Lots of people over on YouTube have asked me about how my home recording studio is set up.
To that end, yesterday I decided to put together a quick video to show you all how it works, and I also wanted to discuss my media strategy in this blog post.
Link: http://youtu.be/qi4BUlhZHDs
Here are some details that you might have not caught on the video (note some links are affiliate).
- Microphone: Audio Technica ATR 2100 USB/XLR
- Mixer: Behringer Xenyx X1204USB (uses 40 watts)
- Tablet: Refurbished iPad 3
- Compressor/Gate: Swamp Industries CP202 (uses 15 watts)
- Headphones: Behringer HPS3000
- PC Software; Audacity (free), Pinnacle Studio 16 Ultimate, and Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 (free).
- iPad Software; BossJock studio.
All the home recording studio equipment is turned off when not in use, and uses a minimal amount of electricity. Besides, my home is powered by GreenPower when the sun isn’t shining, and powered by my own solar PV when it is.
Lets talk a bit about my communications strategy.
I believe that to spread a message, a good message, you need to do it in the best way possible. If the media that you produce is of dubious quality, then no one will watch or listen to it, therefore making the message mute. Same goes for photos on a blog. This is why I decided to use this tools to develop the three podcasts and many videos.
I also have a media strategy of ‘be everywhere‘. By this I mean all forms of media and social media, like audio, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram, all leading back to this blog. If someone finds my green message on Facebook, it leads back here. If someone finds one of my video Tutorials, it leads back here. People then get to read more about our lifestyle and hopefully get some ideas to green up their own.
Something that Tanya Ha said during her podcast interview (episode 51) really struck a chord with me. She said;
“There’s the idea of what I call ‘people like us‘ or ‘someone like me‘, and you know incidentally, just for your information Gavin, I am sure your listeners might be interested in this is that I was on the judging panel for the green lifestyle awards where we named you out as Local hero.
There were quite a few nominations for that, and one of the things that came up for a fair bit of discussion was that it is unusual that we get a male, someone like you, your age group and your profession, that cares about the environment so we recognise that the potential to reach an audience that isn’t reached say by the deep green environment groups or at the other end, someone like me. That’s really important. So we liked the fact that you’re a guy living out at Melton, it was quite unexpected. It wasn’t someone living in Brunswick or living in Byron Bay, and that’s really important.”
Tanya went on to mention that this was her own communications strategy early on, and she reached out to people like herself and planted the seed of mainstream environmentalism in a subtle way. Have a listen to the episode at around the 5 minute mark to hear more.
It might sound like I am blowing my own trumpet (maybe a little), but it is a simple communications strategy. The best possible audio and video so that spreading the message to ‘people like us’ that is pleasing to the ear and eye, so that they like the look and sound of the message and take interest in what I/we have to say. Spreading an environmental message to the masses is difficult at the best of times, so I try to make it easy.
So what do you think? Is my media strategy working? How did you find me, what led you to this blog, and how long have you been reading, listening, or watching?
I would love to hear from you via comment.
This is way to techy for me and im pretty impressed. Hubby (an audiophile) is sitting up in bed reading away enjoying himself seeing what youve done. Cheers Gav – another hot day. Hope Kim is coping and not too uncomfortable.
Excellent. I realise that this technical audio stuff is not for everyone, but as you know Lynda, I like to mix it up to keep as many people as I can interested. Gav x
Personally I am not a high tech person and prefer to read your blog not necessarily listen to a podcast as my husband doesn’t necessarily agree with all this ‘green thing’ so I don’t play your podcasts if he is around and at present we are living in a caravan and very little ‘me’ space around but of course you asked our opinion and that is mine.
Melinda
Hey Melinda, and a valued opinion it is. I know that the podcasts are not for everyone, which just goes to prove that my ‘be everywhere’ strategy is working!
Gav x
Way too techy for me too, Gav, but keep up the good work. The more people we reach the greater the chance of making the necessary changes in society, and you must be reaching plenty with all that you do.
Cheers fns. Never a more true statement said! x
A very entertaining and informative site
Thanks Lyn
Hi Gavin, yes, your media strategy is working! I found out about you and your blog when you won the award in green lifestyle magazine. I had a look and got hooked in! I enjoy listening to the podcasts while I go for a walk in my lunch break and have spent many lunches over the past few months catching up on all the podcasts from the beginning and understanding the steps you’ve made along the way. i think your humble and honest approach really enables you to connect to people and deliver your message without too much of the “greeny” stereotype that tends to put a lot of people off. keep up the good work of being green and spreading the message to others
Hi Paul, thanks for the great feedback. It is pleasing to know that someone is listening to the podcasts as I receive so little feedback about them.
Just to let you know, I will start recording them again this week, as my voice has fully recovered.
Gav
Neath setup Gavin. Just started out working with BossJock myself. If I may, a question: If I have a mixer in the center of it all like you have, and have my XLR mic and stuff connected to the mixer, as well as my iPad1 audio out (headphone connector) routed to the mixer (so a second headset on the mixer can monitor ALL input), how do I rout all input back to the iPAD so BossJock can record it over the 30-pin dock connector? How did you solve this?
great blog you have as well. Been looking at generating my own power, but living in Norway does not make things easier. Not that much sun-hours in a day during the winter (plenty of sun in the summer as the sun never goes down…). Very interested in solar parabolic dish Stirling systems…
Hi Harry. In answer to your question, I only use BossJock for its cart feature. I pump the output of the mixer into my Windows PC via USB and record via Audacity. The audio never goes back into the iPad to record. You could send it in/out of the mixer and into the iPad via a TRRS plug, but the recording would only be in mono. I do use this method sometimes when I am recording a Skype call using mix-minus and one of the aux outputs from the mixer.
However, with that said, I do sometimes record entire episodes with just the iPad3, BossJock, and an ATR 2100 USB plugged in using an iPad camera connection kit. It works well, but you have to have a full charge on the tablet if you want to do a long show. It is nice to record outside occasionally.
The Stirling solar system looks very promising. I have seen it installed in the USA on a large scale, which apparently works really well, at a lower cost than PV.
Gav
Nice setup, Mine is similar but not quite as nice. But then it also doubles as band equipment for my son and his mates. I’m searching around at the moment for some upgrades. I’ll let you know how I fare 🙂
Cheers
Gavin, well done! I enjoy your videos. I hope you continue making them. I’m a retired engineer, retired woodworker, and maintain a wine cellar of 1,000 bottles. To keep busy, I now want to get into cheese making and have enjoyed all your videos on the subject. Two things that bother me. 1. and explicit discussion on the heat transfer of a double boiler and 2. Why have you never mentioned the wisdom in cutting your cheese cloth into squares so you don’t lose gobs of curds and whey as you attempt to tie up. -Curt Kuhns