For the purposes of this article, I will assume that you have already taken care of your recording equipment, and already have the recording either as a prepared CD or at least, in MP3 or WAV format. These are the two most common formats for storing audio that has been recorded.

Once you have the recording files ready, meaning they have been edited, and mixed the way you like the final sound to be, you are ready to commence the production of your CDs.

Before you think I am going to suggest you start to copy CD after CD at home, let me tell you that you can relax. There are online services available that allow you to upload your CD to their facility, and once there, you an order CDs at your leisure, from one, to essentially, any number you choose. The greatest benefit of these facilities is that you need not spend copious mounts of time copying CDs at home, which from personal experience can take hours and hours. In addition, you will find that you do not need to ware out your CD burner as well.

This process is only viable if you are expecting to make more than a few CDs, but assuming that is the case, your next step is to create the artwork for your CD cover as well as CD print. I have found the best software for this is Paint, which is available with most Windows based computers using Microsoft. My method involves taking the image I like best, sometimes available from photo stocks online, available for a very reasonable price like a dollar or two (but please read the licence agreements carefully). Once you have chosen your ideal photo, and loaded it onto your computer, import that photo into your Paint program. I always advise using a photo with some ‘unused’ space, where you can superimpose some text of your own, to create the title and so on. This is the reason I like Paint, as this can be done quite easily. Once I am happy with my completed photo and title, I then save the image.

Now to the actual uploading of your CD to a commercial facility that is fully automated. I have found one of the best services is that of Kunaki.com. They provide a service where you can download their software for free, which then guides you through creating an account, and then uploading your CD and images you have created. For this to work, you need to ensure you have software on your computer than can produce a final CD, and once you have that, you then upload that, as well as the images and other information you may like, like copyright details, and recording information. You are even able to have the system create an internationally recognised bar code for your product.

As a side note, please note that I do not have any connection with the service I am mentioning above. I simply recommend and use their service, because it works, and has never failed me before. Once your CD is uploaded, you are then able to log in, and order as many as you like, for a very nominal price, and the CD will be delivered to any address in the world, in a box, shrink wrapped, and professional looking. This method allows you to not have to hold stocks, or worry about running out, if you should be fortunate enough to have a massive demand for your product.

I would always recommend that you ensure that you test your uploaded CD yourself, by ordering one for yourself, as I have been caught out before, where I once had a spelling error, and had not noticed it online, but only after I had ordered about seventy discs. That is a mistake I prefer you to not make yourself.

Are you able to store your piano performances for future listening? Have you been having trouble recording your piano performances , for the long term?

Not only can you record your performances, but also gain an enhanced comfort from your playing. To learn more, see the Piano Magic Touch.

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The rest can be achieved with software programs, like Audacity or Sony Audio Studio.  The later does have a nominal price tag, but Audacity is free, if you are on a tight budget.

As I have read of many pianists wanting to record their own music recitals at home, without incurring the heavy costs of using a traditional recording studio, I decided to put aside some time to write about the subject. Primarily, the good news is that nowadays, the process can be accomplished with little more than a basic laptop computer and one extra piece of peripheral equipment- being a USB, large diaphragm microphone. The microphone that I best recommend is the Audio Technica USB 2020 microphone, available here.

You might well ask, how can this be done? What about the software? Certainly, you can go ‘all out’, and use some very expensive software, and I will be writing about that in future articles, but for this purpose, as long as you have a laptop, (for portability reasons) and a USB connection on it, you can load up a free program called Audacity. It is available from the internet , for no charge, and is relatively lean on the use of your computer’s memory and other resources.

Once this has been installed, you can then connect a USB large diaphragm microphone to your computer. I recommend the use of a USB microphone, as there is less difficulty in setting it up, and once plugged into a USB port, will be set up on your computer in a matter of a minute or two. Further, the audio is processed directly by your computer, rather than passing an analogue stage on your sound card. Simply put, it is easier to use, with less degradation in quality. Additionally, the larger diaphragm will ensure that a much better quality recording is achieved, when compared to a small, consumer microphone. For the above, the most expensive part is the microphone, but still very cheap in comparison to the alternatives, assuming you already have a computer. Please note these microphones will work equally well with a PC or a Mac machine.

Now that you have done the above, it is time to start to set up for the recording.

It may take a few attempts to position the microphone in the right position, but experiment a little, as the acoustics of the room will play a part, as well as the type of piano.

Ensure the roo is not tiled, with bare walls, as this will be too reflective, causing an echo. On the other hand, thick carpeting and drapes will deaden the sound to be too flat. Somewhere in the middle is ideal.

If you can, you may also open the lid of the piano, to help radiate the sound more evenly. Try a few positions of the mic, and if you like, you can also use two, to get a more balanced stereo sound effect. To start the recording simply mute the speakers, by turning the volume control to zero, to minimise feedback, or howling, and then, also ensure that you press the Record tab. The software is very intuitive, but more information is available in the help section of the software.

Once you have the sound recorded, test the playback, preferably with a set of headphones, as the speakers in a laptop normally are not too good, or clear, again, because of their size. This is a similar concept to the microphone needing a large diaphragm.

When you are happy with your recording, it is time to save the file as an MP3 or Wave file.

The wave file is already built into your Audacity software, but you will need a plug in, or small program to add to Audacity to convert to the MP3 format. This will be explained when you try to save as an MP3 format on your computer.

Once the above steps have been taken, you can then upload the file to your website, or create a CD with it, and so on.

I will write future articles on the best ways to convert your files to professional quality CD’s.

Are you able to store your piano performances for future listening? Have you been having trouble recording your piano performances , for the long term?

Not only can you record your performances, but also gain an enhanced comfort from your playing. To learn more, see the Piano Magic Touch.

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A Powered Mixer is an advanced audio mixer, which provides a complete replacement for volume control. It lets you change the sound volume smoothly by simply rotating the mouse wheel or using keyboard hot keys. A powered mixer consists of an audio mixer with advanced volume controls, on-screen display, a scheduler, command line support, and the ability to store and recall unlimited presets.

An audio mixer is an electronic device which alters, routes, and transforms audio signals in a particular way. It is also known as a soundboard and helps in altering the beat, pitch or timbre of sound waves to create new notes and various types of music. Audio mixers allow sound waves from two different microphones to be blended together and be transmitted through one set of speakers.

An audio mixer usually has these components in them

• Input Jacks: These are required to plug in microphones and pre-amps. Jacks serve as the entry point for sound in the mixer.
• Basic Input Controls: Manual controls surround every input slot and are used to regulate the treble, pitch, bass of the input signals. These controls have to be regulated properly to avoid unnecessary noise from getting amplified.
• Channel Equalizers: These help in regulating the pitch of the music when is being played. It helps in correcting the minor problems in beats and helps in increasing the volume of the low pitch sounds to make them more audible.
• Routing Section: This routes the audio signals to the output devices like the recording device or speakers. The routing section is used to play the different parts of the music track from the different speakers. In a two speaker set-up sound is distributed between the left and right speakers. In a multi-speaker setup sound routed through a combination of all the speakers.
• Input and subgroup faders: These micro controls are used to adjust every channel of the audio. This makes minor adjustments possible. Adjustments are controlled through volume control sliders.

While a recording setup is incomplete without an audio mixer, a powered audio mixer is only a dream come true for a recording technician. Mixers can make the music of experienced professionals sound extraordinary and cover up flaws for budding artists. Hence it is very important to choose the correct powered mixer even if it is expensive as it may prove to be more cost-effective in the long term.

Further Audio & Related Resources

Who else wants to learn to record voice information products at home?

Now you can easily do it with the packages & video tutorials that no one else has!

To learn more, and start your own recording system, and save a fortune in the process, see the link above.

In addition, to ensure you are always laser targeted, I always recommend the Success Strategies System as well.

For self performance reading improvement, I highly recommend the Self Help Database as well.

Conference, discussion or ‘push to talk’ microphones provide the best conference audio for applications beyond the immediate public address system.

Though sometimes not the best in absolute sound quality it is the ability for the microphones to be controlled by the delegate as well as the technician that maximises the chances that every word is heard.

For this reason conference microphones are particularly suited to recording meetings and in the provision of the ‘original’ feed to simultaneous interpreters.

In both these applications it is best to have as few microphones live as possible at any one time. Each ‘open’ microphone adds more back ground noise to the audio without enhancement.

The operation of a standard sound desk with just 6 conventional microphones on a top table is to leave all 6 microphones partially live so if someone does speak the technician need only increase the level of an already live microphone. This allows at least some audio, albeit low level to begin with, to be heard which is better than nothing. This is the practice because the technician does not know who is going to speak next and the speaker is unable to make their microphone live independent of the technician. There are two main reasons why this is not acceptable in a recording or interpretation environment.

Firstly the delay in a delegate speaking and in the microphone becoming live, as the technician recognises which microphone is in use and increases its level, introduces a pause into which whole sentences can disappear and critical meaning can be lost. Conference microphones can be operated by the speaker directly so eliminating this delay in making the microphone live or louder. This creates a freer flow of dialogue to take place without a word being lost. This is critical in the recording of important meetings and in the original language feed for simultaneous interpreters.

Secondly by having so many partially live microphones live you are introducing unwanted and distracting background noise into the audio. This is often not recognised by the delegates or by the technician who generally listen to the audio via the room acoustic in which these noises are already present. However other users like interpreters listen to the proceedings via headphones so they hear very close to the audio and can clearly hear the rustle of paper or the pouring of water. This unwanted audio is very distracting and masks the audio.

With conference microphones placed on lecterns you have the capability to control and eliminate these sounds without losing the critical audio needed by only having one or two microphones live at any one time. And this advantage is possible in a system for 50 – 100 participants yet using conventional microphones and a mixer is difficult on a top table with just 6 speakers in a panel discussion.

The advantages in using a conference microphone or discussion system are very clear (especially the audio).

Further Audio & Related Resources

Who else wants to learn to record voice information products at home?

Now you can easily do it with the packages & video tutorials that no one else has!

To learn more, and start your own recording system, and save a fortune in the process, see the link above.

In addition, to ensure you are always laser targeted, I always recommend the Success Strategies System as well.

For self performance reading improvement, I highly recommend the Self Help Database as well.

Home recording studios are becoming easier to set up and with the continual advances in technology and recording tools the use of a professional studio may not seem like a necessary step.

Quality is Key if You Want to “Make It Big”

However the use of a professional studio will compliment work done in a high quality home studio to produce a top notch product that record labels will take notice of. By doing the basics in a home studio, if you have access to one, and using a small professional outfit to put the all-important finishing touches in you can drastically reduce your financial outlay while still producing a recording of exceptional quality. By working together with a professional studio it allows you, the artists to concentrate on getting the sounds you want while the technical side is seen to by the studio’s engineer.

You Can’t Achieve Everything you Need at Home Unless You Have Mega$$$

Using a home studio alone will not give you a polished finish worthy of a recording contract unless you invest a lot of money buying not only the basics but high-technology gadgets as well. Unfortunately even if you do splash out and buy everything you need to eliminate the need for a professional studio, you will still need technical support in the form of a qualified engineer before your songs sound producible. A good engineer can listen to out for irregularities such as tonal imbalances and distortions. Buying laptops and a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) doesn’t make an artist into an engineer and this will show in your work.

Mastering and Safety of Finished Product

Professional studios have a set of guidelines regarding master tapes and their contents. These have evolved through necessity along with the industry and are used with every artist and band to ensure that the contents of their master tapes are labeled correctly and backed up. In the event of an accident your professional studio will be able to replace your work. Without the support of this asset management bands have been known to send blank tapes or incomplete rough work to record labels in place of their master tapes! Don’t laugh…it really does happen and as production companies are only interested in the master recording, safeguarding it is imperative. Professional studios will not only save your finished project they will save each individual track and archive them for up to ten years or more.

This is a resource that a home studio cannot offer an artist with complete reliability and in the long term it could prove to be very cost effective; rerecording your entire master tape would work out to be much more expensive than paying to archive your material.

Master tapes can be produced in a home studio and depending on your experience and technical ability they may be decent quality but in order to achieve a product that is superior to those of competitor bands you really need the services of a professional studio; after all, they really know what they’re doing.

Further Audio & Related Resources

Who else wants to learn to record voice information products at home?

Now you can easily do it with the packages & video tutorials that no one else has!

To learn more, and start your own recording system, and save a fortune in the process, see the link above.

In addition, to ensure you are always laser targeted, I always recommend the Success Strategies System as well.

For self performance reading improvement, I highly recommend the Self Help Database as well.

Let’s get to the point. Nothing on the market is going to simply make hip hop beats for you. You must do the work yourself. No matter how much knowledge and experience you gain, no matter how many beats, samples or loops you download, no matter what software or hardware you use, you must have the talent to be able to use all of these tools and resources to produce material that slams on the radio and in the clubs.

Now with that said, there are some great products out there that are fascinating, intuitive and most of all creatively inspiring to use. Determining what products on the market are right for your way of producing music is dependent on your approach to audio production.

Making beats successfully while on a budget is not difficult. It comes down to making the right choices on any potential audio production software and/or hardware you intend to use. Now if you are new to making beats then it is highly suggested to get up and running with tools and applications that will help you to start making your instrumentals right out of the box, or download, what ever the case may be. The point is to be able to start getting creative and inspired with your chosen audio application as soon as possible after receiving it, downloading it or signing up to gain access to it online.

Products that get you up and running fast with making beats is only one part of what is generally recommended. It is advantageous to use products from companies that offer a strong support backing of unlimited tutorials that are easy to understand and apply. Their tutorials should be both audio as well as visually based so that you can comfortably follow along with the techniques they are showing you. Their tips and guides should be applicable and appropriate to the style of beats producing you want to know more about. Their production tutorials should also be structured in a way that logically leads you from one level of understanding to the next. In other words, you should feel that you are growing in audio production knowledge and awareness naturally, and that the first lesson supports to the second and so on.

Another aspect on how to make hip hop beats that you should consider is the sound quality of any samples or loops included in any package. This is crucial. Hip hop along with any other genre of music to be released in the mainstream market is about creative uniqueness, sound quality and production value. If the sounds you use are less then quality, your mixes will suffer the same. Choosing an application that supplies incredibly sounding beats, samples and loops to use within the application would set you up with the ability to start producing great sounding material right from the beginning. Another option would be to choose a program that lets you work with your own or third party samples and loops. Either way, having amazing quality sounds is vital to creative inspiration, which leads to dedicated prolific writing and producing.

Now if you want to make hip hop beats starting right now but you have little to no equipment and/or experience, then I would suggest checking out an online beat making subscription or membership application. This way you are not shelling out any large sums of cash up front, and you are generally given up to 60 days to try it out with a money back guarantee.

If you already have some gear and a basic knowledge of producing beats, or you prefer to develop a beats production studio of your own but need help getting started, then it is recommended choosing a product that supports that with great set -up and audio production tutorials.

Further Audio & Related Resources

Who else wants to learn to record voice information products at home?

Now you can easily do it with the packages & video tutorials that no one else has!

To learn more, and start your own recording system, and save a fortune in the process, see the link above.

In addition, to ensure you are always laser targeted, I always recommend the Success Strategies System as well.

For self performance reading improvement, I highly recommend the Self Help Database as well.

Deciding on the best home recording studio equipment will take some thought. Before you’re actually at the check out line in your favorite music store, it’s important that you do your homework. Take into consideration what you can afford and what kind of equipment you are looking for. Check out the web, trade magazines, or your local audio store to find the different pieces. If the equipment is on display, it would be wise to play with it and see if the feel suits you. Also, it is a good idea to talk to other people who already have the equipment and see what they think.

DAW -The Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is piece of equipment that has greatly improved the recording industry. The DAW is a computer based hardware system that offers many production features such as multi-track recording, editing, midi and audio interfaces, support for plug in virtual instruments, mixdown capabilities, and much more.

The DAW is affordable and that’s what makes it so great! There are different options when choosing a DAW. Start out by deciding if you will work on a PC or MAC. Some programs only work for Mac and some only for PC. You can also find a program that will work with both. Additionally, consider the needs of your particular project and your personal preferences. Additionally, ensure that you have sufficient ram and that your computer is fast and powerful enough for the tasks that you are going to take on.

SIAB – One piece of equipment you might want to consider getting is called a “Studio in a Box” or SIAB. The SIAB is affordable and simple to use. Fortunately, there’s no need to be a computer whiz to use this system, just turn it on, get the basics down, and begin playing. This system is also portable; your not limited to your bedroom.

The units use little power and work on a battery, or you can hook them up to a solar panel. There are many choices of brands to choose from with the SIAB that are very affordable. SIABs can be purchased for under $1,000. A SIAB has 4, 8, or 16 tracks for you to choose from, depending on the unit. Manufacturers of SIAB systems include; Roland, Boss, Yamaha, Tascam, and Fostex.

Stand-alone -Some people prefer the stand-alone recorder which can range from about 1,000 to 2,000 dollars. If you go with the stand-alone option, you also need to buy a mixer and signal processor. Modern stand-alone recorders have helped to transform home studios. Beginning in the early 1990′s, an increasing amount of hits came from these devices. Due to the additional equipment required with them, stand-alone models are becoming less utilized with home recordists. Be sure to check out the demos of each brand before you buy this product, as the output can vary slightly from model to model.

After deciding on a recorder, a great way to make your recording experience more exciting is to create a midi-intensive studio. Your midi-intensive studio can include a keyboard, synthesizer, sound module, or sampler. These are awesome to have because you can get drum sounds without having a live drummer.

After you get the basic equipment you need to start recording, all you have left to setup is a microphone, guitar, and any other instruments that you would like to record. Remember that there are endless possibilities in the types of equipment you can have. Start with the basics and let your studio grow to fit your needs.

Further Audio & Related Resources

Who else wants to learn to record voice information products at home?

Now you can easily do it with the packages & video tutorials that no one else has!

To learn more, and start your own recording system, and save a fortune in the process, see the link above.

In addition, to ensure you are always laser targeted, I always recommend the Success Strategies System as well.

For self performance reading improvement, I highly recommend the Self Help Database as well.