On this page are awesome audio recording products that you can buy on Amazon (except for our digital products). They include the gear (mics, interface units, software, etc.) that Ken uses every day in the studio.
Home Brew Audio Tutorials and eBooks
Our Tutorials and eBooks – These are our helpful video tutorial courses: Newbies Guide To Audio Recording Awesomeness 1: The Free Home Recording Studio, Newbies Guide To Audio Recording Awesomeness 2: Pro Recording With Reaper, Harmony Recording Awesomeness, and How to Build a Home Recording Studio. In addition to those, you’ll find our eBooks, 6 Mostly Free Tips For Making Your Audio Sound Expensive Content.
The gear I use every day
Software:
Reaper Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) – This is the software I use exclusively for all my recording and mixing. When recording songs, using a DAW is essential because you can do multi-track recording, putting every sound on its own track. You can then control the volume, panning and effects for each track so that everything blends together nicely before you render/”mix down” your final product. For voice over recording, DAWs are useful for the both the multi-track aspect of things (adding multiple voices, sound effects, background music, etc.), and for the non-destructive nature of the production. So you can slice up and edit your audio all you want and the underlying audio file will remain as it was. As with music, when you are done with your production, simply render the result and a new file will be created that has all the edits, effects, and mixed-together audio in one final produced file.
Adobe Audition – This amazing software is what I use for editing my audio files. What’s the difference between using a DAW like Reaper and an audio editor? Well in an editor, you work on one single audio file at a time.
It is much easier to edit parts of one audio file this way. You can zoom in on little parts of the audio and increase or decrease the volume quickly and easily. Apply noise reductions, silence section of audio – in between phrases, for example, and apply dynamics (compression, normalization, etc.) to parts or all of the audio file, leaving the file intact. You CAN do most of these things in a DAW,
but it can be more difficult and often results in having to slide up the audio item into many smaller bits, which can make for a more confusing workspace and even cause hiccups in the continuity of the sound if you’re not careful.
It is much easier to edit parts of one audio file this way. You can zoom in on little parts of the audio and increase or decrease the volume quickly and easily. Apply noise reductions, silence section of audio – in between phrases, for example, and apply dynamics (compression, normalization, etc.) to parts or all of the audio file, leaving the file intact. You CAN do most of these things in a DAW,
but it can be more difficult and often results in having to slide up the audio item into many smaller bits, which can make for a more confusing workspace and even cause hiccups in the continuity of the sound if you’re not careful.
Microphones:
Rode NT2-A Large Diaphragm Condenser LDC) Mic – This is my go-to LDC mic. It’s a professional grade mic that is perfect for vocals. But as with most LDCs, it’s a great all-around mic, good for acoustic instruments, room/overhead mics, etc. This mic also has switchable patterns! that means you can choose between directional (cardioid), bi-directional (figure-8), and Omnidirectional.
Electro-Voice RE20 Dynamic Mic – This is my absolute favorite vocal mic EVER. Okay, I clearly have not tired EVERY mic in the world. But this mic truly gives that rich, radio-friendly vocal sound that is fantastic for voice over recording. I also now use it for my singing mic as well. It’s a “dynamic” mic, which is not the kind typically recommended for vocals unless you can afford one of these babies (about $475). Being dynamic, this mic is not as susceptible to that scourge of voice over recording. the dreaded p-pop. That is a huge bonus for me. It allows me to cut the editing time for a voice over job in half, since I don’t have to edit out every p-pop.
Shure SM81 Small Diaphragm Condenser Mic – This is the mic I use for all acoustic guitar recording. I also use it as a shotgun mic when recording talking-head videos.
Interface Units:
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface – Excellent quality audio interface that plugs into your computer via USB. You plug a microphone (or instrument) into the Scarlett, which contains a preamp and converter, and then sends pristine audio to your audio recording software.