Podcasting with Audition

Fig. Omni-directional powered stereo pair from Giant Squid Audio Lab.

I decided to try my hand at Podcasting the NYC Smalltalk user meetings which I basically organise and have done for a number of years now. Smalltalk is a programming language, very powerful, simple and cool and used in just about every sector of industry imaginable. Its a niche but like my music I like niches. So I have something to Podcast and I have the tools to Podcast i.e. Adobe Audition which earned some recent noteworthy mention at Podcasting conference out in the west coast. As a matter of fact I believe it won whatever the competition was. I can dig that up if somebody cares.

There were some technical logistics to conquer though. Well, I at least imagined them. A simple mono mic was not  going to do. Our meetings are somewhat chaotic with folks talking out of turn, popping questions left and right. I really needed a mic situation that would really capture the room and not just the speaker. Secondly, our presentations go for a hour plus so I needed something with a fairly large storage capacity. Of course, there was the production of the podcast. Certainly, the recording was going to need some editing. Bring the content down to a PG-13 level. A fair amount of cursing goes on. I’m told that its mostly me but I just think they are too freaking sensitive. However, never mind editing , I was going to need to bring up levels , get rid of ambient noise and possibly interject where the presentation got confusing. So to summarise I needed:

• A stereo omni-directional mic — decided on Giant Squid Audio Lab.
• A recorder — decided on my iAudio X5, stuff like this was too over the top for my purposes.
• Editing software — decided on Adobe Audition which I already use for my personal music projects.

But there was one other snag. The iAudio external mic connection is actually a line level connection and that meant I was going to need a mic preamp.

 

This unit is sold at Microphone Madness, it actually comes with a built in mic. Not sure yet what type of mic but it will itself take an external mic.. In anycase, I already have the omni mics. I don’t believe that anything else will quite do the trick, not for my application. BTW, a secondary use for all of this will be that I can also now record my collaboration sessions with my composition partner Jon Raney. Those sessions include music which this setup should be able to handle well.

 

The Three Voices of Godin

After months of agonising I finally made the commitment and purchased one of these beauties. Yes, another Godin. I am definitely a fan. Very well made guitars, unfettered synth access with a reputation for top-notch tracking and to top it off great looks. For the type of music I want to write synth access is a must. My only other must which goes for all my guitars is that it must have an ebony neck and this one does. Check out the specs .

I tried the eBay thing. I was successful in obtaining my Godin Multiac Nylon SA from eBay. An essentially brand new guitar, which I was able to verify. Owned by a guitar player and not just an eBay peddler which is pretty important to me. I saved $400.00. In the case of the LGX-SA , I tried eBay for a while. The main problem was that I needed to get something from 2004 to present due to the fact that the synth access system had been changed. According to Godin it was a significant change. I came close but got outbidded. That was a fortunate thing. The winning bid was about $250.00 off ,without including shipping , from what one could purchase the guitar brand new. Not usually enough to warrant not getting a new one. Especially since I keep my guitars. I lucked out Rudy’s Guitar on 48th from which I have already bought two guitars, a classical and my Al DiMeola Ovation gave me a good deal. Not as much as buying it used but a significant savings from what one can find on-line. I had to pay NY tax but no shipping and what is great is that the guitar is being shipped directly from the Godin factory i.e. this guitar is brand new. I get to inspect it and I know where its been. Full warranty. My new baby is coming home.

 

Oh, why Three Voices of Godin?  Well, because the guitar actually has three separate sound sources. The Seymour Duncan pickups for the electric sound, an acoustic pickup for a purely acoustic sound, and finally the synth access for the controlling of a guitar synth like the Roland GR-20. I got the one on the right.