Recording Sounds

If you hope to record new sounds, you need a microphone. Your microphone situation depends on the kind of Mac you have:

The System Preferences→Sound→Input pane lets you choose which sound source you want the Mac to listen to: external USB microphone, built-in microphone, or whatever.

Tip

Actually, there’s a quicker way to change audio inputs—if you know the secret. Option-click the menulet, if you’ve installed it. The resulting menu lists all your audio inputs and outputs, making it simple to switch.

Making the Recording

Once you’ve got your microphone situation taken care of, you need to get your hands on some sound-recording software—like QuickTime Player, which is in your Applications folder. (You can use GarageBand to record sound, too, but that’s often like using a pneumatic drill to get out a splinter.)

Choose File→New Audio Recording. Use the pop-up menu to specify the audio quality and sound source (Figure 14-2). Click the round, red Record button and begin to speak; click the square Stop button to finish up. Now you can use the volume slider and the button to listen to your masterpiece.

Tip

Don’t adjust the tiny volume slider in the Audio Recording window unless you’re wearing headphones. This slider lets you monitor the sound—and turning it up while the Mac’s speakers are live risks producing the hideous shriek known as feedback.

Behind the scenes, the Mac has created a new AAC audio file called Audio Recording.mov in your Home→Movies folder. (Additional recordings are called Audio Recording 2, 3, 4, and so on.) You can double-click it to open it right back up into QuickTime Player for trimming (read on). Or, if you think it needs more in-depth editing, you can open it with GarageBand and really go to town.

Note

You can record video in QuickTime Player just as easily. See Recording movies with QuickTime Player.

There’s a lot going on in this tiny window. The pop-up menu lets you choose audio quality and audio input. As you record, you see a VU meter (audio level) and an indication of the recording’s length and file size.

Figure 14-2. There’s a lot going on in this tiny window. The pop-up menu lets you choose audio quality and audio input. As you record, you see a VU meter (audio level) and an indication of the recording’s length and file size.