 4") and light (7 lbs.). You can easily move it around your studio or take it to concerts.

Recording a CD--Option 2

The other way to make your own CDs is to use your personal computer. To do so, you need most or all of the following:

* Microphone(s) (A single, stereo microphone is fine for most teachers.)

* A recording device (such as a cassette, MiniDisc or DAT). Note: This item is not necessary if you plan to record directly to your computer's hard drive.

* Audio input(s) for your computer

* Audio recording software for your computer

* CD burning (authoring) software for your computer

* CD burner

It may seem as though this equipment list is long and imposing, but these items actually are pretty easy to assemble, and you already may own most or all of them.

To make your audio CDs using your computer, you will either make a recording using a familiar recording device (cassette, MiniDisc or DAT) and import that recording into your computer or record directly into your computer.

In many ways, recording directly into your computer seems like the simplest idea. You have less equipment to work with. However, for obvious reasons, your computer needs to be dose to the place of the recording--making this idea inconvenient in many cases.

Let's go through the steps of the process.

1. Record to a Familiar Recording Device

(If you plan to record directly to your computer's hard drive, skip to step 2.)

The best modern device to use is a MiniDisc recorder. MiniDiscs range in price from about $150 to over $1,000 depending on quality and features. Most MiniDisc recorders are incredibly small and easy to use. They create digital recordings, which lack the tape hiss that used to plague cassette recordings.

Regardless of the recording device you use, be aware of the recording volume level. Simple recorders use an automatic volume level that results in a compression of the music's expressiveness. The soft parts of the performance become louder in the recording, and the loud parts become softer. Using automatic volume level, however, makes the recording process very simple.

Professionals typically set their own recording level. This usually is not possible on low-end recording devices. When you set your own recording level, your objective is to set the level as high as possible without the recording meter penetrating the red zone. If you set the volume level too low, the recording may sound too soft. If you set it too high, you will get distortion. Using the automatic volume level avoids these problems.

Once you have made your recording, you need to get it into the computer.

2. Getting Your Recording into the Computer

Regardless of whether you have captured your recording to an external device or you plan to record directly to your computer's hard drive, you need a method of getting the sound from the performance into the computer. If you have recorded your performance to an external device, you must be able to attach the audio output(s) of your recorder to the audio input(s) of the computer. Similarly, if you plan to record directly to your computer, you must be able to attach your microphone(s) to the computer's audio input(s).

Desktop and laptop computers vary widely with respect to audio inputs, and some do not have any audio inputs at all. So you may have to struggle a bit with the issue of adapting the connectors of your recorder or microphone(s) to the audio inputs of your computer or face the prospect of adding an audio input feature to your computer.

If you have a computer with USB ports, you can easily add acoustically dean audio inputs with an audio/USB adapter. Good examples include Roland's UA-1A and UA-1D audio interfaces (www.rolandus.com). These audio interfaces (under $100) provide excellent sound input and output ports for your computer and connect to your computer's USB port. The former device uses the traditional analog connectors (RCA), and the latter uses digital connectors. If you have recorded your material to a digital device (such as MiniDisc or DAT) that has a digital output, the digital connectors will give you an uncorrupted transfer of your recording to the computer.

To pass the audio from your external recording device or your microphone(s) into the computer, you will need some sort of audio recording software program. Some computers and sound cards come with very nice audio recording programs.

Many MIDI sequencing programs also include a feature for recording digital audio tracks. If you have a sequencer, you may already be able to record audio. Sequencing programs usually are much more complicated than most people need if all they want is the ability to record a simple audio file. Note that some CD authoring programs also include an audio recording feature.

A large number of low-cost audio recording programs can be found at the Shareware Machine at www.sharewaremusicmachine.com.

Once you have your audio recording program running on your computer, you will need to configure it to "listen" to the audio coming in on the appropriate ports of your computer. There is generally a window or dialog box where you can make this selection.

After everything is connected and you are ready to record audio into your computer, use your program's audio record feature according to the program's directions. Keep in mind that you may need to deal with the volume level issue mentioned in step one.

If you are recording from a microphone and find the sound level is too soft, you may need to purchase a little preamp from a music store or Radio Shack for this purpose.

3. Saving Your Recording and Burning a CD

Your audio recording program may offer a variety of formats for saving your audio recording to your computer's hard drive. Be sure to check the directions for your CD authoring program to determine which format should be used. On Windows, you probably will need to save to the .wav format. On Macintosh, you probably will need to save to the .aiff format. In either case, you should set the audio quality settings to a minimum of 16 bit, 44.1 kHz, stereo.

Once you have saved your audio files, follow the instructions of your CD authoring software to burn your CD.

Depending on the length of your recordings, they may consume a significant amount of hard drive space. The traditional audio CD holds seventy-four minutes of music. This amount of music consumes approximately 650 MB of hard drive space. Once you have made your CD, you may want to erase the recordings from your hard drive.

Making Multiple Copies of Your CD

Most computer CD burners and authoring software make copying your CDs very easy. The stand-alone PSD300 also provides a simple way to handle this task.

Changing the Playback Key or Tuning a CD

In the past, changing the pitch of an audio recording resulted in a tempo change. Higher pitch meant faster tempo and lower pitch meant slower tempo. Fortunately, digital audio technology has advanced so much that we now can separate the pitch issue from the tempo issue.

The PSD300 has a wonderful feature for tuning the pitch of a recording on playback or actually transposing the playback to a different key. You can achieve the same results on your computer with an excellent $39 software program called Amazing Slow Downer (www.ronimusic.com). This program is available for both Macintosh and Windows. It will independently change the pitch or tempo of a digital recording as it plays either from CD or from your computer's hard drive. You even can save the results to a new digital audio file.

Changing the Playback Tempo of a CD Recording

Changing the playback tempo of a CD recording is especially useful if you want to practice at slow tempos with an accompaniment CD. Both PSD300 and Amazing Slow Downer handle this issue nicely.

Keep in mind that any tempo change affects audio quality. Slight changes are barely noticeable; large changes are much more noticeable. Also, note that the tempo change will not result in a performance that is the same as it would be if the recording artist(s) had recorded at a different tempo. For example, when you slow down a recording, trills and vibrato slow down, too.

Remember too that CDs providing accompaniment to the various piano methods are usually audio recordings of MIDI files. If you also have a MIDI file player with a good MIDI tone generator or keyboard, you will get better results when you change the tempo by using the publisher's MIDI file instead.

Burn, Baby, Burn

With a little bit of practice, you should be able to add extended CD functionality to your repertoire of technology tricks. The capability of burning your own CDs will definitely make you the hippest teacher in your neighborhood!

George F. Litterst is a nationally known music educator, clinician, author, performer and music software developer. He is co-developer of the intelligent accompaniment software program Home Concert 2000, from TimeWarp Technologies.