Using Skype for Phoners and Production

I receive the occasional question ...usually from a home-studio producer... on the easiest way to record a telephone interview in the digital medium. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is the use of a Gentner hybrid interface or even a Telos, assuming the session is on an ISDN circuit.

One inquiry, however was particularly complex and involved recording an interview on the phone. It didn't help matters that my colleague was on vacation in the Caribbean, miles away from the nearest studio. With laptop in hand and ProTools M-Box at his disposal, we tinkered with a few scenarios on how to record the interview as an MP3 file...something he could edit and e-mail to his producer at the radio station.

Enter Skype to the rescue! Skype taps into the speed and quality of VOIP. With a couple of quick software downloads, our intrepid explorer/producer was up and running in no time.

Thanks to David at ContentDeveloper.com for writing this thorough article on how to make it work.

Add a Stereo Mic to your collection

Okay, it's not everyday that a Production Director has a practical use for a Stereo Mic. However, a couple of applications come to mind: 1) You want to get out into the field and record some of your own Stereo sound effects; or 2) that bit for the morning show would really sound hot with a little spacial quality to it.

Well, whatever your reason might be for owning a Stereo Mic, Superlux announces the release of the E 522/B Stereo Mic. Hey, at $100, it's easy to add two to your collection. Can you say, "Quad Stereo?"

M-AUDIO ver 1.5 Release

M-Audio announces the release of version 1.5. This version makes M-Audio Session compatible with Windows Vista, and it also features some cool enhancements, too.

Download the update here.

Portable CD Recorder by Marantz

CD Recording is fairly commonplace in today's studio environment. However, finding a good field recorder has been hit or miss. Marantz, who has a durable line of MiniDisc and Flash recorders on the market announces the CDR310 CD Recorder.

Pro Tools for Windows Vista

Pro Tools for Windows Vista arrives this Summer. What's more, the entire line including Pro Tools LE, Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools M-Powered will be available for Vista. That's good news if you're planning to upgrade hardware with Vista pre-installed.

Western Digital AV Drives

We came across this info a couple of weeks ago (sorry for the delay, but one too many radio station reunion parties have been keeping us running). Western Digital introduces a new line of internal hard drives with audio and video editing in mind. With a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) of 1-million hours, and whisper-quiet operation, these drives are an editor's dream device. The drives are designed specifically for 24/7 operation.

If you're like me and like to tinker inside the chassis, it may be worth looking at these new WD's. The drives are available direct through the company's distribution network.

The New Nimbus Line

Rain Recording of New Jersey rolls out its new Nimbus line of computers. These beefy machines are designed specifically for audio recording, and the newest model comes packed with Dual Core processors, aluminum construction that keeps mission critical drives and processors cool and quiet, six USB 2.0 ports and two 80 Gig internal drives that operate at 7200rpm. Although the price moves you close to Mac territory, it's not too far out of expectation considering the durable reputation of their previous models.