A friend of mine was wondering how to record streaming music from the internet recently. This got me thinking about some of the different ways to do this and what works best. I use a free program called Freecorder that installs a toolbar in your browser with buttons for Recording, Stop, Pause, Play, and Settings. It works quite well and is very easy to use. There are other ways to accomplish this however. The best way is probably to do as follows:

1. Download and install Free Sound Recorder
2. Open Free Sound Recorder and the streaming audio source
   Streaming audio can be recorded from the internet (via a radio station like Z100 for example) or a music jukebox like Rhapsody. Make sure to close all other programs and turn off any audio alerts that you may have (click the little speaker icon in your taskbar). If you don't do this, you will hear your little email alerts and messenger alerts in your recording!
   
3. Set the output file type
   Because MP3 is ubiquitous and works with everything, we will use that as the file format. If you wish, you can record WAV or WMA files as well.
   
   Click on General Settings and select MP3 (or your desired) Output File Type. You can also pick your location for your recording by setting the Output Directory.
4. Set the file bit rate
   The quality and size of your recording depends on the bit rate of the recording. The higher the bit rate, the better it will sound, but it will also be a larger file. I recommend using a 256kbps MP3 file since hard drives are enormous, and that should provide a very nice sounding recording.
   
5. Set the inputs
   Hit the device button to view the options. You will be recording stereo audio from the soundcard which will most likely be Realtek AC97 Audio. And set the recording mixer to stereo mix.
   
6. Test the volume
   Play some audio from your streaming source (Z100 or whatever you want to record) and pay attention to the levels meters. Make sure that the sound isn't clipping or showing a reddish-hue at the top. Adjust the volume slider up if the levels are too low, or down if they are too high. Try to set the levels in the two-thirds range if possible. Once you have that set up, stop recording.
   
7. Record
   Hit the red record button, then name your file when asked and immediately start your stream. Stop recording when finished.
8. Repeat or split
   You can use this method to record as many streams as you like. Note that this will provide one long recording of whatever your stream was. If you want to split the audio into individual tracks, read that tutorial next.

That is it! Its simple, its free, and its easy! This is incredibly useful for students, researchers, and for people just looking to listen to some of their favorite songs at their leisure! I hope you found this useful and remember to hug your favorite Geek. It helps us grow!