Krishnageeks.com - Spiritualised Technology

Hare Krishna! My name is Rupa Madhurya das and I’ll be posting a series of articles on the equipment I use to produce my “Classes and Bhajans” podcast. I post both audio and video recordings of Classes, Bhajans, and other events that I have the opportunity to attend. Since I currently live in Dallas, much of the content is of the Dallas area.

While it is certainly possible to record classes in a quick and easy manner, the results will often be lower quality than desired. It takes an investment in time and equipment to produce high quality content.

Ok, so where do we go from here? This post is a quick introduction of myself and what I intend to cover. I’ll first write an article on each piece (or category) of equipment that I use and then wrap up with a series of how-to articles.

So, without further introduction:

Recording equipment:

• Marantz PMD 660 2-track digital recorder
• Microphones
  • Audio Technica Pro-70 Lavalier / Instrument Microphone
  • Audio Technica 1800 Series Wireless microphone System
  • Audio Technica AT831R Lavalier microphone for wireless system
  • AUDIX i5 Instrument Dynamic
  • Sennheiser e825S Vocal dynamic
  • Sony ECM-MS957 Stereo
• Behringer Eurorack UBB1002 portable mixer
• Sony HDR-SR12 Camcorder
• Square Perfect SP2700 Light kit

Software:

• Sony Vegas Video Pro (will discuss free alternatives for audio only)
• Wave Arts Power Suite 5 VST Plug-in
• dBpoweramp music converter
• DiVX Pro

Ok, that looks like a lot doesn’t it? Future articles will cover each item, why I use it and possible alternatives. Also, keep in mind that recording a class is much easier than a bhajan and requires less equipment. If you are doing audio only then some of this will also not be relevant.

Next week? In depth coverage on the Marantz PMD 660 as well as some alternatives.

I recently received a collection of ebooks that can be used on your PPC Phone.
You can download all the books here (73mb)

We will post later an instruction how to put them on your phone. But if you have experience how to do it, please send it to us. Write a post to me. (You need to have an account.)

[16 jun] We got a nice comment by Indulekha. Read below

O’reilly is a great source for audio related reviews and blogs. The blog of Mark Nelson in particular always sports nice articles. But now he did it! He made a comparison between current audio recorders. So here it is. (You can also visit his blog)

The table could be unreadable. So here you can download the pdf.

Recorder	Price*	Pros	Cons	Bonus Coolness Factor
Edirol R-09	$450 Get current price on Amazon	Easy to use Good onboard mics Good menu & interface	Windscreen not included Tripod adaptor is optional	Optional case & tripod are terrific
Korg MR-1	$899.99 Get current price on Amazon	Outstanding audio quality 40 gig hard drive Rugged metal housing with leather case Universal power supply	No hardware rec level control Internal battery Hard to set recording levels	1-bit audio is a huge improvement over PCM
M-Audio Microtrack 24/96	$499 Get current price on Amazon	Easy to use Audio quality 1/4″ TRS mic inputs with phantom power	Internal battery Potential damage from phantom power & TRS jacks	Smallest recorder with 1/4” inputs and phantom power
Marantz PMD620	$499 Get current price on Amazon	One-touch recording Mics well shielded from wind Sharp OLED display	Awkward menu interface Flimsy covers for USB port & SD card slot	Mono recording useful for broadcasters
Olympus LS-10	$399 Get current price on Amazon	Size Easy to use Audio quality 2 gig internal memory + SD card slot	Zoom mic effects color sound AC power supply not included	Outstanding battery life and great audio in a tiny package
Sony PCM-D50	$599.95 Get current price on Amazon	Rugged and ergonomic Very high audio quality 4 gig internal memory + removable memory	Heavier than the competition Cannot record MP3s Optional windscreen is expensive	Outstanding limiter means worry-free live recording
Zoom H2	$199 Get current price on Amazon	Front & rear stereo mics Inexpensive Doubles as USB audio interface	Feels flimsy Not exactly stellar audio	Records 4-channel “surround”
Zoom H4	$494.94 Get current price on Amazon	3 devices in 1: recorder, 4-track recorder & audio interface 1/4” & XLR combo-connectors with phantom power	Tiny display Confusing interface It’s big, Jim	It’s a portable USB audio interface with effects

I already showed you the easy ways to start blogging. Now i give you some guidelines to start your own website.
Mind you, these suggestions are just what they are, suggestions.

I want a website!

Cool. Good decision. And now make up your mind what kind of website you want….

I know what kind of website i want!

Great. So you want a blog?. Or a portal?. Or just a website…….?

Stop bugging me. What do i need next?

1. Get your website at your favorite ISP.
2. Build your website
3. Done.

That was easy he! But probably you will need some more advice.

1. Register your website at your favorite ISP

Of course your website will need a name. Maybe www.yourtemple.com? So when you know the name you can buy a website with enough space to work with.

There are many ISP (Internet Service Providers) that offer websites in all kinds of varieties. First i would suggest to buy at a well known ISP, or one that has a good standing. Secondly choose a ISP that is in the same area as your website visitors are in. So if you think that your visitors usually reside in the US, then buy a website that also is situated in the US (This you can ask your ISP)

I will give some ISP suggestions that i personally dealt with;

• hostgator.com - Good service, not expensive and reliable
• servage.net - Medium Service, cheap and lots of storage space.

I also have some experience with some local Dutch providers. Some good, some really bad. Do not try to go for the cheapest solution. Usually the service is more important then saving some money.

2. We bought a website. Now what?

2.1 Content management systems….
Now we can build a website. This is the difficult part of this guide. You already made a choice of what kind of website you want. Generally your website will be a Blog, or a bigger website. Luckily for us we don’t need to create a whole new website with all the technical details. There are ready made website systems available on the internet. And they are for free!! So we will use our lazy intelligence and choose a ready made website!!

Here is a list and my personal comments

Website systems (CMS)

• joomla - Very good CMS, with a big community.
• drupal - More difficult CMS, but offers more flexibilty in usage
• mambo - Good CMS
• php-nuke - Good CMS
• etc etc

Web logs (Blogs)

• wordpress - The de-facto standard of blog software
• b2evolution - Unknown to me

There are many more ready made systems available. For a complete list look here.

Recommendations :

• easy blog website : choose wordpress
• easy CMS : go for joomla

2.2 We choose our website system!
You are getting there!. You bought a website and choose to use joomla for example. Now we have to start doing something.
When you bought your website at your ISP you got access to some special web pages to maintain your own website. Big ISP’s are using special programs to do this, for example cPanel, DirectAdmin or Plesk. These special web pages can make your life easy. In cPanel for example you can install a website automagically!!!. How about that!. You dont need to waste time on doing it yourself.

At least with hostgator.com (where i registered library108.com) i can choose to install any website system i like. Just like that. If you have good support available from your ISP, then this is the easiest process. (Thats why you need good support!!!)

If possible at your ISP (or else get a good one!!) use their special access pages to install your website system. If in doubt, contact their support line.

3. Are we done?

No. You bought a website. You installed your website software. Now you need to put your own content in the website….

That will come in part 2.