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Create
your own audio studio for under $100. |
by:
Quentin
Brown |
Creating
your own audio studio has never been easier.
There are so many great products around
today that will allow you to produce high
quality audio for a fraction of the price
it used to cost.
HARDWARE
The first thing you will need is a compatible
computer. Today every new computer is already
set up with everything you will need. A
basic sound card with a mic and line in
jack. If you do not have a sound card they
are very cheap and you can get a good one
from any standard computer shop.
Next you will need a good mic. These come
in all sizes and shapes with different configurations
however a general all round mic like the
Logitech Noise-canceling microphone is fine
for beginners. I suggest you get a desk
top one to start with as you may want to
move into video later and so you wont want
a headset in your videos.
Of course you could go up a stage and get
a preamp with a professional mic but this
will start running into dollars and the
whole aim of this article ids to help you
get started.
Next you will want to get some cables to
connect up your tape recorder and other
audio equipment. Again the computer stores
now have packs that will connect up pretty
well any device into your computer to digitalize
your sound.
SOFTWARE - RECORDING
Recording your audio is probably one of
the most critical parts of this process
and again you can get software that ranges
from free to many thousands of dollars.
For this exercise I suggest you download
the free copy of Audacity. This is an excellent
software package that will allow you to
record from your mic or any equipment you
have.
It provides excellent editing capabilities
and also will allow you to edit multiple
tracks and then combine them into one single
track. For a wuick overview of how to do
this you can watch this video.
http://www.msincome.com.au/sound/testaudio.html
Download the software here. http://audacity.sourceforge.net
SOFTWARE - CONVERTING
The next piece of software you will need
for your studio is a converting program
that will allow you to convert different
formats. For example you may have a real
audio file and you want to convert it to
mp3. dBpoweramp is like the swiss army
knife for the audio industry and will convert
just about any file to any other file format.
Convert from one format to another, just
about every audio type is supported: mp3,
mp4, Windows Media Audio (wma), Ogg Vorbis,
AAC, Monkeys Audio, FLAC and many others
whilst preserving ID Tags. It will also
rip CDs for you.
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm
SOFTWARE - REDUCTION
If you are going to stream an mp3 direct
then you may want to recompile the file
to a smaller format. RazorLame is a so-called
"front-end" for use with LAME. LAME is a
great MP3-Encoder: it's very fast, it produces
high-quality files, has many advanced features
(like Variable Bitrates and Joint-Stereo),
and it's open source. Unfortunately, it
is a command line utility, and that is where
RazorLame comes in: It provides an easy-to-use
graphical user-interface which makes MP3-encoding
even easier!
The best way to use this software is to
get one file and compile in a number of
different formats to test the size against
quality. Very similar to working with graphics.
http://www.dors.de/razorlame/download.php
SOFTWARE - STREAMING
There are a few different ways of streaming
your new audio files. If you have Macromedia
products you can simple organize this your
self however there are some great third
party programs around that will do it all
for you at a fraction of the cost.
MP3 SOUND STREAM
This is a simple piece of software that
takes any mp3 or wav audio and converts
the whole file into a swf file and then
attaches a button so that viewers can listen
on a web page without needing to download
any extra software. This is because the
flash plugin is on 98% of computesr and
if not it will automatically detect and
load the small plugin. This is great for
anyone not wanting to get ino all the technical
aspects of streaming audio.
You will not need to reduce your files at
all with this program as it doers it all
for you. This is perfect for anyone wanting
to stream one file at a time and wants to
do it quickly and efficiently. It will stream
even over most modem connections.
http://www.mp3soundstream
MSIJUKEBOX
For people wanting to stream a number of
files then msijukebox is a great alternative.
This software lets you choose any number
of mp3 files and then organizes them using
an XML file. By using the above free programs
you can significantly reduce the size of
these files to save on bandwidth.
Because MSIJukebox streams the actual mp3
you can also have a lot higher quality playback
including stereo files. This is much better
for those wanting to stream a number of
very high quality mp3 audio files.
http://www.msijukebox.com
SUMMARY
So there you have it. A complete studio
set up for under $100. Just download all
the free software and purchase any of the
streaming audio setups that you want. You
can then create, edit and manipulate any
audio files you like. You will also be able
to add these audios to your website.
With the web surfer becoming much more "web
savvy" than they were a year ago, they are
expecting not only information but an entertaining
web experience.
About the Author
Quentin Brown has been helping people
add audio to their web sites for the past
two years and provides a wealth of knowledge
and expertise for those who are technically
challenged but want to make use of new
technology without spending a fortune.
http://www.quentinbrown.com |
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