I kind of cheated, because most of the audio was recorded and mixed by a professional at a real studio back in 2001 (backstory and original audio clip here). Incidentally that was before I ever became a teacher. I don’t ever really sound like that in a college classroom.

All I did was drag that mp3 into a new GarageBand project, plug in my USB mic, and record myself saying “listen to your ds106 radio” on a new vocal track. To get the echo I added the Vocal Reflection to the recorded track. Then it was as simple as selecting Share > Send to iTunes from the menu bar. Since I had pre-set iTunes to import audio as a 64-bit stereo mp3, that’s what I got. In iTunes, I right-clicked the new file and chose Reveal in Finder, dragged it to my desktop and uploaded it at http://www.dropitto.me/ds106. I’ll be stoked if I actually hear it on #ds106radio!

So, did I heroically rush to my husband’s aid, or stop to comfort the cat? No. I ran for my video camera.

This footage shot on my Xacti HD1A, which is crummy in low light and does not get the best audio. In fact, the audio is my biggest disappointment. The thunder was so loud the Xacti just couldn’t handle it, so you’ll hear distortion instead of multilayered crackly surround-sound thunder. But you can imagine it. Just think back to the first time you heard really loud thunder as a kid. That’s it.

I let the camera roll for 15 minutes. For that entire time there was a lightning strike approximately every 30 seconds. I’ve condensed it down to 10-15 seconds apart rather than subject anyone to a 15 minute video. It’s still too long, but weather nuts like me will probably enjoy it.

Funny stuff happened during the storm. Note the screen shot from the video. That lightning is between me and my back fence less than 30 yards away. (You can’t see it in the small version of the video, which is why there’s an AppleTV version for download.) Yet we can’t find any trace of the strike in our yard. The power went out for a split second, but not long enough to reset most of our clocks. But when it came back on our evaporative cooler started up of its own accord and pressurized the house. We thought it was wind blowing through the attic until we noticed the AC unit wouldn’t stop running. Eventually we sorted everything out, but we didn’t get back to sleep until 4am. The neighbors with dogs definitely had it worse. The stray cat that lives outside is all fluffy and clean now, and all the plants are happy plants today.

The biggest thing people were surprised about was that I recorded the audio live (instead of using pre-recorded audio from a CD), and that I did it in only three takes. Actually I should clarify – I did three stationary takes for the audio, then three more to get the shots where the camera is moving around the singers (and those were without audio). The natural next question from a lot of people was “what mic did you use,” or “what was your audio set-up?” So here follows a list of the equipment I used and a description of the recording set-up. (Please note, if the product link is to a seller rather than the manufacturer, it’s not because I necessarily recommend that seller. Some manufacturer sites make you select a language before entering the site, and that messes up direct linking to their product sheets.) I’ll start the list with the mic and work my way back to the camera.

• Microphone: audio-technica AT831b omnidirectional lavalier mic, wind-screen ON
• 60ft XLR cable
• XLR to mini adapter: BeachTek DXA-4 dual XLR adapter (warning, link contains flash with audio)
• Camera: Panasonic PV-GS65 3-chip mini-DV camcorder
• Cheap .5x wide angle lens attached to the camera
• good stationary tripod or poor man’s steadicam or handheld for the shots
• and of course headphones from the camera to my ears to make sure I was getting something

And the arrangement for the 3 audio takes were with the camera stationary on the tripod, and the mic run up the branches of the mesquite tree and taped there with black gaffer’s tape to hide the wire from the camera. The mic was approximately centered between the two musicians and three feet above the singer’s head.

The audio you hear of a bird was just one that happened to be nearby during recording, and it chose that moment to jam with the band. The audio of the guns going off was from the camera mic on a handheld shot. We got permission from those guys to shoot video of them. They were actually out there doing it right – practicing gun safety and cleaning up after themselves. But we weren’t finding any gangstas or marine wannabes that day, and we needed something!

If you have more questions regarding the setup or any of the shoot, ask in a comment and I will answer there. Subscribe-To-Comments is now on by default, so deactivate it if you don’t want to hear back via email.

Since it rained today, I could not photograph the tree removal, so I decided to post this critter instead. Maybe it will help someone considering buying a voice recorder if they can see how it works. On the whole, I recommend this gadget! I used it to record long meeting for podcast on my neighborhood website, and it worked like a dream.

If you want one, they can be had for cheap over at Amazon, and if you buy one by clicking my Amazon link I will put any earnings back into Node101 Phoenix. It’s always great to buy direct from the maker, too, which you can do at XtremeMac’s MicroMemo page.