LEARN HOW TO RECORD, EDIT & PRODUCE GREAT AUDIO!

Learn how to record audio voice tracks, build your own studio, use effective audio production techniques and create audio information products and podcasts

If you create audio information products, produce audio in a corporate environment, run a small recording studio, create podcasts, or record audio for video; this site will help you learn and develop the art of making great sounding audio tracks.

Our focus is how to record, edit and produce a voice track, and the tools, techniques and skills you need to produce high quality audio products and productions efficiently. No matter what your experience level, you'll find articles, reviews, how-to's, books and tutorials to help you create excellent audio products. We'll share our recording studio secrets gathered from over 30 years experience as producers of audio training, promotion, and information products.

CD Format Standards

 Editing & Production, Product Development
Jan 092011
 

You should be familiar with Compact Disc standards so you know where to search on the web when you need specific technical information on CD recording.

There are quite a few CD formats that have been developed over the years; here is a brief description of them. If you need more information, search for the term on the web – there is a wealth of information there.

Red Book – This was the original standard created by Sony and Phillips in the 1980’s. This is still the universal standard for CD Audio and is the standard on which all the others are built.

Yellow Book – This was the original data Format standard developed by Phillips and Sony in 1983. This was a very general spec that evolved into ISO-9660, the HFS format for Macintosh , and hybrid HFS-ISO.

ISO 9660 –  This is a standard CDROM file system that allows CD compatibility independent of platform. This standard was written by an industry group named High Sierra, and was issued in 1988.

There are several levels to ISO-9660. In level 1 the filenames are in the 8.3 format. (No more than 8 characters in the name followed by a three character suffix). All characters must be capitalized; directories can have a maximum of 8 characters and no more than 8 nested directory levels. Use this level for compatibility with MSDOS and old versions of Windows.

The specifications for levels 2 and 3 allow file names up to 32 characters long.

CDROM-XA – This format based on the Yellow Book (XA being short for Extended Architecture) allows for new types of sectors to display data, graphics, audio and video at the same time. CD, Photo CD, Video CD and CD Extra are outgrowths of this standard.

Joliet – This is an extension to ISO 9660, developed by Microsoft, which allows the use of Unicode characters in the file names. These are need for international use. File names up to 64 characters in length are permitted.

White Book – This standard was created to allow the playback of interactive disks on players that support the green Book and CDROM-XA standards. This standard is commonly used for the creation of Video CD disks.

Green Book – The Green Book standard was developed in 1991 for CD -I (CD Interactive)

Orange Book – This is the most recent standard that defines the specifications for CD recorders and media.

Mixing Music In Sound Forge

 Editing & Production, Music & Effects, Podcasting, Sony Sound Forge
Jan 092011
 

Sony Sound Forge is a two-track editing program, so mixing is trickier than with a multi-track program. Here’s a simple way to do it. In general, for opening music, the usual procedure is to let the music play at full volume for 6 – 10 seconds – I usually let a musical phrase complete, then [READ MORE...]

Recording Checklist

 Audio For Video, Recording Techniques
Jan 092011
 

Preparing For A Recording Here’s a checklist for you to use before you start a recording session. Don’t leave anything to chance. If you are recording someone other than yourself, make sure you are ready to go long before your speaker or narrator arrives. Feeling rushed greatly increases your chances of making mistakes that will [READ MORE...]

Getting the Correct Volume On Your Audio Files

 Audio For Video, Editing & Production, Podcasting, Web Audio
Jan 092011
 

Getting the right volume level on your finished recordings is important because you want your customer to hear your recordings at about the same level as other commercially produced recordings, and you don’t want him or her to be constantly reaching for the volume knob when playing your product. While not difficult once you get [READ MORE...]

The Starbuck’s® Syndrome

 Product Development, Studio Business
Jan 092011
 

People buy for many reasons other than price. If you think you need to have the lowest price to compete, then think again. My studio is in the lower level of a commercial building on a busy corner in a small town. Upstairs there is a Starbucks® Coffee Shop. While it is a favorite place [READ MORE...]

Production Styles 5 – “The Audio Newsletter”

 Podcasting, Product Development
Jan 092011
 

The Audio Newsletter or News Show combines several or all of the previously discussed styles and makes for a powerful and interesting product. The audio newsletter is an interesting high power format, but probably requires the most work of all of them. It is produced like a news show with a musical logo intro, and [READ MORE...]

Production Styles 4 – “Live Seminars & Talks”

 Podcasting, Product Development
Jan 092011
 

Live seminars and talks can be a “free” source of material for audio information products and podcasts. If you are on the speaking circuit or conduct seminars or workshops, using this style could help you produce a product with little effort. The product is created by recording your live presentation or presentations and then editing [READ MORE...]

Production Styles 3 – “The Scripted Program”

 Podcasting, Product Development
Jan 092011
 

Scripting is necessary if you need to use a professional narrator or if you are not comfortable enough with the subject matter to talk from an outline. In the scripted style, one or more people read from a prepared script . The advantage is that the material gets presented exactly as you want it to. [READ MORE...]

Production Styles 2 – “The Monologue”

 Podcasting, Product Development
Jan 092011
 

The monologue style works very well if your subject expert is used to presenting his or her material before a group. In this style you, or the subject expert, sits in front of the microphone and tells the story. The advantages are that it involves only one person and one microphone. The disadvantage is that [READ MORE...]

Production Styles 1 – “The Interview”

 Podcasting, Product Development
Jan 092011
 

If you need to put an audio product or podcast together quickly, the Interview Style can help you do it with minimum hassle. In this series of articles we’re going to talk about the different ways or styles of putting together an audio information product or podcast. In this first article we’ll talk about the [READ MORE...]

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