Keep It Relatively Simple...

From Morguefile

Lori got a request from another teacher to record a couple of her classes singing songs about reading - a song about Dr. Seuss's birthday and a song I think called "Read Across America" for some project or another.  So, Lori asks me to help, because, you know, that's what I do.

And, I make it really complicated - because, you know, that's what I do.  I get out the hard disc recorder, I'm planning on three mics, maybe four, boom stands, cables, extension cords.  Okay.

She says, "Can't you just do it on the computer?"

Well, yeah I can.

But should I?

Do I trust it? I mean, here was the plan anyway:
I would record to the hard disc, then dump it into Audacity and tweak it... so why not just record it on the laptop?  Could I actually use the built in mic?  Hmmm...

So we did.  And it sounded...pretty good.  I mean, they're little kids singing to a piano - and it's not like it was for distribution, so a little noise wasn't a real problem, getting the mic just right wasn't crucial...  It was pretty okay, actually.

I took the hard disc recorder down as a backup - in case the built in mic was total junk or something (no mics - the school had some).  But it worked pretty well, so I didn't need it.

So now I'm wondering.  How many other things do I needlessly complicate?

Hmmm....