The Recording Studio

Recently, I set about a plan to record devotionals.  I don't have a recording studio I can access, nor do I have a so-called desk studio in my home.  The high-value, low cost shock mount mic is still at the local music store.  My subscription to Voice 1-2-3 remains fun to watch, and the only mixer I have access to is made by Sunbeam.

What's a speaker and budding recording artist to do??

Use your imagination.  With that very thought in mind, I picked up my smartphone, swept my app screens to the left and stopped on the Voice Recorder.  A gentle tap, the app opened, I tapped record and started talking.  Problem was...I was in the house.  Family, neighbors, animals and all manner of noisy life tend to ignore the sign on your head that says ON AIR.

I was forced to retreat to the only available haven for peace, the only retreat for solitude...my Bronco.  That's right. A classic, 1995 Ford Bronco (351 V-8, Cleveland Block, just sayin') was calling my name and beckoning me to slide behind the wheel and go for a ride.  Don't know if you've ever sought peace and quiet in a Bronco.  I'll say this:  Peace - a state of mind - is possible.  Quiet - a state of noise - is not.

This is where imagination came to the rescue.  My thought was why not make this devotional series real and raw?  Forget the sterility of a studio with its sound engineers and 256 track board!  Forget the desk studio and the eggcrate cone of silence!  I say give me hundreds of ponies under the hood, and ambient sound that would make Mad Max proud!

My first Bronco Devotional turned out to be quite a success.  The mic on the smartphone (samsung, android) is actually pretty good.  There was never a time that I had to wonder what it was I said because the entire 12-minutes was clear as a bell!  I converted it to MP3 and had a keeper.  The road noise actually added an interesting backdrop and lent an edge of authenticity to my remarks.  No script while driving.  You either know the material or you don't.

Recall when those TV shows began to use a camera that seemed to move all over the place?  I think it was NYPD Blue that broke the ground for that trend.  After feeling an initial irritation, I realized the genius behind the ploy;  I concentrated all the more on the center of the frame.  And so it is with the Bronco Devotionals - listeners pay close attention to the 'center' of the sound.

Want to record for an audience?  Want to podcast?  Want to burn to CD for giveaway or sale?  Get your imagination involved and create opportunities!  If you want to succeed, you will.  If you want to make excuses...you will.  Don't make excuses, make successes.  The recording studio is where you choose.  Turn on your mic, but first turn on your imagination.

Fearlessly,
JD