Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Studio and the Ukulele
To be honest, I used to watch with a little envy those videos where musicians speak or sing into professional microphones and their instruments sound great as well. I had wanted for a long time to make recordings with genuinely excellent sound quality, and I think I finally found the right path. I also found some help along the way: the Focusrite device named in the title has joined my modest collection of technical equipment. I hope that from now on the Focusrite will help improve the sound of my ukulele videos .
In the next picture you can see the device itself. It is often referred to as an external sound card or an audio interface, because it provides the communication — the data connection — between our instrument, our speaking or singing voice, and the computer.
Depending on their quality and capabilities, devices like these can cost hundreds of thousands or even many millions of forints, but those are obviously professional-level systems. Focusrite also makes more serious and more capable devices, but this unit, which could perhaps be called semi-professional, is perfectly suited to my needs. It lets me record high-quality sound and therefore covers my "home studio" requirements. I chose the complete two-channel package, which also includes headphones and a microphone, so you get a full set rather than having to choose every component separately.
The equipment comes in tasteful, high-quality packaging. The only thing I could not understand at first was where all the accompanying software was, because the package includes a whole pile of programs too. Never mind, I thought, they will turn up somewhere. After connecting it to my computer and installing it, the system came to life and neatly guided me to Focusrite's website, where it offered the associated software for download. So I downloaded Ableton Live Lite, which is more than enough for my needs and perfectly suitable for recording and exporting two audio channels. Just to be safe, I watched Focusrite's short tutorial videos, and then I was immediately able to test the system for real. So despite a few initial stumbles, it all worked out in the end. You can see — but above all hear — the result in the video below.
I can confidently recommend this set to anyone who wants to record good-quality audio for their videos. Of course it means a little more post-production, because the separately recorded audio track has to be synchronized with the picture in a video editor, but crystal-clear sound is worth the extra effort.
