This week's show has quite a variety of music, doesn't it? I like the diversity that the podcast allows. I think for Show 84 I will be producing a "Sunday Appropriate" show, with songs all of a more spiritual nature. Let me know what you think about the format.

I am still struggling with my microphone issues. I think I found two things that should help clean up the quality of the speaking parts of the show, but my testing this past weekend wasn't very encouraging. If any of you have experience with audio production, I would love to talk to you and get some ideas that may clean up the quality of my recordings. My main frustration is that I purchased a nice studio mic, but my recordings sound like I'm using a cheap hand-held mic from Radio Shack. (No offense to Radio Shack, but I've got a cheap hand-held I bought there.) I will be continuing to test other configurations and will hopefully find the perfect combination. One of the most frustrating things is that when I first purchased the studio mic, the quality of the recordings was great - exactly what I would expect. Since that time, I have migrated my "studio" two times onto different computers, and I don't have access to the configurations on the original computer. I'm looking at new software to use for my recording/mixing/encoding process. Again, if anyone has suggestions, please let me know. I am currently recording on a Windows 7 computer, but would prefer to record on my Linux computer.

Hey, while you're here, don't forget to vote for your favorite song of the current/recent shows. I like to know what songs and song types are most popular so I can keep bringing you music you'll love!

Have a great week, and we'll see you next Monday.

I have a surprise for you for Show 83, so be sure to stay tuned to find out what the surprise is.

Since you're here, you should take a minute to take the poll to your right and vote for the song you like best from the past couple of shows. I also still have a survey on Surveymonkey. Click here to take the survey. I appreciate the time you take to let me know your thoughts.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. Thanks to some advice from a co-worker, I think I've figured out the source of my microphone issues. For those that would like a technical explanation, I was recording my talking at 128kpbs, and most of my songs were at 192kbps. The mixture of bit rates was causing my software to get confused when mixing the mismatched bitrates. Everything is now changed to 128kbps, and I think it sounds quite a bit better. Let me know what you think.

As always, I am very appreciative of your support of the podcast, and especially your support of great LDS music! Have a great week!

As I've mentioned on the LDSMT Facebook page, I've created a survey that I would like you to take, if you haven't already. If you have taken it, THANK YOU! I've already received some good feedback and suggestions from the survey, so if you'd like to have a say in the future of the podcast, be sure to take 5 minutes to do the survey.

Once again, I'm very frustrated with the sound quality of my recordings for the show. I'm investigating the cause. Once upon a time, my recordings sounded fine, but after changing computers, I can't get it right yet. If any of you have mp3 recording experience and can lend a hand, I'm all ears (or eyes, if it's e-mail.) :-)

Thanks again for your support of the show!

I have safely returned from 11 days in sunny (that's politically correct for hot and humid) Florida. We had a modeling event for one of my daughters, and then we spent a week in Walt Disney World. Surprisingly, I did not get a bad sunburn in the experience. In fact, the only "burn" I got was on my nose, and that is very minor. I guess living in Colorado and being 1 mile closer to the sun has accustomed my skin to the rays. I know that's not necessarily true, but I'm sticking with that story.

Saturday, as you probably already know, is Pioneer Day, so I chose many songs in honor of the day. Lonesome Roving Wolves describes some of the hardships experienced by the pioneers. How Firm A Foundation isn't necessarily a pioneer song, but I think of it as one of the fundamental hymns in the early days of the Church. I have the same feeling towards A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. And, I saved Margaret Young Boyle for last. She is a true pioneer, and traveled across the plains as a young girl in conditions as described in her song.

As I mentioned at the end of Show 80, I put the show together on July 3 and 4, because I knew I wouldn't have the opportunity to do a show after arriving home from Florida on Saturday night. After doing the recordings for show 79, I think I mentally already left for Florida, and I had some interesting recordings that I editted out of the show. Since they are a little stranger than the normal bits I edit out, I saved them to two files and uploaded them to the server. Those of you who read this blog and those on Facebook will have the links to the files, but they won't be available via iTunes. You can download the files at Show080_Outtake1.mp3 and Show080_Outtake2.mp3. I have to confess....I did edit a burp out of the Outtake1 clip. I didn't think you'd want to hear that.

I am gathering ideas for the next show, so if you have any suggestions on what you'd like to hear, drop me a quick e-mail and let me know what you'd like me to play. I'm working on getting a couple of new artists on the show, so hopefully I'll have music of theirs to play in the next show. Oh, and if you have an idea for a theme show, such as "All Acoustic" or "All A'Capella" or a seasonal theme, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

I hope you all have a great week, and I look forward to "seeing" you again on the next show!