Digital Audio World

Musings and information on podcasting, digital audio, online streaming audio and home studio recording from Tim 'Gonzo' Gordon of DigitalAudioWorld.com

Monday, January 29, 2007

Podcasting Tools and More

Andrew Darlow subscribes to my newsletter Podcast Info, and after a bit of feedback last week we traded a couple of emails. He led me to one of his posts on podcasting here which I found quite useful. He's got a handful of links, such as Gizmo Project and Wimpy Player that I'm trying out.

Andrew's a photographer and digital imaging consultant and if that interests you like it does me, you'll find that his podcast and blog here will have a number of cool and fun things.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Digital Audio is Everywhere


Let’s go back, oh, say, thirty years. The late 70s. The Bee Gees owned the pop charts. The Clash and Elvis Costello were busting out of England with what was referred to punk sounds. They were surrounded by the Buzzcocks, The Jam, Nick Lowe, Television, Wire, Iggy Pop and David Bowie.

We’d buy the music from those artists on vinyl LP’s. The singles would be pressed as 45 RPM records. Cassettes were in full bloom. And the artists were all still recording on analog tape.

Commercial digital recording of classical and jazz music began in the early 70s, pioneered by Japanese companies, according to Wikipedia. While experimental digital audio recordings exist from the 60s, it wasn’t until the early 70s that digital audio slowly moved nearer to the mainstream.

Back then, if a recording was digitally recorded, mixed and mastered, it was referred to as DDD. If the first step was an analog (tape) recording, but digitally mixed and mastered, it’s be called ADD.

After Ry Cooder recorded the first all-digital rock/pop album in late 1978 (Bop Til You Drop), the gates opened.

Now of course, digital audio is literally everywhere. In fact, it’s hard to find a source of audio that does NOT have a digital component. Your cell phone’s audio is ditigally processed. That CD you’re listening to is digital. iPods, iRivers and other portable music sources all rely on digital audio. If you load up your computer with CD’s or even transfer your old records to your computer, it has all now become digital bits.

There are digital jukeboxes, digital car stereos, digital audio receivers, and digital HD radio receivers in which the audio is transmitted and received in digital audio form.

In 2006, digital music (downloaded off of various legitimate websites) accounted for 10% of all music sales – about $2 billion. Yeah, Billion with a B. That’s expected to rise to 25% of all music sales within the next four years.

You can’t escape digital audio.

If you are an online business person and you do a teleseminar and make that conversation recording available, you’re dealing with digital audio.

If you podcast, you create, edit, sweeten, mix and publish using digital audio.

“But I do a video podcast,” you say. Right. Your audio is still digital.

High quality, small digital audio recorders are becoming lower in price. I’ve had a Marantz digital recorder for two years and it literally goes almost everywhere with me. If I take a trip, it goes into the backpack. I use it to take notes, record ambient sound, record conversations and meetings. I sleep with it to describe my midnight dreams, albeit in a somewhat muzzy voice sometimes!

There are small pen-sized digital audio recorder that can be used discreetly to make audio recordings. The digital note-taker has replaced the micro-cassette (although I still have a micro-cassette recorder that is still quite useful).

What’s the point of all this?

Simple. If you want an edge in technology, one good way is to learn how to record, manipulate, edit, and publish digital audio. You’d be surprised (perhaps not?) how many people who are fairly computer savvy – yet totally in the dark about digital audio. But really, it’s not that difficult.

This means – for starters – getting a piece of audio software, a decent microphone and perhaps even a small mixing board to control the level of the sounds into your computer.

It means being able to rip a CD’s contents into your PC or MAC. Learn how iTunes works. Learn how Audacity (the free audio recording software) works. Explore other software, such as MusicMatch or WinAmp. Listen to online radio stations.

With digital audio being ever-present it only makes sense to get up to speed on how it works. It becomes a marketing tool. It shows people you’re on top of things. It gives the perception that you know more than most.

Digital audio is everywhere. Now it’s up to you to add to the noise!

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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Switch-over to new Blogger causes email spasm...

Sorry about that! If you subscribe to the email updates from DigitalAudioWorld.com's blog, you recently got about 15 emails covering the last several posts. I don't know why it happened, but I can tell you what caused it: I switched over to the "New" Blogger yesterday and it apparently sent out the missives when it did the update.

My apologies...I don't think it'll happen again!
Gonzo Podcast 56: Roger Steffens Interview

January 17, 2006: Gonzo Podcast 56: In this entertaining and informative interview with Bob Marley archivist and former editor of The Beat magazine, Roger Steffens takes us inside the London High Court with his perspective on Wailers bass player Aston "Family Man" Barrett's £60 million lawsuit against the Marley estate and record company.

Tim 'Gonzo' Gordon Show Podcast

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Sony's Opening Door a Bit for Music in Podcasts

I don't think this is the answer that podcasters were looking for, but it's a start, even though it's a specific isolated incident. Perhaps more music companies will make it easier for podcasters, both pro and hobbyists, to use major music in their music podcasts.

Gotta love the comment by the exec with BMG's Legacy Recording, though:

Adam Block, SVP/GM of Sony BMG's Legacy Recordings, describes the podcasts as "essentially a movie trailer for our projects." Digital media strategist Ted Cohen, formerly of EMI, told the WSJ that "protecting" major label artists' songs from appearing in podcasts has backfired as a strategy. "We've protected them so well nobody knows they exist," he joked.

Check the story here...
Sony's Opening Door a Bit for Music in Podcasts

I don't think this is the answer that podcasters were looking for, but it's a start, even though it's a specific isolated incident. Perhaps more music companies will make it easier for podcasters, both pro and hobbyists, to use major music in their music podcasts.

Gotta love the comment by the exec with BMG's Legacy Recording, though:

Adam Block, SVP/GM of Sony BMG's Legacy Recordings, describes the podcasts as "essentially a movie trailer for our projects." Digital media strategist Ted Cohen, formerly of EMI, told the WSJ that "protecting" major label artists' songs from appearing in podcasts has backfired as a strategy. "We've protected them so well nobody knows they exist," he joked.

Check the story here...