So, as you can probably guess from the title, I got my new computer, the Macbook Air! It's been working out great, and can run Adobe Audition pretty well. I haven't gotten any crashes or lag, and it loads the files fairly quickly. I've had it for a week now, and it's been holding up great! It has 128 GB storage, and I've only used about 5 GB. I'd like to test other programs like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and Lightroom (those and Audition are the only Adobe softwares I use). Google works out fine as well. I haven't really tested out the camera very much, but I did take a quick look and it looks alright. Another thing I would/will test if it can handle my microphone. If it can, that'll really prove itself!

In the past few weeks, I've been considering getting a new computer, a laptop to be specific. It's not because my computer's not working, but that it's a desktop, so I can't bring it around with me to places if I want to edit or do my schoolwork. If I do, usually, my dad lets me take his computer laptop. Still, though it works for the essential needed apps like Google Chrome or Firefox, it lags and some times even crashes with my audio program, Adobe Audition.

I've decided I would like to get a MacBook air. But not the latest, since I found a previous model on amazon for $250 cheaper than the latest. But I wouldn't get it for just the price. Apple removed the USB port in the latest MacBook air, which would be a big issue since my mouse is USB, so I wouldn't be able to plug it into the computer. But the previous model does still have the USB port, so I could then use my mouse.

https://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-1-8GHz-dual-core-Intel/dp/B07211W6X2/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=macbook+air&qid=1581382901&sr=8-4

Yesterday, I put together this:

This hour-long audio clip of riding a horse through the stormy night took 14 sound effects, consisting of rain, horse hooves, thunder, etc.
For this long audio clip, I did it in multitrack, and it took ten tracks.
Here's an image of the multitrack:

On the far left, you can see all the audio files used in the multitrack. I get all my sounds from many different libraries online, and when I download them, I keep them in my own library. There were a lot of key sounds needed that most people wouldn't think would be important, but if they weren't in, you'd know it'd be missing them. For instance, for the horse, I first only added horse hooves. But then I thought it needed something with it, as it sounded as if you were riding it bareback. So then, I found a sort of "jingling" metal and item movement, to make it sound like a saddle or other items on the horse as well.
Then, of course, there was the ambient storm going on. I used about 5 different sound effects, including wind, rain, and thunder. Combined, I think it sounds great. Plus, the horse hooves' sound effect was on a mud surface.

Note: I've realized that if you want to make an audio piece sound like night, just add crickets and heavy wind.

Last week I joined a choir near where we live. A friend from our church recommended it, as he was in it and had attended for the past three years. My dad and I got to see the choir perform a Christmas special last year, and enjoyed it very much.
Last week, my mom signed me up for the choir, and I, along with about 17 other students, got our first lessons. I was impressed by the lessons our teacher taught us. She first arranged us from male to female so she could keep everything orginized. There were many more boys this time than last year, according to my friend who had invited me. Our teacher then arranged for us students in particular ways so that she could hear each one of us.

After that, we did some vocal breathing warmups.

The teacher handed out a small paper book with one song in each one (I forget which song it was) for us to sing. We then started to learn notes, what voice pitch types we were, etc. I now go every Tuesday, and I am enjoying it thoroughly!

When I edited the sample for MandRproductions (you can read more in the previous blog post to this one), the editing was a little different than usual. Here's what I did: I first cleaned out the white background noise and started the "dynamics processing" (that I always do).

This episode was a live one, so I had to cut out any phrases of the host or guest(s) mentioning that it was live. This is different than what I usually do, only once or twice have I edited a live episode.

I then looked for any disconnections, long non-related discussions that come up, repetition, etc. (also what I always do, though it was more common in this episode)

Now for the hard part, finding the right music for the podcast episode. Why is it so hard? There are hundreds of different types of music, but only a few would sound right to the kind of podcast. For instance: one of my clients, the Pioneering Today podcast, is a podcast all about growing your food, raising your farm animals, etc. When I started editing for the podcast (about two years ago), I thought it needed some music to liven it up, since it didn't have any music at the time.

I contacted the host and asked what type of music she would want for the podcast. She said she would want a western/folk type of music, which made sense of the kind of the podcast. I sent her about five different copyright free songs for her to choose from, and she picked the one she liked most. If she or I had decided to try a different type of song, like hard metal music, it would sound pretty silly listening to metal music and then hear a podcast about homesteading.

So, I spent around an hour looking for the right music to match a podcast about Lego Star Wars, Movies, and video games. And, over a selection of about four songs, I picked one.

Here's the sample I sent: