So you’ve read our article on producing your own audiobook, and you’ve found the perfect mic. What do you need next?
Well, you need a computer to plug your mic into.
This is pretty easy. Here is the best advice: Use the computer you have.
Sure, pro narrators such as ourselves at KidsBookNarration use high-end Macs and PCs tricked out to process audio quickly, with tons of memory and hard drive space for pushing around giant audio files.
But you really don’t need all of that. Assuming you’re not looking to start a new career as an audiobook narrator, then the simple PC desktop or laptop, or Mac that you already own, will do a great job. The software we are going to talk about here will run on whatever you have… assuming it’s within a few years old, and has a USB port.
So, let’s talk about the software, also called a Digital Audio Workstation or, DAW.
I’m going to be frank – these can be very complicated, expensive and intimidating. But fortunately, there are options to help you get beyond these concerns.
First of all – your computer may already have a free DAW installed!
For example, Macs come pre-loaded with Garage Band – a pretty sophisticated DAW for the “free” pricepoint! For a project of the scope and size of a childrens picture book, a DAW like Garage Band will probably do the trick!
But if you want to get a little more sophisticated, let’s look at two other options:
- Audacity. This is an open source DAW that works on Mac, PC, or Linix machines. It’s very powerful as a DAW in general, and would be a capable choice even if it weren’t free! There are some limitations to it – but for the sake of your audiobook narration project, they probably aren’t going to be relevant to you. It’s a very respectable option that many pro audiobook narrators use.
- Reaper. This is a very popular DAW that’s almost free. It’s free to use for a trial period (which is long enough for you to get your book project done) and then they ask that you pay $60 for a lifetime license. Note that you can keep using it for free, they’ll just keep asking you to pay for it. Reaper is very sophisticated and powerful, and doesn’t have the limitation I mentioned about Audacity. However, there’s a bit of a learning curve to become proficient with it. But there are a ton of tutorial videos out there for Reaper, so it’s definitely possible to get over that curve.
So, that’s it! You’ve now got your computer lined up, and you know what you need when looking for a DAW. If you picked out your microphone from Part 1, then you’ve got the basic equipment you need to make this happen!
And of course, if you want to reach out to us for help… we’ll be happy to work with you to bring your children’s book to life!
