Here and there I have recorded some screencast tutorials on my YouTube. Actually, it turns out the last time I even tried to was years ago. So, no "here and there", mostly "there." It is something that I have wanted to do more of, but never really dived into due to various excuses.

I first blamed it on my equipment, I wanted a better microphone so I could make better quality recordings. Then I couldn't justify purchasing an expensive microphone and accessories for a hobby when there were things around the house I needed to fix and buy things for. Then it was "well, I can justify the cost if I actually do it, so I should plan content and a schedule" I quickly hit planning paralysis.

But, I finally jumped in and bought some equipment. My friend Justin was my guiding light here. He recommended I go for an XLR microphone versus a USB microphone. He offered to give me his old audio interface (and excuse so he could buy a new one.) That right there made this a cost-effective purchase. So, after tons of hunting (inventory for microphones is almost non-existent), I finally found an Audio-Technica AT2020 in stock!

I grabbed an Audio-Technica AT2020 Cardioid Condenser Studio XLR Microphone. From the feedback I have received, this is one of the best microphones for its quality and price. I was able to snag it off of Amazon for $80. Justin linked me to an InnoGear combo pack that included a suspension arm, shock mount, and pop filter. That cost $27. For roughly $110 I was able to get started with better quality equipment than what an equivalently priced USB microphone would have gotten me. The real money-saver was getting the audio interface, a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (2nd Gen) for free. So, huge thanks to Justin 🥳.

I also used this as motivation to finally rearrange and clean up my office. I had purchased an Autonomous SmartDesk 2 over the winter and set it up, with my old corner desk still hanging around. I took apart the old desk and moved my standing desk into an area with better lighting.

My first stream will be the live upgrade of my site from 8.9.x to 9.0.0. I did it locally, and I hit quite a few little quirks. I can grok out Composer dependency conflict output, but some folks may have issues. So I figured it is a great way to get started!