# Starting a Career in Audio Productions; Have questions

Category: Broadcaster's Lounge

## Post 1 by Smiling Sunshine (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Saturday, 27-Oct-2012 12:59:20

To make a long story as short as possible, like the post title says, I am planning to start a new career in audio production and editing. Eventually, I'll want to move to audio and video but for now am focusing on audio.
I have always had an interest in this but have never really pursued it. Perhaps because I didn't really think the technology existed for accessibility, or because I was too busy pursuing careers that were more traditional. Anyway, I'm researching training options at this point and have some questions.
My original plan was to take some classes at our local community college to learn the foundations and see if I do indeed have an aptitude for this. Of course, the classes are only offered at one of the campuses with no access what so ever to public transportation. Cab rides would litterally cost about $100 per class and thus $200 per week because of where I live in relation to the campus.
I'm pretty smart but learn much better with the hands-on approach or working with someone who knows what they're doing, rather than reading through program manuals and trying to figure it out on my own. I've gone that approach and for whatever reason, it just hasn't worked for me.
Are there any programs offered anywhere that teach audio production using adaptive technology? Whether it's a windows based program and Jaws, or an Apple product using voice over, are there places other than the local community college where I could get this sort of training. I know the community college classes wouldn't teach adaptive tech methods so classes specifically for people using adaptive tech would really be ideal. I'm trying to work with what I've got though so am exploring all options.
I've considered contracting with some of you here on the zone who already know how to do this sort of thing, perhaps using Team Talk as a virtual classroom.
I'm about to do some research online to see about podcasts that teach this sort of thing as well. I know BGZ has instruction on how to use Goldwave but I also know that several of you use Garage Band, Reaper, and Audacity so I'm curious as to the benefits and drawbacks of each.
So if you were considering getting started in this field, but needed to almost start from scratch as far as training goes, what would your recommendations be?
Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any responses or suggestions.

## Post 2 by Remy (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Sunday, 28-Oct-2012 0:33:17

Hi there!
First of all, great! It's nice to see another audio enthusiast here. I myself have started working a lot with audio editing over the last couple of years. I don't have much in the way of suggestions about courses unfortunately. My university did a couple courses, so I picked up a lot of tips from there. That said, Sound Forge and Audacity are the two programs I use most of the time. They are both pretty accessible, but they both have limitations. Soundforge is a little more accessible than audicitty, but it is not a multi-track editer. (If you don't know what that means, it simply means you can't layer one track over another to create a really great piece. You can "mix" two tracks together, but trust me when I say that's NOT the same thing. I generally use Sound Forge for editing individual files, and creating audio effects.
Audacity is a multi-track editer, but it has a few accessibility drawbacks. Audio emveloping is pretty inaccessible with JAWS (This is making customized volume changes during different parts of your audio production, for instance, turning down a piece of music so that narration can be heard. There are a few other little things you can't do too, but overall the accessibility aspect for Audacity isn't too bad at all. I'm not really sure what else to tell you at the moment. But I do want to let you know that it is possible to do audio editing, no matter your vision. There are a lot of youtube videos about how to use audacity. There's certainly a visual component to them, but some have pretty vocal walkthroughs. It's definatley best to learn this stuff hands-on though.

## Post 3 by BigDogDaddy (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Sunday, 28-Oct-2012 9:06:42

I read somewhere recently that CAVI cisco acadamy for the visually impaired offered a course in sound editing. perhaps google this and see if in fact such a beast exists.

## Post 4 by louisa (move over school!) on Sunday, 28-Oct-2012 10:40:42

Hello, this sort of thing also interests me, though I don't know anything about it. For me, it would just be something to play around with, and see what I could do.

## Post 5 by Chris N (I just keep on posting!) on Sunday, 28-Oct-2012 13:05:10

CAVI offers an audio editing fundamentals course. www.ciscovision.org

## Post 6 by Smiling Sunshine (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Sunday, 28-Oct-2012 16:46:32

Thanks. I'll check out that site.

## Post 7 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Tuesday, 30-Oct-2012 11:19:43

Or you could learn on the fly. That workked well. I have two questions. How do you make sure that if your doing a show for Main Menu1 you can hear the speaker and the screenreader and/or audiogame/application? And how do you make a device audible to the computer, without using a microphone?

## Post 8 by hardyboy09 (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Friday, 02-Nov-2012 1:15:15

Hey all,
My name is Nathan Bullock and I am deaf-blind. When I say I am deaf-blind, I am referring to the fact that I have a 65 DB hearing loss without my hearing aids. I want to obtain my major (undergraduate degree) in communications with an emphasis in digital media. We can either choose to concentrate just on audio or video. For my purposes, I thought it best to choose audio. How do you all broadcast and how does a blind person run a radio station independently. Would this sort of thing be possible for a deaf-blind person?
I know that a software for Windows, Station Playlist, exists for this purpose. Can this piece of software be used on an FM station as well? I tried a trial version with scripts, could never find the appropriate sam encoders, and could never get Jaws to work well with it.
As part of my major, I have to complete a practicum or an internship. Before I venture too far into the major, could I do this?
Thanks,
Nathan. I am wondering how you even use audacity? Do you have Jaws scripts?

## Post 9 by Shell Script (I just keep on posting!) on Friday, 02-Nov-2012 6:45:47

I'm not at all sure about video broadcasting. I'm primarily focusing on the audio portion.

## Post 10 by hardyboy09 (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Saturday, 03-Nov-2012 3:22:32

Any specifics of how you broadcast would be helpful and what equipmentyou use?

## Post 11 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Monday, 12-Nov-2012 4:39:26

it is possible for you to do this man.
i used to broadcast useing Winamp and the s SAM Encoders. get two sound cards so you can turn off the music one so you can hear your jaws.
unless you are gonna use braille to do all this?
you do speak, right ?

## Post 12 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Monday, 12-Nov-2012 15:06:21

Something you're going to have to consider is how well audio productions can earn you a living. Find some people who are successful doing it, find out how much they make now, how much they made when they started, etc. After all, a career is absolutely nothing if it doesn't pay enough to live on. There's no such thing as "follow your heart and the money will follow," as some people say. Those people are usually paid for by the rest of us, by the way.

## Post 13 by hardyboy09 (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Friday, 23-Nov-2012 23:21:38

True. Though I know the salaries aren't enormous, I just need an undergraduate degree in something. I want to obtain my graduate in vision teaching. So, do you see salary being a big factor here?

## Post 14 by hardyboy09 (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Friday, 23-Nov-2012 23:23:45

Hey John,
Yes, I can speak quite fluently. My question is that I used to have WinAmp with the sam encoders. I am running Windows 7 64 bit and can't find them. Also, I was wondering about audacity? How do you guys use it effectively? I can't even add audio effects to something. How do I get a clean recording when people are coughing and such?

## Post 15 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Friday, 23-Nov-2012 23:48:54

when you say clean, what do you mean ? Is it distorted?
too much noise in background? what are you asking exactly?
are you looking just to pick up what's directly in front of the mick?
I dont get how to use Ordasety either though really didn't read it, but try this link:
http://vip.chowo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/jaws/Audacity-2.0-Guide.html

## Post 16 by Faial (Zone BBS Addict) on Wednesday, 26-Dec-2012 18:28:54

For audioproduction why not thinking about Sonar. A lot of blind people have been using it very successfully! You can use it with Jsonar, a set of free scripts for Jaws or you can buy Caketalk for Sonar from Dancingdots. Caketalk has a great advantage which allmost makes worth the money you pay for it: it is a wonderful tutorial with more than 400 pages which really helps you to get started step by step in a accessibility point of view. It works with Sonar 8.5! I am a member of a great mailing list which is called Midimag with blind musicians and audio producers from all around the world. Hope it helps somehow!

## Post 17 by Smiling Sunshine (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Thursday, 27-Dec-2012 22:50:02

Thanks for the idea.
I may not go this particular rout after all. I'm looking at several ideas and trying to figure out which one is best suited for my particular skill set.
While I'd probably be pretty good at audio production, I think it would be a much better hobby for me than career choice.