v1.26 or v1.3.12 beta for Windows 7?

[steve]

I wouldn't beta-gainst it

That's terrible

all I have to do now is figure out how to use it.

I'd recommend some links, but they're in my signature.

Some of the tutorials may be worth a look. Also, the Windows version of Audacity 1.3.12 includes the full user manual in the Help menu.

[digiday]

Well, success!

Audacity v1.3.12beta on Windows 7 worked very nicely and with minimal reading in two beginner PDF tutorial books, I was able to clip together 3 audio file segments by cutting, copying and pasting, adjust the volume in one part, download and install the LAME MP3 encoder and export my new sound file successfully to several MP3 files sizes based on various kbps settings.

This is a great piece of software and my suspicions of problems and glitches were completely erroneous.

Thanks for your recommendations... I'll get in to various effects and recording a little later.

Thanks everyone,

digiday

[digiday]

Thanks Steve,

I did find a couple of links in your signature that I hadn't yet found... those are great!

I have one simple question that I'm not seeing an answer to... is there an encoder that allows Audacity to export to MIDI format?... I see the path to exporting to formats that are supported by FFmpeg by downloading and installing the "avformat-52.dll" file but I'm not sure if any of those are different names for the MIDI format... and I also have Win FF installed on this machine, which is an FFmpeg app (not sure if that is related to this feature in Audacity) but I don't see a choice for MIDI format to convert to within Win FF anyway.

Is MIDI a proprietary format that only the pros can produce?

I'm just trying to export to formats that are specified for sound files that can be inserted in to emails... I want to send some of my family some things that I've produced with visuals and sound in an email if possible... they're the only ones that I want to spam with my custom stuff.

My next project is to find an email program that supports inserting sound files in emails... since Windows Live Mail 2011 no longer includes that ability (apparently) I'm looking in to Thunderbird, which I think does almost everything except sleep with my wife.

I'm trying to avoid installing IncrediMail, which I found does have the background sound file ability, but it is so loaded down with so much bad animation junk and cheesy little alerts that it would be like Walt Disney threw-up in my computer... plus I read that it wants to open upon computer start-up, which I wouldn't be able to handle... talk about killing your computer, it looks like it would be like having the cartoon channel commit an assault on me every time I boot up... I don't think I could stand that in the morning... or ever.

Thanks for your info,

digiday

[steve]

is there an encoder that allows Audacity to export to MIDI format?

Audacity's MIDI support is very limited. Currently the only thing that Audacity can do with MIDI files is to display them as a track.

MIDI is not audio. You cannot directly "convert" audio to MIDI - it's not like converting TV to DVD, it's more like converting TV into a book.
MIDI is a set of control commands that tell MIDI equipment what to do, for example a MIDI file can contain "note data" that tells a synthesizer what notes to play. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_In ... _Interface

I want to send some of my family some things that I've produced with visuals and sound in an email if possible...

There's a number of difficulties with that. While it is quite easy to insert background music using Outlook Express, and it will play if opened in Outlook Express, this is quite a serious security vulnerability. If an e-mail can make your computer play audio files, it can probably make your computer do lots of other things, which could be very bad. Thunderbird closes this security hole by disallowing active, hidden and remote content by default. Because of this it's pretty pointless for Thunderbird to provide background sounds as background sounds should not play without the recipient specifically playing the embedded audio.

Possibly a better way to achieve the result would be to make a web page that contains the message and the embedded background music, then send a link to that web page in your e-mail.

I'm trying to avoid installing IncrediMail,

Good idea.

[kozikowski]

it's more like converting TV into a book.

That's good. Can I use that?

Why did you want to convert music into MIDI?

MIDI isn't a sound format but it sometimes appears like that because you click on it and it plays. What it's really doing is playing the piano built into your computer. Play the file on a different computer and you get a different piano. It's a given that somebody had to tell the original machine that your music was a piano. MIDI doesn't know or care.

Koz

[steve]

That's good. Can I use that?

Sure - consider it "Creative Commons"

Why did you want to convert music into MIDI?

Because MIDI files can be easily embedded into Outlook e-mails, and they are really small files (compared to audio files).
However, Thunderbird does not automatically play MIDI files either (because doing so poses a similar security risk as automatically playing audio or video).
Many MIDI files are available for free on the Internet and can be downloaded and embedded in web pages.

[digiday]

Thanks steve and kozikowski,

You guys are goldmines of knowledge.

I do have a website and I have worked in real estate marketing creating webpages and webpages as email flyers to send to clients, so I know I can make a webpage with embedded sound to send as an email.

I was just seeking an easy way to send family members a little "2001 A Space Odyssey" custom soundtrack with HAL 9000 the computer talking and excerpts from the scene with "Dave" disconnecting HAL... you know, "Just What Do You Think You're Doing Dave?" and "Daisy" with the "Also sprach Zarathustra Op. 30" and "Blue Danube" theme music blended in... I saw "2001 A Space Odyssey" in 1969 with my Grandparents when I was 6 years old... yes, that dates me.

I did read a bunch of stuff last night about how Outlook can still embed background audio files, but that isn't a good enough reason to pay $139 for Outlook these days in a world full of free email apps. I wanted to try all the options in Thunderbird anyway, since I use Firefox, so I'm not put out that Tbird doesn't support embedded audio files. I'm a Mac user who has added a PC to my arsenal and I'm exploring the world on the dark side of PC-dom.

One thing you may know about, since you are very knowledgeable, is about little embedded audio players in an email. In the distant past, 3 years ago or so, I received an email with a little audio player in the email that provided a "play" button to give the receiver a choice to play the attached audio file or not... that may have been a webpage with an embedded player sent as an email, but to my recollection, it just seemed to be a normally formatted email with a little play and stop button for the audio... would you know anything about that?

Oh, and I do get the thing about MIDI files... they are just playing a script of code that is readable by the system software, or something like that.

Anyway, thanks for all of your info... it's nice to have access to intelligent minds that don't give me HAL 9000-like feedback.

digi

[steve]

I received an email with a little audio player in the email that provided a "play" button to give the receiver a choice to play the attached audio file or not

I've seen that done using JavaScript, but again the ability of e-mails to run arbitrary JavaScript code is a serious security vulnerability and is disabled in Thunderbird and other secured e-mail clients. By the way, if you use Outlook Express, there is a reasonable article here about how to make it less insecure: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=452

[digiday]

Thanks again Steve,

I gave up on that email thing after trying to embed code within a Thunderbird email since it turns out that Thunderbird has provisions to embed HTML code for video players and audio links... it still didn't work, maybe due to ISPs blocking that sort of thing, or just something in the HTML code... it wouldn't carry a YouTube video player either after trying to embed YouTube code from a little custom video that I made.

Here is a link to the audio file I posted for this experiment that I edited in Audacity and placed on an audio serving site... it is 3 clips of "2001 A Space Odyssey" pieces from 1969 that I found a ways back... I decreased the volume in the music theme part so it wouldn't be too overwhelming when played from an email, which never came to be...
http://www.toofiles.com/en/oip/audios/m ... 9_2mb.html

Actually, I just ended up sending a custom animated GIF of the HAL 9000 red computer light fading in and out that I made, attached an email to a couple of friends along with the attached mp3 file of this compilation for them just to double-click on to play via their WMP or iTunes.

Now I'm on to the next problem... maybe you could help with it... my new question about desktop audio recording problems with Audacity is posted on this forum at this link...
http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 17#p122217

Any input that you could give me on it would be great.

Thanks again,

digi