Recording Skype

Most of you already know that I’m doing a podcast for the MINI site. So far it’s been a lot of fun and I’m really enjoying it.

It hasn’t been easy. First I had to find a program to record. I’m using Audacity to record and mix it into something easily downloadable and playable. That part works great so far. Just a matter of getting the levels right and holding my voice steady. That part has been the most difficult.

The newest twist tho is adding a second voice via skype. While the skype quality itself has been great, getting it recorded hasn’t been. I think I managed pretty well for the lately ‘cast using a combination of Audacity and a program called PodProducer. The results were ok, but the levels were still off. Also, there is an annoying side effect to the caller when recording. To get windows to record both voices at the same time, you have to record the input in such a way that causes Skype to push it back to the caller, causing an echo. Quite annoying really.

There are a few software work arounds that I have been able to find, but they seem a bit wonky. So I’m throwing hardware at it instead. I’ve already added a 2nd sound card to my system and will be trying the following:

• Plug mic into #1 soundcard
• Plug headset speakers into #2 soundcard
• Run patch cable from speaker out on #1 to mic in on #2
• Set software to record from #2

OR… (added after as a note to self)

• Create a new Skype account
• Install Skype on 2nd PC (linux box in my case)
• Start Skype on the recording PC (windows box in my case)
• Start Skype on Linux. Conference in Windows box and any other callers
• Hit record

Both of these are just crazy enough to work! Hopefully that will do the trick. I’ll post back either way.

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