Hello audio techs! I'm a web programmer with a background in broadcast
audio. I'm looking for some advice.

We are building a website for a church that would like to record its
sermons and make them available on the site as an MP3 download. They
have a band that plays but I they want vocal only. Simple.

Existing tech:

-A Mackie 24-4 Mixer
-That's basically it.

We'd like the ability to record the sermon (1.5 hrs or so) and then
make it available later that day. Ideally, the system would be idiot
proof. There's usually a competant sound guy around but that's not
guaranteed and it's also not a guarantee that they will be a computer
user. We'd like the system to be as simple as possible to run.

How would you put this system together?

Thanks for your time.

jay wrote ...
We'd like the ability to record the sermon (1.5 hrs or so) and then
make it available later that day. Ideally, the system would be idiot
proof. There's usually a competant sound guy around but that's not
guaranteed and it's also not a guarantee that they will be a computer
user. We'd like the system to be as simple as possible to run.

How would you put this system together?

The simplest would be to record directly to a computer
where you could trim the recording(s) and output to MP3
within minutes after the conclusion of the service.

However, if you have only semi-skilled help running the
mixer, and not necessarily anyone computer-literate, the
most reliable way would likely be to use an audio CD
recorder so that you could take the resulting disc and
"rip" it into the computer, do whatever editorial you need,
and then output as MP3. I would run whatever your
current recording method (cassette?) as a backup to the
audio CD recorder, at least until it is percieved as trust-
worthy.

Thanks for replying!

That seems like it could work out okay. I guess, like anything, a
little training would be beneficial. If anyone else has sugestions
please chime in, I'm here to absorb your collective wisdom.

wrote in message
oups.com
Hello audio techs! I'm a web programmer with a background
in broadcast audio. I'm looking for some advice.

We are building a website for a church that would like to
record its sermons and make them available on the site as
an MP3 download. They have a band that plays but I they
want vocal only. Simple.

Existing tech:

-A Mackie 24-4 Mixer
-That's basically it.

We'd like the ability to record the sermon (1.5 hrs or
so) and then make it available later that day. Ideally,
the system would be idiot proof. There's usually a
competant sound guy around but that's not guaranteed and
it's also not a guarantee that they will be a computer
user. We'd like the system to be as simple as possible to
run.

How would you put this system together?

Depends on how long the sermons are.

If they are less than 80 minutes, then a stand-alone CD-R
makes a good tool. We have a HHB at church, but if I did the
CD recorder thing again I'd look harder at the Tascam.

You can make far longer audio recordings with a stand-alone
digital recorder using a stand-alone DVD recorder. I have a
friend who uses one for safety recordings at band
competitions, etc. The audio is compressed, but really
pretty good.

A stand-alone high quality flash recorder such as the
M-Audio MT 2496 seems like an excellent alternative. Far
less costly than the pro CD-R recorder, and with far higher
capacity.

You may want to front-end the recorder with a compressor to
reduce the dynamics. Or, fix the levels in post-production.

If you record a whole service from the output of a sound
board the music tends to be way louder than the sermon, even
though they are both at preferred levels in the room.

Arny: Thanks, i haven't looked into flash recorders but that sound
really promising. Overall cost is an issue.

The recordings will be one and a half hours or less and will be
strictly vocal. Due to licensing we won't be recording the worship
team. Our best bet, I think, would be to get the best quality mix onto
the intitial recording as there won't be any kind of reliability in
post-production.

I'm having a meeting with the leaders at the church today and I'll get
a better idea of what type of quality they are expecting and exactly
how they want them to be made available online.

Minidisk will record up to 5 hours on each reusable disk at LP4
compression. Quality in that mode is much more than adequate for voice.

Unfortunately you can't load the minidisk directly to the PC as data;
you have to play back and re-record, which means resampling and
occasional artifacts from that. Even so...

"Joe Kesselman" wrote in
message
Minidisk will record up to 5 hours on each reusable disk
at LP4 compression. Quality in that mode is much more
than adequate for voice.
Unfortunately you can't load the minidisk directly to the
PC as data; you have to play back and re-record, which
means resampling and occasional artifacts from that. Even
so...

A bigger practical issue - you generally have to load MDs in
real time.

Most of the options I mentioned transfer data to the PC many
times faster than real time.

Arny Krueger wrote:
A bigger practical issue - you generally have to load MDs in
real time.

Point granted. OTOH, once you figure out the proper level, that's a
push-button-and-go-eat-dinner operation.

Arny Krueger wrote:

A stand-alone high quality flash recorder such as the
M-Audio MT 2496 seems like an excellent alternative. Far
less costly than the pro CD-R recorder, and with far higher
capacity.

It is a peculiar contraption, in as much as they have started selling
them prior to - it seems - even constructing them, but it may work for
the task. However with the stated duration of the event the single file
recording time in high quality mode is limited as it appears to have an
(incompetent) 2 GB file size limitation, one that ought to have been 4
GB if they had grasped what the .wav file format is about.

It would be a wonderful box if it worked as it is claimed to do, and
once it gets to a finished, market ready version, it mayu well be a
wonderful box, but currently - from an owner of one of them that I know
- it still has too many oddities.

Edirol seems to have a more usable product, but I do not know the
detrails of their product line. Also, since it is a stationary setup, it
could be simpler to record directly to a small desktop computer with a
large drive, a dvd-burner and a suitable sound card.

You may want to front-end the recorder with a compressor to
reduce the dynamics. Or, fix the levels in post-production.

There is no technical need for compression prior to recording, from that
viewpoint doing it in post is wiser. It may also be that the no
compression is required, but it probably is because the voice dynamics
that work in a large room may appear extreme in a small room.

If you record a whole service from the output of a sound
board the music tends to be way louder than the sermon, even
though they are both at preferred levels in the room.

--
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* My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk *
*******************************************

"Joe Kesselman" wrote in
message
Arny Krueger wrote:

A bigger practical issue - you generally have to load
MDs in real time.

Point granted. OTOH, once you figure out the proper
level, that's a push-button-and-go-eat-dinner operation.

I've got years of experience with both real time and high
speed transfers. By now my preferences should be obvious!

It turns out that you can't always comfortably wait out the
transfer. Something comes up, and the 90 minutes of real
time gets to be an issue.

I think, probably, the best option right now would be to get an
inexpensive PC with Audition or something along those lines. Then,
teach the sound guys how to record the sermons and convert to mp3. Then
the mp3 can be transferred to the file server for the website. That
seems to be the simplest method in terms of engineer interaction.