I'm ready to make my first recording (without a studio, an engineer, a Neumann, Pro Tools, blah blah) using my new and untested home setup this week.
Since some of you may not have monitored the handful of posts I have made on this board since May, let me give you the needed background.
I spent a long time, too long really, as a rock DJ in Philly, on the number one rock station in the fifth largest market in the country. I did a lot of commercial production when I wasn't on the air using the old Ampex 440 and similar equipment. I edited with a razor blade, parked a couple of music beds on cartidges (you may have seen them...they are the same size as eight tracks) and mixed the spot on the fly as announcer, producer, engineer, and critic.
I bought
CE 2000 and the Audition upgrade to have a capability at home to record auditions of copy from out of town producers, sending them an MP3 instead of using up my profit in transportation costs. I sing with my choir, but my ability to play an instrumnet is questionable at best, and I won't torture you with it. Basically, I'm trying to learn how to record, edit, and add appropriate FX for voice overs.
Here's my first task: at my church, they need me to record two short segments of monologue for a play this Sunday. It's about September 11th, which as a pilot who was flying that day, is a memory that will never go away for me.
The first segment will be a typical terminal announcement about boarding flights and gate numbers. How can I best achieve the sound of an announcement in an airport? Should I record first, then EQ for a tinny sound? When should I add reverb or delay?
In the second segment, I am a captain, telling my passengers about the good weather we have for flying today, the temperature at our destination, etc. I should sound like I am coming through an airplane speaker, and some background FX noises would be good, if possible, such as the "C" chime that tells the flight attendants that we have reached altitude for cabin service. Are there any free online sources of FX such as this signature "boeing" chime, or sounds of droning jet engines heard from inside the passenger cabin?
Here's the signal chain, such as it will exist on Tuesday, when I will attempt this: Octava 319, DMP3, Echo Mia soundcard, and Audition on a PC. I want to take the two completed tracks and burn them to CD (Adaptec CD Creator 4) for the sound guy to use during the play.
If I can't get this together in time, I can read my parts live. I'd rather add a classy touch to the production, since my voice is offstage anyway.
Any ideas are appreciated.