I thought I might add my two cents worth to MrPages blog about Useful Computer Utilities – All Things Audio.
As a homeschooling momma I love Media Monkey and Audacity! (I haven’t used the Multi Track program yet, but I can see lots of potential!)
Our CD collection began to dwindle quickly as little hands began growing and using the CD player. The strangest damage would occur to what I once thought of as highly durable items.
Me: How did the silver on this CD get scraped off like this?
Them: ???
We began to copy all our CD’s onto the computer and pack away the originals in child proof containers. Then we would use Windows Media Player to listen to music. It’s a temperamental little program though, and the LittlePages kept having problems.
Me: Who changed my background? Where is the Start bar? Why is my computer hung?
Them: ???
So MrPages set me up with Media Monkey and it was love at first use. Now I load it up, put it in Party Mode and the Little Pages can listen to whatever music choices they desire, including their French and Latin CD’s. (Which we sporadically pretend to be learning…) (That’s another blog…)
The best part? No damage to any of our CD’s or the computer!
My children love the freedom of picking tunes from a myriad of CD’s and I love the security.
Audacity is just plain fun to use! We have a microphone that plugs into our computer (MrPages can give details about that, if anyone is interested) and then we use Audacity to record my childrens’ narrations. They don’t need my immediate presence, and they improve their oration as well as their narration because they get to hear exactly what they sound like!
The best part? You can use audacity to make yourself sound like Alvin & The Chipmunks!!
Related posts:
I use Audacity to edit the recordings of our church service; we make the sermons avaialable in mp3 format on our website.
It is a great free tool – very easy to use, although I haven’t played with all its bells & whistles yet.