Audio Book Recording Software

B

Bodan

New member
I'm in the beginning stages of producing an audio book and seek advice on software and other techniques. I've tried Audacity and a few others, but I'm not satisfied with the quality of the recordings or ease of software use.

First, does anyone have any recommendations for software for accomplishing this objective. I need software with the feature of floating the recording window over the audio book window. It is a hassel to start recording, close the window and quickly open the audio book window to start speaking.

Second, is there any software of high quality that makes the recorded voice sound clearer or do I have to manually edit the recording. In other words, some words/consonants produce popping sounds such as P’s, B’s, D’s, and T’s. I've experimented numerous times with Mic placement and adjusted recording volume, but cannot seem tried to get rid of them. I have a buddy desktop mic, which is good (I think).

Most of the forums/threads here are geared toward making music so I've posted here as a newbie.

Thanks for any help
 
judging from what you said, i believe the problem is not with your audio software. it is more likely cause by your mic. you might want to upgrade, also what type of interface (what you plug your mic into) are you using. this may also be an issue, you can get decent usb mics for pretty cheap that should help with what your looking for sound quality wise. as far as a floating window, i dont know what to tell you. but why is it so important that you have to start speaking immediatley? you could always set a punch in and start the program a little earlier then you would have time too switch your indows without having to worry about it. all of this is IMHO.
 
The mic is a USB plug in and works well. The recording is clear and of good quality. Its just those popping sounds that are disrupting...
 
You've described three areas of concern:

1 Ease of use of recording software
2 Being able to look at the recording and audio-book applications at the same time
3 Avoiding the popping of plosives.

1 Recording software: All recording applications do similar things and have fairly similar functions, though they are often invoked differently. The quality of the recordings is determined more by the quality of mike and interface, rather than the application itself. If you are working with Audacity, you may as well continue with it. There are substantial learning curves associated with each, which makes them all potentially difficult to come to terms with. However, some may have their functionality designed in a way that matches how you think about things, and you would find these a bit easier to master.

2 You can view the recording application and the audio-book at the same time by resizing their windows and placing them next to each other. (Or add a second monitor and have an application open in each.)

3 Plosives can be a real problem, but there are a few ways of dealing with them:
* don't get too close to the mike
* speak a little to the side of the mike
* use a pop filter
* learn to speak without popping so much (it can be done)
 
Hey thanks so much for the advice, especially for the advice about the pop filter because that led to another discovery. While surfing pop filters, I just now discovered that the mic that I recently purchased did not come with a filter on the head of the mic. I then compared the mic that I purchased with the one on the website that I purchased it from and found that the mic on the web site had a filter! Whoops! :eek:They are sending me one!

Now there is an example of a true rookie not checking his equipment...or not being sure of what he's supposed to have in the first place as far as a mic goes:laughings:

I don't know if the filter for the end of the mic is just a wind screen or a pop filter, but nonetheless, this is a starting point. I'll see how the recordings sound and get a pop filter is need be. I'll also work on the speaking techniques and mike placement. I've experimented with mic placement with minimal results, but without a filter on the end of the mic, my efforts may have been in vain. ;)
 
You'll find it's a windscreen....

It does have some effect, but not as much as a pop filter...

In any case, you can do some more Googling and find ways to make your own pop filter for the cost of a coathanger and a pair of pantyhose (no fishnets... they sort of don't really work that well, although they do look spectacular on women...) - probably not as good as a real one, but again, will help a little...

That said too, leaning to speak in a less plosive fashion is a skill worth learning. The gecko man speaks the truth...

Cheers
 
Armistice said:
You'll find it's a windscreen....

It does have some effect, but not as much as a pop filter...

In any case, you can do some more Googling and find ways to make your own pop filter for the cost of a coathanger and a pair of pantyhose (no fishnets... they sort of don't really work that well, although they do look spectacular on women...) - probably not as good as a real one, but again, will help a little...

That said too, leaning to speak in a less plosive fashion is a skill worth learning. The gecko man speaks the truth...

Cheers
Click to expand...
The tights and coat hanger works really well. It just looks amateur. But who cares ! Once I had a couple of friends singing and putting a towel over their heads was the best pop shield ever. But we kept collapsing with laughter !!:laughings::laughings:
 
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