Start a home studio? You probably already HAVE a home studio! If you are like over 70 percent of Americans, you have a computer in your house. That means 7 out of 10 American readers only have to learn to use the home recording studio they already have. And here’s the best part. You don’t have to spend any money to start using it! If you have internet access, or a friend who does, just download the free (open source) software program called “Audacity,” which does multi-track recording and audio editing. Now you only need a microphone like the little PC mics that often come bundled with new computers. If you don’t already have one of those, you can pick one up for 4 or 5 dollars.
I just did a search on Google for “starting your own home recording studio,” and one of the top searches proudly boasts that you can do so for….wait for it—“under $1,000!” Choke, sputter, gasp. What? That’s supposed to convince me to start a home studio? Folks, even if you had to buy a PC microphone for your set-up, you’d still have 3 fewer “zeros” in your price-tag than that.
Yes, there is gear that costs a lot of money. But if you can start out, which you can, for under $10, and then upgrade your studio a bit at a time, why wouldn’t you? Even if you’re super rich and could afford thousands to start a home studio, you’d likely end up with tons of pretty gear you don’t know how to use, or don’t need. The best bet is to start modest, learn the power of the lowest-price gear, and then gradually upgrade until you reach a point where you can produce the quality you need.
I’ve heard any number of bad-sound audio recordings that came from really good gear. And I have heard excellent recordings that came from gear costing a fraction (and I mean on the order of 1/500th) of the cost. The key is this: knowledge trumps gear. If you learn how to get the best possible audio from the cheapest gear, then ultimately you’ll settle into a home studio set-up that produces exactly what you need to produce, at the lowest possible cost, which, as I have mentioned, can be a tiny fraction of what you might otherwise pay.
There are some great resources on the web to teach the kind of knowledge I’m talking about. One such resource is a site called Home Brew Audio, where you can find tutorials, informative articles, and access to resources geared toward helping you make the best recordings possible. So what are you waiting for? Cost is no longer a reason to avoid starting a home audio recording studio. Go to it, and have fun!
We Teach Home Recording, Not "How To Use Audacity"
Our primary mission at Home Brew Audio is to teach home recording concepts and skills that can then be used with any recording system or software. It just so happens that you can start this journey with free recording software called Audacity.
In order to demonstrate how little money it takes to get up and running with your new home studio (FREE…for most people!), our first several tutorials are done using Audacity. But these techniques are transferable to any audio software with very little translation. So once you learn the concepts, it will just be a matter of locating where the different controls are in the different programs. The more advanced technique tutorials will use Reaper and Adobe Audition instead, due to the limits of Audacity.
I felt I should make this clear since there are several folks out there uploading tutorial videos on “how to use Audacity,” and I wanted to make it clear that Home Brew Audio is all about producing professional audio from home no matter what program is used.
What Is Royalty Free Music? Spice Up Your Voice-Over With Background Music
What is royalty free music? Is it free? Do I need some?
To answer those questions in order:
- You’ll find out in this post
- No (at least not usually)
- Yes
So What Is Royalty Free Music?
It is music you can download and use in your recordings without having to worry about violating copyright.
The reason for that is that royalty free music has already been approved to be used in this way. The license has been approved for anyone to use.
Why Would I Want Royalty Free Music?
One way to truly give voice-over audio a professional edge is to put some background music behind it. It has never been easier or less expensive to obtain high quality music files to use in your productions. There are background music downloads and even free royalty free music all over the web these days.
So you’re sold already huh? You’re already on to “how do I get me some?”
OK, since it is so easy and quick…just go to Google and type in “royalty-free music,” and you’ll be presented with tons of links to sites where you can download program music. Or try one of my favorites, Shutterstock Music or AudioMicro. Some will cost a few bucks per file, some will be free. There. Go play.
What Does Royalty Free Mean?
For the rest of you there may be more questions…such as “what does royalty-free mean?” or “is it legal to use someone else’s music in my productions?” Good questions! “Royalty-Free” means that you do not have to pay royalties to use this music in your production, as you normally would if you wanted to use someone else’s music.
For example, you cannot just use an mp3 of a Beatles song in your podcast without paying royalties to the publisher. Good luck! With royalty-free music, there is no such hassle. You should read the fine print though. There are usually restrictions on things like turning around and selling someone else’s file of RF music on its own, say as part of a collection of RF music. As long as you add something to it, like a voice narration, etc. you should be fine.
Another burning question you may have is: “what are some good uses of RF music?” Another good question. One very common use is as background for a voice narration for intros (and outros) for podcasts, radio shows, or other types of audio programs. Also, the same thing is usually done in videos. Adding good quality music to a short video on the web can really make the difference between seeming professional and not. And let’s not forget about radio and television commercials. When was the last time you heard one of those without music?
How Do I Use It?
Okay, so now you have a few files of RF music and you don’t know how to put it “behind” your voice? No problemo. If you don’t already have audio software that can do multi-track recording, just download the open-source program called Audacity from their website at Sourceforge. It is free of charge and quite powerful. Then record your voice on a track in Audacity. Then create a second track right under the first one with the voice on it in Audacity and insert your RF music file on it. When you play that back, you’ll hear both. Now all you have to do is set the volume on the music so it doesn’t drown out your voice, and skidoosh, you have background music behind your voice. Then just export a stereo audio file (wav, mp3, etc.) from Audacity.
As I mentioned earlier, there are several sources for royalty-free music out there on the web, including Home Brew Audio, where you get several for free. Have fun!
Ken
What is Sound Editing and Why Should I Care?
To partially answer the question what is sound editing? I will say that if you have no intention of ever dabbling in the exciting, inexpensive and fun world of audio recording (it really is much easier and cheaper than most people ever thought possible), then I guess you really don’t have to care. Let other folks have the fun. But if you are one of the curious ones, or have already started recording and producing audio, then audio editing is not just a good idea, it is absolutely and utterly essential…but still cool!
I don’t care what the real definitions are of some of these terms I define in these articles. This is my definition. Audio editing is making changes to already-recorded audio on purpose. I’d bet THAT definition isn’t written down anywhere else. Let’s examine it. It’s always a good idea to get the best quality sound at the source, with good space, adequate equipment and good technique. If you get THAT part perfect, there MAY not be any editing required. But in the real world, where I believe I am living, those instances are rare.
How about an example? Okay, let’s say you are recording your voice for a podcast or audio book. After the recording, you play back the result and notice three things. Your “P” sounds were too loud, causing that sort of “splat” sound. Some parts of the reading are very soft, and others are quite loud. Someone coughed in the background while you were reading and you can hear it between words. What will you do? You can always start over and do the whole thing again. Before computers, that would have been pretty much our only choice. Or you could fix all three problems with some audio editing software.
So you open the audio in an editor, like Audacity (which is open source audio software). First you zero in on the first place where the letter “P” popped out too much. You highlight that bit of audio on the screen and reduce its volume. You might also want to lower just the low frequencies there with some equalization (EQ). You do that to all the P-pops. Then you notice that there are three or four places where the audio looks like it spiked…was much louder than most of the audio in the reading, which was actually not quite as loud as you would have liked it. But you can’t increase the volume of the entire passage because once those spikes are turned up a little, they will distort…very nasty. So you zero in on the spikes and reduce their volume (they shrink in size on the screen) to where it is closer to the average. Now you can turn everything up quite a bit without any distortion. Finally, you zero in on where that guy coughed between your words, and you simply delete it. Now you have fixed all the little problems in a matter of seconds.
There are obviously many more possible editing actions in audio. But with these tools you can produce higher quality audio much faster than having to re-record a million times. There are lots of tutorials on the web that talk about editing techniques. At the Home Brew Audio website you can learn recording and editing and all nature of wonderful home recording stuff from short enjoyable video tutorials. Regardless of how you go about it, audio editing is vital if you work with audio. Now get recording!
I don’t care what the real definitions are of some of these terms I define in these articles. This is my definition. Audio editing is making changes to already-recorded audio on purpose. I’d bet THAT definition isn’t written down anywhere else. Let’s examine it. It’s always a good idea to get the best quality sound at the source, with good space, adequate equipment and good technique. If you get THAT part perfect, there MAY not be any editing required. But in the real world, where I believe I am living, those instances are rare.
How about an example? Okay, let’s say you are recording your voice for a podcast or audio book. After the recording, you play back the result and notice three things. Your “P” sounds were too loud, causing that sort of “splat” sound. Some parts of the reading are very soft, and others are quite loud. Someone coughed in the background while you were reading and you can hear it between words. What will you do? You can always start over and do the whole thing again. Before computers, that would have been pretty much our only choice. Or you could fix all three problems with some audio editing software.
So you open the audio in an editor, like Audacity (which is open source audio software). First you zero in on the first place where the letter “P” popped out too much. You highlight that bit of audio on the screen and reduce its volume. You might also want to lower just the low frequencies there with some equalization (EQ). You do that to all the P-pops. Then you notice that there are three or four places where the audio looks like it spiked…was much louder than most of the audio in the reading, which was actually not quite as loud as you would have liked it. But you can’t increase the volume of the entire passage because once those spikes are turned up a little, they will distort…very nasty. So you zero in on the spikes and reduce their volume (they shrink in size on the screen) to where it is closer to the average. Now you can turn everything up quite a bit without any distortion. Finally, you zero in on where that guy coughed between your words, and you simply delete it. Now you have fixed all the little problems in a matter of seconds.
There are obviously many more possible editing actions in audio. But with these tools you can produce higher quality audio much faster than having to re-record a million times. There are lots of tutorials on the web that talk about editing techniques. At the Home Brew Audio website you can learn recording and editing and all nature of wonderful home recording stuff from short enjoyable video tutorials. Regardless of how you go about it, audio editing is vital if you work with audio. Now get recording!
Why You Should Start Your Home PC Recording Studio For 5 Bucks
I’ve been really vocal about the fact that starting a home pc recording studio is much faster and much cheaper than most people realize. In fact, I say you should start out, especially if you’re new to recording, spending no more than $5.00 or so. Why?
Well, first of all…because you CAN. Secondly, when you learn just how good the audio from a studio like that can be, imagine what it could sound like at the next level up! That first jump will cost you only around $25.00. Then you learn a bit more, and max out the audio quality at THAT level, discovering in the process once again that audio quality is more about technique and know-how than about expensive equipment.
At some point along this process, you’ll find the right audio quality for your particular needs. For many, it will be a set-up costing somewhere between $5.00 and $100.00. Others may want more capability and will find their stopping-point at a higher budget level.
The result of following a process lie this is that you ultimately produce exactly the audio quality necessary for you needs without spending money on features and gear that you don’t need. A common mistake recording beginners make is to buy hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars in gear and software, only to find that their recordings just aren’t that great. Sometimes these folks think “maybe I need THAT microphone, or THAT software, to get the audio quality I need. But again, they find their audio didn’t really improve. Eventually these folks are likely to give up on the whole thing, thousands of dollars to the bad.
Starting out with the cheapest gear, however, and squeezing every last drop of audio quality from it before moving on to the next level and doing the same, will both save you money AND improve your odds of producing great audio. It’s a win-win!
If you are convinced, you may be asking how you get the knowledge needed to follow a process like that. Fortunately there are a LOT of tutorials out there on the web for home recording. Go to YouTube and type “home recording” in, and you’ll see. Of course I am partial to our tutorials at Home Brew Audio;). Our tutorial videos are both entertaining and informative. And we add new ones all the time.
Whatever source of knowledge you decide to use, starting out “bare-bones” and adding just what you need when you need it is the fastest way to produce quality audio for the least amount of money. And who would argue against something like that?