Podcasting on the Cheap
I am cheap. Audio has always been one of my passions, but I have consistently balked at paying the price for various state of the art equipment through the decades. I was an enthusiastic musician in my teens and I drooled over portable 4-track cassette recorders in the guitar magazines. I was far too cheap to treat myself to one of these, even when they became much cheaper as the digital age dawned.
The things that I had longed to do with a 4-track became both free and easy this century by using any of the various sound recording programs that can be downloaded from the Internet. My Achilles heel is now microphone quality. When the $6 microphone that I am disappointed with stops working altogether I fully intend to invest in something better.
Having binged on recording and mixing instruments and voices in my room, I am now interested in making some field recordings and maybe even interviews. I was so pleased to find this article called Why I Use “Cheap Gear”.
It’s a pleasant surprise to find someone who is an equipment minimalist like me. I am seriously considering getting an iRiver and a 1″ microphone just like the ones that Adam Weiss uses.
He mentioned that he uses GarageBand for editing. I use Audacity. I’d be interested to hear from anyone who has compared the two software packages.
I already have a line on a used iRiver. I had piqued the interest of some fellow blogger in the musical bells that ring out from my neighborhood church. If I get this audio recording setup, I will be able to unobtrusively make a quality recording to post on my personal blog. After that I will start considering musical performances, interviews and other projects.
