RECORDING CDS FROM KEYBORDS VIA  AN AUDIO LINK

INTRODUCTION
This document contains the necessary procedures for producing a Compact Disc recording, from performances played on Electronic Musical keyboards, which only have an Analog or ‘Line’ output signal available, rather than those which have a direct Digital output.
The procedures require some items of software and hardware  and have been written with these items in mind. 
In producing this document, I have assumed that the user only has a basic knowledge of the procedures concerned. I would ask that more advanced users excuse the simplified explanations, since I feel that a document of this nature, is best written, so that a beginner can understand the content.

Hardware : 
1. Musical Keyboard with Stereo Line Output connectors : usually ¼”(6.35mm) Jack sockets.

2. A Computer fitted with a CD drive capable of writing to CD-R discs and a sound card with a stereo
    Line Input connector : usually a single 3.5mm stereo Jack socket.

3. An interconnecting lead : Screened cable with 2 x ¼”(6.35mm) Jack plugs at one end and
    1 x 3.5mm Jack plug at the other end. Recommended length not greater than about 3 metres.

4. Blank CD-R Disc.

Software :
1. Windows XP installed on PC.
2. Digital Audio Editor : Goldwave Version 5.08 : Download from    www.goldwave.com
3. NERO Version 6 for burning CD : Available from (for example)  www.amazon.co.uk 

GOLDWAVE DIGITAL AUDIO EDITOR
This program can be downloaded from Goldwave’s website. This is a fully functional program with a couple of minor restrictions,  which can be removed, by registering the program On-Line with Goldwave. The effects of these restrictions will appear on the PC screen, during the installation process. Current registration fee is £25  or $40US. The program includes and excellent and extensive user manual, which can be accessed from the ‘Help’ entry, in the top Menu of the display.

Downloading.
Go to www.goldwave.com   
1. In the ‘GoldWave Digital Audio Editor’ window, Click on ‘Try’

2. In the following page, scroll down to the ‘Download Links’ section.

3. Click on the ‘2. Self-Installing GoldWave v5.08’  Direct from GoldWave  Link.

4. In the ‘File Download’ window, click on the ‘Save’ option.

5. Navigate to a suitable folder on your hard disc and make a note of the location. (e.g. Desktop )

6. Click on ‘Save’ and the transfer should begin.

7. When the download is complete, click on ‘Close’ and close the Internet browser.

Installation.
1. Navigate to the folder which contains the  file which has just been downloaded.

2. Click on the ‘gwave508.exe’ file – If the files was saved to ‘Desktop’, then just click on the new ‘gwave508.exe’ Icon.

3. Follow the prompts which appear on the screen  (OK,  OK,  Finish )

4. You may receive a message referring to DirectX plug-ins – just disregard this and click ‘OK’.  

5. An additional ‘Short-cut’ Icon will appear on your desktop screen. If you saved the original download file to the Desktop, to avoid confusion between the Icons, it is suggested that you move this file to another storage location, when the following configuration has been completed.

Configuration.
1. After installation, several windows will open, the main one of which is a ‘Help’ page. On this page, are described the limitations which apply to the program, until registration is completed. If usage of the program is minimal, then you may not need to register until much later – if at all!! 
When you have finished reading the text, close the Help screen. You should now see two remaining screens – The main editing screen and to the right, a ‘Control’ Screen. Close the ‘Control’ screen.

2. In the main Editing window, click on ‘Options’ in the top menu and in the Drop-down menu, click on ‘Window’.

3. In the ‘Window Options’ panel, Set the ‘Main window size’ to ‘Maximise.

4. Set the ‘Sound window size’ to ‘Maximised’

5. In ‘Miscellaneous’, tick the box to the left of ‘Use left and right mouse button selection method’

6. Click on ‘OK’

7. Close the main Editing window.

8. Click on the ‘GoldWave’ shortcut Icon on the desktop, to start the program and the main Editing screen should now open in full screen mode. 
At first sight, this screen may seem a little intimidating to a user who is not familiar with such programs, but remember, this program is a professional Editor, capable of some very sophisticated functions. However, for our purposes, we will only be using a small part of it’s capability and after using the program a few times, the operation will seem fairly simple.

9. At the top of the screen, you should see a Menu bar and three Toolbars below the Menu bar. Most of the Icons in the Toolbars will be ‘greyed-out’ at present – this is normal.

10. In the lowest Toolbar, Look for a button which has a small Dot and a Tick to the right of the Dot. Hover the mouse pointer over the button and you should then see ‘Sets Control Properties (F11)’

11. Either Click this button or press key ‘F11’ – the  ‘Control Properties’ panel will open.
12. There are Five Tabs along the top of the panel – the ‘Play’ tab is normally selected on opening, but if this is not the case, then click on the ‘Play’ Tab.

13. In the ‘Green play’ section, click in the circle to the left of ‘All’

14. Click on the ‘Record’ Tab and place a tick in the box to the left of ‘Monitor Input’

15. In the ‘Record mode’ Section, click on the circle to the left of ‘’Unbounded’

16. Click on the ‘Volume’ Tab and place a tick in ‘Select’ box to the right of the ‘Line In’ entry.

17. Click on the ‘+’ and/or ‘-‘ signs to set the ‘Line In’ volume slider to about ‘50’. Alternatively, Click/Drag the volume slider to the mid point of it’s travel.

18. Click on the ‘Device’ Tab.  The settings for the ‘Playback device’ and ‘Record device’ may be subject to a little experimentation. The default settings will probably be shown as ‘Primary Sound drivers’. Click on the ‘Down Arrow’ to the right of the ‘Playback device’ window. If you know the title of your sound system,  and this appears in the drop-down list, then click on this option to select it as the Playback device.

19. Click on the ‘Down Arrow’ to the right of the ‘Record device’ window. If you know the title of your sound system,  and this appears in the drop-down list, then click on this option to select it as the Record device.

20. Click on ‘OK’. It is now possible to carry out a check, to see if the set-up has been successful.

21. Connect the Keyboard Line Outputs to the PC Line Input, using the screened lead. Switch on the keyboard and play some notes, or a recorded sequence. At the top of the screen, you should see the coloured volume indicator bars,  responding to the sound from the keyboard. If this is the case, then configuration is successful. If you cannot see the bars moving, press F11 and check the procedure from step 16.

22. The degree to which the coloured bars move, is determined by the Volume control settings on the keyboard and the ‘Line In’ volume setting in the ‘Control Properties’ (F11) of GoldWave. They should be adjusted so that when playing at ‘normal’ levels, the bars just peak into the Red area on the loudest sounds.

THE RECORDING PROCESS.
If the keyboard has a built-in sequencer, it is probably a good idea to record a performance into the sequencer and save to the  storage medium of the keyboard, before carrying out a recording to the PC. 
If on the other hand, the player is sufficiently confident that a performance can be played ‘note perfect’ first time, then the performance can be recorded directly to the PC, without using the keyboard’s on-board sequencer. 

Setting up a Folder for the Recordings.
It would be convenient to create a dedicated folder on the PC hard disc, into which the recordings can be saved. For the purposes of this document, I would suggest the folder is named ‘MY RECORDINGS’.

1. Either Close or Minimise Goldwave. If the ‘Help’ screen is visible, just close it. (This is just a ‘Nag’ screen to encourage you to register the program and will disappear after registration.)
2. Open ‘My Computer’ and  Double click on the desired Disc drive entry (eg. C Drive C:)

3. In the top Menu of the display, click on ‘File’ and move the mouse cursor down to ‘New’

4. Move the mouse cursor across to ‘Folder’ and click on this entry.

5. Over-write the ‘New Folder’ entry with ‘MY RECORDINGS’ or another name of your choice.

6. Press the Enter key and close the drive folder window and the ‘My Computer’ window.

7. Either Re-start or Maximise GoldWave, depending on your choice in step 1.

8. Click on ‘Options’ in the top Menu bar and in the drop-down menu, move the mouse pointer to the 
‘Storage’ entry and click on ‘Storage’.

9. In the ‘Sound Folder’ section of the panel, click on the small circle to the left of the text ‘Always start with this folder’

10. To the right of  ‘Sound Folder’ section, click on the small yellow folder Icon, to open a ‘Select Directory’ panel.

11. Double click on the ‘C:\’ Icon and scroll down until you can see the ‘MY RECORDINGS’ folder.

12. Move the mouse pointer down and double click the ‘MY RECORDINGS’ folder Icon.

13. Click on the ‘OK’ button at the bottom of the panel and you should now see the new folder name 
in the ‘Sound Folder’ panel.  Click on the ‘OK’ button at the bottom of the panel.

14. In order for this change to be effective, you must Close GoldWave and then re-start the program.

Making a Recording
1. Connect the Keyboard to the PC using the screened lead and start the GoldWave program if it is not already running..

2. In the Top Toolbar, click on ‘New’ – The ‘New Sound’ panel will appear.

3. The following step need only be carried out the first time the program is used.

4. Click on the ‘Down-Arrow’ and in the drop-down list, click on the entry ‘5.00.0’ Check that the 
‘Channels is set to ‘2 (Stereo)’ and the Sampling rate is ‘44100’

5. Click ‘OK’ – the Recording screen will now appear and many of the ‘Greyed-out’ Icons will become active. The PC is now ready to start recording.

6. If the recording is being made from an existing keyboard sequence, then load the sequence.

7. If the recording is being made ‘Live’ then ensure the player is ready to record.

8. In the lower Toolbar, at the top left of the screen, there is a group of  8 buttons for controlling Record and Playback functions . From Left to right, they are :
Play    		:  Green Triangle 
Play Special	:  Yellow Triangle
Stop		:  Blue  Square  
Fast Rewind	:  Double Blue Triangle <<
Fast Forward	:  Double Blue Triangle >>
Pause		:  Two Vertical Blue Lines
Record Start	:   Red  Circle
Record Stop	:   Red Square

9. These controls are analogous to those commonly used on a standard Cassette tape recorder.

10. When ready, click on the ‘Record Start’ button and then either start the sequencer playing or prompt the performer to start playing.

11. You should see a cursor moving from left to right across the screen and Red and Green waveform will appear to the left of the cursor. Do not be concerned if the cursor moves off the right side of the screen – the program is still recording.

12. When the performance has finished, click on the ‘Record Stop’ button.  You will now see two waveform traces on the screen.

13. If the performance was long enough to make the cursor go off the right edge of the screen, the entire recording can be viewed by clicking on the ‘All’ Icon, which is located in the middle area, of the top row of Toolbars – it has a small Magnifying glass and a Blue ‘X’. If this Icon is ‘Greyed out’, then this indicates that the entire performance is already visible on the screen. 

14. To play back the performance, click on the ‘Play’ button. You should now hear the performance playing back on your PC speakers and see the screen cursor move across the display.
15. The playback will stop automatically at the end of the recording and return the screen cursor to the left edge.

16. If you are satisfied with the recording, you can now save it to the ‘MY RECORDINGS’ folder.

Saving your Recording
1. In the top Menu, click on ‘File’, move the mouse cursor down to ‘Save As…’ – the ‘Save Sound As’ panel should open.

2. Enter a suitable name for the recording in the ‘File name:’ section. Check that the ‘Save as type:’ entry reads ‘Wave (*.wav). If this is not the case, then click on the ‘Down Arrow’ to the right of the ‘Save as type:’ section and click on the ‘Wave (*.wav) entry in the drop-down menu.

3. When the entries are correct, click on ‘Save’. The recording is now saved in the ‘MY RECORDINGS’ folder.

EDITING YOUR RECORDING

Basic Editing of the Recording – Removing Dead Space
It is possible that there may be some ‘Dead Space’, or silence, at the start and/or end of the recording. Dead Space is shown in the waveforms as just a continuous straight line, at the start and end of the recording. If this is the case, it will waste a little space on the CD, when you transfer your recordings. The Dead Space can be removed fairly easily by carrying out the following procedure. If the Dead Space is not significant, say less than a few seconds, then you may just skip this procedure. During the process, if you make a mistake, there is an ‘Undo’ function which allows you to step back to the condition of the recording, before the ‘edit’ operation. Don’t worry about spoiling the recording, since you have already saved it to disc.

To remove Dead Space (Silence) at the Start of the recording :
1. Ensure the mouse cursor is positioned somewhere within the Blue editing window section of the display. The cursor should be a short vertical line with an arrow either side.

2. Click and hold the RIGHT Mouse button and move the mouse to your left and you should see the long vertical Blue cursor moving across the display. As it moves through the waveforms, you will see the coloured Record Level indicators activating and responding to the peaks and troughs of the waveform.

3. Keep moving the cursor to the left, until it is positioned at the Right hand end of the Dead Space, at the beginning of the recording, just before the true recording is indicated within the waveform. You will be able to check that the cursor is positioned correctly, because the Record Level indicators will show no deflection.

4. When you are satisfied with the position, release the mouse button. You will now see a short section of the screen, the Dead Space, with a background coloured Blue – the remainder of the display will have a Black background.

5. Move the mouse pointer up to the Top row of toolbar Icons and click on the ‘Del’ button.

6. The Dead Space at the start of the recording will be removed and the entire display will have a Black background.
7. Move the mouse pointer up to the Top row of Toolbar Icons and click on the ‘Sel All’ button – the entire background should change to Blue.
 
To remove Dead Space (Silence) at the End of the recording :
This procedure is very similar to that just described above. 

1. Ensure the mouse cursor is positioned somewhere within the Blue editing window section of the display. The cursor should be a short vertical line with an arrow either side.

2. Click and hold the LEFT Mouse button and move the mouse to your right and you should see the long vertical Blue cursor moving across the display. As it moves through the waveforms, you will see the coloured Record Level indicators activating and responding to the peaks and troughs of the waveform.

3. Keep moving the cursor to the right, until it is positioned at the Left hand end of the Dead Space, at the end of the recording, just after the true recording is indicated within the waveform. You will be able to check that the cursor is positioned correctly, because the Record Level indicators will show no deflection.

4. When you are satisfied with the position, release the mouse button. You will now see a short section of the screen, the Dead Space, with a background coloured Blue – the remainder of the display will have a Black background.

5. Move the mouse pointer up to the Top row of toolbar Icons and click on the ‘Del’ button.

6. The Dead Space at the end of the recording will be removed and the entire display will have a Black background.

7. Move the mouse pointer up to the Top row of Toolbar Icons and click on the ‘Sel All’ button – the entire background should change to Blue.

8. Now play back the recording and check that it sounds OK.

9. If at any time during the editing process, you decide that you have carried out an incorrect operation, just click on the ‘Undo’ button in the Top Toolbar.

10. If you are satisfied with the editing procedure, click on the ‘Save’ Icon in the top toolbar, to open the ‘Save Sound As’ panel. You may either assign a new name to the edited recording or use the same name as the original, in which case, the original will be over-written by the edited recording.

If you wish to make further recordings, before transferring to CD, then just close the recording window by clicking on the small Black ‘X’ (NOT the Red ‘X’) at the top right of the screen and repeat the process from the ‘Making a Recording’ section, earlier in this document.

Changing the Volume Level of the Recording

There are occasions when the Volume level of a recording may not be optimum, for subsequent transfer to a CD.  A recording which is low in level,  may necessitate the volume of the playback device to be increased beyond a normal level and introduce unwanted noise. 
A facility exists in GoldWave to optimize the recorded volume level, after the recording has been made. This editing process may be carried out immediately after making the recording, or at some later time, by re-loading the recording into the GoldWave editor. 

1.If the recording to be edited is not already loaded into the GoldWave editor, then follow the procedure outlined in ‘Loading an existing Recording’  below.

2. In the lower Toolbar at the top of the display, just above the coloured Record Level bars, look for a button with an  Icon of a Volume Control knob and a small Exclamation mark. 

3. Move the mouse pointer over the Icon and you should see a momentary pop-up identifier ‘Maximize Volume’. Click on the ‘Maximize’ button.

4. A processing window will appear briefly, after which the ‘Maximize’ window will appear.

5. Do not change any of the parameters – just click on ‘OK’ and the process will automatically adjust the volume of the entire recording, and optimize the levels for CD transfer.

6. Click on the ‘Save’ Icon in the top toolbar. Depending on whether the recording is new, or is a re-loaded existing recording, the ‘Save’ operation will differ slightly.

7. If it is a new recording, indicated at the top of the display as ‘GoldWave [Untitled]’ then the ‘Save Sound As’ window will open, a suitable filename should be entered and press ‘OK’

8. If it is a re-loaded existing recording, indicated at the top of the display as ‘GoldWave [filename.wav] then clicking on the ‘Save’ Icon will automatically overwrite the original file with the new ‘Maximized’ version.

Loading an existing Recording

If there are a number of recordings stored in the ‘MY RECORDINGS’ folder and you wish to edit or just play the recordings, they can be loaded back into GoldWave very easily.

1. Open the GoldWave editor by clicking on the desktop Icon.

2. In the top Menu bar, click on ‘File’ and then ‘Open’ in the drop-down menu.

3. The ‘Open Sound’ window will appear showing the contents of the ‘MY RECORDINGS’ folder.

4. Click on the desired filename and then on ‘Open’

5. The recording will be loaded into the editing window.

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As mentioned at the start of this document, the GoldWave program includes a very extensive user manual, which can be accessed from the ‘Help’ entry, in the top Menu of the display. 
Much of the information may not be relevant to someone who just wishes to make a simple recording from an Audio source, such as a musical keyboard, tape recorder, radio or record player and then burn a CD. Although the Editor is adequate for this relatively simple operation, it is equally capable of being used by professional audio personnel, for much greater sophisticated tasks.

USING NERO 6 TO BURN A CD

Installation of Nero

1. Place the Nero CD in the PC’s Optical drive – the ‘Nero Installer’ should start automatically.
If the Installer does not start automatically, then carry out the following procedure.

2. Double click on ‘My Computer’ and then in the ‘Devices with Removable Storage’ section, Right click on the CD Drive entry. In the Drop-Down menu which appears, click on ‘Explore’ and look for an entry ‘setup.exe’.  Double click on ‘setup.exe’ and the Ahead Installer screen should appear.

3. The installation is fairly straightforward – just follow the on-screen prompts and instructions. For basic CD burning, it is normally only necessary to install the First option, in the selection of items shown in the Installer screen (usually the top Option)

4. During the installation process, you may be asked if you wish to install a 3rd party program which supports WMA ( Windows Media Audio ) files. I suggest you respond ‘YES’ since this can be useful for the production of compressed Audio Files for playing back on your PC.

5. At the end of the installation process, you will be offered three options:
	a. Add a shortcut to Nero StartSmart on the Desktop.
	b. Add a shortcut to Nero StartSmart on the Quick Launch Toolbar.
	c. Automatically launch Nero StartSmart when a CD is inserted.
All these options are normally ‘ticked’ by default. However, it is up to individual users whether or not these options are enabled. I would suggest that Options b. and c. are ‘unticked’, leaving just the Icon on the desktop.

6. Click on ‘Finish’ and then on ‘Exit’ on the Nero Installer window. 

7. Double click on the ‘Nero StartSmart’ Icon – the Main screen should appear. In the middle of the Left border, is an area which looks like a metallic plate with small dots. Left click once on this area and the full display will open. You only have to do this once, since the program will remember to open in this presentation, during future start-ups.

8. When the program starts, you may be warned that the version of Nero installed, has compatibility issues with the version of Windows installed on your PC. 
This is particularly relevant if you have installed  Service Pack 2 (SP2) in Windows XP. In this case, it will be necessary to download a program update from Nero’s website. (See the procedure ‘Updating Nero Version 6’ at the end of this document)

Transferring the Files to CD

1. Start the NERO program and in the initial screen, move the mouse pointer over 'Audio' (Quaver Note Icon) and then down to 'Make Audio CD' 

2. Click on the 'Make Audio CD' Icon and after a short delay, the compilation window ‘Nero Express’ will open. 

3. Click on the 'Add' button at the top right of the screen and the 'Select Files and Folders' window will appear. 

4. Click on the Down arrow at the right of the 'Location' panel and then click on the C: Drive (or other appropriate drive) and look for the 'MY RECORDINGS' folder.

5. Double click on the 'MY RECORDINGS' folder and the .WAV files which were added earlier should appear. 

6. Assuming you wish to include all files in the folder, Click on the first file to highlight it then holding down the SHIFT key, click on the last file. This should highlight all files. 

7. Click on the 'Add' button at the bottom of the  'Select Files and Folders' window and the files will be added to the compilation window.

8. Close the  'Select Files and Folders' window by clicking on the 'Finished' button. 

9. If you wish to change the order in which the songs/tunes will be recorded on the CD, just Left Click/Drag the particular filename to a new position in the list. The Title and Artist entries.

10. The Title and Artist entries may look a little strange but this will not affect the burning process. However, If you wish to compile CD Jewel case inserts, using Nero Cover Designer, which is part of the package, then these entries can be edited.  Right click on an entry, choose properties and editing the entries in the Title and Artist sections. Click ‘Apply’ and then ‘OK’

11. On the right of the compilation window, place a tick in the 'Normalise all audio files' box. This will make sure that the data files to be transferred, are digitally optimized to the best volume level for recording on to the CD.

12. If you wish to save this particular compilation to hard disc, so that future CD burns are a little easier, then click on the 'Save' button, choose an appropriate location on the hard disc and save the compilation. Next time you wish to burn a CD using the same set of files, then the process can be carried out much quicker. ( See Paragraph 20. Below  )

13. The bar indicator at the bottom of the window  indicates the total playing time of the CD when it is burned. If the bar shows that the play time exceeds the capacity of the disc to be recorded, ( normally 80 Minutes for modern CD-R or 74 Minutes for older CD-R) then you can delete single  files, by clicking to highlight and then clicking on the 'Delete' button. This does not delete the original files, merely removes them from the current compilation.

14. When you are satisfied with the compilation, click on the 'Next' button at the bottom right of the window.

15. Place a blank CD in your CD recording drive and check that the panel at the top of the 'Final Burn Settings' window, displays the correct CD Drive. If not, then click on the Down arrow at the right of the panel and choose the correct CD Drive.

16. In the 'Writing Speed' panel, click on the Down arrow and set the appropriate writing speed for the blank disc. I suggest that you set the value one step below the rated value for the CD - if the CD is rated 48x set the speed to 40x. I find that although the burn takes a little longer, it seems to produce a more stable result.

17. Depending on the version of Nero, the ‘Verify Data after burning’ option may or may not be available. If it is not ‘Greyed-out,  then click on the box to the left of text  

18. Click on the 'Burn' button and the transfer of the files to the CD will start. Progress of the burning process will be shown on the display.

19. When the process has finished, the CD should play on most standard CD players and Computer CD Drives. If you wish to create Jewel case Labels for the CD, then click on the option in the closing window.

20. If the compilation has been saved to a file on hard disc, it will have been saved as a file with a .NRA extension. To burn another copy of the compilation, at a later time, simply navigate to the .NRA file and double click on it.  Nero will open automatically and load the compilation ready to burn.

Updating Nero Version 6

If  the PC being used with Nero 6 has Windows XP installed and XP has been updated to include Service Pack 2, then Nero may report that there is a known compatibility issue with Windows XP SP2.

If this warning panel appear after starting the program then carry out the following procedure.
The file required to update is quite large – 28MB so will take quite some time to download, especially if you are using a dial-up Internet connection.

1. Click on ‘Details’ in the panel – a window will appear showing a link to ‘Ahead Software Web Site’ http://www.nero.com

2. Click on the link and when the main page opens, on the left of the page, under ‘Latest Downloads’ click on ‘Updates Nero 6 Reloaded’ 

3. On the next page, you will be informed that there are 4 packages required to carry out a full update, however, if you are only interested in burning Audio CDs, then only ‘Update Package 1’ is required.

4. Scroll down the page until you see a Red ‘Download’ button in the ‘Update Package 1’ section. Click on the ‘Download’ button and select a site, from which to download. Click ‘Download’ again.
(I found that the USA site was generally fastest.)

5.  If the download process does not start, or is blocked by Internet Explorer security settings, then follow the on-screen instruction ‘ If your download does not start, click here’

6. In the following page, click on ‘Save’ and navigate to a suitable folder – for example ‘Desktop’

7. The filename should appear in the lower ‘File name:’ panel (nero6601.exe) Click on ‘Save’ and the download should begin.

8. When the download process has completed, close any open windows. If you chose to store the file on your desktop, just click on the ‘nero6601.exe’ Icon and the update process will start. Alternatively, if you chose to save the downloaded file in a different folder, then navigate to that folder and double click on the ‘nero6601.exe’ file.

9. Just follow the on-screen prompts and instructions and the program will be updated.

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