"Good" Audio

Hello all,

As we head into a few weeks where you'll be talking to your computer I just want to bring up a few things:

1. This is not about "perfection", I don't think any of us are announcers or radio personalities...learn to like your voice...it's not bad...it's yours...own it (I've been told I sound like Bob Ross of PBS fame...if I can live with that, you can live with your voices :-)

2. Avoid hot and cold drinks when recording...your voice will "work" better if you have some warm tea or cool water

3. You can alway re-record, but don't spend so much time on redos that you forget to live your life

4. If you have a cheap mic you won't get good sound quality...that's ok for this class, but if it bugs you get yourself a good ($30-$70) usb headset with microphone...you can get lots of good headsets at Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, Radio Shack, CompUSA, etc. In my opinion the best brands are Logitech and Plantronics

5. Lastly, make sure you know how to control the volume out and IN to your computer...on XP that little speaker icon on the bottom right of your screen will take you to your main volume and if you double click on it and choose options, you'll be able to get to the recording settings (xp does it a bit differently depending on your sound card (check in the Control Panel area)