I'm a total newbie so forgive me for the very basic questions.

1. If I need to make a voice recording to burn to CD, what do I need? Do you have any recommendations for types/brands of microphones? What additional software will I need? Is there anywhere that I can download the software free, or do I need to purchase some? I already have the software to burn Cds (CeQuadrat... it came on the computer when I bought it, but I've only used it for back-ups)

2. If I also want to add my voice to a website, is this easy to do with FP2000? Will I need anything else (other than a mic and the software that I use for recording on CD)? I don't want the recording to play automatically, but I want the site visitor to be able to click a link to hear it play. Any advice on the best way to do this would be appreciated.

Hey Myra,
I do a lot of recording on my computer, and I get pretty good quality out of a dinky little mic I got free with another software program. Of course, with a higher quality mic you can get a better range, but they cost upwards of $75 and so I've never invested in one. As far as recording goes, there are a lot of programs out there, some for free and some that at least have functional demos (I used N-track for a while). Currently I use CakeWalk Pro Audio and that seems to do the job (pretty spendy program, though). Once you record it, just use a CD Buring program (Nero Buring Rom is supposed to be the best, but I still use Adaptec) to get the sounds on there.
As far as putting the sounds on a web page, I haven't had much experience myself, although I think all you do is put the file on your server and add a link in your web page to the file. It should either play on their computer, or download it.

Good luck,
Ashley

Thanks, Ashley. I'll give your recommendations a try. I did purchase a "good" mic over the weekend so now it's just a matter of recording. Thanks for the tips on software programs.

Myra

You can add a mediaplayer object (classid=CLSID:22d6f312-b0f6-11d0-94ab-0080c74c7e95) to the page (IE only) or use the <embed> tag

I recommend Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge XP. It is a "lite" version of Sound Forge Studio. The version number is 5 or 6 now. Nero is an excellent CD burning program. They should integrate well.

Cakewalk is for multitrack recording. It is probably way more than you need unless you decide to record multiple sources for one track.