Step 1:  Finding your way around Cool Edit

Locate and run the Cool Edit application by either double-clicking on the Cool Edit shortcut on your desktop OR by going to Start => Programs => Cool Edit 2000 (menu)=> Cool Edit 2000.   (Note:  This tutorial assumes that you have accepted all the default options when installing CE2000.  If you have chosen not to accept the defaults, your shortcuts may be listed elsewhere.)

Now, go to File => Open.  A new window will appear asking your for the file you wish to open.  By default, it is set to show files in the *.wav format.  Cool Edit 2000 comes with an *.au file as a sample.  You will want to open this file.

Navigate to the Program Files directory and locate the cool2000 directory.  Inside there is a folder called "samples".  In the bottom of the window, you'll see a "Files of Type" option box.  Set this to show "All Files (*.*)"  Now, you'll be able to see the "Good Sound Stuff.au" file.  Click on it and click "Open."

After Cool Edit processes the file for use, you'll see a window similar to the one below:

For clarity, I've placed numbers on this image to help explain the features of CE2K.

1.  This is the "main toolbar".  All of the options here can be found under the menu bar above but are placed here for quick access.  To find out what a button does, hold your cursor over it.  The one button that we'll be dealing with later in this tutorial is the CD controls button  located to the right of the console.  If you want to see what other controls can be placed on this bar, go to the Options Menu => Toolbars and select from the drop down list.  For the most part, you probably won't need any of the toolbars now.

2.  This is the waveform view area of the console.  What you're looking at right now is a graphical representation of the digitized audio file.  Because it's a stereo file, both the left and right channels are shown.  Conversely, if this were a mono file, only one channel would be shown.  The green bar directly above is the "locator" bar that allows you to scroll left and right through the wave file if needed.  Since the entire wav file shows in the console, it takes up the entire length of the console.  If you were to zoom in on the file, the green bar will shrink respectively.  To scroll through the audio file, just grab the green bar and move it approximately where you want to be in the sound file.

3.  The set of controls immediately to the left are the playback controls for the audio file in the window.  Again, placing your cursor over the buttons will reveal it's purpose. To the right, the next set of buttons are Zoom controls (horizontal).  The next box shows the running time of the audio file while it's being played.  The Begin, End and Length boxes show the "Play cursor" spot in the wav file.  The two zoom controls allow you to zoom the wave file vertically.
For the most part, the playback controls work like any standard cassette or VCR controls.  However, here is a listing of a few "odd" buttons and their properties:
  Plays the entire wave from start point to finish
Plays the wave from cursor point
Plays the wave looped
These controls navigate through cue points.  You can set cue points by setting the cursor anywhere in the wave file and going to View => Cue List.  When the cursor is placed as you wish (clicking on the wave file area [box 2]) click "Add" and your cue point is added to the cue list.  If no cue points are set, CE2K uses the start and end points of the file as defaults.

4.  This shows the monitoring levels while you are recording and/or playing back the wave file.  Top bar is for the top wav channel (L) and the bottom bar is for the bottom wav channel (R)  While playing or recording, red bars simulating standard LED record level monitors on older tape decks will reflect the aplitude of the current file.  Once the meter goes past 0dB, it clips.  If your sample clips, the box will stay lit reminding you that you've clipped (just in case you've missed it) so that you know you have to re-record your sample.   Below the monitor bars are 3 boxes: from left to right they are as follows.  File details.. ie..sample rate, bit depth, and whether stereo or mono.  File length...in seconds.  And finally, HDD space left for recording.

First,you should make sure that you've properly selected the CD as the recording device.  If you're unsure how to do this, please read this for pointers.

Unlike Sound Forge, CE2K contains a fully-functional CD tool that allows you to navigate the CD.  Follow the steps below to begin recording.

1.  Place the CD you wish to record in the CD-ROM drive.  (If the computer begins to play the CD, stop it and close the player!!!)

2.  Press the CD Controls button on the top button bar (1) in the CE2K console 

3.  Take a look at the new set of tools that have "popped" up.
 

The white bar above the CD controls show the number of tracks available on the CD.  Click on a number to automatically go to that track. These tools  will be grey until a CD is actually playing in the drive.  The one on the left creates a temporary "mark" and the one on the right goes to the mark.  NOTE:  You

can have only one mark at a time.  Use it for marking the place at which you want to begin recording.  (Give yourself some time to hit the Record Button!

4.  Preview your CD and make a mark at least 2 seconds before you wish to record.  (Don't worry, well edit it out later)
 

5.  Go to File => New Use these settings to create a sound file at CD quality.  If you wish, you can alter these settings to your needs/taste. When done, hit OK The next step is to set your recording levels.

6. Set your record levels.  Right-click in the monitor bar (4) and select Monitor Record Levels from the pop-up menu. Make sure you're not clipping and adjust the volume sliders on the Windows Mixer appropriately.

7. When ready to record and your levels are correct...hit the record button.  Then hit the Jump to Mark button.  (You'll know you're recording when the Record button light turns red.)  It will not show the wave file until after you're done recording.

8. When your selection is over, hit stop on the CD controls and hit stop on the recording controls.  Your audio file will be shown in the waveform window (2) and ready to be saved.  Go to File => Save As and save your work.  (Save it as a "Windows PCM (*.wav)" file)  If you're not satisfied with the results, start over.  (Make sure you close the file and hit File=>New each time you want to record!) Also, you don't have to use the CD controls in CE2K.  You can use the standard default windows CD player with the same results.  You'll just be switching between windows.  You'll also need more time between when you start recording and the exact point you want you begin recording the CD.

Now, we're going to edit out the unwanted audio out of our file.

I recorded some "extra" information in my clip (shown below) that I want to remove.

The cursor is at the exact point where I want my audio file to start.  The rest is excess and ready to be deleted. Click your mouse in the waveform area to place your cursor where you want it.  Then click and drag over the area you don't want.  In my case I'll be clicking and dragging over to the left. Hit the Delete Key. This will erase any selected material.

If you accidentally erase too much, hit Ctrl-Z or Undo and you're back to normal.  If you need to, use the Zoom keys to help pinpoint the exact area the cursor should be.  Practice makes perfect :)  TIP!  A selected portion of an audio file turns white!  If your selection start/end points are not exactly where you want them to be, you can change them without re-selecting that portion.  On either end of the selection bars, right click and drag to move the selection points.

When you've got the clip as you like it, it's time for final export!  Use the Normalize function to bring the audio file to a nice hot level ready for burning onto a CD.  Go to Edit => Select Entire Wave.  Then go to Transform=>Amplitude=>Normalize.  Accept the defaults.  (Normalize to 100%)

Other items of note:

Need a fade in/out? Select the portion you wish to alter.  Then go to Transform=>Amplitude=>Amplify.   From there select either Fade In or Fade Out from the presets menu.  Don't worry if only the left channel is selected in the left part of the box.  The left and right channels are "locked" together.  (Meaning, whatever happens to one channel, happens to the other.)

1. Make sure your input recording device is switched from a CD to a Mic input.  (View the link above to see how to do this)

2. Go to File => New and set the properties of the new sound file as you did in the CD exercise.

3. Hit the Record Button. (Tip!  Pause for at least a second before talking. I'll explain why later.)

4. Begin talking into the microphone.

5. When done, hit "Save As" and save your work.

6. Edit as needed. (Leave some dead air!)

Now you will no doubt find that recording from a microphone into a PC soundcard will produce a large amount of noise.  How to get rid of it? Simple, use the Noise Reduction feature in CE2K!

Here's why I asked you to leave some space between the start of the file and the begin of speech: we'll use it as the noise floor basis for our sound reduction.

1. Select the dead air.

2. Go to Transform-> Noise Reduction=> Noise Reduction.

At this point we need to tell CE2K where to get the noise floor. So, by selecting ONLY dead air time, we can almost guarantee that our file won't be altered too adversly.

Hit the Get Profile from Selection button.

Now that it has the profile CE2K will automatically take out the noise floor if we hit OK.  BUT we want to do this to the entire file.  Once the snapshot has been created, it will stay there until a new profile has been loaded or gotten from a selection.  Hit Close.

Select the entire waveform (ctrl-A or Edit=>Select Entire Wave)

Now, get back to this window as you did earlier in this step.

Now, you can hit OK.

CE2K will work and show you progress of it working as it "chews" on the file.

CE2K needs a bit of dead time to work with to obtain a good snapshot of the noise floor.  If CE2K can't get a reading from the file, this is probably the reason.  1 second should be sufficient.

Tip! Try not to select any portion of you audio file.  If you do, you may hear an "underwater" effect when the noise reduction is complete.  If you select your waveform you're actually telling CE2K that this is part of the audio file I DON'T want.

Need help? Syntrillium Software has quite a few tutorials designed for first time users of Cool Edit 2000.  Be sure to check them out at http://www.syntrillium.com.  Or you can also go to the help menu in CE2K and select the Tutorials option.