Quick Guide to Recording Your Show at Home

This is a very brief guide on how you can keep your program on air without going in to the radio station.

The CMTO hosted a webinar on THURSDAY 26th of March, 2020 exploring with much detail, how to make content remotely.

Check with your station on how they are supporting volunteers to record their programs remotely.

We have lots of resources here that will help you with sound quality and editing tips.

There are several methods of pre-recording your program from home depending on what equipment you have available.

Equipment you will need:

A computer or laptop with a good amount of space to store audio
An external hard drive (backup and extra space to keep files off your computer)
Portable recording device or a headset with a microphone or a mobile phone voice recorder
Sound editing software (Audacity is free and Hindenburg have a 30 day free trial)

The Drop-In Method:

This method will require you to have your program content ready to go before you record it, just as you would if it was live in the studio.

1. Create a runsheet including your scripted mic-breaks, music and any other audio you will be using such as a pre-recorded interviews, CSA’s or station I.D’s. This will be your guide when you are ready to put it together.

2. Using your portable recorder, mobile phone or headset, record your script one mic-break at a time. For example- record your program introduction and label it Voice_link_1.wav

3. Export the recorded voice links onto your computer or external hard drive and make a folder titled Raw Audio (raw meaning unedited) you will listen back to each voice link and edit any unwanted audio and clean it up ready to drop into the sound editing software.

4. When you have recorded all the voice links and edited them you can now begin to put your program together using your audio editing software.

5. Open a new project in your sound editing software and follow your runsheet as a guide to dropping your audio into the tracks of your audio editing software. You can use one to two tracks on your software to add the files in.

For example- using two tracks of your software interface.

Track 1	Show Opener
Track 2	*Voice Link 1*
Track 1	Song1
Track 2	Song 2
Track 1	*Voice link 2*
Track 2	Pre-recorded interview
Track 1	Station ID
Track 2	*Voice Link 3*

Mix down your program

Once you have dropped in all the audio files, it’s a good idea to listen back to each transition, ensuring there is no overlapping audio and that your links flow smoothly through the program.

When you are happy with your program mix it down to one file saving it as a copy that is .wav and a copy that is .mp3.

Sending your program to the station

There will be someone at your station who will be responsible for receiving pre-recorded files and putting them to air.

Ask them which format they prefer .wav or .mp3 or other. You can use an online file share platform to send your program file by uploading it ready to download.

You can use Dropbox or Google Drive and share their links with the person responsible for scheduling pre-recorded content at your station.