Do It In The Kitchen

During the past thirty plus years, I’ve learned a few things about recording stories — first as co-owner of a recording studio in Bozeman and then as a producer for an NPR-affiliate station at the University of Montana in Missoula. I’ve traveled across Montana, Idaho, and Washington State to set up recording equipment and conduct interviews in utility closets, farm fields, libraries, bedrooms, and hotel rooms. Between 2017 and the arrival of COVID-19, I roamed around Los Angeles County recording interviews and voice-overs for podcasts.

Back in Montana, I’ve continued my audio production work as a freelancer, recording myself and others in more closets, fields, libraries, hotel rooms, and, yes, kitchens. In fact, my own kitchen often becomes a studio whenever I need to record a voice-over for a news story, narrate books or online articles, or make practice vocal harmony recordings to share with members of my ukulele band, Ukephoria Montana. But enough about me. What about you? What recording project do you have in mind?

Whether you want to record one story or stories from all 42 members of your extended family, information on this blog can guide you through the process.

Don’t know what an .mp3 file is? No problem. Find out more in this "Know Your Stuff" post. Can’t tell an XLR input from a USB port? This post will explain.

Some people get nervous when a microphone is put in front of their faces — or anywhere in the room they’re in, for that matter. Nervous people tend to make poor recordings. They stumble and stammer. Their mouths get dry, which causes icky, sticky, clicky mouth noises when they talk. Editing all those mouth noises out of my recordings has never been fun, so I developed strategies to put people at ease when they’re near a microphone.

There’s lots to learn. But the posts on this blog break big info down into small chunks so you can acquire whatever knowledge you need — based on your situation and goals — one step at a time, without feeling overwhelmed.

If procrastination is a problem, you might enjoy reading about how my chocolate habit escalated until I had to take action and get back to work.

If you don't find the information you need, send your questions to me at info@magpieaudioproductions.com.