ArtWonk Recorder

AudioRecorder

What it does:

The AudioRecorder records the sound stream you are listening to, and saves it as a .wav .mp3 or .wma file. While it is built into ArtWonk, and has remote control buttons integrated with the ArtWonk Play/Stop buttons, it does not care if the sound you are recording comes from a SoftSynth being driven by ArtWonk, or from any other source. Whatever you are listening to on your computer can be recorded.

Introduction:

The AudioRecorder is for recording sound, not to be confused with the MIDI recorder built into the Toolbars, which records the MIDI data stream that produces sound, but not the sound itself. ArtWonk normally produces MIDI because it is a composing tool much more than it is a production tool, and for composing, MIDI is far superior to audio output, for two main reasons:

1. By producing live MIDI, you can drive any synth or softsynth you like, and you can drive multiple different synths at the same time. You are not limited to a particular set of built in sounds or sound producers. This is not to say ArtWonk is "better" than the many excellent synths and music production workstations that are available. It's just that ArtWonk's natural position in the creation process comes earlier, before production, when you are developing your ideas and you want your options open.

2. MIDI is naturally suited to importing into a written score. Most scoring programs have the ability to import MIDI .mid files while few if any can import audio and transcribe it to a written score (yes, there is software that does that, but it is limited to accurately processing only simple, clearly defined lines). So if you intend to produce a written score, you need to use MIDI or some other notation format before you start working on realizing the actual audio.

But sometimes you just want to make a sound file and be done with it. This is what the AudioRecorder is for.

The AudioRecorder captures sound at the digital level, so even inexpensive sound cards or the audio chips built into computers can produce pristine sound quality. With the AudioRecorder, you select your sound source, select the sound and file formats, and push a button to record, push a button to audition what you just recorded.

Getting Connected:

Once you get to the "push a button" part, the AudioRecorder gets really, really easy to use because it remembers all your setup choices. For most users getting to that part is also easy as most sound cards have some sort of "What you hear" selection that loops the output sound stream to an available input. Unfortunately, because of the way Microsoft chose to implement its sound drivers, for some it can get complicated. Not impossible, but a bit difficult at first.

The problem is that in order to capture sound, in most cases you need to capture an input, not an output as you might expect. Most sound card designs and a good many built in sound chip designs make this easy. For example the SoundBlaster line has a "What you hear" selection, so problem solved.

Virtual Audio Cable:

But if your sound device does not provide a loop back tap, you will need to use a software solution called Virtual Audio Cable. This is a simple sound driver that appears to the computer as a sound card, with inputs and outputs. It has the capability to loop inputs to outputs from all sound devices, including itself. It is the audio equivalent of the MIDI loop back drivers used to connect software like ArtWonk with your computer's MIDI Ports.

Virtual Audio Cable ("VAC") is not free but it's inexpensive, currently $30, with a free download demo. If you've done a lot of digital audio chances are you already have or know about VAC. If you are just getting started, VAC is a good audio tool to have, that solves a great many audio connectivity issues. Get it at URL:
http://software.muzychenko.net/eng/vac.html

There are some VAC tutorials on YouTube that may be helpful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztuoLyfeHGk

It should be noted that the example given in the YouTube is far more complex than you will need to use for AudioRecorder. Essentially, all you will need to do is set up one Audio Repeater connection. You go to the Sound Panel, find the Default Playback device, change that to the VAC, then connect the playback device to the other end of VAC. From that point on you have recordable sound no matter what your sound card configuration. This is explained in far more detail in the VAC Help manual.

Using AudioRecorder:

You should set the Source SR (Sample Rate) to match your sound device. If you are not sure what this is, set it to 44100 as the software gives better results interpolating down from a higher rate. You probably will be recording from a stereo sound device whether or not you are making a stereo sound file. If you sound device is mono then set the Source box accordingly.

Important: You need to set the Wave Format to whatever quality sound you want, and preferably at the sample rate that is the same as, or downward compatible with, your sound device sample rate. There are a bewildering number of choices here, so look closely and chose carefully. You will need to set this for each of the file formats, .wav, .mp3 or .wma. Once you set them they are remembered and automatically set whenever you change file formats.

The checkboxes "Play > Start" and the like are for connecting the AudioRecorder buttons to the Play/Stop toolbar button. Play>Start causes the AudioRecorder Record button to activate when you click on the toolbar Play button,or programmatically set it from the System module Play input. Start>Play causes the toolbar Play button to activate when you click on the AudioRecorder Start button. And so on with the other button checkboxes. The Lead in and Trail out boxes set the delay time (in milliseconds), so you can record a little bit of silence leader, or most importantly a trailer to allow sound to die out naturally. As with the MIDI recorder, the value in the System module RcEnd input sets the duration in ticks of the last MIDI notes, thus avoiding unintentional abrupt endings.

Making a recording:

The blue status lights over the transport buttons indicate valid operations. If it's blue you can click on it; any other color is just a status indicator and the button will not respond to clicking.

To start a recording, click on the Record button. If you have sound playing, and the sound device is properly connected, you will see activity on the Vu meter, but the time odometer will not be changing as you are just in the Ready mode, not actually recording yet. To record, click on the Start button, which will now have a blue light over it. The odometer will show recording time. At this point you can Pause or End the recording.

Auditioning a recording:

Click on the Audition button to listen to your recording. You can actually listen to any .wav, .mp3, or .wma file by using the browse button to the right of the file text box. When auditioning, the Vu meter changes to a file position pointer, and the file stats (sample rate, bit rate) are printed below. You can click on the position meter to move the file pointer ahead or back. Note that when the position meter is clicked the software tosses out the currently playing buffer, so it truncates the play time by about a second. Don't worry, the recording is intact and the missing second will return next time you play from the start.

Click on Record again to return to the Vu meter and arm the recorder for another take. Notice that each take erases the previous take. So if you want to preserve a recording, pick a different file name for the next recording.