Instructions for recording your sound file

What you will need...

• A microphone
• Sound recording software
• 5 minutes of your time

We will be using the free "Sound Recorder" program that comes with Windows for the purposes of these instructions.

However, please feel free to use whatever software you feel comfortable with. If you do, please save your file using the following settings: 22.050 kHz, 8 Bit, Mono (21 kb/sec).

Don't use Microsoft Windows? A great, cross-platform free sound editor is Audacity. (Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux and more).

How to record your sound file on a Windows PC

1. Open your sound recording software. To use Windows Sound Recorder click:
   
   Start > Programs > Entertainment > Sound Recorder
   
   Onced opened, the program should look something like this:
   
   
   
2. Make sure your microphone is connected to the PC.
    
3. Ensure that your microphone volume is not on mute. From the Sound Recorder program select Edit > Audio Properties and then clicking on the "Volume" button.
   
   Make sure that the "Mute" option is not checked and that Volume slider bar is not too far down towards the bottom:
   
   
    
4. Next, record your name. In the main window of Sound Recorder, click the record button:
   
   
   
   and say your first name (not your family name / surname) into the microphone.
   
   Be sure to speak clearly into the microphone, saying your name as you would in normal conversation.
   
   Try to leave a 2 second silence on either side of your name.
    
5. When you are done, click the stop button:
   
   
    
6. Play your recording and make sure you are happy with it:
   
   
    
7. If you are unhappy with the recording, you will need to erase what you have already done.
   
   Do not just click the record button again, this will just append the new recording onto the end of the old recording.
   
   Instead select File > New:
   
   
   
   When asked whether you want to save the changes, click "No" to start again.
   
   You can now record a new file by clicking the record button.
    
8. Once you are happy with the file, save the file by selecting File > Save As. (Make sure you select "Save As" and not "Save").
   
   
9. We need to change the format of the recording, so click the "Change" button:
   
   
    
10. Next, select "Radio Quality" from the drop down box and click "OK" to continue:
    
    
    
    
11. Finally, give the file a name, for example: Michael.wav, and save it into a directory where you will be able to locate it again.

Finished! Now we can proceed to uploading your sound file.