As Will explained, as technology has advanced rapidly, even the cheaper end omnidirectional microphones are extremely effective in their ability to pick up ambient noises. For example, if you are trying to record a spoken word interview, and use an omnidirectional mic, the recording will be potentially unusable. The above graph shows how different microphone types have different pick-up ranges, which is a very important component of audio recording, though it is not often considered by those of us new to recording audio with a microphone. One of the things that interested me during this discussion was the issue of “room noise”, and the polar patterns of different microphone types. As it turns out, recording good audio is no simple task, but Will guided the discussion nimbly and provided a lot of great information. I have used digital audio workstations for some time, to record and edit music from synthesizers and drum machines, but I rarely use a microphone, and hardly consider the complex issue of recording spoken word or ambient noises. The Lab’s Coordinator and resident audio expert, Will Burdette ran the workshop, and led the attendees through both a theoretical discussion of digital technologies and genres, and an exercise where staffers had to produce a short audio clip in Garageband. This last week’s workshop circled around audio: from genres of audio, strategies for using audio, finding audio that is usable (and legal), and of course recording hardware and editing software. Last Friday, The DWRL hosted one of its bi-weekly digital literacy workshops, where staff members can increase their digital literacy and ascertain useful skills for the digital world we live in. Will Burdette, DWRL Coordinator, shows staff some useful open-access audio databases for sampling.
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