Get Started with simple Audio Recording

To give you some background, it took me quite a while to summon up the courage to record a short audio message to welcome visitors to my website (using a simple microphone connected to my computer and recording straight into Audio Acrobat*) but I was restricted in that it had to be 'one-take' with no way to edit out mistakes and stutters.  However, I'd read about the importance of recording every talk and workshop and decided to give it a go!

One of the best little 'gadgets' I bought for my business a couple of years ago was an Olympus WS-300M Digital Voice Recorder and Music Player*.  I believe this particular model has been superceded by a more up-to-date model which I'm sure is just as good, judging from the reviews.  One critical feature to look out for is that it has a USB connection or you have no way to get the audio from the recorder onto your computer!

I also purchased a Olympus ME-15 Tie Clip Microphone* which helps to filter out other people's voices which were being picked up using just the recorder (it's very powerful for such a tiny piece of kit!).

Last year, I added a Olympus TP-7 Telephone Pickup Hands-Free Cable* which is brilliant for recording both sides of a telephone call (with full permission of course) and have used this both for interviews and client calls, where the client prefers an audio to written notes.  One end fits neatly into my ear (not too uncomfortable for an hour or so) and the other plugs into the mic socket on the recorder.

To edit the recordings, I use the free to download Audacity software.  As the uploaded audio file is in .wma format, first it has to be converted to MP3 (using another free bit of software - it's really easy to do and only takes a couple of minutes) before I can start the edit process.

Once I'm satisfied with the recording, I upload it to my Audio Acrobat* account, create some playback buttons and then place the finished audio on the relevant website page.

The recorder, microphone and telephone pickup came to just over £100.  My account with Audio Acrobat is currently $19.95 (around £14) a month.  It really is a very inexpensive way to create audio for the website and adds an extra dimension to my online products.

(* Disclosure:  These are affiliate links which means I get paid a small amount if you buy a product as a result of clicking through on them.)

Comments

[LouiseBJ]

Hi Paul, thanks for commenting! Yes editing can be very time-consuming and tedious, depending on length of recording. Thankfully using the Audacity freeware is pretty straightforward :)

[Paul Simister]

Interesting Louise.

Editing is my next challenge.