Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Audio: Using Your Voice On-Mic

On Oct 1, 2009, Vanesa Tomasino did a workshop for CJSF volunteers on Things You Can Do With Your Voice and a Mic.

DJ Peachy recorded the sessions with himself and Nina Halliday-Thompson as the students. Listen to it here:

Geoff - Vanesa Training by Soundtherapyradio

[That file is also stored at: http://soundcloud.com/soundtherapyradio/geoff-vanessa]


Here's more about Vanesa:

Vanesa Tomasino - professional cartoon voice, actress (including on Defying Gravity and The L Word), host of WorldBeats for worldbeat.com. www.vanesatomasino.com

Originally from El Salvador, Vanesa has carved out a career in Vancouver.
Here she is on Urban Rush:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zHjcl8elMA

Spoken Word Gatherings and skill-sharings are held most Thursdays 6:30-8:30 pm. Contact Frieda Werden for more info: cjsfpa@sfu.ca

Thursday, October 15, 2009

CJSF's Live Internet Streaming and/or Broadcasting Guide

Live Internet Streaming and/or Broadcasting Guide

There are multitudes of ways you can set up live streaming. To determine what equipment you need, you need to know *what* you want to stream and how much equipment you want to lug around. There are three basic set-ups.
1. Streaming files directly off the computer
2. Using a microphone to talk and/or interview people. You can also play files off the computer using this method, but the transition between the two is a bit rough – you won’t be able to do mixing. Only *one* microphone can be hooked up this way.
3. Using a mixer to hook up anything you can think of: CD players, turntables, multiple microphones, anything that makes noise. This is the most sophisticated set up which will allow for fade in/outs/mixing.

Streaming Files Directly Off the Computer

What You Need
Laptop configured with Winamp and Shoutcast
Laptop power supply
A good internet connection – bringing an Ethernet cord may be a good idea

What To Do
On the laptop:
- First, make sure you are connected to the internet (try visiting a website using the browser)
- Double click the Winamp icon on the desktop
Winamp will open as will another window called SHOUTcast Source.

Problem: The SHOUTcast Source window does not open when Winamp does.
Solution: Right click on the Winamp toolbar at the very top of the player and select Options then Preferences.
Under the Plug-ins section, click on DSP/Effect and then Nullsoft SHOUTcast Source DSP v1.9.0.
Click on Configure active plug-in. Close preferences.

- Add the files you want to play into the Winamp playlist.
- On the ShoutCAST Source window, click the Input tab. The Input Device should be set to Winamp, not Soundcard input.
- On the ShoutCAST Source window, click the Output tab. Hit Connect.
- Press play on Winamp. The SHOUTcast Source window should connect to the server and start telling you how many bytes of information it has sent (a continuous scroll of numbers).

Problem: The SHOUTcast Source window does not connect.
Solution: Make sure your internet connection is working by trying to open a webpage in your browser. If you internet connection is fine, close the SHOUTcast Source window, then close Winamp. Reopen Winamp.
Restart the SHOUTcast application by right clicking on the Winamp toolbar at the very top of the player and select Options then Preferences.
Under the Plug-ins section, click on DSP/Effect and then Nullsoft SHOUTcast Source DSP v1.9.0.
Click on Configure active plug-in. Close preferences. Repeat the steps to configure SHOUTcast above and try reconnecting.

You should now be streaming live on the Internet! If not, there is likely a firewall problem that needs to be looked at by a network administrator.


Using a Single Microphone / Streaming Files Off the Computer

What You Need
Laptop configured with Winamp and Shoutcast
Laptop power supply
A good internet connection – bringing an Ethernet cord may be a good idea
Microphone
Microphone cable with female XLR on one end and male 1/8” (mini-plug) on the other
Headphones to monitor the broadcast

What To Do
On the laptop:
- First, make sure you are connected to the internet (try visiting a website using the browser)
- Hook up your microphone into the microphone input on the computer. For the blue laptop, this is on the very front of the machine, just below the mouse.
- Double click the Winamp icon on the desktop
Winamp will open as will another window called SHOUTcast Source.

Problem: The SHOUTcast Source window does not open when Winamp does.
Solution: Right click on the Winamp toolbar at the very top of the player and select Options then Preferences.
Under the Plug-ins section, click on DSP/Effect and then Nullsoft SHOUTcast Source DSP v1.9.0.
Click on Configure active plug-in. Close preferences.

- Add the files you want to play into the Winamp playlist.
- On the ShoutCAST Source window, click the Input tab. When you want to play files on the computer, the Input Device should be set to Winamp. When you want to use the microphone, the Input Device needs to be set to Soundcard input. You cannot use both at the same time.
- On the ShoutCAST Source window, click the Output tab. Hit Connect.
- Press play on Winamp. The SHOUTcast Source window should connect to the server and start telling you how many bytes of information it has sent (a continuous scroll of numbers).
- You will be able to see your levels under SHOUTcast’s Input tab.

Problem: The SHOUTcast Source window does not connect.
Solution: Make sure your internet connection is working by trying to open a webpage in your browser. If you internet connection is fine, close the SHOUTcast Source window, then close Winamp. Reopen Winamp.
Restart the SHOUTcast application by right clicking on the Winamp toolbar at the very top of the player and select Options then Preferences.
Under the Plug-ins section, click on DSP/Effect and then Nullsoft SHOUTcast Source DSP v1.9.0.
Click on Configure active plug-in. Close preferences. Repeat the steps to configure SHOUTcast above and try reconnecting.

You should now be streaming live on the Internet! If not, there is likely a firewall problem that needs to be looked at by a network administrator.