Creating your own Streaming Audio studio has never been easier. There are so many great products today that allows you to produce high-quality streaming audio at a fraction of the price it used to cost.
HARDWARE:
The first thing you will need is a compatible computer. Today, every new computer comes with everything you need. Basic sound card with microphone and line jack. If you don't have a sound card, they are very cheap and you can get a good one at any regular computer store.
You will also need a good microphone. They come in all sizes and shapes with different configurations, but a general all-around mic like the Logitech Noise Canceling Mic is fine for beginners. I suggest you get a tabletop to start with as you may want to switch to the video later and so you won't want headphones in your videos.
Of course, you could go on stage and get a professional mic preamp, but that will start costing you some dollars, and the whole point of this article is to get you started.
You'll also want to get some cables to connect your tape deck and other audio equipment. Once again, computer stores now have packages that will do a very good job of connecting any device to a computer and digitizing your audio. You want to record directly to your computer, but you can also get those old tapes and vinyl records into digital format.
SOFTWARE - UPLOAD:
Audio recording is probably one of the most critical parts of the process, and again, you can get software that ranges from free to many thousands of dollars. For this exercise, I recommend you download a free copy of Audacity. This is an excellent free software package that allows you to record from a microphone or any device you have.
It provides excellent editing options and also allows you to edit multiple tracks and then combine them into a single track. For a quick overview of how to do this, you can watch this video and also download the software
http://mp3soundstream.com/Audacity_Tutorial_-_Free_Audio_Editing_Software.html
SOFTWARE - CONVERSION:
Another piece of software you'll need for your studio is a conversion program that allows you to convert between different formats. For example, you may have a real audio file and want to convert it to mp3. dBpoweramp is like the swiss army knife of the audio industry and will convert almost any file to any other format.
Almost every audio type is supported for conversion from one format to another: mp3, mp4, Windows Media Audio (WMA), Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Monkeys Audio, FLAC, and many others while preserving ID tags. It will also rip the CD for you.
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.html
SOFTWARE - REDUCTION:
If you are going to stream the mp3 directly, you may want to recompile the file to a smaller format. RazorLame is a so-called "front-end" for use with LAME. LAME is a great MP3-Encoder, it is very fast, produces high-quality files, has many advanced features (like Variable Bitrates and Joint-Stereo), and is open source. Unfortunately, it's a command-line tool, and that's where RazorLame comes in: It provides an easy-to-use graphical user interface that makes MP3 encoding even easier!
The best way to use this software is to get a single file and compile it in a few different formats to test size versus quality.
http://www.dors.de/razorlame/download.php
SOFTWARE - STREAMING:
There are several different ways to stream new audio files. If you have Macromedia products, you can easily organize this yourself, but some great third-party programs will do it all for you at a fraction of the cost.
MP3 SOUND STREAM:
This is a simple software that will take any mp3 or wave audio and convert the entire file to an SWF file and then attach a button so viewers can listen on the web page without having to download any additional software. This is because the flash plugin is on 98% of the calculations and if not, it will automatically detect and load the small plugin. This is great for anyone who doesn't want to get into all the technical aspects of streaming audio.
With this program,, you won't need to shrink files at all because it will do it all for you. This is perfect for anyone who wants to stream one file at a time and wants to do it quickly and efficiently. It will also stream over most modem connections.
http://www.mp3soundstream.com
MSIJUKEBOX:
For people who want to stream multiple files, MSIJukebox is a great alternative. This software allows you to select any number of mp3 files and then organize them using an XML file. Using the free programs listed above, you can significantly reduce the size of these files and save on bandwidth.
Since the MSIJukebox streams current mp3s, you can also have much higher-quality playback including stereo files. This is much better for those who want to stream several very high-quality mp3 files.
http://www.msijukebox.com
SUMMARY:
So there you have it. A complete studio for under $100. Just download all the free software and buy any streaming audio product you want. You can then create, edit and manipulate any audio files you like. You will also be able to add these audio to your website.
As web surfers become much more "web-savvy" than they were a year ago, they expect not only information but also an entertaining web experience.
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