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Welcome to the Recording Forums archive of audio recording posts from the old Recording Website Message Board

Home recording and general music post from the archived Yabb Recording Website Message Board. Some of the info here may be outdated but many of the audio recording and home studio tips are still good. Note: The only tags I made and attempt to convert are italics, bold, center and underline. So if you see some gibberish surrounded by brackets, just ignore it.

Recording Website Archived Yabb board Post

Febuary 2001 Yabb Message Board Archive

Subject: Recording from home stereo to computer
by King Dork | 04/09/01 at 11:47:11

My question is this:

Working radio, I need to be able to record from cassette to my pc. I've used a Y cable to connect the output of my cassette component (just the component, not from an amplifier) to my pc soundcard Line-in. I can record, however the sound is "Tingy", with seemingly a high amount of treble.

If I just listen to a cassette through the speakers it sounds fine, and Wav's normally sound great, with the exception of those which I record. Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

Subject: Re: Recording from home stereo to computer
by Jim | 04/09/01 at 16:39:34

If you are using Windows Sound Recorder than you are probably recording in Telephone or Radio Quality mode which is low-fi. In the Audio Preferences select CD quality. You will find massive limitations with the amount of time you can record. You may need to invest in some software.

Also perhaps your sound card is the problem, but I kinda doubt it sind I record great waves with my old Soundblaster 16.

IF nothing I have written applies, just give us some more details about what hardware and software you are using and surely somebody can give you a good answer.

Song Structure

by Dan E. Monk

Songs at the most basic level are structured by verse. Most modern songs add a chorus. A bridge, although not as popular can also be added. In addition songs can also contain: an intro, a pre chorus (also called a build), a refrain and an extro (also called an outro or tag).

A brief explanation of the different song sections:

Verse :
Verses are structured lines that while differ in content follow the same musical pattern.

Chorus :
A chorus differs both musically and lyrically from the verse and is repeated at least once in the song.

Bridge :
A bridge differs both musically and lyrically from the verse and the chorus, usually only used once in the song.

Refrain :
A refrain is one or two lines at the end of each verse which while different lyrically from the verse remain consistent to themselves.

Intro :
The into is a different musical form that comes at the beginning of the song. It differs from the verses but can and often does share music and or lyrics with the chorus.

Pre Chorus (also called a build):
A pre chorus precedes the chorus. While keeping the same music form the pre chorus can lyrically change throughout the song. It is usually repeated as often as the chorus.

Extro (also called Outro or Tag):
Stylistically the same as the intro, except it occurs at the end of the song.

The different forms
The Traditional AAA form.
The AAA song form consists only of verses. Sounds simple but it is one of the harder forms to write. Both words and melody must be fresh and compelling, there is not chorus or bridge to break things up. The ABA form.

(A = verse, B = chorus)
The ABA form adds a chorus. More often you will see it as ABABA or AABABA. This fits in well with modern pop music. Adding a chorus allows the songwriter to move the song in a different direction musically. Lyrically, the chorus is the meat of the song, usually repeating the title while summing up what the song is about. The ABCA form.

(A = verse, B = chorus, C = bridge)
Also quite popular the ABCA form adds a bridge. The verse and chorus have the same function as the ABA form. The bridge can be used lyrically to clear up parts of the song that may otherwise be obscure, or to tie the song together, hence the name bridge. Musically a bridge is used to break up a pattern that may be getting a little too monotonous or predictable.

There are other forms of course. These are the most common. What form you use depends a lot on what musical genre you are writing your song in.