Overally, you've done a great job here. Your quality is far beyond many churches who are recording sermons for podcast. The quality is clean, the levels are good, and the voice is easy to understand. I think if you didn't change anything, you'd have a good sounding podcast.

But...since it's a really good start, here's my few suggestions to make it GREAT....

1. Intro and Outro music: I think your intro music was inserted in post-production, correct? (not part of the actual service recording). The music is pretty good, but I'd love to see it fade much slower under the speaker as he begins to talk...about 10-15 seconds or so, fading out the whole time. This will give an even smoother transition. I'd also try and bring this back at the end, easing people out of the message (maybe the same music as the beginning, maybe not). About 20 seconds before the end of the recording, slowly start to swell up some music in the background. This will add emotional impact and an excellent 'outro' for the episode.

2. I think a nice 'announcer' style intro would be fantastic. I started doing this recently to our church's podcast and I think it adds a nice dimension. The reason is, people are hearing something that's "just for them". Sermon recordings, on their own, are "multiuse", but by creating a nice intro, just for the web, it makes people feel like they're not getting something second hand. Consider welcoming people, saying the name of the church, sermon series, and bible verses that are focused on, or anything else. You could also put something like this at the end.

3. Compression. Your audio was pretty darn good. Nice and clean. But it could sound even better (more pleasing to the ear) with some more compression on the voice. The volume peaks 'popped' my eardrums a bit. With some more compression, you could smooth out the voice, and really make this 'like butter' to listen to.

Again, great job overall...I had to hunt for some constructive things to add.

-Rob Feature
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.mustardseedmedia.com

Rob - thanks for taking the time to listen and for taking the time to offer critique. I appreciate the input. The sermon is recorded in the sound-booth and I get the CD of the sermon, so the bulk of the kudos for the live recording goes to the volunteers in the sound-booth week after week.

I do add the intro music -- so I will fade it out a bit more slowly over the time the speaker begins the message.

I did learn about compressors (this week) after listening to the Audio Processing 1 and 2 podcasts, so I will put that to use as well.

Like the idea of the music fading in just as slowly over the end of the sermon, and like the idea of the intro/exit commentary for web-only listeners.

Russ

That's a great start as Rob said. It sounds like you have a good base to work from. That being said...

Yes, compression would be helpful, especially in conjunction with some normalization. I know Rob said in his podcast that he isn't into it, but it really is helpful to get your levels up. Some programs have some settings with the normalization plug-in that combines it with some compression/limiting, and is what you do to get the signal as loud as possible without clipping. It's maximizing the signal. Yours is actually a bit on the week side. If you play it next to another audio file made by a pro, you will see the difference in strength. I think Rob said he liked maximizers, but it's been a bit since the cast. Anyway, they are very similar depending on the program being used.

BEFORE doing the maximizing, I would give it an EQ boost in the 4khz - 6khz zone, maybe 8 dbs or so. It could use a little more presence and clarity. EQs are pretty cool once you play with them for a while. Make friends with them, and soon you can fix up some audio very quickly.

Lastly, it sounds like the speaker used a lavalier mic. He gets quiet when he turns his head. I know they are expensive, but when you get a chance to upgrade, don't mess around and go straight to the countryman E6 over the ear mic. The podcast will sound great, but more importantly, the sound in the service will change drastically. Tell me if I am wrong though, but that is what it sound like. The E6 is tiny, and sounds amazing. You'll never look back.

There's my 3 cents!

Chordinator

www.calvarycolorado.org

Great additions here, Chordinator. I agree fully (especially with the E6 recommendation!).

-Rob Feature
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.mustardseedmedia.com

Chordinator -- between you and Rob, I can see I've got tons to learn! Thanks for the comments. I will put them to use on the next sermon I put on the web.

Russ

Hey Russ....
I'd love to hear a follow up to this...it would give us a 'before and after' to see what suggestions worked and what didn't. Please post a link when you've made any changes...along with some info on what you changed and why.

-Rob Feature
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.mustardseedmedia.com

While not exactly an audio critique, per se, I wanted to give you a thought about editing for content and context. The opening comments were about where people were in the room. If you were there live, this made sense. If you're just listening to it, however, it's information that is out of context to an audio-only experience.

It's a good idea to listen for things such as "this morning" or "this evening" as well as mentions of dates or member-specific events. Anything that would make an outsider feel like, well, an outsider should be grounds for editing. :)

Hope this helps,

Anthony

Anthony D. Coppedge, CTS
Church Media Consultant

WEB: www.anthonycoppedge.com/blogs

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