Recording your voice on a computer in today's environment is easy. It is enough to connect the microphone to a stationary terminal or use the built-in device on a laptop. That's just normal quality, if you do not know how to configure the microphone on Windows 10 or in any other system, you can not achieve it. Next, some issues related to setting the optimal parameters and the applications used will be considered. But first, it’s worthwhile to dwell on the general principles of sound recording.
General principles for setting up a microphone on a computer
The very first and most important thing that needs to be clearly understood is that absolutely all applications related to sound recording are completely dependent on the settings of the operating system (installed devices, drivers, volume level, etc.)
Regardless of the speaker system used (passive or active), the so-called pick-up (whistle in the speakers) can go from the microphone during the recording process. A general rule is to turn off the speakers at the time of recording. You will not hear the voice played at the time of recording. But this is not important.
The second point is related to setting the recording level. The best option is half the volume. But for professional-grade sensitive microphones, less can be installed.
The third question relates to the sound insulation system. It is clear that at home you can achieve professional sound only with the help of a whole range of applications that allow you to remove extraneous noise after the speech or vocals are recorded. Here you will need microphone tuning programs called audio editors. Naturally, to configure devices that combine both headphones and microphones, which are used mostly in team games, a special quality of signal transmission and reception may not be required. But here there are some nuances.
Microphone connection
As for connecting microphones, any computer on the sound card has a special input for the 3.5 mm plug. If the microphone model is equipped with the usual “jack”, you will have to separately purchase a special adapter.
On laptops, Line-In or Mic input may not be available. Therefore, you will have to be content solely with the device that is integrated into the device. You won’t get much quality, since such a microphone can be used to maximum in communication in instant messengers such as Skype, although in this case you will also need to configure it.
Windows Sounds and Audio Devices
The standard setting of any Windows-system is called up through the corresponding section of the “Control Panel” or through the PCM menu (right-click) on the image of the volume icon in the system tray. It just selects the recording device.
If additional software is provided for the sound card (for example, “Realtek HD Sound Manager” for devices integrated into the motherboard), you can also use it. At least, there are several more options in terms of the parameters that can be set here than in the “native” Windows options.
Sound recording
Now you need to record the material. To do this, you can use the standard tool of the operating system itself in the form of an integrated recorder.
It is enough just to press the record start button, then say or sing what you want, and after stopping, listen to the material. If desired, you can overwrite it (the previous record will be re-saved). But further editing of the material without special software packages will be impossible.
Most popular microphone setup programs
In the world of computer sound, it is generally accepted that all applications of this kind can be divided into two separate groups: simple recorders (primitive programs for recording sound) and audio editors of professional and semi-professional level.
Both can record audio. The only question is how to make editing later. As you can imagine, the recorders only write sound, and programs for tuning the microphone in the form of audio editors allow you to change the recorded track up to pulling up the pitch.
Recorders
Among the usual means of recording audio, today you can find a lot of simple programs that you don’t need to deal with especially.
For users who do not pursue professional quality, the following applications can be advised:
- Free MP3 Sound Recorder;
- MooO VoiceRecoder;
- Sonarca Sound Recorder Free and the like.
Audio editors
Audio editors are a bit more complicated. Programs for setting up a microphone of this level look much more complicated and, so to speak, sophisticated. In them, the approach to the concept of sound recording is different from what is used in conventional recording applications.
Despite the fact that today there are many audio formats (compressed and uncompressed) with quite high bitrate and sample rate, programs for tuning the microphone sound of this plan by default save the material in the old WAV format, which is considered the most suitable for creating the original sound file for its purpose further conversion.
Among the most popular and common applications are Sony Sound Forge, Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro), ACID Pro, etc. And this is not about professional studio sequencers like Pro Tools, which have even more instruments.
But there is one more point. Some applications can not only record audio in any format or open it for editing, but also change the pitch of the recorded track, if the vocalist, to put it mildly, did not reach the desired note at a certain point. The most popular application is the program for setting up the microphone on Windows 8 or other versions of the system called Melodyne. It is available both as a stationary application and as plug-ins for DAW studios (VST, DX, AAX, AU, etc.).
The application opens any audio file in the form of a wave. The editor itself has a piano keyboard or music panel, which corresponds to the pitch of the fragments of the track. It is enough to set the automatic analysis of the material, and the program itself will pull the inappropriate frequencies to the standard ones. Along the way, you can do what is called the English term Quantize. This is equalizing the sound in parts at a given tempo.
Finally, if we consider the question of how to configure the microphone on Windows 10 or in another OS, you cannot bypass applications like AAMS, which are automated mastering systems based on the selected template.
Suppose you recorded a music track with vocals. Want it to sound like classic Metallica albums? No problems! Choose any track of the group as the source material from which the template will be created, and then add your own composition indicating the processing based on the analyzed track. This, of course, takes decent time, but you won’t have to bother with the microphone settings. The program will do everything on its own anyway.
And another “trick”, which is available in some audio editors, is that you can change your own voice, making it an exact copy of famous vocalists. Since we are talking about Metallica, in the same application, Adobe Audition, you can set the pattern for James Hetfield's vocals , and then change your voice to it. But that is not all. There is also an interesting function of influencing the subconscious when noise is added to the edited audio in the range of ultra- or infrasound. But they can cause completely different emotions, which, alas, do not depend on our consciousness at all.
What's better?
In general, any program for setting up headphones with a microphone or only a microphone allows you to perform certain actions in terms of recording and setting the input signal parameters. But professional packages have an advantageous difference in that, with their help, the recorded material can be subjected to any kind of processing. They look quite complicated, and an ordinary user without special knowledge will deal with them for a long time. But, if mastered, immediately appreciate all the opportunities that they offer.