Audio for the Internet

macinsm

Registered
I have several questions about audio for the Internet. If you can answer one but not all, I'd gladly hear opinions and suggestions on any part of what I am asking.

The end products I will be creating are guided meditations: my spoken voice with music in the background. My speaking voice is even, soothing, and gentle, with a minimum of highs and lows; the music is also soothing and gentle. I know that I want mp3 files as well as other audio formats so that visitors have the option of download or online listening. What are the different options for audio -- both online listening and download -- that I should consider?

I believe the best approach is to record these in analog, in a studio. I have music that I can legally use; and the voice is mine. I think it makes the most sense for the studio to present me with the edited audio in a format I can use. In what format or formats should I ask the studio to give me? What conversion for the Internet will I need to do? What hardware and/or software are required?

I am also willing to learn to do the editing in digital on my Mac G4 (I still want to do the recording in analog). If I go that route, what is the best software to use for the editing?

What else do I need to know? What resources can you suggest?

Many thanks for any words of wisdom.
 
Howdy!

If you're recording in a professional studio, ask if they record to analog tape (more and more rare) or to digital (computer). You'll want to keep your "masters" for later use because these will be your finished product, working files, for your audio. Your reference, so to speak.

You don't really need to pay a big studio to do this, especially since you have a mac. What you'll need are digital audio interfaces to record yourself, and that's where the initial cost comes in. There's a program called Audacity in which you can create multitracked audio files for cheap, you just need to know a tiny bit about multitracking (and have your audio interface to your computer set up). Go to www.versiontracker.com for Audacity for OS X.

First, go to www.macmusic.org to learn everything you need an more about audio recording. Then decide if you want to make the initial investment in gear to get started or if you want to do the studio thing. If you want it done fast and right, I'd choose the studio for now and then give yourself time to learn so you don't get frustrated. :)


Just my two cents.
 
Natobasso said:
If you're recording in a professional studio, ask if they record to analog tape (more and more rare) or to digital (computer).

I just got off the phone with the studio I intend to use. They have done this type of project before. They talked me out of analog and I am trusting them to know their equipment for my purposes.

Natobasso said:
You don't really need to pay a big studio to do this, especially since you have a mac.

For this set of guided meditations, I will use the studio, with the idea that I might do the recordings myself later. I worked with a multitracker when I was producing audio cassette tapes. So I'll follow up on Audacity at a later time. Thanks for that URL as well as for macmusic. You're right on target, I do want to work with experts and then learn the components as I have time and interest.

Many thanks. I'll still need some help getting everything on the Internet. But one step at a time.
 
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