Three Patch Podcast, Episode 24 ... with me!

[swissmarg]

I was very flattered and excited to be asked by threepatch to join in the roundtable discussion on the Parentlock genre in the Sherlock fandom for their June 2014 podcast:

Episode 24: Looking for Baby Names

So if you are interested in some thoughts from me, madlori, earlgreytea68, emmagrant01, and avawatson, have a listen. Also lots of other goodies, including fandom news, Sorting Major Sholto, a discussion on Baby Watson, and lots of recs.

Comments

[avawatson]

I'm always down for squeeing about fic, but I really did enjoy our roundtable. :) And hope you come back for more!

[swissmarg]

I would love to be involved again if they do a topic that is a good fit for me. Although I wish I had better recording equipment so the quality would be better.

[avawatson]

I don't know how your money situation is, but the pretty cheap mics aren't actually too bad! For the most part, any mic will do better than the mic built into the physical computer. Walmart, Radioshack, Best Buy, and definitely websites like Amazon have decent quality mics in the $15-25 range. You're probably looking at getting a free-standing mic, likely unidirectional instead of omnidirectional for purposes of picking up one person's voice -- or headsets work well too, though probably more expensive than the free-standing mics that look more like big plastic antennas. And actually, if you had anyone in the house with a gaming headset and it had a USB or regular audio jack you could plug into the USB/mic port on your computer, you could even use that (barring angry guildmates and the like). There certainly ARE mics in the $50-100 range, but unless you're trying to set up your own studio, there's usually no need.

And if all else fails, buying from a retail outlet is also nice because they might have a policy that lets you return it. :)

Apart from that, constant noise, at least, like fans, are the main issue, because they just add so much noise to a track. But we at the podcast are getting better at filtering out noise like that in post. IF it's constant anyway; it's more difficult or next to impossible if it's something that comes and goes, like a police siren or a cat meowing in the middle of a sentence.

And oh look, I just brainsplat about mics and recording. Eep.

[swissmarg]

However: I live in Switzerland, where everything is *at least* twice as expensive as in the US. Yes, I can order online, but I have to pay shipping and customs which puts the price up even higher than buying in a store here. I was using my son's gaming headset. Maybe I did something wrong with the Audacity settings. Or, yes, my computer fan might have been a factor. It gets really loud at night when the computer's been on all day. Well, if it ever came to another podcast, I would try looking into it all in more detail.

[avawatson]

Ahh, I see! So that's where the Swiss bit comes from, gotcha. :) **clouds open up, understanding dawns** Sorry for over-rambling then! Hm, maybe something in the Audacity settings then. I have a generally free schedule for coordinating with folks from all time zones, so maybe in future I or someone from the podcast can sit with you on skype for a bit and try to troubleshoot. We can come to that bridge later though. My point remains: it was fun having you on. :)

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

And I loved hearing your voice!

[swissmarg]

Yeah, it's funny to hear someone you only know from online. Reveal: I'm American!