How to Record a Phonograph to a CD

Recording the Album to Your Computer

• 1

  Purchase an RCA to 1/8-inch audio cable from a local electronics store. Connect the RCA end of the cable to your speaker outputs on the back of your record player. Then connect the 1/8-inch end of the cable to the audio input on the back panel of your desktop.

• 2

  Turn on your computer, then launch your computer&'s audio recording program. If you don&'t have audio recording software installed on your computer, there are several programs available online for free (see Resources). If you use Audacity, you must also download the LAME MP3 Encoder (see link in the Reference section) to save your music in MP3 format.

• 3

  Minimize your recording software, then right-click on the screen and select "New Folder." Name the folder after the record you&'re digitizing. Press the "Enter" key to create the folder. It will save to your desktop.

• 4

  Turn on your record player, then place a record onto the turntable. Maximize your recording software, set your input to "Line in," then press the "Record" button. Place the turntable&'s needle on the first track of the record to begin recording the initial song. Press "Stop" on the recording software, then lift the needle from the record once the first song has finished playing.

• 5

  Go to "File," then click on "Export as MP3" in the File drop-down menu. Name the file after the song you just recorded. Set the destination location to the folder you created in Step 3. Repeat this procedure until you have digitized every song from your album.

Burning the Songs to CD in iTunes

• 6

  Insert a blank CD into your computer&'s CD-ROM drive. Go to the Windows Start menu, select "All Programs," then click on "iTunes" to launch the iTunes program.

• 7

  Click on the "+" symbol in the bottom left-hand corner of the iTunes window to create a new playlist. Name the playlist after the album you just digitized. The playlist will appear in the left sidebar of the iTunes window under the "Playlists" tab.

• 8

  Go to "File," and then click on "Add to Library." Wait for the dialog box to appear that allows you to search your computer. Navigate to the folder where you saved your digitized recordings. Click on the first file in the folder, hold down the CTRL key, and then click on the last file in the folder to select all the files. Click on the "Choose" button to add the files to your library.

• 9

  Click on "Music" under the "Library" tab in the left sidebar of the iTunes window. Locate the songs you just added to the iTunes library. Click on the first song, hold down the CTRL key, and then click on the last song to select all the songs. Drag them to your playlist in the left sidebar.

• 10

  Click on the "Burn Disc" at the bottom of your playlist&'s screen. Set the preferred speed to "Maximum Possible," and then select "Audio CD" as the type of CD you want to burn. Click on the "Burn" button to burn the CD.

Burning Songs to CD Using Windows Media Player

• 11

  Locate the Windows Media Player in "All Programs" through the Windows Start menu. Click on "Windows Media Player" to launch the application.

• 12

  Click on the "Media Player" tab in the left column of the screen. Right-click on "Playlists," then click on "New" to create a new playlist. Name the playlist after the album you digitized. Minimize the Media Player window.

• 13

  Locate "Windows Explorer" in the Windows Start menu. Click on it to launch the Explorer. Navigate to the folder where your newly-recorded MP3 files are located. Press "CTRL + A" to select all the files in the folder.

• 14

  Maximize the Windows Media Player window. Place the Windows Explorer and Windows Media Player windows side by side so the highlighted files are visible in Explorer and the playlist is visible in Media Player. Drag the highlighted files into the Media Player playlist. Click the "OK" button in the playlist window, then close Windows Explorer.

• 15

  Click on the "Copy to CD or Device" tab. Locate your playlist in the list of available playlists in the center column of the screen. Insert a blank CD into your CD-ROM drive. Click on the "Copy" button to begin burning your playlist to CD.