please help- converting midi & wam to MP3

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 7 Jun 2006 1:49 pm

Could somebody please explain in simple terms, how to convert midi & wam sound tracks(files) to MP3 sound tracks. I'd appreciate
it very much. I don't know much about a computer so please explain in simple terms.
I want to burn the tracks to CD when converted to MP3. Thanks a lot

Terry

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 7 Jun 2006 2:38 pm

I'm gonna' learn something when someone explains what a "wam" file is.

Roy Thomson · Post by **Roy Thomson** » 7 Jun 2006 2:49 pm

I convert Wav files to MP3 all the time.
If you have a Wav Studio/Wav editor
open the program and then open the file..
save it as MP3 in your MP3 files.
Midi files I record as wav format and then
save as MP3 in the same manner.

Larry Clark · Post by **Larry Clark** » 7 Jun 2006 5:08 pm

WMA is Windows Media Audio

[This message was edited by Larry Clark on 07 June 2006 at 06:21 PM.]

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 7 Jun 2006 5:56 pm

Well I don't think I have that Roy.
Can somebody explain step by step what I need to do? I ain't sure I could even do it then.

Steve Stallings · Post by **Steve Stallings** » 9 Jun 2006 7:55 am

Terry,
Do you have windows media player?
If you do,play the song in WMP. On the far right side of the page will be the song title in a window. Right click on the song title. A menu pops up. Select "Send to MP3 Converter". A new window will open. Click "Convert File". It will store the MP3 wherever you specify.

This is how it works for me on windows XP.

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Steve Stallings
The Songs

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 9 Jun 2006 9:21 am

Thanks Steve! Now that sounds simple enough. Really appreciate it.

Terry

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 9 Jun 2006 9:36 am

Steve, I have windows XP also. When I played the song, and right click on the song title, this is the menue I get
play
play selected items
add to>
edit
rate
advanced tag editor
find album info
properties
open containing folder
That's all that's in the menue. Any other suggestions for me?

Terry

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 16 Jun 2006 12:08 pm

Can anybody advise me how to convert midi, and WMA sound tracks to MP3? I'd really appreciate any help.

Terry

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Mullen RP D10 /8x5 / Nashville 112/ American Tele
pickin for Jesus

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 16 Jun 2006 4:45 pm

Terry, Google is your friend. By that, I mean, searching Google for what you want to do will yield a LOT of information.

Having said that, I'd just add that, with what you're trying to do, "convert midi, and WMA sound tracks to MP3", involves different procedures.

There are a lot of applications out there that will convert one audio format to another. But, you need to know that midi isn't audio; it's data. So converting a data file to audio is a different animal.[This message was edited by Dave Potter on 18 June 2006 at 06:13 AM.]

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 17 Jun 2006 8:48 am

Dave, I appreciate your help, but I done a search on google, and found all types of info on converting WMA to MP3. I even downloaded switch somethin or other. But it's all jiberish to me. I don't understand computer language, that's why I needed someone to walk me through the steps to converting WMA to MP3. I figured someone on here could help me, but I'll keep searching the web, maybe I can find what I need.

Terry

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 17 Jun 2006 9:49 am

Terry, the specific steps to convert audio from one format to another will generally be specific to what software you use to do it. That may be why no one has given you a "step-by-step" answer - you didn't say what software you will use. I could give you that information related to the software I use for that sort of thing, among other things, Adobe Audition 2.0, but it wouldn't answer your question unless you also were using that application.

You mentioned Switch. That ought to work to convert wma to mp3. The generic process would be to tell the software which wmas you want to convert, what format it should convert them to (mp3), and click on the "Convert" button to start the conversion.

There are probably some optional settings you could play with, but defaults would probably work OK for starters. When I Googled this, one of the hits was this page which sort of gives a "step-by-step" on how to use Switch.

Another hit I got was this one, the official Switch technical forum, where you can post questions about using the software. And there may be a Help utility included with the software where you might find useful information.

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 17 Jun 2006 10:24 am

Thanks a bunch Dave! I'll try those.
BTW- I'm using windows XP, I have Windows Media Player. I beleive it was steve, that told me to open WMP and click on the song title and there would be a "convert to MP3" in the menue. I tried that and my menue didn't have that in it. Anyway, I'll try the links, thanks Dave.

Terry

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 17 Jun 2006 10:48 am

I'm using windows XP, I have Windows Media Player. I beleive it was steve, that told me to open WMP and click on the song title and there would be a "convert to MP3" in the menue. I tried that and my menue didn't have that in it.

My WMP v10 does not either. WMP v10 can rip from CD to mp3 format, but it doesn't natively have a wma/mp3 converter built-in. My guess is that Steve has a supplemental file conversion utility that added that WMP menu item when it was installed.

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 18 Jun 2006 4:20 am

Terry,
As Dave mentioned, converting MIDI to MP3 or WAVE is tough at best. You need specific software to do this operation, and sometimes the results are less than perfect. Subtle nuances in music are virtually eliminated in a MIDI transfer.

But look at www.audacity.com [free] and www.goldwave.com [about $50] to convert WAVE to MP3 or viceversa or convert to other type files,too [but not MIDI].[This message was edited by CHIP FOSSA on 18 June 2006 at 05:20 AM.]

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 18 Jun 2006 5:42 am

Here's a bunch of applications that can convert midi to mp3. I was unable to find a free one, but they don't cost very much. And, you can download any or all of them and try them free, to see which one you like best.

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 18 Jun 2006 2:31 pm

Well, I went back and looked at my songs in my library, and actually there are not but a couple that are in midi format. The ones I want to burn to CD are in WMA format. But I have to convert them to MP3 before I can burn them to CD. Dave I tried one of those links in your post and printed out the step by step instructions. Every thing was going good till I got to the last step which was to click on- convert to MP3, I think. And a window popped up, and I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was something to the effect of- cannot convert because it don't support the application, or somethin like that. Oh well, I'll keep trying.

Terry

Roy Thomson · Post by **Roy Thomson** » 18 Jun 2006 3:40 pm

If you have a recorder in your software
package the process is simple. (ie Creative)

Play the WMA file and record it using
source " What You Hear " It will automatically record as a wav at 44,000hz
which is CD quality.

Save and add to your song list for the CD.

There are freeware recorders also out there
which should work?

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 18 Jun 2006 3:54 pm

I think we've finally found our problem.

The ones I want to burn to CD are in WMA format. But I have to convert them to MP3 before I can burn them to CD.

No. You don't have to do that.

You have Windows Media Player 10, right? That's the version I'm using, and the one my comments will be based on. If you don't have it, it's a free download.

Open it, and see the top level menu. One of the items is "Burn". Click that. There will be a "Select Files to Burn" item. It will give you some options, one of which is "All Music". If you click that, it will list all the audio media the player knows about on your computer, including your wma files. You select what you want to burn by checking or unchecking media files. You do not have to convert wma files to mp3 to get them to burn to CD.

I tried it, and it worked fine for me, burning a .wma file to a CDR blank disc. You owe me a blank CDR.

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 18 Jun 2006 8:08 pm

There is another option, which I use for converting sound files to MP3.
Go to www.RoemerSoftware.com
There you will find several conversion files.
Download the free HQ recorder. Once you click on the icon that will appear on your desktop, you will end up with a recording interface that records what ever is playing on your computer. It sends that file to a new folder in C:\ called my recordings. Click on that and you will see an MP3 of what you just recordered. Then just rename the file to what you want. Done deal.

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 21 Jun 2006 9:18 am

well, thanks Dave,I'll see if I have the Media player 10, and try it like you said.
I just got a podxt yesterday, so I've been buisy playin with my new toy.

Thanks again Dave, and Ken, and all.

Terry

John Daugherty · Post by **John Daugherty** » 21 Jun 2006 10:23 am

Terry is there a reason you want to convert to mp3 before burning to CD? I always burn from wav files.
As far as mp3 converters go, "switch" is the greatest thing since the shirt pocket. If you don't have it, I can email it to you. It is a small file.

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www.home.earthlink.net/~johnd37

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 22 Jun 2006 9:57 am

Thanks John, yes I do have switch, but What Dave told me to try will work. I tried it yesterday. But I'm waiting on one sound track that a forum member is making me. When he emails it to me I'll be ready to burn all my sound tracks to CD. Thanks to all for your help.
ps- Dave, I'll be glad to send you a blank CD.

Terry

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Mullen RP D10 /8x5 / Nashville 112/ American Tele
pickin for Jesus

Robert Leaman · Post by **Robert Leaman** » 22 Jun 2006 10:07 am

You can get a program that converts almost any music media format to almost any other music media format. Compression and resolution is fully adjustable. All this costs $20.00 and it works flawlessly. I've used it for some number of years. Inaddition, it will do batch conversions.
http://www.mp3towma.com/

Go to the website and purchase it for download. You won't need anything else.