Can I extract voice recording from pages & keep them on hand for later use?

What was the format of the original voice-track recordings? Do you still have these as a separate file? IF so, you should be able to use this to reinsert new tracks in your new slides.

IF not, can you import the existing QT audio into Garage Band? If so, you can edit the file into individual segments for each new slide.

If you can't import the QT audio directly, you might be able to play it out of the computer to an external recording device (cassette or CD recorder) and then play it back into Garage Band.

Good luck.

Lorna, did you use the "Record Slideshow" function, or did you record multiple separate audio files that were then added as Builds to each slide?

Lorna:

Can you still play the slideshow in Keynote and hear all of the narration voice tracks (VTs)? If so, then they are not lost completely and there may be a way to retrieve and extract them as individual audio tracks (files) or at least as one overall audio track.

I do not know how Keynote stores these audio tracks within the slideshow file itself, so I cannot tell you how to extract them other than to play them out of the computer to an external recorder and then reimport them (either individually or as a group) into Garage Band. From there, you can edit them into individual VTs for each slide, save them as separate files, and then reimport them into Keynote.

My recommendation when adding audio to a Keynote presentation is to record it separately and store each audio track as an individual file safely in an "audio tracks" folder within the overall folder holding all of the elements (similarly with photos, graphics, etc) for the presentation. From there, each of these elements can be brought into Keynote as needed. This also allows for each element to be edited (or re-edited) and then saved as a new file without risking the original file.

For what you seem to be doing (i.e. a narration VT for each slide) I find it much safer and easier to bring each VT into the slide as a Build, rather than as an overall Soundtrack. This locks each VT to its associated slide and allows re-editing without affecting any of the other slides.

Also, by having each VT as a Build within the slide, this also enables you to Record an overall background Soundtrack (such as music, etc) and have this play throughout the slideshow, while at the same time, each VT plays with its associated slide.

Good luck.

Lorna:
You might want to visit the Garage Band forum and post your questions about it there.
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=127

Recording a VT with Garage Band should be relatively simple: setup a new file and create a New Track as a Real Instrument; next select Vocals as the instrument and your computer's internal microphone as the source (via the Sound System Preference). This should get you going.

Record each VT as a separate file, so that you can work with it later without affecting any of the others. Once it is the way you want it, then you can "Share" it with your iTunes library and thence import it into Keynote.

Hint: Create a separate folder in your iTunes library for each of your presentations; this will make the audio tracks easier to find.

Lorna:

I don't use Garage Band for music recording either; I prefer ProTools for any "serious" music work. However, I find that GB is just fine (and much faster) for doing a quick trim-edit or adjusting the levels of audio tracks before importing them into Keynote.

Good luck.

Message was edited by: Ron Streicher

If you just need something rough-and-ready, QuickTime Player Pro can record and trim audio -- it's a much lighter weight solution than GarageBand.

I just downloaded (but haven't tried) an app called WireTap Studio that claims to be able to record any sound from anywhere on your machine. Maybe this will help... and, no, I do not work for anyone associated with this product.

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/wiretap/

"Using WireTap Studio, you can record the discrete audio output of any application, as well as all system audio, or record audio input from any microphone, line-in, or audio input hardware."