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For the love of radio
From a technical standpoint, recording is surprisingly difficult, even though it has the advantage of archiving and copying files to other media.
THE INTERNET is a truly marvellous innovation that has enriched our lives, but a particularly important benefit is being able to listen to a recent episode of The Archers, including the weekly omnibus edition, at any given point in time and just about anywhere in the world.Thousands of radio stations around the world, including the BBC, broadcast or stream live and recorded audio over the web, which you can hear through your PC. Broadly speaking, it works quite well and the quality can be exceptional, especially over a broadband connection, but like many internet technologies, it is plagued by competing formats and standards.
The BBC website has managed to aggravate a lot of people because it employs the use of Real Player. The website requires the listener to download a particularly insidious piece of software (see “tip for radio buffs”) and great care needs to be taken to ensure that it doesn’t take over the audio facilities on your PC. In its defence, however, it can be said that the software is free and once installed, it is fairly easy to use. Even so, no matter what type of software is used to receive internet radio (regardless of whether it comes to you through Ethernet or through a telephone line), the programmes you want to listen to are rarely broadcast at a time that’s convenient for you.
This is not necessarily a problem for Archers fans — one can listen to episodes from the past week at any time but Real Player, like most internet radio software, does not provide a recording facility. Of course, this is very useful for those who cannot get to a PC in time to listen to previous episodes, before they are removed from the archives.
Legally, recording radio programmes on the web is a bit of a grey area, as far as copyright issues are concerned. However, this is nothing new as the technology to record radio and TV programs — thanks to radio cassette recorders and VCRs — has been around for the past 25 years at the very least. It is extremely unlikely to cause problems, provided the recordings are purely for personal use and not sold, re-broadcast or played in public.
From a technical standpoint, recording is surprisingly difficult. Of course, you can easily record directly onto a cassette or a MiniDisc recorder, using a cable connection or a microphone placed next to the PC speakers, but this piece is about recording the programme on a PC.
The latter has the added advantage of archiving, rapid file access and downloading or copying to other media, such as audio CDs, tapes, MiniDiscs or MP3s and personal audio players.
The Sound Recorder utility included in Windows (Start>Programs>Accessories>
Entertainment) is a non-starter. Apart from the fact that it can make recordings last for only one minute (though there are ways around that), it cannot record the output of a PC sound card or an adapter. Most third-party sound-recorder programs suffer from similar limitations and can only record audio from an external source, such as the PC’s microphone or line input sockets.Fortunately, there are a good number of programs for recording internet radio. Most of them are commercial applications and although there are quite a few freeware titles, one is advised to steer clear of them as they are usually rather basic, difficult to use or spiked with Adware.
If you don’t mind the odd pop-up advert and a 30-minute recording limit, then Freecorder (www.freecorder.com) might be worth trying. It’s suitable for all versions of Windows (from Win 98 onwards). Recordings made on the freeware version have a medium recording quality rate of 64kbs (the software can be upgraded to a fully functional, ad-free version with licence). Playback of recorded files is via Windows Media Player or third-party players, like WinAmp (www.winamp.com). It is simple to use and can directly record to an MP3 format.
Another freeware recorder worth considering is Silent Bob (www.silent-bob.de/en/index.htm). This is also record-only and records in MP3 format.
You are spoilt for choice if you don’t mind spending a few bucks. You will find plenty of programs with a Google search (keywords “record internet radio”) and in most cases, you can download a trial version and upgrade it to a fully functional, paid-for copy.
Replay Radio (www.replay-radio.com/) is one of the leaders when it comes to recording internet radio. It’s well specified with a timer facility. In fact, it can make unattended recordings, it has editing facilities, is compatible with most streaming and recording formats and provides automatic CD burning. This scribe’s personal favourite, however, is Total Recorder (www.highcriteria.com).
Though the program lacks some of the bells and whistles of its more expensive rivals, it has a timer for you to schedule recordings and comprises simple editing features. It is easy to use and very flexible. Moreover, configuration is reasonably straightforward and in most cases it will work readily using defaults. Files can also be saved to 15 different audio formats, including MP3, WAV, WMA, PCM and the exotic-sounding Ogg Vorbis system.
The writer kirrannaxishh@yahoo.com is a freelance contributor
Tip for radio buffs
If you are an Archers fan, then internet radio is a must for keeping up with all that happens in Ambridge while you are away from home.
Go to the BBC website
Just follow the instructions, but keep in mind that it is a large file, typically 9MB, which could take a while on a dial-up connection. During the installation, you will be asked if you want to set Real Player as your default player for all music and video files.
Deselect the lot and skip online registration by pressing “Cancel.” It will still work and even if you haven’t signed up, you may need to click the tiny blue “Listen with native Real Player” button next to “Get Help Listening” in the BBC “Radio Player” window. — KN
Some key terms
MP3: Short for Motion Picture Experts Group audio player 3, it is the digital audio compression system commonly used to send files containing audio and music over the internet
OGG VORBIS: A free, unpatented, open source audio compression system, which can be compared to rival systems, like MP3.
Streaming: A technique used to send sound and pictures over the internet. Data is “buffered” or stored in temporary memory by player software on the PC to minimize the interruptions that would otherwise occur. — KN
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