Audio Streaming Information

How to Create Professional Audio Books from Scratch


My name is Alan Twigg and I'm writing this article to offer advice to anyone thinking of creating their own professional audio books.

In the New Year I came up with the idea of creating professional children's stories and offering them for download on the internet. The thing was, however, while I had someone to write the stories - my mother - and someone to market the stories - me, I knew nobody who knew about how to record the stories professionally. I knew it must be reasonably easy, since I only wanted to create an audio book containing speech.

I started doing research on Google - but all the articles I found contained so much technical gobbledygook - I was soon put off. So I went to my local music store for advice on what to buy. I decided to use my computer to create the audio books and this is what I bought:

1 microphone stand

1 pop-screen (that's a piece of material that is placed just in front of the microphone to stop your "Ps" from popping)

1 studio microphone

1 software program (Wavelab)

1 USB Audio/MIDI interface (TASCAM US 122 with phantom power)

1 pair of heaphones

It all came to 650 euros (800) dollars.

I connected my Audio/MIDI interface (this is basically a really good sound card in an external case) to my computer using the USB cable provided. I then set up my microphone and attached the microphone cable to the MIDI interface. After installing the software, I was ready to go.

The results have been great and I find Wavelab software powerful and incredibly easy to use.

Some Audio Book recording tips

I first get my entire copy ready before starting the recording. I pin the sheets of paper with the text that I am going to read in front of me onto the wall. Then, at about 8 inches away from the microphone, I start to talk. The more natural you can be the more interesting you will sound to your listeners. I found that the best thing to do is to stand in front of the microphone and make gestures in the same way as you would when talking to a close friend. If you stand there stiff like a statue, you'll come across in the same way in your recording.

Another thing that I like to do before starting the recording is to get myself into a really good mood. Again, this will add to the impact of your recording. I always listen to a few uplifting songs and get enthusiastic before starting. You should also try to make sure that you keep the same distance from the microphone.

And that's it - I hope that this article will save you a little bit of time setting up your own home recording studio and I wish lots of success with your audio books.

The author of this article is Alan Twigg. My business is Playtime books, which offers new and contemporary audio books for the 3 to 10-year-old age group. You will find this site at http://www.playtime-books.com.


MORE RESOURCES:

Dana Holding Corporation Reports Second-Quarter 2008 Results
Earthtimes (press release), UK - 11 hours ago
Participants may listen to the audio portion of the conference call either through audio streaming online or by telephone. Slide viewing is only available ...


Amacore Founders to Be on CBS’ “Biz Talk with Josh” Radio Show
Business Wire (press release), CA - Jul 29, 2008
The show can be listened to live via the airwaves in the Washington, DC area on CBS Radio, WPGC/HEAVEN 1580 AM, and nationally, via audio streaming, ...


The Air This Week
Boston Globe, United States - Jul 28, 2008
Schedules and dial-ups for audio-streaming sites worldwide are available at publicradiofan.com and classwebcast.googlepages.com/Station_Listings.html . ...


Reliance Globalcom, Internap forge Strategic Alliance
Webnewswire.com, India - Jul 31, 2008
... Services and world class content delivery network services to add graphics, audio, streaming video and live events to their internet applications. ...


DAC, RMAC games available through Web casts
Rapid City Journal, SD - Jul 30, 2008
Audio streaming of radio sports broadcasts has become common. Adding the video portion provided by the college takes the Web cast to the next level, ...


ATMI Second Quarter Update
MarketWatch - Jul 14, 2008
Interested parties may also listen to the conference call via audio streaming on the Internet at ATMI.com. A replay of the call will be available by phone ...


Reliance Globalcom and Internap Enter Strategic Alliance to Bring ...
SYS-CON Media, NJ - Jul 29, 2008
... network services, enabling Indian businesses to add graphics, audio, streaming video and live events to their Web sites and Internet applications. ...


Product Reviews

Mint 220 Wireless PC and Mac Speakers with iPod Dock
Product Reviews, UK - Jul 29, 2008
DiFi sound technology delivers winning audio performance in blind test, wireless audio streaming decisive in value comparison. ...


Mama’s got a Pandora-enabled Squeezebox, daddy never sleeps at night
VentureBeat, CA - Jul 29, 2008
Now it’s rolling out a free version to select home audio streaming devices, according to CNET’s Crave blog. The Logitech Squeezebox streaming audio device ...


eMercedesBenz

Mercedes-Benz Review Roundup: The GLK350, C63 AMG And ML280 CDI
eMercedesBenz, IL - Jul 29, 2008
... sound system's ability to connect to and control both an iPod AND a USB stick at the same time, and Bluetooth audio streaming is just around the corner. ...

Audio-Streaming - Google News

home | site map
© 2006