Software for Podcast

For my podcast, as mentioned in previous posts, I have chosen to record with a free app called iRig Recorder. I used this app to record an interview for this same podcast and was impressed with the quality of the recording and the app's ease of use. In general, I think my voice sounds weird regardless but in terms of clarity and expression, I'm happy with the way I sound using this app. Based on a summary found at Backstage.com , it is advised that you

1) make sure you have enough storage space on your phone before recording and

2) purchase the app for $4.99 if you wish to take advantage of its editing features

I have decided to use a separate, free program for audio editing, which I'll get to in a minute. But be aware that if you choose to use the free version of this app you will only be able to convert to a .m4a file and exporting options will be limited. Unfortunately, many free audio editing programs do not support .m4a files so I had to use the free online file converter, http://media.io/, to save a .wav version of my recordings - a minor inconvenience.

Now, originally I was going to use Lightworks to edit my recordings but I quickly discovered that it is more for video editing and a bit difficult to use. Instead, I decided to use the Free Audio Editor 2014 . This program is much easier to use and caters strictly to audio editing. In the tutorials within the actual program, it is advised that you

1) use markers in your audio file to quickly select between different segments of the audio recording

2) speed up low memory conditions during file saving by setting the undo/redo level to 1

3) select a portion of an audio file for editing to gain access to most of the programs commands

 

For the background music in the podcast, I still plan to use Fl Studio 10 because I am familiar with this beat making program. It too is very easy to use. There are dozens of tutorials on YouTube for this program. One of these tutorials, presented by a user named FKProds , provides the following advice:

1) When you are preparing to export an audio file, Lower the bit rate of the file if you have a slow computer

2) take advantage of shortcuts for ease of use i.e. Ctrl + C to copy, Ctrl + X  to cut, Ctrl + mouse drag to select

3) Experiment with user interfaces provided in the program to uncover different variations of the same sound/instrument

 

That's all the software needed for my podcast! Time to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.