# Sermon Audio, Audacity, and other technical stuff



## EKSB SDG (Jan 28, 2010)

I'm looking for advice on the best way to record sermons and get them uploaded to Sermon Audio. This is a new realm for me. The particular church does not have a sound system. I'm specifically looking for suggestions on microphones (preferably wireless), editing software (is Audacity the best free and most user-friendly option) and digital recorders (such as the Olympus DM-420 or other similar devices). Since I know next to nothing about this area, any and all advice would be appreciated.


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## bouletheou (Jan 28, 2010)

I just bought one of the new Olympus recorders to replace my old one. It's a WS400S. I'm quite pleased with it because it records in Windows Audio format. My old one recorded in a proprietary Olympus format called DSS that had to be converted to WAV and then converted again to MP3. The built in mic is better, but I use an wired plug-in lapel mic anyhow. I got it on ebay for about $20. I just keep mine in the pulpit so I have control. I've found that I get much better sound quality when I clip the mini-mic to my tie and keep the recorder in my shirt pocket. I leave it on the pulpit until I'm ready to preach, then fire it up and put it in my pocket, otherwise I forget to turn it on.

I also use Audacity to convert from WMA to MP3. For some reason it won't work on my Lenovo netbook. But it works on all my other computers just fine. It will ask you to download some other piece of software called "Lame" when you install it, and then you have to tell Audacity where you put Lame, but it's not that big a deal.

It's pretty much easy as pie. I highly recommend it. Sermon audio has been a really effective tool, and I've had downloads from all over the Middle East, from China, from most of Europe, from South Africa, etc. etc. My sermon on "The Shack" has had almost a thousand downloads from all over the world.


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## Tim (Jan 28, 2010)

Remember to instruct the preacher exactly where to put the clip-on microphone (tie, shirt, jacket, etc). Make sure he knows how to place it so that it doesn't get rubbed by clothing when he raises his arms to make a point, for example. Make sure the microphone box has a conspicuous 'on' or 'record' button (easily pressed with a finger) so that he doesn't have to fumble when he steps up to the pulpit to preach. 

You might know of all this already, but I am just relating some practical issues I frequently observe.


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## LawrenceU (Jan 28, 2010)

I too use an Olympus recorder: WS 510M and a lapel mic. Make sure you don't use a lapel mic with built in preamp! It will over drive the recorder and give you terrible digital blurring. This particular model, and perhaps others as well, have a firmware update online that allows you to record either in WMA or MP3.


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## bouletheou (Jan 28, 2010)

Here's the one I bought. I've had it for a year and am happy with it.

Hands Free Clip On Mini Lapel Microphone 3.5mm - eBay (item 390138537924 end time Feb-01-10 05:53:56 PST)


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## nnatew24 (Jan 29, 2010)

I'm curious as to whether any of you have used a video camera of some sort to record sermons, like maybe a Flip Video or something similar. I'm not sure I'm convinced that it would be that useful, but I've been considering the possibilities. Not many folks will sit in front of YouTube for an entire sermon, but it might be useful in snipping various clips/excerpts on particular topics. Example: a 5 minute clip on the church's webpage about the gospel, taken directly from a sermon. 

But regarding audio, I've used Audacity and it is very easy to use. From what I hear from folks who work with audio editing quite a bit, it's even better than many programs that cost big $.


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## Jesus is my friend (Jan 29, 2010)

Just started using Audacity recently and like it alot,it nicely converts the WAV our sermons are recorded in and easily squeezes it or anything else for that matter into MP3,another nice feature is the ability to convert cassette to digital MP3 with this program and hopefully one day convert and save the older sermons from cassette to digitize them for SermonAudio or whatever our leadership would desire to do with them.And it's Free too!


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