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What is a Click Track? And Why Would I Want To Use One?

What is a Click Track? And what is it good for? I explain what it is and give several reasons for using one.

I use Reaper, which makes it easy to use a click track and to toggle the metronome off and on. 

Reaper also has MIDI capability, so it's easy to just put a basic drum pattern on a track instead of using the official "click track." The result will be the same in that the beats will all fall onto the project tempo grid lines. But it can be easier to feel the rhythm of a song with drums instead of clicky-clacky sounds inherent to a default metronome sound in recording programs.

Also, I use single-hit drum samples in this episode. I didn't mention where I got those. I have a virtual instrument (VSTi) called Storm Drum that I bought from Native Instruments years ago. I just loaded that up on a track and used the MIDI editor to trigger those drum sounds.

Reaper’s Hidden Noise Reduction Tool

Reaper has a noise reduction tool, as do all audio editing and recording programs (I'm assuming. I've never seen one without that tool). 

HOWEVER, the tool is not called Noise Reduction. Oddly that function is part of a tool/effect called ReaFir.

The links I mention in the episode are:

For the blog post: https://www.homebrewaudio.com/9603/reafir-madness-hidden-noise-reduction-tool-in-reaper/

For the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/HEY9XIYJtGg 

What Does ”Zero” Mean In Audio Recording?

You may think it's obvious what "zero" means. It means "nothing," right? Actually, in audio recording, 0dB usually means the exact opposite. I mean, why would the audio world start making intuitive sense now? I explain in the episode.

Podcast Editing, Part 2

Last time I recorded my episode with no content editing. So while I did treat it for noise reduction, plosives, and avg volume, I did NOT edit it for content. That means that all of the umms, uhs, ahs, repeats, mistakes, long pauses, even burps in one case (:-P) were left in.

This time I took 5 segments from last episode and played them first as they were - no edits. Then I edited them so you could hear the before-and-after.

Podcast Editing - What Is It?

I wanted to talk a little bit about podcast editing. So I decided NOT to edit myself on this episode :-). I did do some noise reduction, plosive removal and finished volume stuff. But that isn't really the bulk of editing. What really takes the time when editing a podcast is cutting out all of the ummms, ahhhs, ya-knows, and long pauses. Also people tend to repeat themselves a lot, and I (as an editor) usually cut those out as well. 

But all that stuff was left in on my recording in this episode because I thought it would help illuminate what editing is by hearing when something isn't. I hope that made sense :-P.

Interview With Mastering Engineer - Daniel Rowland

I had the excellent fortune to be able to interview Daniel Rowland, Oscar-winning, Grammy-nominated Engineer/Producer & Head of Strategy & Partnerships at LANDR Audio. He is also a professor at MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University) in Nashville. He's worked on projects as varied as Nine Inch Nails, Seal, Meek Mill, Phillip Glass, Gwen Stefani, and The Sandbox (metaverse/game), along with dozens of Disney properties such as Star Wars and Marvel.

Daniel is wealth of information on all things audio recording and has some amazing information to share. And LANDR (landr.com) is a service you WILL want to use, not matter what kind of recording you do - music, voiceovers, podcasts - anything. Get your projects mastered by their AI. But then have it distributed to the major streaming platforms. And check out must-have DAW plugins and royalty-free sample packs.

If you don't learn something helpful in this episode, it's probably because you didn't listen to it ;-).

Live From PodFest 2022 - Interview With Bryan Entzminger

As promised last time, this is the second episode in a week! I'm at PodFest Expo 2022 and had the privilege of interviewing Bryan Entzminger. He is the founder of the Hindy Users (Unofficial) Facebook group, the creator of the course “Hindenburg Lite Quick Start.” 

Bryan is a pocast editor and an expert on the audio recording and editing software called Hindenburg.

You can find Bryan's contact info and links to his course and social media profiles here: https://toptieraudio.com/ 

Recording From Podfest and New Voice Recording Course Is Ready!

I'm recording from Podfest Expo in Orlando! So that means I'll do 2 episodes in one week! Can you believe it?

Also, the voice recording course - Professional Talkers: How To Record High Quality Audio For VoiceOvers, Podcasts & More - is finally done and ready!

Recording Your Podcast With Zoom - Should You?

This episode looks at when - if ever- it might be appropriate to record your podcast using Zoom, the popular online meeting service. I compared some audio recorded with a USB mic (Samson C01UPro) direct to my computer with audio from a Zoom recording using the same mic and computer. Take a listen and see how you think they compare. 

I have a definite opinion on this. But you'll have to listen to this VERY short episode to find out what that is :-).

The RODE Wireless Go II Wireless Microphone System (Lapel Mic)

Last time, I tested some wired lavalier (lapel) mics for improving Zoom call audio quality. And I promised I'd do a wireless test for this episode. So here we "go" (:-P). I tested the RODE Wireless Go II microphone system. Notice I didn't say "lavalier system." That's because the Go II transmitter boxes have built-in microphones and clips on them. So you really don't need the traditional lavalier mic that clips to a tie or lapel. You can clip one of these boxes on as well. That keeps it truly wireless in that you don't have to worry about a wire going from a lavalier to a transmitter box. But you CAN buy a separate lavalier. I got a RODE Lavalier Go to do the tests.

This episode has audio samples from using the Go II on a Panasonic Lumix G7 camera, an iPhone 11, and a Zoom call. That's the cool thing about this system. It can be used on pretty much any device - computer, mobile device and of course, a camera.