In here:

1- Carrying weight more safely

- When picking up weight in front of your body, embrace the core (tighten the abdomen);

- it gives you more stability, so you are more capable to do the task.

2- Microphone types

a) by connection

i) USB: connects directly to the computer, in the universal serial bus port. Plug and use!

ii) XLR: needs a USB audio interface , with XLR input, to connect to the computer. There are more options of microphones and, if you can spend on an interface, quality is generally better.

XLR connectors: female (left) and male. ( Image by Michael Piotrowski / Wikimedia Commons – CC BY-SA 3.0 .)

b) by diaphragm

i) condenser: captures the voice in more detail, with deeper bass, more detailed treble… Most of the USB microphones uses this technology. As a disadvantage, they catch even minimal sound details of the environment, vibrating with little sound waves around, even distant. That’s why you might get as recording result the clear details of noise from the street, or reverberation (echo) of an untreated room if you use it without the best environment. (If it’s ok for you even in these situations, it’s a merit of other factors, not a merit of the condenser diaphragm) . Usage : A favorite of singers in studio, among several other applications. As you can see on videos of professionals singing, one don’t talk on top of it (which might produce a low and undesired muffled sound) but on the side — and on the correct side, because most models of microphones have a cardioid pollar pattern.

A side-adress microphone (captures the sound from one specific side), condenser-type. (Image by Arthur Fox / https://mynewmicrophone.com/diaphragm.)

ii) dynamic: responds to the audio source (voice, instrument) very close to the diaphragm, do not capture sound more than some centimeters (or some inches) away. It’s the best for amateur use, or in a room without acoustic treatment. Usage : Musicians performing live use dynamic microphones so the instruments (and crowd) around don’t get their sound amplified by this artist’s microphone. Radios prefer dynamic mics, because it goes to a more impactful voice, rejects eventual sounds from noisy mixers or keyboards nearby that the radio host might be operating.

A top-adress microphone (captures the sound from the top), dynamic-type. (Image by Arthur Fox / https://mynewmicrophone.com/diaphragm.)

The RE20 from Electro-Voice (not the photo above) is a favorite of radio stations, in part for being dynamic, in part for reducing the proximity effect (that is, the sound “exploding” when the source gets too near to the capsule) because of its technology, named Variable-D.

A word about captation pattern (no, the name is polar pattern): it says about the directional response. For example, some are omnidirectional (captures sound equally from all the sides); most of them are cardioid, capturing the sound coming from the front (the speaker, the instrument directed to it), but rejects sound from the rear.

3- Microsoft Word (or Libreoffice Writer) “templates”

- So, you do use templates for text archives, to facilitate the doing of commonly used documents. To know what to change, you highlight in yellow, right? Or do you put the text in red?

- Well, my recommendation is to use, instead, * or {} : asterisk, curly brackets or any other symbol that you can type easily and not use as text in any document.

. So you can easily find what is the part you have to change or write, and only delete the * when you do that part. At the end, you can check if there is any * remaining, if not, the document is ready.

- So, isnt’ it the same with colors, to indicate what to change in the document?

. No. For formatting you need to use your vision (and may lose something) and have to remove the formatting manually. It’s possible to use the Find tool, but not as easily as finding a character.

To illustrate: print of an official document template for the bidding process for information and communication technology services. (Author: Brazil, Advocacia-Geral da União. Modelos da Lei 14.133/21 para bens e serviços de TIC. Link: https://www.gov.br/agu/pt-br/composicao/cgu/cgu/modelos/licitacoesecontratos/14133/bens-e-servicos-de-tic). Changes to be made were marked in red and italics, but brackets [] and “XXXX” were used also.

- Ah:

. there are forms, real templates you can use, but, hey, if you're part of the 90% that saves “templates” in the common format (.docx, .odt) and does not use the very special tools for the template kind of document, knowing and using some tips like this is ok and is satisfying.

- Not on templates, but in editing, I have worked on the revision of books using this, to know where to come back later to check, or where I have stopped on some day, with good result. Extra: give a look on the comment options, they are easy to use and practical, see if you adapt with it for your necessities.

4- A recooording tip

- Always record at least 3 seconds, totally quiet, before starting the show (that is, before talking). This “silence” is the room tone, which you may use:

. as adequate silence in the editing proccess (in place of a cut part), or

. you may take it for noise reduction profile IF needed, or

. which you can only delete in the end if you don't find what to do with it.

- Recording knowledge number 2 and final: save an uncompressed version of the raw of your recording, and keep it intact. Work on copies, keep the original saved as .wav (or, if prefered, .flac).

5- Permissions for apps

Be careful with free apps. Don’t install any and everything. See their permissions.

- Ads? Why more things being offered to you, trying to give insatisfaction? If there is an option without ads, you may prefer.

. Also, the ad system of some apps uses more battery (downloading different ads, sending more information of you to personalize ads, using the notification system, meaning running in the background).

- In-app purchases: with it, you’ll get angry with an app, because it’s not free to do what you thought it would do when you installed. And it may use recurring payments, pay for each feature, and worst, you don’t know beforehand. If it’s to pay, prefer the ones you buy (once) in the download and has no in-app purchases.

- With apps in that you input your data (like e2ee, or “e2ee” communicating, or browsers): see permissions, what data they keep and share, or at least choose open source and well-renowed developers.

- Please don't download any app that promises performance enhancement. The system (Android or iOS) is already optimized for what it is, third party apps can do little or, most commonly, nothing, and is more space and features loading your system.

. Want speed? Delete the apps that are not absolutely necessary (I’m talking to you, solitaire game with access to internet and that notifies you to play from time to time), or disable notifications of every app and put them to deep sleep (so they don’t run in background, only when you open them).

- So much said, let’s take it in one sentence: install only what needed, and see permissions and ads before choosing.

6- Mobile phone battery

- You use your phone all day and still have more than 20% of battery? Or recharges 2 times a day? (or 3!)

- If it’s the last option, and your phone is less than 3 years old and you never use uncertified chargers, you can try to have a worry-free all-day phone usage doing what said before: disabling apps that run in the background (uninstall, or put to deep sleep). It’s a one by one process, but once for all.

. If it’s this way because of intense use, nothing to do; enjoy your product!

✶ Final word

We did not enter on details: no explanations or reasons abounding, no. We didn’t even go to number 7 , which would be perfection ; because I have not a seventh good idea.

Only the bits of what I think I know & that I value as precious. A hug!

bye!

Credits: sound used (author – sound)

luvvoice.com , English (Nigeria), Abeo (Male) voice – tts “20 minutes show”.

luvvoice.com , English (UK), Ryan (Male) voice – tts on the paragraph about polar pattern of microphones.

Crab_Audio / Pixabay – My Style [Transitions]

freesound_community / Pixabay – Dictaphone .

Robinhood76 / Freesound.org – 01893 do it again spell (CC-BY-NC 4.0).

attic13 / Pixabay – calm background piano [beautiful, thank you; I hope the simple use here honors your work, friend].

SieuAmThanh / Freesound.org – RớtĐônHổ [angry expression] (CC0 1.0).

patchen / Freesound.org – Beautiful 85 (CC BY 4.0).