Hello there! I did a music tech degree (when I thought I might be a famous musician!!) so can give you some insight for sure. The main thing to remember about any audio recording is the old saying, "you can't polish a turd". Hope that's not too rude - but it's really important to remember! Use a decent microphone. You don't need to invest crazy amounts of money, but something of good quality will do fine. I use a Samson Meteor Mic which is about 50-60USD I think. I travel with it too and it's rugged and suffers a fair bit of abuse. Had it for 3 years now. Get your recording environment as quiet as possible. Harder for some than others. Try to reduce echo in your room, too. You want to record in a room that's got lots of stuff in it really. Carpets, furniture etc etc. All reduces echo. You can buy soundproof options for cheap if you look hard. Audacity is a free piece of software that has some ridiculously good audio effects, often better than a lot of paid software. Get this program! You'll need to learn how to use the effects, just google it. After a bit of playing around you'll work it out! In this order.... ---> Noise reduction -> Compression -> EQ -> Volume down 0.5DB if needed Sounds complicated but it really takes no time to do. The noise reduction effect is amazing. Way better than many other expensive similar pieces of software. Also, don't stress too hard about getting a perfect, BBC quality audio recording. I don't have a perfect room and live in a busy area, so do get some echo and outside noise pollution in my recordings. The courses generally sell for 10USD. This isn't an excuse, but spending 20 hours setup time and 800USD on gear might not be right for everyone, especially if you're starting out. A good recording is a good recording. Remember the old saying above (polishing one!), use noise reduction/compression - you'll be fine! And get a pop shield if you can too!
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