Local podcasters have found creative ways to voice their messages. One pair records in a back bedroom inside a blanket fort to get the acoustics right.
But now, the Sun Sounds studio is open for rent, offering professional broadcasting equipment.
Sun Sounds is a non-profit radio station that helps the blind or other visually impaired by keeping them up on current events by having newspapers, magazine and books read out loud. The service can also be useful for those with dyslexia, a traumatic brain injury, or people with arthritis or other disability that makes it difficult to hold a newspaper. The favorite service is the reading of the grocery store advertisements.
Sharon Tewksbury-Bloom is now using the Sun Sounds studio. Previously, she had worked in marketing for the station.
“Since I left, I started my own podcast. I went back to Gina Byars, the station manager. I know what they have available. I told her I wanted to try a pilot for a podcast, use the studio and give a donation for letting me use the equipment,” she said.
Tewksbury-Bloom says she is impressed with the station. “They are in a non-descript shopping center with two studios, one with one mic and the other with four mics.
After recording the pilot for her blog “Do Good. Be Good,” she made a donation to the station for their time and trouble. “They are best known for the annual Made in the Shade event. It’s a great fundraiser one time a year.”
Tewksbury-Bloom and Byars began working together to determine how others could use the facilities and attract more revenue to the station. She stresses that a person does not have to be a professional to use the equipment. “Some people might have a small project and maybe wants to record for 20 minutes. It might be a personal project like interviewing grandparents.”
Tewksbury-Bloom is now gearing up to launch the second season of her podcast that addresses volunteering and features those who want to make the community better.
“I just record the audio there and save them onto my own device. I take the contents with me and do the editing myself. Then I put it on the Internet through my home computer,” she said.
Byars says she is looking forward to hosting different clients. “It gets our name [Sun Sounds] out there and any way of making money will help.” FBN
By Patty McCormac, FBN
Sun Sounds has been in Flagstaff for 24 years. The station is located at 1300 S. Milton, #202. To learn more about Sun Sounds, call Byars at 928-779-1775.
