Some days are wonderful because of what happens. Some days are wonderful because of the people you’re with. Some days are wonderful because of where you are. Today was wonderful because of all of the above.
My wife Cinda and I set out this morning on a drive toward Greenville, South Carolina where we met our friend Pam Tierney. Pam is an actress and voice talent who lives in the Midwest and was in Atlanta for a few days, visiting family. Since Greenville is half-way between Atlanta and Charlotte, it made for a good place to connect without too much driving for any of us.
We had a truly delightful lunch at a little cafe called Melvenas. The food was wonderful and the conversation even more so.
Pam, me and Cinda just before we left the restaurant.
Not too many minutes before that photo was taken, I had checked my email with my phone (I love my Palm Treo Pro!) and saw that my agent in Cleveland (The Talent Group) had an audition they needed to get back from me before 5:00 PM Eastern. Anticipating that something like this might happen, I had my travel recording gear along for even this little day trip. I’d heard from multiple sources, including the great Joe Cipriano, that in a pinch an automobile can make for a pretty decent recording booth. I was about to find out.
The parking lot behind the restaurant was well back from the street so I thought it might just work. Using my anniversary gift from Cinda (an application from Best Buy called HotSpot that lets me turn my phone into a WiFi source) I was able to connect to the Internet, download the copy from my agent and …
… do the audition in the back seat of my car. Cinda was in the front seat serving at the photographer and director. I had my microphone stand sitting on my computer bag.
Once I finished recording, we started up the car so we could have the air conditioning on. I edited, saved and emailed the audition to my agent and about 30 minutes later we were on our way.
Cinda and I took our time driving back home, going through the Blue Ridge mountains rather than the Interstate back. Like I said, a wonderful day!
WHAT A GREAT thing Bob…this was cool. So glad Cinda took a picture…LOVE IT
Brian,
It was amazing to see it all come together. Now, to see if I book the job. That’s the acid test!
Be well,
Bob
Sweet setup! what kind of microphone was that btw? looks like a USB shotgun mic.. hook us up with details please 🙂
Mahmoud Taji,
It’s a Sennheiser MHK-416. In this case, the USB involved is an M-Audio USB MobilePre, which is what I use as my audio interface when I travel.
Be well,
Bob
Very nice! what software do you use to record if you don’t mind me asking? Pro Tools? Audition? Audacity or something else?
I’ve heard it from several sources that recording in your car (in the absence of a studio / home booth) is excellent because of the amount of sound insulation that put in it.
Taji
Taji,
I use Sound Forge 9 for simple voice recordings and Pro Tools for more complicated projects. In this case, it was Sound Forge.
Be well,
Bob