recording to CD-R in real time?

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 18 May 2006 6:49 am

Can this be done on a Mac PowerBook or iBook? I want to move from recording lessons for students on cassette, to burned CD's, but ideally don't want to have to record digitally in some fashion, then burn to CD, that might take too long.

Anyone have the answers to this quest? Thanks!

------------------
E9 lessons
Mullen D-12/Carter SD-10/Webb amp/Profex II+Lexicon MPX-110 OR Line 6 Pod XT

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 18 May 2006 8:20 am

I can't say about a Mac's CD burning. But, burning directly to CD is not a good idea. If anything happens, whatever you have already recorded is gone, along with the CD being a "coaster". By recording to the hard drive first you eliminate any potential CD problems. The only extra time, recording to the hard drive, is the actual CD burning time, relatively a short time. If you want to make more than one copy, it's faster burning from the hard drive than it is doing a disc to disc copy.

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 18 May 2006 8:26 am

I do this with a Powerbook G4 and the (free) Audicity program. It's not the direct approach that you really want, but works well and adds about 5 minutes to the process.

Record live using the PB's internal mike, then export from Audacity to an MP3 or wave.

Burn that file using the internal CD burner.

Though not necassary, I usually make quick edits in Audacity, such as increasing level and trimming dead spots.

[This message was edited by Joey Ace on 18 May 2006 at 09:28 AM.]

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 18 May 2006 1:15 pm

I don't know of a way to do it on a Mac. I use a Tascam CD recorder and CD-RW disks. With CD-RW, you can erase the last track(s) you recorded and start over, or erase the whole CD. Pushing the record button while it's recording starts a new track.

I record our rehearsals this way. While everyone's packing up, I finalize the disk and run off CD-R copies at high speed on the computer for the band members to take home.

------------------
<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b2005.gif" width="78 height="78">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6) My Blog [This message was edited by Bobby Lee on 18 May 2006 at 02:17 PM.]