Audio Production Advice

A Quick Guide to Podcasting

2011-12-05T09:21:00.002-06:00

I'm happy to hear you're going to start podcasting. Here's a link to give you the basics of getting into podcasting: http://onlinebusinesszen.com/2011/podcasting-for-bloggers-learning-to-podcast-part-1

There are many audio interfaces (to get high quality audio into your computer), microphones, and software you can choose from. You'll need a computer and an audio interface box. I've used the Tascam US 122L, which I believe has been discontinued. A good alternative is the M-Audio MobilePre interface for about $150. You can pick one up at Best Buy or get it at http://www.musiciansfriend.com/computer-audio-interfaces-convertors/m-audio-mobilepre-mk-ii/h65460000000000?src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=603222883 . You'll also need software to record and mix your audio. I like Sony Vegas Pro ( http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegaspro), but it's not cheap ($599). If you're using an Apple computer, you may want to use Garageband. I'd suggest you spend a little more money on your microphone to give you a nice sound. I like Audio-Technica micrphones and have used the AT4030 for recording. The AT4030 has been discontinued, but the AT4040 is a good alternative ( http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/9b6aac05c5aca887/index.html ). Be sure to get a windscreen to avoid the "popped P" sounds.

For recording your interviews, the most inexpensive way to do it is to use SKYPE and software called CallBurner ( http://www.callburner.com ). I like CallBurner because it records your voice on one track and your guest's voice on another -- which makes it easier to clean up the unwanted noise. The advantage to using SKYPE for your calls is, of course, they will be free (once you've purchased an annual plan that allows you to call a landline).

I hope this gets you started on looking for your equipment. Good luck with your podcasts. Let us know if we can help you with your podcast imaging (intro and outro) and/or editing.

How to create a professional podcast

2011-06-22T10:45:00.002-05:00

Would you listen to a radio announcer who said uh or uhm throughout his show? Would you watch a TV show that has loud hum? Probably not. Face it. You want to hear the best audio possible in your favorite radio and television shows. It may be hard to believe but people actually want to hear quality podcasts, too.

Listen to any one of the top 25 podcasts on iTunes and you'll quickly discover that it's pretty much mistake-free. It has been cleaned up using various audio editing techniques. The plosives (popped P's) have been eliminated using fades and EQ filters, long pauses have been cut out, 60-cycle hums caused by poorly grounded audio equipment or noisy phone lines have been reduced by knocking out the low frequencies, and verbal blunders and unnecessary words have been skillfully removed to not sound edited.

Furthermore, most professional podcasts have a fully-produced intro and outro. The intro usually mentions the name of the podcast, what the show is about, and the name of the host. The outro usually contains show credits (producer, host's name again, sponsors, and disclaimers if needed), a website URL, and an invitation to come back for the next podcast. Brief music transitions are often used going into commercial breaks or between topics to help the podcast flow smoothly.

In a nutshell, if you want to get into the top 25 on iTunes, you're going to have to sound as good as the shows that are already there. But even if you don't make it into the top 25, wouldn't you like to sound your very best anyway? Go be creative. Record your podcast. Just remember to put some polish on it. If you need some help on audio editing, podcast intros, outros, and music transitions, check out http://audiobag.com.

Editing your podcast can make it really stand out

2011-05-24T09:39:00.000-05:00

Editing out verbal flubs, long pauses, and extraneous noise in your podcast is a big step toward getting listeners to come back for your future podcasts. Lip smacking, paper rattling, thumping the desk, dogs barking, and appliances (air conditioner, refrigerator, fans) humming in the background can distract listeners. Think of your podcast as a radio or television network presentation. To sound as good as a podcast on iTune's Top 20, your podcast should be flawless (or as close to flawless as possible).

Adding a fully-produced intro and outro to your podcast is the icing on the cake. A good intro is usually 30 seconds in length, piques listeners' interest, and tells the audience what the show is about. The best intros and outros are created by someone other than the host of the show. It helps give you credibility.

If you need help with your audio editing, check out our services at http://audiobag.com/audioediting.html. If you'd like a professional podcast intro and outro, check out http://audiobag.com/intros.html. When you edit your podcast and add an opening and close to it, you'll definitely sound more professional.

7 Audio and Business Tips

2011-02-07T16:07:00.000-06:00

Podcast idea: Use 15-second bumpers to encourage podcast listeners to click on your website pay per click ads.
Saving your talk podcast as 64 kbps mono MP3 is acceptable audio. For music, save it at least as 96 kbps stereo MP3 (128 kbps is better).
To boost sales in 2011, get a toll free number, put your address on your website, offer discounts, and make it easy to buy online.
Every entrepreneur and company who wants customers needs to advertise on Google AdWords. Start off spending $5 a day and use lots of keywords.
If you're not editing the mistakes out of your podcasts, you're not doing your listeners a favor. Give them your best.
An iPod Shuffle (in the loop mode) and an Apple AC adapter work great for playing your phone messages on hold into your phone system.
Revamp your business. Redo shoddy work. Refund when you can't fix something. And reward yourself by enjoying life.

We hope these first tips from us for 2011 are helpful. Remember, if you need help with your audio, you can order online from us 24 hours a day at http://audiobag.com/.

Sounds from the Past

2011-01-16T10:30:00.003-06:00

My coffee maker just breathed its typical finishing breath to let me know the coffee is ready, which made me think of Darth Vader. It's Sunday morning, and thanks to sound, I'm reminiscing.

The occasional crow that caws in my neighborhood reminds me of my grandmother's big two story house on Congress Avenue in South Austin because her front yard was always full of crows. A deep-voiced bark from the dog next door reminds me of my old dog, Chama. Even now, the birds out in the yard are singing this morning as if it's Spring, reminding me of previous springs in other houses. Sounds help me tap into the past.

Although I haven't heard it in many years, the memory of "shh, shh, shh" of an inspect spray can with a long push handle reminds me of my Uncle Grover spraying the bees that managed to find their way into the screened porch area. The loud metal clanking of a car jack stuck precariously under a big rusted bumper reminds me of my dad on the side of the road in front of our 1953 Packard (it seems like cars were always having flats back then). Playing cards attached to the bicycle fork with wooden clothes pins reminds me of riding all over South Austin with my friend Kirby. I love so many of those old, almost forgotten sounds.

But there were some sounds I'm glad are in the past. Like the sound of the B-52s flying in and out of Bergstrom Air Force Base, reminding me of the Viet Nam War; civil defense sirens forcing so many of us to go into a hallway and tuck into strange protective positions; passing cars backfiring while I'm walking down the street; or the sound of crying coming from the master bedroom as a sibling got a spanking. Sounds are powerful, emotional, and reminders of the good and bad in our lives.

How Headphones Calm Me

2011-01-15T10:28:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I find myself sitting at my desk with my headphones on and not listening to anything. Occasionally I like to block out the world's noise. There seems to be so much of it these days, too. As I write this, I hear the continuous sound of rain thumping on the gutter outside my office window. So I pop on my headphones and it's gone. The quietness helps calm me. My mind stops chattering. Unpleasant thoughts start to fade. No more Tucson tragedy, political demagoguery, recession, and rogue countries.

Instead, there's peace and quiet. Until I take the headphones off. And that's when the real world comes back to me and reminds me there's work to do.

Why We "Recall" Audio Projects

2011-01-12T14:27:00.000-06:00

Near the end of every audio project we work on for a customer, we ask ourselves if it is the best we can do. If the answer is no, we re recut or remix the audio until we're satisfied it's our best. Occasionally we recut or remix an audio project after we've sent it to the customer. You can't imagine the reaction by the customer. They're appreciative that we caught something we didn't like even if they thought the work was good. We think of it as something similar to a recall. We believe the key to our success in 2011 will be to consistently offer our very best.

Dithering is Good for You

2011-01-06T08:14:00.001-06:00

To dither or not to dither? That is the question. If you've recorded something at 32 bit or 24 bit and your final output will be 16 bit (as in MP3) or worse, 8 bit (for most phone systems), then enable dither when saving. Believe it or not, when you enable dither you're adding noise (giving you continuous hiss) in order to hide an even worse sound (sporadic static). So, in this case, hiss is the lesser of the two evils.

How to Sound Like a Pro When Podcasting

2010-06-24T10:23:00.007-05:00

Audio editing is my favorite job, and for good reason. I love showing podcasters that they're capable of sounding like pros when they're creating their podcasts.

Achieving professionalism in podcasting requires skillful elimination of verbal mistakes, uhs, uhms, hums, paper rattling, lip noise, plosives (wind noise across the microphone usually caused from words with P's and B's), sibilance (distorted S's) and other unwanted noises. I say skillful because you don't want your audio to sound edited. You want your edited presentation to sound like that's exactly how you recorded it -- without mistakes. Because, after all, you're a pro.

To give your podcast a polished sound, it also helps to package it with a professional 30-second open and close (we call them podcast intros and outros). Furthermore, the use of brief music transitions when segueing between podcast topics really makes your show stand out.

The best part about editing is that you can make mistakes while recording your podcast -- taking the pressure off of you to be perfect. Audio editing will make you perfect after you've finished your recording.

Want to learn more about how audio editing can make you sound like a broadcast pro? Read more on our special audio editing page of our website. Now, feel free to step up to the mic and make mistakes. We'll edit 'em out for you.

How to Speed Up Your Voice Talent Search

2010-05-21T17:20:00.000-05:00

Searching online for a voice to record your script can be a daunting task. Not because voices are hard to find. No way! Just type in "voice talent" in Google and you'll see they're hundreds of voiceover professionals ready to record your script. And THAT's what makes it a daunting task. There are too many to consider.

Here's what I suggest. Type in exactly what you want. For example, type "voice talent for podcast" and you'll zero in on a website that offers you exactly what you want. Okay, I cheated because I knew if you typed those keywords in at Google, Audiobag would come up first in the list. Why? Because we specialize in voice talent for podcasts. Nevertheless, you get the idea. You've got to fine tune your search in order to get the right voice fast. Good luck!

Are You Willing to Cut Your Losses?

2010-05-20T15:47:00.000-05:00

I decided to take my afternoon coffee break at Barnes and Noble today for two reasons. First, the crazy girl who picked up my frappuccino and started drinking it yesterday at Starbucks is not here. And second, Barnes and Noble is actually a quieter place. After all, it is a book store. A book store with Starbucks coffee, I might add.

While I was waiting for my coffee to brew, I perused through Success Magazine. I liked what Sandra Bienkowski wrote, "The great entrepreneurs cut losses." How true. There are times in business you just have to cut your losses, whether it's a problem customer (they're the ones who are never quite happy with you), a product that just isn't profitable, or perhaps it's the whole business itself. Yes, that last one is a drastic measure, but you have to know when to fold 'em (as Kenny Rogers sang).

We cut our losses occasionally at Audiobag. We try a new music track in our online production music library, it doesn't sell, and we take it offline. We introduce a new service (mobile recording, for example), we find that it stretches us too thin, so we stop offering that service. We produce a podcast intro for a customer, select some background music, and the customer doesn't like it -- we recut it three more times, and he still doesn't like it. We tell him that Native American music isn't something we quite have a handle on and we refund his money, thus cutting our loss. Yes, we lose a customer, but we really never had him to begin with. We believe there's a company out there that is a perfect match and we wish him success.

That's the word that caught my eye while waiting for my coffee to brew. Success! It's a great word. It's a word I try for in all aspects of my life. And sometimes to achieve it, I have to let something go.

How to Create a Professional-sounding Podcast

2010-05-17T14:51:00.001-05:00

Creating a podcast is relatively easy. What's not so easy is producing a professional-sounding podcast. How do you do that?

First, do some audio editing. Edit out the verbal flubs (like uhs and ums), coughs, lip smacking, breathing noises, thumps, paper rattling (that's a hard one to edit out so don't hold your notes in your hand), and other extraneous noise like the dog barking, the air conditioner cycling on, and vehicles passing (another noise that's difficult to eliminate, so find a quiet place to record). Once you've edited out the flubs and noise, you'll be amazed at how much better your podcast sounds.

Next, add an introduction (an "intro") with professional voice talent and royalty-free music (you don't want to get sued for using copyrighted music). Having a professional voiceover person introduce you instead of you doing it yourself helps establish your credentials and just sounds more professional. A 30-second intro is long enough to give your listeners information about you and short enough to quickly get into your podcast. Make sure the music suits your podcast topic (i.e. hard rock might work well for a podcast about cars, but is probably not right for one about cardiology).

And finally, wrap up your podcast with a professionally-produced closing (an "outro"). Again, a 30-second outro is long enough to thank people for listening, give them your website address, and remind them to tune in again for your next podcast. It also leaves listeners hearing a professional ending -- giving you a professional image.

So audio editing, an intro and an outro will help your podcast sound like a professionally-produced presentation. Anything less is ... well less.

If you need help with your audio editing, and podcast intro and outro, we can help at Audiobag.

Why You Need Phone Messages on Hold

2010-05-02T09:12:00.005-05:00

Why do you need phone messages on hold? Aren't they annoying? Aren't you bombarding your callers with nothing but advertising?

The first question is easy to answer. If you have only silence on your phone, 60% of your callers will hang up after a minute. 60%!!! I don't like that, do you? So, if you're in business (profit or non-profit) and you have to put callers on hold, you'll have more of them waiting for you if you let them know they haven't been abandoned.

Phone messages on hold can be annoying. Especially if all you are doing is giving your callers one commercial after another about your products or services. If you show a little more interest in them, they'll stick around longer. Try something like, "What you have to say is important to us. Please don't hang up. Someone will be right with you." Or maybe, "We value your time. Someone will be with you momentarily."

The music behind phone messages on hold can be annoying, too. It's often distorted or outdated, or both. We produce our own in-house music, using just a few instruments such as soft acoustic guitars, flutes bass, and soft drums. The purpose of the music is to let your caller know that you haven't hung up on them. Besides reassuring them, the music calms them, too. Hard rock or rousing symphonic music isn't going to calm them. Soft acoustic guitars will. There are exceptions to the rule, of course. For example, if you sell car stereos, you may want to jack up the excitement level of the music a notch or two. But you don't need to yell at your callers. A friendly voice will do.

The way to avoid blatant advertising in your phone messages is to give callers helpful information about your company or organization. I suggest, "Do you know our business hours? Ask us about them when we come back on the line. And thanks for holding." Or try, "It's a little difficult to find us. We're located on Elm Street in a bright yellow building right behind Wal-Mart. We'll be happy to give you directions when we come back on the line. And thank you for waiting." Your callers will realize you are being helpful instead of hijacking their time with commercials about how wonderful you are.

You can find out more about our phone messages on hold services at http://audiobag.com/messagesonhold.html. Thank you for reading. We'll be producing your audio very soon.

The Perfect 30-second Music Track for a Happy Day

2010-05-01T14:13:00.005-05:00

Today we uploaded a new production music track to our online music library that reflects my mood. You see, yesterday I was scheduled to have three gum grafts in my mouth to correct my gum recession. No recession jokes please. Okay, maybe one. The recession was so bad, I had to put my money where my mouth is and then get in a soup line because I couldn't chew the fat. Oops, I think that was three bad jokes in one. I'm getting off the subject, though. Back to what I was talking about.

The new music track is called "A Happy Day 2" because, as I mentioned, I'm in a good mood today. I postponed the gum grafts. Because, after all, tomorrow is another day (actually, six months from now is ... well ... better than tomorrow so I chose a six-month delay). A word to the wise: use a very soft toothbrush and brush very softly downward on the upper teeth and upward on the lower teeth. Got that?

The new music track we uploaded today is light and upbeat. Yep, like my mood. We used acoustic guitars to give it a natural sound. In fact, I personally laid down one of the acoustic guitar tracks about three weeks ago in the little village of Bobcaygeon, Ontario. I was in a small room upstairs at the back of the cottage away from the street noise, using a blue acoustic electric guitar I picked up for under $300 at Maars Music in Peterborough, Ontario (yeah, a little plug for them). I love that the guitar is blue. It makes it just that more funky. Not that the song is funky. Nope. It's a 30-second soft rock tune that is perfectly timed to 30 seconds. You can listen to "A Happy Day 2" here (remember the days when it was bad web design to say "here" with a link instead of giving the way too long URL?). By the way, the 30-second track is called "A Happy Day 2" because we also created a 2-minute loop called "A Happy Day" for those folks out there who need a nice soft contemporary music track for their video project or (as we used it for) phone messages on hold. We believe the new 30-second track will work nicely for commercials and podcast intros.

So today we finished up "A Happy Day 2" in our Texas studio, where it's sunny and warm, me not in pain from gum grafts, and a belly full of oatmeal. Does life get any better than that?

A phone interview is a great way to get started in podcasting

2009-11-23T17:51:00.006-06:00

Occasionally someone contacts us because they want to get their company into podcasting but they don't know quite how to jump into it. They usually don't have a script and some even are reluctant to attempt to write one. Here's what we tell them.

We don't know as much about your business as you do to write the script for you. However, there is a fast and easy way to get started podcasting without a formal script. Why don't you come up with five questions about your business, products, and/or services and send them to us. We'll write an open and close for your podcast, then set up a time to call you to ask you your questions. Customers like this approach because they are in complete control of what is asked of them. In fact, we tell them don't worry about making mistakes when answering the questions. Just stop where you make the mistake and pick it up from there. We'll edit. Yes, the magic word "edit" makes everyone feel at ease. Even us. We make mistakes, too.

The phone interview usually takes about 15 minutes. Then we go do our magic with editing. The finished presentation sounds very professional, I assure you. In fact, I guarantee you'll like it or we'll recut it or refund your money. Here's a phone interview we recently conducted with Tom Freiling of Samaritan Fundraising. Tom liked it so much, he's already making plans for the next interview.

How to get listeners to return for your next podcast

2009-11-08T08:46:00.008-06:00

Podcasting is simultaneously easy and hard. The easy part is just grabbing a recorder and punching the record button.

The hard part is making your podcast sound good enough for people to come back for more. Few will come back if your content is uninteresting, if you make verbal mistakes throughout your show, and if there's too much noise (hiss, hum, thumps, thuds) in the background. Using a digital recorder is a good start on eliminating hiss and hum. The thumps and thuds are going to need to be taken out.

Verbal flubs (like "uh"), long pauses, shuffling of paper, coughing, sniffling, smacking your lips are also distractions to podcast listeners. If you want listeners to return for your next show, edit out the flubs and extraneous noise. An occasional "uh" may make you sound more natural and like you're not reading a script. But saying it throughout your show sounds unprofessional. Oh, and if you think sounding unprofessional is going to get you listeners, then check out the top 20 podcasts on iTunes. All of them are professionally-produced.

If you don't have the time or know-how to edit your podcast, we do it at Audiobag. You can find out more about our audio editing services, see our prices, and make a purchase online at http://audiobag.com/audioediting.html.

Audio software for creating high quality podcasts

2009-10-25T11:36:00.002-05:00

If you're going for the highest quality possible in a podcast (and I realize not everyone needs or wants the highest quality), I’d suggest using several software programs. We use Sony Sound Forge for recording and editing our voice, Adobe Audition for “painting out” extraneous noise, and Cockos Reaper for compression (we use the “Smile” setting ReaXcomp plug-in). And finally, we use Sony Vegas Pro for mixing our voice with a podcast intro, outro and short music transitions. Vegas Pro has a fairly low learning curve and there are some nice plug-ins you can use to enhance the sound quality. We use PreSonus Firepod for our equipment (and Presonus Firebox when we’re traveling) because we like to record at 88kHz 32bit (then downsample our podcast to a 128 MP3 file). Of course, once you record, edit, and mix a podcast, then the real fun begins. Promoting it.

Making your voice recordings sound better

2009-09-22T08:13:00.005-05:00

Although we produce voice overs and production music at Audiobag, our specialty is post-production work (audio editing). In fact, we have a section on our website dedicated to audio editing at http://audiobag.com/audioediting.html. We love to improve the sound of your voice recordings.

The most common problem in recordings customers send to us is background noise (room ambiance) such as air conditioners, refrigerators, reverberation caused by nearby walls, and of thumping the microphone. We can eliminate most of the thumping noise and decrease the other background noise, but it's impossible to totally eliminate it all. However, there are a few things you can do to improve your recordings.

Place pillows against nearby walls to help decrease wall reverberation noise. If you're in your home or office where you can turn off hum generating equipment without causing any problems with your associates or family members, temporarily turn off the air conditioner, refrigerator and any other noise makers. Just don't forget to turn that refrigerator back on.

One more item that will definitely improve your recordings is a windscreen on your microphone to knock out the plosives (or "popped P's" as we call them). We eliminate plosives every day (sounds like Rolaid's, doesn't it?), so don't worry too much about them if they happen even while using a windscreen.

These are just a few tips to help you improve your recordings. If you'd like expert editing of your recording, visit us at http://audiobag.com/audioediting.html. You'll find a description of what we do to improve audio.

New Mobile Podcast Service

2009-09-21T09:37:00.004-05:00

Recently we've been busy adding new services at Audiobag. One we're particularly excited about is mobile podcast recording. Starting in mid-October, we'll come to your location in the Austin, Texas area and record you and your associates (or guests). We'll arrive about an hour before recording to set up our microphones and audio board. Then we'll head back to our studio to edit the audio (taking out long pauses and flubs), add an intro and outro to your podcast, and deliver it via the Internet as a MP3 file -- ready for you to post on the Internet for the world to hear.

Learn more about our service at http://audiobag.com/mobilerecording.html. If you're interested, contact me to discuss your project and to reserve a date and time for the recording. I can be reached by email at jack@audiobag.com, or by phone at 1-800-773-5259.

Why you might need audio editing help

2009-05-28T09:40:00.004-05:00

1) You want to create a presentation (like a podcast, for example) using a portable field recorder (you know, one of those cool handhelds) but you don't want to spend the time, energy, or money buying extra equipment and software to edit it into a professional presentation.

2) You've recorded an interview and you want to omit all of the coughing, lip smacking, and extraneous chatter.

3) You have a recording that simply needs sweetening (improving). Perhaps you need more volume, or maybe you want it less muddy sounding.

4) You want to preserve, clean up, and transfer a tape recording to digital format.

If you find you need help with your audio editing, I hope you'll visit us at Audiobag.

Noise keeps us in business

2009-05-27T08:54:00.006-05:00

We deal with noise everyday in our business. We're sent audio from customers who don't sound proof before recording. Air conditioner hums have to be filtered out with just the right equalization without making the speaker sound like he or she is talking through a tin can. Dogs barking, telephones beeping, doors closing, and people coughing have to be carefully edited out without omitting any words.

And then we've got our own noise to deal with. The mourning doves outside our studio say, in only a way melancholy birds can, "I waaant some fooooood. I waaant some foooooood." Chewy the Chihauhau likes to do an occasional yip to scare .... uh ... something. I'm not sure what a yip scares. Nevertheless, that is one ferocious dog. And throughout the day, bells ring from an elementary school a couple of blocks away. Thanks to high quality sound deadening acoustical tiles in our sound booth, we've managed to kill the sounds. Our voiceovers are noise-free, thank you very much.

If it weren't for all the noise in the world, we wouldn't be in the audio editing business. We're cool with noise. We know how to control it. It's our job. One man's noise is another man's treasure.

Revamping your business

2009-05-25T08:45:00.004-05:00

Have you done anything bold in your business lately? You know, have you tried something that seems like it's, well ... out there? I know what you're thinking: Who can afford to be bold in economic times like these (I hate the phrase "economic times like these" and have tried to avoid using it)? Perhaps you're thinking you need to take a conservative approach with business decisions. Because, after all, every dollar counts. I agree that every dollar counts, but I don't agree on the conservative approach to making decisions.

Staying the course got us where we are today ... in debt, nobody buying our products, and feeling like we need to get a night job frying chicken. Not that there's anything wrong with frying chicken (except that you smell like fried chicken to everyone you meet). Staying the course means sitting on your thumbs, doing nothing, and hoping for success. There is a better way.

I believe the way to be successful is to offer up something new and desirable. Redbox offers a $1 movie rental -- not $5 like everyone else. Toyota offers a car that gets 50 mpg --- not 25 to 30 mpg like everyone else. Apple's iPhone is a computer and communicator in your pocket.

Always look for ways to improve. Offer more than your competitor. Offer a better product. Offer better service. And don't get greedy with your pricing. Be nice. Live and breathe your product or service. Mainly, don't give up. Don't get the night job frying chicken. Or, get it temporarily if it helps you keep your business open while you revamp it. And do just that. Revamp your business. Rethink how you've been doing things. Redo shoddy work or products. Refund when you can't fix a problem. And reward yourself by enjoying your life.

How to sound your best when recording

2008-10-11T10:38:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I received an email from a client who asked me if I had any favorite voice exercises I do before recording to keep my voice in shape. Here's what I told him.

I don’t have any particular voice exercises. However, I have learned that my voice is at its best in the morning. When my voice starts to sound a bit strained, I drink very warm water (not coffee – because the acidity will hurt the vocal cords). I also avoid whispering because that’s bad for the vocal cords. As a side note, I record every sentence at least twice. When doing my post-production, I use the best sentence (or grab a word from the other sentence if necessary). All breathing noises are knocked out digitally and I use a fade-in for popped P’s.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard is when you speak about half as loud as you normally do, you’ll sound more natural. Of course, sometimes the customer wants a more upbeat delivery and I’ve got to throw that piece of advice out the window.

Preserving Austin music from the 60's and 70's

2008-10-06T08:40:00.006-05:00

When I'm not producing audio at Audiobag, I'm working on a pet project of my brother's and mine. I'm digitizing tapes from the Sonobeat Recording Company library. My father, Bill Josey, Sr., and brother, Bill Jr. (also known by his radio name of Rim Kelley), founded Sonobeat in 1967. My brother left the company in 1970 to go to law school and my father kept running it until his death in 1976. The nine-year history of this little recording company in Austin, Texas produced over a hundred tapes of Texas' up and coming musicians ... folks like Johnny Winter, Eric Johnson, Gary Nunn, Rusty Weir, Allen Damron, and Cody Hubach (Willie's good friend).

I am amazed at not only the variety of artists Sonobeat recorded, but also of the talent they had. I believe Sonobeat recorded almost every worthy musician living or spending a little time in Austin from 1967 to 1976. And what impresses me most is the transition that was going on from the early fraternity rock sound of the Sweetarts and Lavender Hill Express to the harder "Austin" blues rock sound -- the Stevie Ray Vaughn sound, if you will. Even the Sweetarts and Lavender Hill Express moved into a more progressive sound with Lady and Country Music's Here to Stay. Music was changing in Austin in the late 60's and early 70's and Dad was there to record it for history.

If you'd like to read and hear more about Austin music in the 1960's and 1970's, check out the Sonobeat Historical Archives website my brother and I put together.

Putting customers at ease

2008-10-04T09:38:00.008-05:00

Probably the biggest reason we get phone calls at Audiobag is the caller wants to know there really is someone behind our website. They call to talk to a real person. They want to know that when they click that "Submit" button during the online purchase process, we'll send them a product. So how do we make prospective buyers feel comfortable with purchasing from us? We make ourselves very accessible, we give instant feedback, and we have customer testimonials on our website.

We offer several ways for people to contact us. We have a phone, of course. We have a couple of important email addresses (one is for immediate help and the other is for general inquiries). Using email auto-responder, we give an automatic reply to any email sent to our help@audiobag.com email address, followed up by an email from a real person. We also use SKYPE (just add "audiobag" to your contact list) for instant chatting or to call us.

We also give lots of testimonials with names and URL addresses on our website just in case a prospect would like some references. For all of our efforts, we've never had a customer cancel an order, knock on wood (my grandmother had such an influence on me).

If you're in business and you want to make customers and prospective buyers feel comfortable, make it easy for them to contact you. In fact, make it easy for them to call you by your first name. I love it when people say, "Jack, I was calling about ...”

Focusing in on Beatlesarama

2008-09-18T10:45:00.001-05:00

Every morning an affirmation pops up on my Dell Axim PDA screen. Today's says, "I am focused and persistent." It's what I strive for in my business. It's definitely what Pat Matthews has done at Beatlesarama. He's been broadcasting Beatles music online everyday for several years now. I know from my days as owner and operator of Instant Radio that it's not easy launching and maintaining an Internet radio station. We stopped creating Instant Radio shows when we got too busy with our podcast imaging services at Audiobag (http://audiobag.com/).

We created Beatlesarama's station sweepers. You'll hear Cathy (my wife) and me sandwiched in between songs. You'll also hear Pat Matthews' voice. He's a radio guy like me and loves what he's doing. If you're in the mood for the Beatles, browse over to Beatlearama. It's a great way to start your day. And when you're listening to Pat's station, remember this is what it means to stay focused and persistent. Great job, Pat!

Something to listen to today while you work

2008-09-17T09:13:00.007-05:00

If you're a work today and want to listen to something a little different online, check out The Capital Rock Show ("CRS"). CRS is a weekly (okay, sometimes weekly --- hey, it's podcasting -- and we can create a podcast whenever we damn well please) show from Ottawa, Ontario that highlights various musicians with four of their tunes. Jason, or "Bucket" as he calls himself, had us create his podcast intro for him a couple of years ago. In fact, Bucket was one of our first podcast customers. He has hung in there and created 137 podcasts. We salute you, man!

Although CRS usually plays hard rock, show number 137 is the folk music of Ken Tizzard. If you like Bob Dylan, you'll really like Ken Tizzard. Hear the Capital Rock Show at http://capitalrockshow.ca/.

How to turn your room into a makeshift studio

2008-09-14T09:52:00.003-05:00

Here's the scenario. Just as your voice over business starts to pick up or your podcast starts picking up subscribers, you've got to go out of town. You don't want to shut down your studio or stop podcasting. So what do you do?

Grab your best microphone and cable, portable recording device (we use a PreSonus Firebox), and laptop computer. Okay, now for the fun part. You're going to build a tent on the side of your bed farthest away from a window. Create a three-sided structure of pillows and cover them with the bedspread. You might want to top it off with a pillow on top for good measure. Be sure to turn off the air conditioner and unplug the mini refrigerator in the room. You're ready to record now with minimal (if any) reverberation from nearby walls and you've managed to reduce outside noise. Oh yeah, take a small flashlight along to see your script inside the tent. Now get down on your knees (and pray they don't start vacuuming in the hallway), pop your head inside your temporary sound booth, and start recording. Your customers will never know you left town.

The microphone tent works great at home, too. It's a fast and easy way to create a sound booth that dampens reverberation. It won't eliminate all noise, but it should help you sound like you're in an actual sound booth.

Living on the edge

2008-09-13T12:07:00.007-05:00

I just showed my wife a live satellite picture (in motion) of Hurricane Ike skirting the edge of our town here in central Texas. She looked at it and said, "Living on the edge." Yes, we're living on the edge of something very powerful and scarey. Luckily, it is moving northeastward -- away from us.

Everywhere we went in Austin last night -- first to the Mexican restaurant and then to a couple of night clubs downtown -- there was a huge television screen showing Hurricane Ike moving onshore into Galveston. We ate our fajitas and watched with apprehension. People stood behind us at the bar where we were eating (we didn't want to wait an hour for a table) with their mouths open in amazement at the size of the hurricane (or perhaps at how much I could stuff into my tortilla). It appeared to fill up the entire Gulf of Mexico ... the hurricane, not my tortilla.

Living on the edge can be exciting. In business, living on the edge means sticking your neck out every now and then and trying something new. It means offering a new product like Dell's Mini 9 computer for $350, or Tata Motors' (India) Air Car that gets over 100 MPG. What product or service is your company offering that is a good example of living on the edge? What's your Air Car?

We're using a new Audio-Technica 4060 tube microphone

2008-09-10T08:57:00.006-05:00

We purchased a new tube microphone, the Audio-Technica 4060, a couple of weeks ago after reading reviews and critiques of various microphones and listening to other voiceover talents' demos. We wanted a warmer sound that tube mics provide. However, we didn't want the new microphone to give us a radically different sound.

We decided on the Audio-Technica 4060 because 1) we already own the Audio-Technica 4033a -- a decent studio microphone that requires some EQ'ing but still gives us a good sound, and 2) the other tube microphones we were considering in our price range ($1000 to $1500) seemed to give too much of the "warm" sound ... to the point of sounding bassy and muddy.

The Audio-Technica 4060 requires about a 15-minute warm-up each morning. After that is seems to be stable with no pops or crackles. Well, the truth is we don't even listen to it while it warms up. We're too busy drinking coffee and trying to pry open our eyes. Nevertheless, we're happy with the sound we're getting from the 4060. It's more authentic. It's as if our real voices were being filtered by our older AT4033a and the new AT4060 has revealed to us what we were missing all this time.

If you're looking for a tube microphone, the Audio-Technica 4060 is worth considering.

How to write a script for an audio or video presentation

2008-03-16T09:18:00.005-05:00

We often receive script at Audiobag (http://audiobag.com/) that just needs a tiny bit of tweaking before we go into our sound booth to record it. We don't mind editing it. In fact, it's our job to help our customers sound their best. So we look over the script, change a word here or there (if necessary), get our customer's approval on any major changes, and then we head into the room that's so quiet it actually hurts our ears (okay, I'm exaggerating).

A common mistake people make when writing script for a presentation is writing for a reading audience instead of a listening audience. You can write a better script if you just pretend you're talking to someone in person. For example, you can turn this lengthy podcast opener: "Welcome to our podcast -- a show that is about how to write script that will sparkle" into a smoother, slightly shorter version: "Welcome to our podcast -- a show about how to write script that sparkles."

Here's another example of script that needs a little work: "Podcasting from Central Texas, welcome to Audiobag -- a show that is all about sounding your best. Today we will discuss audio techniques that will give you a clean sound, production music that is suited for the topic, and writing script that will flow better."

Let's revise the above script to the following: "Podcasting from Central Texas, welcome to Audiobag -- a show about sounding your best. Today we'll discuss audio techniques that give you a clean sound, production music that's suited for the topic, and writing script that flows better." Not only does the revised script flow better, it also makes a short and sweet podcast intro. We believe the fewer words you use, the better.

In summary: omit words you don't need, turn words into contractions (ex: "that is" into "that's"), write like you talk, and use a little poetic license. So what if it's not perfect grammar? Script that people hear (instead of read) can be informal. By the way, I wrote this piece using informal writing just so you'll know what I'm talking about. Dig?

Going through yellow to get to green

2007-12-02T10:11:00.000-06:00

When I went out to pick up the Sunday paper off of the lawn this morning, I noticed how pretty the cedar elm is looking. The leaves have turned bright yellow. If I were to sit down right now to write a song about the look of the autumn leaves, I'd have to come up with a sound for yellow. I'm thinking I would use an acoustic guitar, piano, and maybe a sweet oboe. Although I have to admit, an oboe often sounds sad to me, and the yellow leaves don't look sad. Seeing them on the tree makes me think of cool crisp days here in Central Texas. We do get cool and even sometimes cold days here in Texas.

I seem to have production music inside of me these days and I've got to get it out. I sit down every morning at my keyboard at about 7:30 in the morning. I select an instrument on the keyboard to match my mood. These days I'm choosing woodwinds, strings, and piano more and more. Back in the summer, I was using electric guitar on a daily basis. So here in the cooler, shorter days of autumn, I am choosing softer tones -- like the softer light outside.

Yesterday I produced a 30-second music track that was way too busy. Today I subtracted a few of the instruments out of the piece to make it softer and simpler. That's the mood I'm in these days. I want a less complicated life. I want to shed myself of baggage, of old leaves that suited me well once but are really not necessary any longer. I need new growth but I've got to get rid of the old stuff first. I've got to go through yellow before I can get to green.

That Ziggy guy is my kind of guy

2007-11-07T17:12:00.000-06:00

My wife, Cathy, cut a Ziggy comic strip out of the newspaper about a year and a half ago. I liked it so much I taped it to the pen and pencil container on my desk. It's of Ziggy standing outside a shop on the street with a sign over the door that says, "Crazy Ideas That Just Might Work, Inc."

Cathy must have been intrigued with the statement I made to her a few years ago. It was something like, "I've got a head full of crazy ideas. I've got so many websites, one of them is bound to work!" At the time, I had a website called Home on the Radio -- where I sold small transmitters along with recorded listings that were broadcast to people driving by homes for sale. I also had Josey Creations -- a web design company; Guitar Transitions -- a website where you could download acoustic guitar riffs; Instant Radio -- one of the very first Internet radio stations; and The Commercial Store -- where I wrote and produced radio commercials.

About five years ago I decided to stop spreading myself so thin. I starting taking some of my websites offline. I kept Audiobag online, though. Not because it was booming, but because I really believe in the saying, "Do what you love and the money will follow." I'm an audio guy through and through. If you read my blog bio, you know what I'm talking about. I started pretending I was a DJ at about age three. By age thirteen, I became an actual DJ at an Austin, Texas radio station. I ended up owning and managing a radio station of my own when I was in my 20's and 30's.

It just made sense to stick with what I know best -- audio. When I decided to concentrate on Audiobag, I made a commitment to hang in there, as they say. Today I'm wrapping up another day here at my desk. Cathy and I are going to meet my daughter and son-in-law for Mexican food in about an hour. As I sit here at the desk, I see that silly Ziggy comic strip that Cathy gave me. It's starting to yellow a little bit, but the message still means something to me. "Crazy Ideas That Just Might Work, Inc." happen everyday. They start off small and grow. The very successful Mommycast podcast (http://mommycast.com/) went from two women sitting in a living room talking about raising their children to two women sitting in a living room talking about raising children while enjoying a very lucrative advertiser in Dixie Cups.

Next time we open up a bottle of wine here at the house, I'll pour a little into a Dixie Cup and toast all you folks out there who are doing what you love.

How to create a Podcast Intro

2007-09-29T08:22:00.001-05:00

Are you a podcaster looking for a way to make your podcast sound a little more professional? A podcast intro is a good start.

First, you need to decide on the right music. If you're doing a company podcast, corporate music (horns, strings, woodwinds) usually fits the bill. If you're creating a personal podcast about a light topic (the joy of living in a high-rise condo), then a jazz track might be suitable. If you're doing a podcast about organic products, then you might want to consider a more mellow new-age track.

After you've decided on the music for your intro, I suggest you write a brief opening. Something like, "Podcasting from Austin, Texas -- the live music capital of the world, the city that gave you Stevie Ray Vaughn, Willie Nelson, and Lance Armstrong -- this is Audio Advice, a podcast about everything audio. Hear the latest audio news and techniques for making better recordings. Hello, I'm Jack Josey. Welcome to another edition of Audio Advice." Establish a few seconds of your music before pulling the music volume down slightly to read your introduction. And then it's nice to have a few seconds of music to finish up the intro.

It's important that you use royalty-free music for your intro. Anything else other than royalty-free music could get you sued by the recording artist. We offer royalty-free music tracks at Audiobag.com. Yes, this is a blatant advertisement to sell music tracks ... but, hey, you gotta buy 'em somewhere. You might as well buy them from a company that produces music with podcasters in mind. Our 30-second music tracks are $16.77 each.

And now for the next topic. A brief musical interlude between topics helps make your podcast sound a little smoother. Audiobag offers short music tracks (under 30 seconds in length) called transitions starting at $5.77. We especially like these because it's so much nicer to move on to the next topic without having to say, "And now for the next topic." Let the music say it for you.

If you're just not up for producing your own podcast intro, consider having a professional voice over talent do it for you (we create custom podcasting imaging as well as have ready-to-go podcast intros available at http://audiobag.com/intros.html). Regardless of whether you do it yourself or have someone else produce it, we believe an intro will definitely improve the sound of your podcast. Good luck with it.

Now, go be creative!

Where to put the emPHAsis when doing voice overs

2007-09-28T07:46:00.000-05:00

I'm on vacation in Canada (yes, again) and I'm hearing "eh?" at the end of every sentence. "Beautiful day, eh?" And, my favourite (note the Canadian spelling --- Canadians love to add the letter 'u' in words), "You're not from around here, eh?" I heard that after I accidentally asked a nice Canadian family sitting outdoors at a restaurant in downtown Bobcaygeon, Ontario, "Are the black flies eating y'all up over there at your table?" You may be wondering where this is going. It's all aboooot watching your pronunciation and colloquialisms when recording your voice for public consumption (your podcast or voice work you've been hired to do).

Texans have a tendency to replace the letter 's' with a 'd' in some words. "This is darn good barbecue, idn't it?" And we put the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLABle in many words. For example, "That's a mighty purdy (yes, we mispronounce that word, too) veHICle you've got there." After finally admitting to myself that I'm guilty of mispronouncing words in my voice work, I found a solution.

I have my wife, who is Canadian, listen to every piece of voice work I record (I occasionally do voice over work). I do the same for the voice overs she produces. She's a strict disciplinarian, too. She's pointed out how after correcting my mispronunciation of 'w' (I said, "dubya"), that I was too slow in stringing the 'w's together. I've learn to speed up the 'www' in, "Be sure to visit our website at double u, double u, double u dot audiobag dot com." I've even deleted space between the "w's" in my sound editing program in order to speed up the flow of the sentence.

My wife and I produce voice overs for individuals and companies from all over the world. No one ever asks me to sound like a Texan or my wife to sound like a Canadian. Unless you're purposely trying to sound like a local, I'd suggest you have someone listen to every voice recording you do before putting it out there for the world to hear. It just sounds more professional. You may be surprised how much you'll improve.

Now, y'all go be creative.

Start pulling those mid freqs for a crisper sound

2007-09-24T09:09:00.000-05:00

Do your voice recordings sound too muddy? You know, not enough high frequencies? Instead of boosting the higher frequencies (the range between 4k and 16k), try pulling (lowering) the midrange frequencies (between 125Hz and 2k) and then bring up your volume level. What this will do is reduce sibilance while giving you a crisp sound. Don't forget, most people are listening to your podcast on tiny little earplugs. The last thing you need to do is pierce their ears with "S" words.

Now, go be creative.

Production Music for Podcasters

2007-09-15T10:17:00.000-05:00

Every morning I walk around the neighborhood and listen to podcasts. My favorite podcasts are the ones that are less than five minutes long. I like them for two reasons. I can download them quickly into my iPod and I can listen to several different topics during my twenty-minute walk. I especially like podcasts that teach me something. One of my favorites is the One Minute How-to -- a podcast about everything from how to do get a book published to how to talk like a pirate. This podcast has a brief musical opening as the announcer introduces the podcast. I like that he jumps right into the topic quickly. A brief musical intro is a great way to do just that.

Audiobag has increased our commitment to podcasters by concentrating on the creation of music tracks that can get you into your podcasts quickly -- offering you 30-second music tracks as well as music transitions that are under 30 seconds in length. A 30-second track is ideal for beginning your podcast as you introduce yourself and your topic, and for ending it by thanking people for listening and telling them where they can find your website. A transition is nice for moving from one topic to another in your podcast.

We believe the music you choose for your podcasts should be memorable. So we've started creating more quirky tracks. Quirky works in the podcast world. In fact, the quirkier the better. After all, before podcasting came along did anyone ever offer to teach you how to talk like a pirate?

We hope you'll check out our production music online at http//audiobag.com. We think you'll find something that fits your podcast mood and your budget.

Another transition in my life

2007-09-04T09:44:00.000-05:00

Here we are into the first week of September and it's raining in Central Texas -- just like it has every first week in September since I was a child heading back to school. I'm always a little sad to say goodbye to summer and this year is no exception. My wife and I had a great month-long trip to Canada in July; we've had several fun family get-togethers; and we stayed busy with audio projects when we weren't on vacation.

Today I'll prepare for a colonoscopy. And by prepare I mean I'll be in the bathroom most of the day cleaning out my colon for tomorrow's procedure. I made a New Year's resolution back in January to take better care of myself -- and that includes checking my colon for polyps. It's a routine procedure that helps prevent colon cancer -- among the most common cancers in the United States. I just watched an informative video about colonoscopies online at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ped/ped_5.asp (American Cancer Society website). That's what I love about the Internet. If you have a question about anything, you'll find good information online.

Before I begin the cleaning out procedure, I plan to create a couple of music transitions on my keyboards. I'll do my best to keep them upbeat.

Different sounds for a change

2007-07-07T08:03:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting in a small room upstairs in the cottage here in Bobcaygeon, Ontario, listening to the morning noises ... my brother-in-law coughing downstairs, my wife opening the bathroom door, the toilet flushing, water running, the sound of cars and trucks outside the open window, and the clicking of the keys being punched on my laptop keyboard. These morning "vacation" sounds are different than regular morning sounds and that's good. I need to break the rut every now and then. My wife and I are on vacation up here in Canada for about a month. A little respite for a long year of audio production. This morning we're going to walk downtown, across the locks, and over to the Full Cup for breakfast. I can't wait for the morning sounds there. The sound of the screen door opening and closing, the "Good morning!" and "Oh, you're back in town, eh?" And then the pouring of my first cup of coffee. Ah, blissful sounds to my ears.

2007-02-12T11:37:00.000-06:00

At least 20 million new "radio stations" (source: Google) have been created within the past two years, giving us information that we don't ordinarily hear on our local radio stations. Ahhh, the power of podcasting! Do you think these podcasters have an impact? Do podcasters' ideas change minds? Do they bring up new ideas you've never thought of before? Do they inform? You bet your bottom dollar they do!

I'm listening to Ted Reicken's Island Podcasting (http://islandpodcasting.com) show right now even as I type and I just learned a few new interesting tidbits. Ted purchased a Smart car made by Mercedes. In his podcast, he beeps the horn that comes equipped on the car so that we can hear how it sounds. To me it sounds like something that comes on a motor scooter. Ted then begins the process of replacing the horn with a louder, more intimidating horn he picked up at Canadian Tire. We get to hear Ted climb under the car, tools clanking as he removes several bolts. He informs us, his podcast listeners, that before starting the podcast, he jacked up the Smart car with the jack from his Toyota because the Smart car doesn't come with a jack. He goes on to tell us that when Smart car owners have a flat, they use a device that injects a liquid into the tire that gets them down the road to a service station. Interesting info that I didn't know. Did you? And, heck, I learned it on Ted's podcast. While Ted was under his Smart car with his microphone turned off (probably cursing) for a few minutes, he played a song on his podcast about replacing our leaders. So not only did I learn something interesting on his podcast, I was also the recipient of a powerful message.

The power of podcasts is mind boggling. In the early stages (which was really just two years ago), podcasters stepped in to fill a major gap created by a lazy and often times duped mainstream media. Whether they realized it or not, bloggers and podcasters were helping us get back some of our rights lost while mainstream news organizations chose to be government propaganda tools (remember being "embedded" with the troops?) instead of watchdogs. The good news is that the CNNs and MSNBCs of the world are coming around. They're now reading blogs and listening to podcasts. Shoot, they're even eginning to question authority. The forth estate has stepped up to do the job they failed to do the past six years. I believe it was a combination of bloggers and podcasters that helped them find their way back to the truth.

When the fax machine became easier to obtain in the former Soviet Union, when average citizens in China started connecting to the Internet, and when bloggers and podcasters started posting and recording their thoughts for anyone to read and hear, we started questioning those in control. Were they really taking us down the right path? Or is there a better path? The times are changing. Podcasting is one more important tool that will help keep us moving down a sane path instead of blindly following people who may not be looking after our best interests or who may not know the path they are leading us down is the wrong one. Don't get me wrong. I don't believe that every podcaster has sane ideas. Thanks to the Internet, I have the ability to pick and choose what I download. And that gives me comfort. Thanks, Ted, for showing us how to make our Smart horns a little louder.

2007-02-11T11:03:00.001-06:00

Whether you like it or not -- whether you care or not -- podcasting is here to stay. I hope you care because podcasting can inspire you to do things you might not otherwise do. The very first podcast I heard was a low quality recording of some guy in a Wal-Mart describing items he saw on the shelves. Despite all the hiss on the recording, the podcast inspired me to try one of my own. Other podcasts I've listened to have inspired me to put Montreal on my "must do" travel list, to be bold enough to interview British visitors at Graceland for one of my own podcasts, and helped me overcome my fear of a recent surgery (I'm happy to say the surgery came and went without incident thanks to a podcast by a British hypnotist).

Podcasts can be meaningless or meaningful, depending on the podcaster. I've heard a lot of podcasts out there that I have never downloaded again. There are hundreds of them -- perhaps thousands. But then there are the jewels! I'm talking about the podcasts where you can't wait for the next show to come out. P.W. Fenton's Digital Flotsom comes to mind. If you haven't heard one of his podcasts, go to http://digitalflotsam.org/ right now and listen. You'll love him! Then there's Ted Riecken's Island Podcasting at http://www.islandpodcasting.com. Ted, a Canadian, has a soothing voice and his easygoing approach to life is inspiring. Ted inspired me to record my own elevator scene in one of my podcasts after listening to one of his shows where he talked about an elevator button in a Montreal hotel that sounded like it could shock the the living daylights out of you.

I've been so inspired by podcasting's success -- and by "success" I mean acceptance into society -- that all of the production music I create now in our Audiobag production music library (http://audiobag.com) has podcasters in mind. Before creating any new music track, I ask myself, "What would a podcaster want?" So the more recent music tracks are a bit more quirky (I even named one "Quirky Day") and less mainstream. And that's my point, podcasting is not mainstream! It's edgy. It's quirky. It's us. It's you and me trying -- often times awkwardly -- to connect with each other. If you're a podcaster and you have a music idea you haven't heard in the Audiobag music library (http://audiobag.com), please feel free to drop me a line. I'd love to hear what inspires you.

Where to buy production music

2006-11-30T16:25:00.001-06:00

I've always thought the best way to create a good product or service is to come up with something that I would buy. After all, I'm a consumer. I like to look for the biggest bang for the buck when I shop. In other words, what's the most I can get in quality and style for the least amount of money? I bought a home with a pool six years ago for well under market value. I drive one of the safest cars on the road, a 2005.5 Volkswagen Jetta. And even though I create production music for sell here at Audiobag, I also buy music from other companies for some of my own voiceover projects. I have certain things I look for in an online production music library that I thought I'd pass along.

First, I look for a production music website that gives me instant download capability. I don't want to wait a week to receive my music on a CD. Next, I look (okay, listen) for professional-sounding music. Easy on the midi stuff, please. Give me some horns, acoustic guitars, flutes, bassoons, and strings. And finally, I look for a price that's under $30 per track. Small production companies don't make a lot of profit doing voiceover work, so we don't have a lot to spend on production music. You can find some great music tracks online for under $30. In fact, you can find some great music tracks for under $30 if you visit our Audiobag website(http://www.audiobag.com/). Our prices start at just $5.77 for a music transition (note the blatant product plug).

I'm always amazed that someone would spend more than $30 for a music track when there's so much out there for under $30. We have lots of competition -- and they're good, too! In fact, it's the other production music companies that inspire me to keep improving and adding to the Audiobag music library. If you don't find something you like at Audiobag(http://audiobag.com/music.html), check out GMP (http://www.genemichaelproductions.com/), Stock20 (http://stock20.com/), Music Bakery (http://www.musicbakery.com/), and Shockwave-Sound (http://www.shockwave-sound.com/). Each of these companies offer instant downloading, quality music, and great pricing. Enjoy!

2006-07-10T10:40:00.000-05:00

I was sitting in one of those brown wooden chairs in a Barnes and Nobles bookstore yesterday skimming through various audio magazines when suddenly there was a loud crash of dishes breaking as they hit the floor in the backroom of the bookstore cafe. The noise was so startling, I expected to hear crying next. Because I was reading about audio, I started thinking about the sounds we hear on a daily basis. With the exception of the hearing-impaired, we're bombarded with thousands of sounds everyday. And many of them are unwanted.

I started wondering what it would be like to live in a rural community or, even better, in the woods all alone with only the sounds of nature. Would I be less stressed? Probably. Because I love big city amenities, I have to take the bad with the good. On this day, the bad was the loud noises coming from what is normally a fairly relaxing bookstore.

Sounds influence my moods and, I would imagine, your moods, too. I was in a peaceful mood until I heard the crash of breaking dishes. Then suddenly, my mood changed to one of anxiety and stress. So if sounds have that kind of control over me, they're pretty darn powerful, aren't they? Audio can control us -- even manipulate us. How can we use audio to better our lives? What kind of sounds would have changed my mood back to a peaceful one after the crash of the dishes? Perhaps something like this:

A recording of Steve Erkel asking, "Did I do that?"
A German soldier yells, "You vill clean up dis mess!"
Ten seconds of violins pizzicato plucking a happy cleanup tune.
Then an announcer says, "New Bounty Paper Towels clean up even the toughest spills."

Was that a commercial or just a brief bit of entertainment to put customers back into a good mood? I wouldn't know and I wouldn't care. But I believe it just might have worked. It would have put a smile on my face and got me back into the right frame of mind. Oh, and by the way, I would have had a positive image of Bounty Paper Towels. Audio. It's effective when it's used the right way at just the right time. I made a mental note to always strive to offer the best sounds I can to everyone around me, including my clients. It will make for a nicer world.

2006-07-08T11:23:00.000-05:00

I had a private Sally Field moment the other day after I came out of the closet. First of all, I should tell you that the closet I came out of was filled with a thousand dollars worth of acoustical tile and an Audio-Technica AT4033 microphone. You see, it's my sound booth, which is a major part of my audio production company that, thanks to all the newest whizbang audio gadgetry, consists of only two people -- my wife and me. We specialize in podcast imaging. In other words, we produce podcast intros, outros, promos, and bumpers for podcasters who want to give their podcast a more professional sound. Besides doing voice work, we also produce the music we use in our productions right here in-house. And I mean literally in-house because our studio is in our house in Georgetown, Texas (just north of Austin).

Using Acid Pro 6.0 software, a Yamaha MOTIF 6 keyboard, and an E-MU X Board 25 midi controller, I can create a 30- or 60-second music track in about an hour. I try to offer music a bit more on the quirky side because I find that podcasters like off-the-wall kind of stuff. Because each music track I create is custom, I start off with the podcast script in front of me as I sit at my computer listening to various music loops. I first decide on the genre. For example, I just completed a podcast intro for a high school podcaster in Louisiana who asked for music that sounded like Whitesnake and ZZ Top. I knew right away that I would be using electric fuzz guitars, an edgy bass, and rock drums. After laying down about six audio tracks in Acid Pro consisting of electric guitar, bass and drum loops, I fired up the Yamaha MOTIF 6 keyboard -- a great keyboard for studio production -- and picked an "overdriven" electric guitar to use for the main lead. After a about three tries, I liked what I came up with up on the keyboard. So I was ready for the final mix.

Song endings are always difficult for me when working with Acid Pro. I usually have to do some chopping of instruments at the end of a song to create a solid ending. However, this client wanted the music to fade, so I created about 64 seconds of music and then faded it down at 60 seconds. When finished with a music track, I always try to come up with a name that describes the song. In a rush, I called it "Don't Mess with Texas" because ZZ Top is from Texas. Later I renamed it. You can find it in our online music production library at http://audiobag.com as "High Energy" for just $16.77 (yes, we're always selling!).

After completing the music track, I recorded the voice work for the podcast intro. Unfortunately, I had two things going against me. It was late in the day and my voice always sounds strained that late in the day. And on top of that, I was trying to fight off a cold (to no avail). I recorded the voice anyway, edited it, and mixed in the music using Vegas Audio. I processed the hell out of it to compensate for my strained voice. I then did the ultimate bad thing: I uploaded it to the Internet and emailed the client that it was ready (well under my 48-hour turnaround time). I then went to bed ... sick.

The next day I woke up feeling better. I listened to the podcast intro again and HATED IT!!!! I was embarrassed that I had produced it. After one quick cup of coffee (warm liquid on the throat helps the voice sound better), I stumbled back into the sound booth (the closet) and recut the voice work, dropped in the new voice to Vegas Audio, and then posted it online as a revise, as I call it. It could just as well be called saving face because I was really disgusted with the first version. I quickly wrote the client and explained why I did a revise and told him where to download it. I started planning the next project while waiting anxiously for a response from the client. Later in the day, after coming out of the closet for the umpteenth time between voice takes, I checked my email and found this reply: "You are the greatest! I have not begun my podcast, but your services have encouraged me to go full-speed ahead. I am sure I will be contacting you again for more work very soon."

Whew! I lucked out. He liked it. He really liked it! Sorry, I was having that Sally Field moment I referred to earlier. Although I was worried that the client would feel like he got mediocre voice work, I was also worried he would not like the music. And yet, it was a happy ending to another project. Time to check the email and see what my next project will be.