Newbie requesting some voice recording guidance

[GaryGarland]

hi all,
virgin post here. very happy to find this website - yesterday i read about 4 track for the first time, and read about digital mixers, and today i stumbled onto the excellent freeware audacity.
i'm interested in recording a work related audio CD of tips. i ordered a $40 or so noice cancelling microphone headset (yeah, i know, not high end, but hopefully better than pure junk) and i was hoping for some help with the following:
1) what is a decent sampling rate? i figure it will be about 20 minutes of spoken audio - i'd like ti to be clear, but we don't need CD quality.
2) i'd like a bit of intro music and closing music like business tapes i've heard - any idea where to get such music, suggested pieces, etc.?
3) any tutorials out there?
Thanks for any help!!!!

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

1) what is a decent sampling rate? i figure it will be about 20 minutes of spoken audio - i'd like ti to be clear, but we don't need CD quality.

There's really no reason for you not to record at at least 44.1kHz/16bit (the same as audio CDs). You can go up to 44.1kHz/24bit or even 48kHz/24bit, though for your purposes the 48kHz sample rate would probably not be necessary and just introduce an extra complication down the road.

2) i'd like a bit of intro music and closing music like business tapes i've heard - any idea where to get such music, suggested pieces, etc.?

Do an Internet search on the key phrase "stock music". Tthere are lot's of places that offer music for download. Some of it there may be a licensing fee, but some of it is royalty free. Up front pricing can vary; do the seach and shop around at places like StockMusic.net or fotosearch.com and others.

3) any tutorials out there?

"Home Recording for Dummies". Honestly, no dig intended. It's a good starter book that covers the gamut of necessary info.

HTH,

G.

 

[Eric Altizer]

Audacity

Once you get your audio recorded in Audacity you can then bring your stock music clip into the session (select import audio from the project menu) and move it to the front or back of your voice track using the time shift tool. You can then use the fade-in and fade out-function on the beginning and/or end of the music clip. After you do that move it so that it overlaps your voice track as much as you want. When you export to wav Audacity will combine the two tracks automatically. Record at 44.1kHz/24bit. There are good tutorials on the Audacity website. Hope this helps.

 

[Dani Pace]

Eric beat me to it, do what he said and you should have no problems. Audacity works quite well for this type of project. After you export the wav file for your project (I send them to Musicmatch Jukebox 10) you can convert them to mp3 files if you need to.

 

[timboZ]

Another site for music beds is freeplaymusic.com

 

[BadAE]

any tutorials out there?

Since you are on Audacity here are some tutorial sites that may help
http://www.daniel.uklinux.net/tutorial/
http://www.edhsonline.org/other/audacity/
http://www.tsof.edu.au/resources/sound/Support/tutorial_basics_1.asp

 

[GaryGarland]

Thanks guys - very much appreciated.
i had a chance to play with audacity last night, even with my cheapie headset (waiting for the "good" one to arrive) - i'm amazed just how good that thing is. i know cakewalk would be way overkill for my needs.
i was intimidated about recording this thing - i figured i'd need 20 minutes or so of a perfect "take" - no burping, stuttering, stammering, etc. (i.e. no chance!) - now that i understand i can (but not quite how) to word-process with audio, i'm feeling far more comfortable.
a decent mike, a bit of noise removal, and i should be good to go -- then a little royalty musical intro, and i'll be golden.
next step is whether to ultimately buy a $1,500 or so cd printer/duplicator - the idea is these are business seminars, and to get the attendee's evaluation sheets (contact info) i want to bribe them with a free audio cd (or tape) of mistakes to avoid.
still, i think the plantronics headset i bought, coupled with audacity should be more than sufficient.
thank you again for the great tips and support - very much appreciated.
would i be pushing my luck if anyone had suggestions on duplicating equipment, for CDs and tapes? i know tiger direct has a few things, but they're not necessarily the be-all end all. i anticipate about 70 CDs per week and 10 tapes per week, but i don't know the actual breakup - these are for folks generally 55 and up, so some cars should have cd, some may have tape, but i doubt any will have 8 track

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

would i be pushing my luck if anyone had suggestions on duplicating equipment, for CDs and tapes? i know tiger direct has a few things, but they're not necessarily the be-all end all. i anticipate about 70 CDs per week and 10 tapes per week, but i don't know the actual breakup - these are for folks generally 55 and up, so some cars should have cd, some may have tape, but i doubt any will have 8 track

One option to consider, especially if this is to be just a one-time project, would be a printing/duplicating service like PSPrint or Mixonic (both have excellent web-based services). Depending on the total number of CDs, this could be cheaper in time and money and potentially better quality than doing it yourself. This would be something you'd have to figure out yourself, but it's certainly a valid option woth considering.

G.