Record Pro Audio On Your Computer - We Make It Easy

This episode explains a bit about what stereo is, using 2 audio examples of mono vs stereo guitar and vocal harmonies. It's much better to hear what I'm talking about than to listen to me talk :-P. I then explain how to create the stereo effect and how to use it when mixing music. The music used for the samples is from two of our original songs. The guitar is from Fifty Miles Into The Main (written by Ken and Lisa Theriot), on the Ken Theriot album, Human History (https://music.apple.com/us/album/human-history/276862031). The vocal harmony sample is from Tabard Inn (written by Lisa Theriot) on the Lisa Theriot album, The Keys of Canterbury ( https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-keys-of-canterbury/313634032 ) 

I mentioned in the last episode that I am shifting priority back to recording music at home. So this episode will start from the bare basics - like what microphone and software to start with - and walk you through setup and making an actual recording. I mention in the episode that there are some courses already out there that cover audio recording at home in general - music AND spoken word stuff for podcasts, audiobooks, and video narrations. You can find the current Courses link here: https://www.homebrewaudio.com/landers/courses/ 

I've been focusing a lot in the past year or two on spoken audio, like podcasts, audio book narrating, voice-overs, etc. And I realize I've been neglecting all the musicians! Recording music is the only reason I learned audio recording in the first place. So starting now, I'm going to shift back to helping people record music at home. In this episode, I play excerpts from 4 of our songs: "Son of the Sea" from the album, "Human History" by Ken Theriot - https://music.apple.com/us/album/human-history/276862031  "The Jew's Daughter" from the album "The Keys of Canterbury" by Lisa Theriot - https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-keys-of-canterbury/313634032  "Fifty Miles Into The Main" from the album "Human History" by Ken Theriot - https://music.apple.com/us/album/human-history/276862031  "The Harvest" from the album "A Turning of Seasons" by Lisa Theriot - https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-turning-of-seasons/351581099  You can hear full versions of these songs on YouTube. And you can buy the albums on Apple Music/iTunes.  And the online courses I mentioned in the episode can be found on the Home Brew Audio site. 

I mentioned putting a link to the video on the Home Brew Audio YouTube Channel here in the notes. Here that is: https://youtu.be/kYkbArXHKCE The Limiter tool changed in recent version of Audacity and it looks totally different from the video. So much so that you cannot follow the video's instructions. Fear not though! You can still find the old Limiter in newer versions of Audacity by picking "Legacy Limiter" instead of just "Limiter.

As I mentioned in the episode, there is a video and an article showing you a walk-through of the settings and stuff I mentioned for using the ACX Check plugin for Audacity (regardless of what program you use to actually record and edit your audio). Here they are: Home Brew Audio website: https://www.homebrewaudio.com/27097/acx-audio-submission-requirements-what-the-heck-do-they-mean/ Home Brew Audio YouTube video: https://youtu.be/kYkbArXHKCE?si=kaPOR4SsGz3UeRPg 

I talk a lot about making your audio sound professional. But it helps to know what the heck that even means. This episode gives several audio samples of what I consider to be NOT pro audio, and then several samples that I DO think are professional sounding. This should help nail down the answer to the question..."what even IS professional quality anyway?"   I mention in the episode that this comes from a new mini-course called Pro Podcast Recording Kickstarter. You can find that at https://www.homebrewaudio.com at the top of the page. Normally you can just go to the Courses link up at the top menu. But for now (and a few more weeks at least) there is a link at the very tippy top of the page where you can get a free pdf and the option to get the mini-course for $7 (normally $49).

We started moving in November 2023 and we are STILL MOVING! I don't think we know how moving works :-P. Anyway, that is my excuse as to where I've been. And since I'm in this new house and have not been able to get the studio set up yet, I had to record this episode with bare walls. I know!! But rather than try to fix the room reverb issue that resulted, I left it in the recording and made the topic of room sound (room reverb/echo) the topic of this episode.

My review of the Samson Q9U USB/XLR microphone. I actually used this mic to record this podcast episode. so you can hear how it sounds. 

This episode shows you how to quickly and easily improve the audio quality of your podcast, voiceover, audiobook, videos, and even singing.  And while you can do this like right now - no mater what microphone you have - doing this solves one large problem (audio quality) while creating a few new MINOR issues.  Also, doing this is free! Or at least it CAN be. Especially for short recordings. But if you plan to regularly record like this, you'll want to make some changes. And I lay out the recommended "things" in the episode.  You'll need to learn SOME editing. But you can likely do it with whatever audio recording program you already use. If you DON'T already use recording software (some podcasters record only on web applications), you can do the things I talk about in Audacity, which is free and easy to use.

I spent about a month playing with and testing a different kind of microphone for review. It's called the SP15 binaural microphone by SonicPresence. The purpose of this mic is not to record yourself (typically), but rather to record what YOU are hearing. It records your surroundings in sometimes startlingly accurate surround sound type audio.  The idea is that you would go out to an event, a party, a pub with live music, or just outside in nature. And whoever listens to the audio you recorded will hear what you heard in the way that you heard it. I have several examples in this episode for you to listen to. But make sure you use headphones! If you don't, it might sort of be like trying to watch a 3D movie without the special 3D glasses. I recorded my trip to a pub with live music and lots of people having a good time. I also tested how well the SP15 would pick up stereo music versus mono with a test in my studio with mono and stereo acoustic guitar. And finally, I used it for a selfie video and compared that to the audio quality with just an iPhone and also with a RODE Wireless Go II mic, which is designed for that purpose. I think the SP15 sounded the best of all of those. But you can listen and be the judge. If you want to find out more or buy one from B&H, here are a couple of links (they are affiliate links to help fund this podcast): For the SP15C - for mobile devices - https://homerecording.click/sp15c For the SP15V - for DSLR type cameras or camcorders - https://homerecording.click/sp15v