User's Manual - Cornell Lab of Ornithology - Cornell University

Chapter 2Signal AcquisitionAbout this chapterThis chapter describes how to acquire (digitize) signals with Canary. In orderto make good recordings with Canary, you should be familiar with the basicconcepts of digital sound representation discussed in Appendix A. Failure tounderstand concepts such as sample rate and sample size can lead to digitizedrecordings that are distorted in various ways.Choosing and setting up a recording deviceCanary can acquire sounds from the Macintosh’s built-in sound input port orfrom a third-party sound input device. Incorrect connection of an audiodevice to the Macintosh may yield distorted signals and may result indamage to the audio device or the computer. Appendix F explains how toconnect an audio device (e.g., tape recorder, CD player, or stereo system) forsound input to your Macintosh.In order to use a particular sound input device, there must be an appropriatesound input device driver installed in the System Folder. A sound input devicedriver acts as the interface between the sound input hardware and the SoundManager routines that are part of the Macintosh operating system. The driverfor a device is supplied by the device’s manufacturer. Device drivers shouldbe placed in the Extensions folder inside the System Folder, and are loadedinto memory automatically when the Macintosh starts up.To acquire a new sound, select Record... from the Process menu or pressCommand-R. The Sound Acquisition / Recording dialog box (Figure 2.1)should appear. On some Macintosh models, an error occurs if there is norecording device physically connected to the Macintosh when you selectRecord... .Canary 1.2 User’s Manual 35