Hi,
Now im becoming a bit more familiar with scripts and such like, i wanted to discuss again the possibility of getting a hotkey in mairlist that when pressed launches my sound recorder (audacity) and starts it to record (which in the software is keyboard shortcut ‘R’)?
Just wondered whether mairlist had advanced far enough since i mentioned this once before. Or if it’s not possible does anybody have any thoughts on ways of making it possible?
Many Thanks
There’s the scripting functions ShellExecute and ShellExecute hidden which can start arbitrary programs.
Though I don’t know if you can make Audacity start recording right away.
OK, i’ll give it a go… Just need to find the script now! 
This is what I use to launch my “Playlist Adder” utility:
[code]// Execute mAirListAdd Playlist Utility
// by Charlie Davy
begin
ShellExecute(‘Z:\mAirList Files\mAirListAdd.exe’,‘mairlist’);
end.[/code]
I have that script mapped to the INSERT key, the command for that key is as follows:
RUNSCRIPT Z:\mAirList Files\Scripts\mAirListAdd.mls
Adjust your paths to suit 
Sadly, it appears that you cannot place Audacity directly into record via the command-line:
The only command-line arguments Audacity takes are the names of audio files to open.Source: [b][url=http://ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/man/man1/audacity.1.html]http://ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/man/man1/audacity.1.html[/url]
BFN
CAD
Ah-ha. Looks like im just as well off doing it the proper way in that case!
Really appreciate you looking into it for me. Wouldnt it be nice if audacity accepted scripting so that i could have a script that starts recording on launch!
Oh well, Wishful thinking.
You and about twenty-plus others, Lackster. Scripting and/or command-line control is something Audacity users have wanted for literally years.
Personally, I detest Audacity. I just can’t get on with its GUI; the fact that nearly nothing I need is built in but ‘you can download [some add-on] which does that’ (whatever that happens to be), though getting an add-in to work was VERY rare for me; and Audacity’s weird system of multi-track mixing (which again, I never got to work properly).
I know it has many fans, but I’d rather poke my own eyes out with blunt forks than be forced to use Audacity ever again. I saved my sanity by spending £30 or so on Sony ACID Music Studio 7!
BFN
CAD
I agree with you, its not the best software in the world, the only reason i use it is for simple record in and then its quick and easy to clip interviews etc together. It is useless for making decent audio packages etc but it perfect for recording.
Cad, if i was to buy software like te sony bit you said about, would i be able to have mairlist load it and start auto-recording?
does anybody know of any software with which this would be possible?
Total Recorder, for $18US appears to do it…
This recorder edit will launch and start from a hot key command:
http://www.abyssmedia.com/mp3recorder/index.shtml
Enable start recording immediately on program startup in the general settings. Just short of $30. *yet another edit *Also features the ability to schedule recordings (makes a great logger as it can split recordings into pre-defined lengths).
If you can find it around Messer may also (untried) its free but discontinued. I will have a look through my hard drives to see if I have a copy still.
Kind Regards Tony
another edit* One thing worth remembering when installing this type of app - if prompted stick with the default windows sound drivers.
Not sure that Sony ACID MS7 will do automated recording. As well as the other items mentioned, you might like to investigate NCH Swift Sound’s RecordPad: http://www.nch.com.au/recordpad/index.html. They have offers on right now so if you are after any of their products and can pay by credit card before 15th December, there are some pretty deep discounts available.
RecordPad can DEFINITELY be controlled from the command line (and hence from a mAirList hotkey) to start recording IMMEDIATELY, plus you can specify file type, mono/stereo etc. It’s about $30 just now, thanks to the discount ‘deal’ mentioned above. I think it’s US$ and not Australian $ (!). Either way: dirt cheap!
BFN
CAD
Messer (which I’d totally forgotten about) is still available on this page…
http://messer.aerolit.pl/
Thanks for the links and suggestions on this one guys.
just tried messer but can’t quite see a way to get it to record on startup, any ideas?
Many thanks
In case you’re still looking for a decent freeware commandline recording program,
I can recommend HarddiskOgg.
We’ve been using this for 3-4 years, and other than the (very) occasional slight timing issue
(±2s, but that might be caused by the hard disk falling into standby mode),
it has been rock solid…
Here’s a batch file we use to record our shows, plus our HDO preset file:
[code=recordshow.bat]:: records a show
::
:: syntax:
:: recordshow filename length_in_seconds
:: %1 filename
:: %2 length in seconds
:: example: recordshow beatnik240207 7195
@echo off
:: set home directory for scripts
set homedir=%~dp0
cd %homedir%
:: location of log file
set corderlog=209corder log.txt
:: check if log file exists and create one if necessary
if exist “%corderlog%” >> “%corderlog%” echo ----------------------------
if not exist “%corderlog%” > “%corderlog%” echo ----------------------------
:: record the file
call :WRITELOG “recording %1”
harddisk.exe -record -timelimit %2 -tos -overwrite -silent -minimize -preset harddisk.hdp -output %1.wav
IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 call :ERROR “recording %1”
:: recording completed successfully
call :WRITELOG “%1 completed”
exit
::functions
GOTO :EOF
:: logging
:WRITELOG
echo %date% %time% %1
“%corderlog%” echo %date% %time% %1
GOTO :EOF
:: Error handling
:ERROR
echo %date% %time% !!! ERROR in %1: %ERRORLEVEL% !!!
“%corderlog%” echo %date% %time% !!! ERROR in %1: %ERRORLEVEL% !!!
GOTO :EOF
[/code]
[HarddiskOgg Settings]
Content=Encoder Preset
Version=1
[Encoder Settings]
Active=WACM
[Encoder Settings WACM]
Rate=44100
Channels=2
BPS=16
InSize=18
In=SAAABAgAAQErAAAExKAAEAAEAAAA
OutSize=18
Out=SAAABAgAAQErAAAExKAAEAAEAAAA
If you’re using Windows Task Scheduler for triggering recordings,
you’d put something like this into the “Run” field:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c start /min c:\foldername\recordshow.bat filename 3600Hope that helps someone.
PS: I am considering writing my own task scheduler / recording program in AutoIT at the moment,
since in Windows Task Scheduler you can only trigger a task on the minute (rather than second).
If there is interest I’ll release it here
(although it might take a few weeks if not months for me to turn it into a stable piece of software)
Lackster, you can do something else for Audacity.
Like AxWax mentioned previously, make a try with AutoIt. It’s a scripting language that creates .exe files.
And we can do all task that keyboard and mouse (and more) can do.
For example, you can easily create an AutoIt script that :
And after, you just have to launch the exe program with mAirlist on the event you will.
You can also imagine to give a number parameter to the AutoIt exe program which represents the recording total duration. And, it would be mAirlist that, when calling the program, calls it with the correct duration…
AutoIt with mAirlist give us an incredible power !!
PS : AutoIt is easy to learn (if you know any other programmation language). I created 2 weeks ago a client-server structure in about 2 hours (I had never developed such a thing before). I recommend it if you maintain your choice on Audacity.