I’ve played around as a church p.a. engineer for the last decade and while by no means professional I can get a reasonable sound out of the desk. I would now like to start making recordings of sermons and conference sessions and immediately find myself with some questions which I’d be grateful of some answers/opinions on please:
Is a line out - to line in on my laptop going to be sufficient?
If not,
Are there any line out - to USB input options available.
Audacity has been highly recommended but I’m new to this so is there a glossary of ‘digital recording acronyms/slang’ that I can get from somewhere?
An important thing I am looking for is to be able to take a recording - either a new one and to do this as the recording is being made - or from an old audio tape being digitally re-recorded, but then to create ‘splits’ in a recording. I don’t mean tracks, as on a commercially recorded CD, but something where a recording can be listened too and when the listener wants to skip back by say 30 seconds to re-listen to something, without having to go back to the beginning of the recording.
i.e. Input: Audio Cassette - Line In - Audacity used to ‘capture’ a 45 minute talky bit, but can I split that 45 minute talky bit down into 22/23 x 2 minute sections, so I can skip backwards and forwards easily when listening?
Can you see now why I need a glossary of terms!
If what I am trying to describe in Q.4 above is a function of Audacity - then can someone tell me what is the official name for that and where do I find it please.
An important thing I am looking for is to be able to take a recording - either a new one and to do this as the recording is being made - or from an old audio tape being digitally re-recorded, but then to create ‘splits’ in a recording. I don’t mean tracks, as on a commercially recorded CD, but something where a recording can be listened too and when the listener wants to skip back by say 30 seconds to re-listen to something, without having to go back to the beginning of the recording.
Have a practice with Audacity using short audio clips before you get started on a long project. Pay particular attention to the difference between “Save” and “Export”.
You can back up anywhere in a commercial music CD by scanning backwards. There is no provision to automatically back up 30 seconds from any arbitrary point. I record radio talk shows for use in the car and I’m frequently scanning backwards fifteen to thirty seconds to hear something I missed the first time.
I didn’t realize what this was doing to my head until the first time I needed to listen live and it drove me nuts. “What? What did he say? Here, scan back…Oh S!@#$&”
