dons-soundandaudio.html
DIGITIZING AND TRANSCRIBING AUDIO
©2020 by Donald R. Snow
This page was last updated 2020-07-02. Return to the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page
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ABSTRACT: Many of us have analog recordins, e.g. tapes and records, that need to be digitized so they can be edited, copied, transcribed, and distributed. We will discuss the types of old recordsings and how to digitize them yourself. In digital format they are easy to work with and can then be preserved, distributed, and posted, Tapes, in particular, should be digitized as soon as possible, since they deteriorate and become unplayable. In digital format copies can be made without loss of quality, unlike duplicating a tape. The notes for this class and
related articles, all with active internet links, are posted on
http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html .
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
- Instructor is Donald R. Snow ( snowd@math.byu.edu
) of Provo and St. George, Utah.
- The notes for this class and related articles, all with active internet links, are posted on my website http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
.
- Tips: (1) To put an icon on your desktop for the URL
for these notes, or any webpage, just drag the icon in front of the
address in your browser to your desktop. (2) To open a
link while keeping your place in the original page, hold down the
Control key while clicking the link, so it opens in a new tab.
- The problem for today: How to digitize analog recordings so you can work with them on your computer to edit them, make copies, and transcribe the verbal ones.
FAMILY HISTORY RECORDINGS
- History of audio recordings, Wikipedia article -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_audio_formats
- You may have , or have access to, old recordings of family gatherings, interviews, journals, funerals, talks, ordinances, music performances, sentimental music, and more
- Places to look for recordings -- your home, neighbors, family, libraries, community resources, online
- Purposes of digitizing old analog recordings
- Archiving to save the best-quality copy -- analog copies are like xeroxes of a xerox, whereas digital copies are always exactly the same quality
- Editing to cut out or move parts, increase or decrease volume, or other effects
- Sharing to preserve copies by sending copies to family and posting online at websites like Memories on FamilySearch Family Tree, for example
- Narrations or music for videos, slideshows, Powerpoints
- Making transcriptions -- much easier from digital copies
- Electronicc formats for audio files
- Wikipedia article -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_file_format
- .wav -- the standard file format and accurate since it saves all pitches, levels, etc., but files are large
- .mp3 -- slimmed down format that is much smaller in file size, but at the expense of the sound quality -- this is the format of most recordings on your smartphone; format is OK there since the smartphone speakers and earphones are low-quality anyway
- Several other formats, but not all computer audio players can play them
- VLC -- good and free audio and video player --
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
-- has feature to adjust the video to match the sound, if
the mouths don't match the sound
SETTING UP TO DIGITIZE
- Digital recorders are not expensive to record directly to digital format, e.g. for a talk, an interview, or your journal, but they can't be used to digitize old analog recordings
- Overall steps to digitize an analog recording
- Connect playback device to computer
- Play the recording and record it on computer
- Edit the audio file -- take out problem parts, move parts, increase volume, label the different sections, etc.
- Export and archive the original high-quality digital version
- For ditsribution and posting, make mp3 copies from the original high-quality archived version
- Hardware -- jacks, adapters, cables -- inexpensive sources are online at Amazon, eBay, etc., and in stores are places like Home Depot and Walgreens Drug Stores (surpisingly)
- Setting up connections -- this is the hardest part of the whole process
- Desktop computers -- sound card is usually in back with
color-coded jacks
- Orange = Mike in
- Green = Speakers/Earphones out
- Blue = Line in
- Connect the cable from playback device output (cassette player, etc.) to the computer sound card input, usually the mike input
- Laptop computers -- usually a single jack for mike and earphones or
speakers (3- or 4-contact jack such as on a smartphone) or can use a USB port
- From playback device use earphone output, if it has one, since the speaker output may be too strong a signal for your computer mike input -- always set the computer record volume way low at start, so you don't burn out something -- there are inexpensive attenuating cables to decrease signal strength, if you need one
- Playback devices with USB connectors are easier to use, e.g. cassette tape players and phonographs with USB outputs
USING AUDACITY TO RECORD, EDIT, SAVE, AND EXPORT
- AUDACITY -- free program for audio
recording and editing -- download from http://www.audacityteam.org/
-- manual and video tutorials at -- http://www.audacityteam.org/help/documentation/ -- program has many features, but the basics will get you started -- the hardest part is making the device connections to record
- After connecting hardware, in AUDACITY, click Transport > Rescan Audio Devices so AUDACITY checks the connection setup; you may have to close and open AUDACITY again, so it recognizes the hardware
- Set AUDACITY to mono or stereo recording, as needed
- Before starting the final recording set the record levels by startintg the playback device and click Start Monitoring on AUDACITY -- set the level of input volume so it
doesn't clip the loudest peaks or you will have distortion
- To be able to hear while recording try clicking Transport > Play Through
- AUDACITY has record and playback start and stop buttons like a tape
recorder; also has a timer, if you want it to start or stop automatically
- AUDACITY can record directly from a mike or from the in
- +ternet or other sources for live recordings
- When everything is set correctly, click the AUDACITY Record button, then the play button on playback device; monitor the
recording to be sure you are getting what you want; you can edit out or add gaps and leaders later, so don't worry about extra spaces, etc., when recording
- AUDACITY has good editing features to delete parts, remove or shorten gaps, change
volume, speed, copy, move sections, fade in or out, etc.
- To include a label track to mark sections go to Tracks > Add Label At Selection; labels can later be used when exporting to split the file at these points with the labels as titles of the sections
- Saving the Project vs Exporting in AUDACITY
- Saving the Project is differrent than exporting -- it saves everything you have done, including all edits from the beginning, so you can continue later or reverse
any edit -- Saving the Project produces an .aup file with a folder of same name containing the data
- Exporting the file means saving it so it is playable on other devices and programs, usually in .wav or .mp3 format
- To archive sound files save in the highest quality
you can, e.g. .wav, and make lower quality .mp3 copies for posting or distributing; as mentioned above, the .mp3 format sacrifices sound quality so file size is smaller
- See more details in AUDACITY Manual and in Don's Freeware Corner notes on his website
TRANSCRIBING AUDIO RECORDINGS
- Voice or speech recognition software
- Still not totally accurate for "continuous speech", which is the way we normally talk, but
is getting better
- Smartphones have built-in voice recognition for audio text entry, but they make mistakes
- Google web search has voice recognition built in, if you have a
mike connected -- click on the microphone (right end of Google search
box) and dictate
- Windows 10 has voice recognition software built in -- see Microsoft
instructions on how to set it up and how to use Cortana on
your computer
- GOOGLE DOCS (free) has Voice Typing when using the CHROME
browser; start a new doc, click Tools > Voice Typing, then the
microphone icon (left side) toggles it on and off; surprisingly
accurate, even when speaking fairly fast -- See instructions
at https://support.google.com/docs/answer/4492226?hl=en
and YouTube videos -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GutL-iO5KLk#t=86.410113
, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RlnBV0XEB4
, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQueGjqeDB0#t=29.927574
- Best commercial voice recognition software is DRAGON
NATURALLY SPEAKING ; comes in several versions, can usually
get it on sale, but even it is not completely accurate
for continuous speech
- Transcribing by "Echoing" -- you listen with headphones and repeat
what you hear to record it in speech recognition software trained to recognizes your voice -- since computer only hears your voice, it
can be "trained" better to recognize the way you talk
- LISTEN N WRITE -- freeware program to help with manual
transcription
- Download from http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/listen_n_write.html
-- 3-minute video tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEUHZr9Bwdk
- Requires audio to be in digital .wav or .mp3 format and played on
your computer
- You listen with speakers or earphones and type
what you hear; does NOT
automatically transcribe the audio
- Program includes player and text editor, but can use any text editor, e.g. LIBRE OFFICE or WORD; then can use a spell checker
- Audio playback in LISTEN N WRITE is controlled with function keys, so you keep your
hands on the keyboard and don't have to use the mouse
- F5 starts and stops audio and can be set to pause a
specified time interval, e.g. 4 seconds, to allow you to type what
you have heard
- F6 skips backward a specified time interval you set, e.g.
3 seconds
- F7 skips forward a specified time interval you set, e.g. 3
seconds
MISCELLANEOUS
- EVERNOTE has a way to record audio in a note so you can describe a picture of an artifact, for example -- avoids the connection problems, but gives an .amr file that must be converted to be played elsewhere
- FAIRSTARS -- good and free CD copier and player -- http://www.fairstars.com/ near bottom of Download page) --- good for ripping (copying) CD's to computer without having to recording it first
CONCLUSIONS
- Many other uses of sound in family history, e.g. narrations for slideshows, copying sound from video, etc,. These are discussed in other classes.
- Tapes deteriorate, so digitize them as soon as possible; phonograph records don't deteriorate, but clean them before playing to record
- Thrift stores sometimes have tape recorders, cassette players, and phonographs; can also buy new ones with USB connectors
- Digitizing audio files preserves and makes them easier to
edit, copy, transcribe, and distribute to others.
Return to the Utah
Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page
or Don
Snow's Class Listings Page .