How to Make an Audio Recording

Audio recordings of authors reading their works became a regular feature at qarrtsiluni with the Insecta issue (Nov.-Dec. 2007). The inclusion of a Flash player allows readers who have Flash (installed on more than 90 percent of all computers) to read along while they listen, rather than being taken to another page. But we also include a download link so visitors and subscribers have the option of using other players, such as QuickTime and iTunes. We feel that the ability to include audio alongside text is one of the most important innovations in poetry publishing since the invention of movable type, returning orality to its rightful position at the center of the verbal arts.

Making an audio recording is completely optional for authors, and has no bearing on whether our editors accept a submission (except in the case of spoken-word artists who include a recording as part of their original submission, and want us to consider it as a stand-alone piece). If you’ve never made a recording before, it may be easier than you think.

1. General considerations

  • We don’t insist on crystal-clear production, just easily understandable readings at a reasonable volume.
  • We can clean up and increase the volume of recordings for you. Dave has top-of-the-line audio software — and even almost knows how to use it! A heavy layer of white or brown noise, for example from a laptop motor, is probably not going to be a problem, though removing it may give the recording a bit of an echo-chamber effect.
  • We publish MP3s, but can convert from most other audio and video formats.
  • If you’re familiar with the technical side of recording, for a Flash player the MP3 sampling rate should be at either 44k or 22k per second. If that’s Greek to you (as it is to us), just make the recording as best you can.
  • Send your recording as an attachment to qarrtsiluni (at) gmail (dot) com. If it’s too large to go via email, post it to a free file delivery service, such as Senduit, YouSendIt, or DropSend.

2. Easiest options

  • Get someone else to do it for you. Know any audio engineers? If not, how about the folks at your local cable-access television or community radio station? Someone there might be willing to record you if you tell her it’s for a good cause.
  • Have a camcorder? Camcorders have pretty good mikes, and we can extract audio from AVI, MPEG, MOV and WMV files.
  • Have a telephone with a good, static-free connection? You can make a recording over the phone using blogtalkradio or GCast, which is apparently only available for residents of the U.S. or Canada. Note however that as of April 1, 2009, GCast will start charging U.S.$99/year for this service, so we no longer recommend it.
  • Have an iPhone? You can use a free application called iTalk and record yourself that way.
  • Or you can let us call you and we’ll record you over the phone. E-mail us to arrange a time.
  • Recordings made over the phone are, of course, only as good as the quality of the phone and the connection. If you want better sound quality, and you don’t have a camcorder, you need a microphone.

3. The most straight-forward approach: recording yourself with a microphone

  • Many laptops have built-in microphones. The quality of recordings made on such mikes can sometimes be pretty good, and most of the time will be good enough for our purposes.
  • If you have an iPod or other portable music device, you may be able to use that. Many brands apparently have built-in mikes.
  • For desktops, plug-in mikes designed for dictation and web-based phone services can be purchased for less than US$40. Portable MP3 recorders are also inexpensive and are of course ideal for just this sort of thing. But if you don’t already have access to this kind of hardware, please don’t purchase it just to record a poem for us! We mention these alternatives in case you plan to get into regular audio production, for example for publication on your own blog.
  • For software, we recommend Audacity, which is free to download and easy to learn for anyone with basic computer skills. (Dave can walk you through it if you run into difficulties.)
  • If you’re a Mac user, you should already have a great audio software system on your machine — GarageBand.

4. Recording online

  • If you do have a microphone, but don’t want to mess with software, you can try using a free web-based audio recorder.
  • You don’t have to handle any of the technical aspects of recording yourself — but you won’t be able to edit. You simply have to record multiple takes until you get one you like.
  • One of the best such services we’ve found is the aforementioned GCast, which is from the same people who make GarageBand.
  • Another web-based service that seems to work pretty well is WildVoice, though it does require that you have Windows XP on your machine.
  • Web services come and go. (Odeo, for example, no longer has a working online recorder.) Please let us know about any other options we should list here.

5. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you run into any difficulties along the way. Some details — such as finding the blasted download link on GCast — trip lots of people up; there’s no need to be ashamed.