Using the Radio Equipment Using the Radio Equipment is not as complicated as it will look at first. Everything you’ll ever need to know is in this manual, and it’s only a few pages! Firstly, after logging in on the Radio Computer, load up a program called Audacity.
The first thing you should do in this software is set the Preferences to receive the signal from the mixing desk – that is linked to all the microphones you’ll be talking into. Go to Edit>Preferences Change both the Playback Device and Recording Device to PHASE 22 WAVE.
Now you have told Audacity to receive the recording signal from the mixing desk, and to output via the headphone amp that is linked to all the numbered headphones near the microphones.
Things to remember; The number on the headphones is also the number of the microphone they should work, and the channel on the mixing desk that would change the volume of your voice. So if you speak into microphone 2, line 2 on the mixing desk would control your voice, and your assigned headphone are set “2”. The headphone volume is operated from the headphone amp near the computer monitor, also number related to the mic/headphone set/line. Always turn down your headphone volume using the headphone amp, not the mixing desk as this will change your recording quality. So by now you should have a signal coming through your headphones and be able to hear talking. The next step is to check your input levels both on the desk and in Audacity. We do this by first putting all the “Faders” to 0 – only for all the microphones you are going to use. Also make sure both the yellow faders on the right are up, this is your Master Volume.
This is the default position of a recording project, however if for example the voice actor on microphone 2 is too quiet you can adjust their individual input by raising or lowering their fader aka Channel 2/Fader 2.
If you need more volume still, try turning up the red “Gain” switches at the top of the mixing desk.
You may find with male vocals and female vocals there is a significantly different sound, as males tend to be a lot deeper. You can change your frequencies to adhere to this change, be careful though as this is an “ear test” – it relies on your professional opinion.
To add more high end to a vocal sound (if it sounds muffled), turn the HF (High Frequency) switch. To add more mid-range to a vocal sound (if it sounds hollow in the middle), turn the MID switch.
To add more low end/bass to the vocal sound, turn up/down the LF (Low Frequency) switch.
Now we’ve equalised and mixed our vocals so they are all at a balanced level with each other, we are ready to record. Start with a quick sound-check, press record and just see how your recording looks in its finished form. The waveform may look really small and narrow, this isn’t good. The best way to control your input level/waveform is by using the Yellow Faders/Master Volume. Try and keep the volume signal no higher than the yellow lightbulbs.
You should be looking to eliminate the recording from “Peaking”, which is when the waveform crosses over the top of the preview window. In this example we can see a healthy looking recording, it’s not too quiet and it doesn’t peak.
The waveform shown above ticks all the boxes and is ready to export as a finished sound file. Audacity works best with .wav files, as .mp3 doesn’t really work. Always export as a .wav file. When Audacity exports it combines all of the visible Audio Tracks, meaning that all of the Audio in the project will be combined into one .wav file. The best way to handle this is by exporting each “take” separately and saving it, then deleting it from your project. YOU CAN DEFINITELY USE .WAV FILES IN ADOBE PREMIERE. RECORD IN AUDACITY, EDIT YOUR RADIO PROJECT IN PREMIERE!