To convert a CD track to a wave file

a.. The method I used to convert a CD track to a wave file was to use the "extract" facility of Adaptec Easy CD Creator. The version I have is v4.0, but previous versions and other "Recordable CD" software will do the same job. Put your music CD in the drive, load Easy CD and open the drive letter of your CD Rom. It doesn't have to be in the recordable drive - any CD drive will do. If you haven't got a CD Writer, you will still be able to use the "extract" facility of the software. Right-click the track you want to record, and choose the "extract to file" option. It might be called "Pre-record wave file" or something similar depending on which software you've got. All you have to do then is name the file and choose the location on your disk drive to store it. You can then change the CD and record as many other music tracks as you need.
b.. When you've finished, close down the Easy CD software. It will ask you if you wish to save the session - this won't be necessary so say no. The only time you'd need to save the session is if you were going to create a new music CD and wanted to finish the process later.
c.. Open Cool Edit Pro, and load in the wave file you just saved using the File - Open menu to find it. If the track is too quiet, select it by choosing Edit - Select Entire Wave, then Transform - Amplitude - Normalise. Set the value to 100% then press ok. This is what the manual says about "normalise":
Pressing the Normalize button will calculate the greatest amplification for the sample that will not result in clipping when set to 100%. If the left and right scroll bars are not locked, separate left and right values will be computed, potentially amplifying one channel more than the other. To normalize to less than the maximum range, enter the percentage of maximum to normalize to. For example, choosing 50% will compute values needed to amplify the file no more than 50% of maximum, resulting in a 3dB diminution from maximum output. If two sounds normalized to 50% are overlapped, the resultant wave is guaranteed not to exceed the boundaries, and will not clip.

d.. If you want to fade the track in, use your mouse (click and drag) to select the first 5 seconds (or whatever) of the track, then use the Transform - Amplitude - Amplify menu. There is an option for "fade in", which will set the start point of your selection at zero, and the end point at 100%. You can see the result on the slider bar. There is also a Preview button to allow you to listen to the effect before applying it. Also available is "fade out", which you can use at the end of the track.

e.. Also try Transform - Amplitude - Dynamics Processing. This has a different effect to simply changing the volume. Don't ask me what it does, but experiment by tweaking points on the graph and you will find that you can produce a much fuller sound from a weak source. Especially good for boosting the quality of MP3 files.

f.. To blend two (or several) pieces of music together, open each wave file and give each one 'fade-in' and 'fade-out' effects. You can go to each file by clicking 'Window' on the menu bar, which will display a list of all of the open files. Then click on 'View' and choose 'Multi-track View', or press F12. The screen will change to the multi-tracker, which will be empty at first. Click on 'Insert', and you will be able to choose each open file in turn to insert into the multi-tracker. Each one will appear on its own track in the window.

g.. To change the position of any piece of music, click on it with the RIGHT mouse button and drag it across the screen. Press the Play button at the bottom of the screen to hear how the blend sounds. If its not right, drag the music to a better position. You can also drag each piece from one track to another.

h.. To save the multi-track session, choose File - Save Session. The individual wave files are not re-saved, just the position of where each one appears on the screen. You can open a saved session file again to continue working on it, so long as you haven't deleted the original wave files in the meantime.

i.. To save the finished music/commentary soundtrack to tape, connect up a cassette recorder to your Line Out on the back of your computer and simply play the music and record on to the tape. You'll need to experiment first to get the record level right on your tape deck. You can also mix down the multi-track session to a new wave file and save this. To do this, use the Edit - Mixdown - All waves option. Anyone with a CD Writer can then record this to CD as a normal music track if required.

j.. If you need to record a wave file from a tape, or record some commentary with a microphone, you will need to set the record level first. This is done outside of Cool Edit and is trial and error to get it right. Connect up your tape deck to the soundcard's Line In socket or microphone to the Mic In socket, then right-click the small speaker icon on the Windows Taskbar Systray (bottom right corner near the clock). Click on Open Volume Controls. There will be a slider to set the level for both Line In and Microphone. Experiment to get the optimum result. You only need to do this once as the system will remember your last settings.
If the Microphone and Line In sliders are not visible, click on Options - Properties and select Adjust Volume For Recording. Tick the boxes for Microphone and Line In and the sliders will appear. Don't close the Control Box as you can tweak the settings while using Cool Edit.

k.. To record a new Cool Edit file, first make sure you're in the Edit view (ie not multi-tracker view) Press F12 to toggle between them. Then choose File - New. A dialogue box will appear asking for details about the new file. Choose 44100 as the sample rate, Stereo and 16 bit resolution. For a commentary, mono is sufficient. Press Okay, and a new blank window will open. Press the red button to start the recording, and then either speak into the microphone or play the cassette. You will be able to see the amplitude of the wave as it gets processed in real time by Cool Edit. If it is too loud or too quiet, you can adjust the Audio Control Box slider levels to correct it. Press the Control Box icon on the Windows taskbar and it will come to the front of the screen and allow you to change the levels live.