asterisk users - May 2009 - Some direction for creating sound files for Asterisk

First, my real problem is I don't totally understand what I'm doing...
which is why I'm making this post.

What I'm trying to do is record various prompts for use with my
asterisk system.  I started out by just using some of the various
record functions, and things worked out well.  However, now I'm
wanting to take a recording of someone speaking, and put some music in
the background.  I have audacity, and I've imported the speaking,
imported the music, and things seem good.  Here is where I need help.

Instead of just a "this is what you need to do", I'd love so
pointers
on where to find info on creating audio for this type of project.  So
far, google has left me without much.  Any help would be appreciated.

Short version: I need to know where to look for some help on recoding
audio for use as asterisk prompts using audacity (or any other program
I suppose)...

TIA

-jonathan

This is my .02 - you will get better search results for this on
voip-info.org or answers.com than google.  Asterisk prompts (in my
experience) work best in .gsm format, but other posters tell me gsm is now a
dinosaur, so YMMV.

-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com
[mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Jonathan Moore
Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 12:48 PM
To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
Subject: [asterisk-users] Some direction for creating sound files
forAsterisk

First, my real problem is I don't totally understand what I'm doing...
which is why I'm making this post.

What I'm trying to do is record various prompts for use with my
asterisk system.  I started out by just using some of the various
record functions, and things worked out well.  However, now I'm
wanting to take a recording of someone speaking, and put some music in
the background.  I have audacity, and I've imported the speaking,
imported the music, and things seem good.  Here is where I need help.

Instead of just a "this is what you need to do", I'd love so
pointers
on where to find info on creating audio for this type of project.  So
far, google has left me without much.  Any help would be appreciated.

Short version: I need to know where to look for some help on recoding
audio for use as asterisk prompts using audacity (or any other program
I suppose)...

TIA

-jonathan

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On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 1:48 PM, Jonathan Moore <supermegatron at
gmail.com> wrote:
> First, my real problem is I don't totally understand what I'm
doing...
> which is why I'm making this post.
>
> What I'm trying to do is record various prompts for use with my
> asterisk system. ?I started out by just using some of the various
> record functions, and things worked out well. ?However, now I'm
> wanting to take a recording of someone speaking, and put some music in
> the background. ?I have audacity, and I've imported the speaking,
> imported the music, and things seem good. ?Here is where I need help.
>
> Instead of just a "this is what you need to do", I'd love so
pointers
> on where to find info on creating audio for this type of project. ?So
> far, google has left me without much. ?Any help would be appreciated.
I've never seen any resources that address this. Probably because
general principles about linux and sys admin apply here.

Your friend is the file command, as in:
$ file filename.wav

will give you valuable output like:
filename.wav: RIFF (little-endian) data, WAVE audio, ITU G.711 mu-law,
mono 8000 Hz

You can also get useful output from programs like:
mplayer and play
and you can convert with sox in addition to audacity which you've
already discovered.