How to make a voice recording?

Do you want to record an enticing audio greeting for new customers wanting to learn more about your business? Have your songs heard by the masses? Or deliver audio messages on a regular basis to your students? Thanks to the Internet and personal technology like iPods and MP3 players, your dreams can become reality.

Just as blogging allows all Internet users to write stories, news and articles, podcasting enables virtually anyone with a computer to record and share audio files. Your voice can reach millions of people around the world!

What is a podcast? 

A podcast is a pre-recorded audio program that website visitors can download and listen on their computers or personal digital audio players. It is intended to execute campaigns with promotional or educational purposes and penetrate consumer interest like no other online marketing tool. 

Podcasting combines the benefits of blogging with digital audio technology to create an almost endless supply of content. For example, you can make a voice recording if you want to:
•    tell about your new products or services, 
•    record your music for fans or music stations,
•    sell an audio seminar, 
•    offer a few spoken pages each week to entice customers to buy your books,
•    record your own lectures for students,
•    record your voice for distance learning courses,
•    post interviews with leaders in your particular niche.

How to record your audio?

Recording voice audio is not as complicated as it may seem. You need to purchase some audio recording gear to make your podcast sound professional, but there is no need to get a home studio or expensive high-end equipment. 

Are you ready to put your voice and talents to create your own podcast and distribute it over the Internet to millions of people? Here is how this process works:
1.    Plug in your microphone or headset.
2.    Install audio recording software.
3.    Write the script (the podcast shouldn’t sound amateurish).
4.    Create an audio file by making a voice recording and saving it to your computer. 
5.    Upload the audio file to your website or podcast website. 

Be sure to record your podcast episodes in a noise-free environment. Anyone present in the
office or house should not disturb you until the recording is finished. For best results, each audio presentation should be recorded at the same location using the same audio recording gear. It will create a consistent sound for your podcasts. 

Free voice recording software

Choosing the right voice recording software can be a difficult task. Some programs cost several hundreds of dollars! However, you don’t necessarily need to buy expensive MP3-recording software when there are dozens of free audio editors made for recording voice. 

Windows Sound Recorder

The easiest way to record your voice is to use Windows Sound Recorder. This utility is included with all versions of the Microsoft Windows Operating System published since 1995. To access Sound Recorder, click Start – Programs – Accessories – Entertainment - Sound Recorder.
Windows Sound Recorder lets users record, mix, play, and edit sounds. The recorded audio will be saved in WAV format, so you need additional programs to convert your final recording into an MP3 file.  

Basically, using Windows Sound Recorder, you can modify a sound file by: 
•    Adding sounds. 
•    Increasing or decreasing volume. 
•    Increasing or decreasing speed. 
•    Adding an echo to the sound. 
•    Reversing the sound. 
•    Inserting one sound file into another sound file.

Audacity

Another way to record your voice is to download free audio recording software. The most popular program is Audacity. It is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. Audacity is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. 

Recording your voice with Audacity is very simple. Install the program and review the tutorials available on the website. The interface is simple and user-friendly. Using the program, you can:
•    Record an audio file.
•    Edit MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files. 
•    Change the speed or pitch of a recording. 
•    Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together. 

Free Sound Recorder

Free Sound Recorder from CNET is a simple software program that lets users record audio from sound card input and save it into MP3, WAV or WMA files. You can record your own voice, music or any other sounds. 

Free Sound Recorder supports the record input from a microphone, streaming audio from the Internet, applications like Media Player or Winamp and external input devices (CDs, LP, cassettes, telephone line). 

Wavosaur

Wavosaur is a free audio editor for editing, processing and recording sounds, WAV and MP3 files. It is a good choice for people who are not too familiar with audio editing and only wants to do some basic recording. 

Wavosaur records sounds from the sound card. It is available for Windows 98, Windows XP and Windows Vista. Wavosaur doesn't need installer, so you can avoid saving dozens of files on your hard disk. Just download the editor and run the executable. If you have any problems, you can find tutorials and support forum on the website. 

Paid audio recording software

EPodcast Producer 

EPodcast Producer from Industrial Audio Software (price: $187.46 - $249.95) is an all-in-one solution for creating powerful audio presentations. This software offers time-saving elements which will speed up and make podcast creation easier. You can:

•    produce high-quality audio podcasts,
•    record, edit, and upload audio files, 
•    create iTunes tags and RSS feed for iTunes directory,
•    assign up to 36 music and sound effects. 

GoldWave

GoldWave (price: $49) is a reliable and complete audio editor. It includes common audio editing commands and effects, plus additional built-in tools such as a batch processor/converter, a file merger, a CD reader, and audio restoration filters. 
Comprehensive and well-designed, GoldWave contains a lot of useful features. For example, you can:
•    play, edit, mix, and analyze audio, 
•    record dictation through a microphone, 
•    record and edit audio for podcasting or telephone systems, 
•    convert files to and from different formats, for example WMA, WAV, MP3, AIFF, etc.
•    use special effects, such as doppler, fade, equalizer, mechanize, echo, reverse, flanger, and more, 
•    digitally re-master and re-store old audio files with noise reduction.