That's one small red line for man...

Finally, I’m recording and editing the audio book of Fatal Errors (the first edition ebook version 1 is already available from Amazon and Kobo). My body is already grumbling with the hard work I’m putting it through: standing for long periods at the mic and then sitting for long periods whilst editing. For those of you who are technically minded, I use a condenser sE2200T tube with a preamp, and I record onto a solid state Zoom H6 to eliminate fan noise from the computer. I’m editing in Audacity, though I hope to move onto Studio One for some juicier projects. Luckily, my workspace is darned good acoustically. I only need to stop when a plane goes overhead (thanks, Leeds/Bradford airport), or the kids in the high school behind us get extra excited whilst playing rounders. Trains, ambulances and household appliances, remarkably, keep out of the way.

I’ve found myself getting quite anxious about recording levels. I know that with digital recording, pne doesn’t need to record hot, but I don’t want my voice to sound weedy. Long story short, I pumped up the gain slightly and got closer into the tube, with my lips kissing the pop filter. With a certain character voice (no spoilers!) I then got clipping with the characteristic red lines shooting upwards. Now my voice wasn't weedy enough. The sound quality doesn’t seem to have been unduly affected, but I’m aware that I’m storing problems for when I need to get it through ACX standards.

I’m bashing through. I’ve already de-clipped using reverse amplification( turned the noise levels down on the peaks where they occur) and am ready to add in the title and some room tone, then work on squashing and squeezing the audio so it passes muster for upload.

So, in the early, early mornings (5.30 am) I write and in the later morning I record and edit.