You need a microphone connected to your computer in order to record audio. Many new laptops and some desktop computers have a microphone built in. However, some older computers and many desktop computers need to have an external microphone plugged into the microphone input port. The microphone input port is typically pink, and near where your speakers plug in.

First, make sure you can hear sound from other sources through your speakers (link to a test audio file on our site?). Second, make sure your microphone is selected for recording. In Windows XP, this means:

• double click the sound icon in your system tray
• choose Properties from the Options menu
• click the Recording radio button and click the OK button
  now you're looking at the Record control
• one of the columns should be labeled Microphone - turn the volume slide up and make sure to check the checkbox labeled Select under the Microphone column
• close the sound properties window

Note: you can leave your microphone muted under the playback properties. The important thing is to make sure it is selected and the volume is turned up in the recording properties.

• click the Record button on the recorder
• if prompted, click the Allow button to allow access to your microphone
  the recorder is now recording - watch for the volume meter to move from green to red as your volume increases
• click the Stop button to halt recording
  your recording will automatically be played back for you after recording
• to try a new recording, simply press Record again and Stop when finished
• when you're satisfied, click the Save this recording link

If you don't see any activity in the volume meter: Go back to the first two steps and make sure your microphone is plugged in, selected for recording, and has volume turned up.

If you see activity in the volume meter, but don't hear anything: Do you have your computer's playback volume muted? Do you have speakers connected? (link to the test audio file for testing?) Do you have a program that blocks audio from your web browser?

After clicking Save this recording, you will be asked to enter your printed name and e-mail address in order to create an account. Once you do so, your recording is saved to your new account.

Return to the page and use your new account name and password to log in. You'll be presented with our user dashboard, which includes a place to play back your recording and access tools to generate a link to your name.