by aakriti1215 on 1/17/17, 10:35 PM with 15 comments
by tedyoung on 1/18/17, 1:20 AM
* What's the best microphone to use? (There goes at least 20 hours of research and reading and listening to comparisons, etc.)
* What should I use to record the podcast? Audacity? Logic Pro X? Reaper (which I haven't upgraded to 5.43 yet)?
* What about intro music? (More weeks pass as I reinstall and upgrade my digital audio workstation, the synth and drum plugins, my guitar interface, which oh, needs a driver upgrade...)
* How should I clean up the noise? (More time passes installing and upgrading my compression plugins. Do I need to buy the latest Waves plugins? Didn't I buy that set years ago, maybe I can upgrade? Check out KVR Audio for freeware plugins...)
* Where should I store the podcast? Which service? Is libsyn still good? What about podbean?
* Oh, now I need a website. Spend time resurrecting an old blog. Think: maybe I should convert over to one of those newer static sites (Hugo, et al)? Hey, maybe I'll write something in Go, which I've been trying to learn! (Weeks later...)
So, it's months later and I've clearly shaved far too many yaks. I don't have a podcast, but I've learned that I should just record one with whatever mic I've got, using Audacity, or whatever, and just publish the darned thing.
by atmosx on 1/18/17, 5:42 AM
The problem that I needed ~ 6-10 hours per week in order to create a 45min content that didn't suck using GarageBand and another podcast tool (can't recall names now). The best had 3 sections: Weekly news (just referencing quick), Commentary on some of these news, Interviews.
What I found interesting is how easy is to get someone to talk about something he is working on. I recall finding Greek guys working in major corps (Nokia, Google, etc.) and get them to talk and I had many great ideas on how to improve it, create a community around it, etc.
So although, the idea was good I wanted to spend 2-3 hours per week, but that's not possible if you want to create quality content. At least wasn't for me.
ps. It is something that I'd like to re-do at some point, but still I don't want to spend so many hours on this. Probably if I could find someone to help with editing / publishing and split the tasks would be a lot easier. Ideally, should be a team of 3.
by tedsanders on 1/18/17, 7:28 AM
I learned a lot from doing the podcast. Consistent, deliberate practice where you get feedback from others and from your own listening is a terrific way to improve over the years. As a result of the podcast, I became a more engaging speaker, a punchier writer, and even a better scientist. Spending hours thinking about how to best tell a story around a scientific concept really builds fluency, even if you think you already know the concept well.
If anyone is thinking about doing a podcast, feel free to email me. We found that having a big team with specialized roles and work rotation helped make the work sustainable and enjoyable. And as others highlight, content matters far more than tools or editing.
by gmemstr on 1/18/17, 2:18 AM
Second, it's going to be weird listening to your own voice recorded. Again and again as you edit. You'll probably think you sound stupid and pick out all your flubs, but you'll have to get used to it.
Lastly, it is extremely difficult to do a one-man podcast. Two people is the bare minimum to keep the conversation going, three is (in my personal experience listening and creating podcasts) the perfect number. Four is great if you can find a good diverse cast (e.g the Rooster Teeth podcast). So get a couple of your friends and make sure to make talking points, either written down or in your head, so that there's little dead air.
by Philomath on 1/18/17, 1:25 AM
After hearing it, I found it so bad I never did more.
I used the microphone for recording other stuff though.
What I learned is that you should first record yourself somewhere and listen to yourself before committing.
by SyneRyder on 1/18/17, 9:30 AM
Some of my time was spent being fussy about audio quality, but I still think it's important - I've unsubscribed from a lot of podcasts because the audio was unbearable. At the very least, learn a little about dynamics/compression, so that your podcast is a steady volume and not too loud or soft compared to others. Look at something like The Levelator [1] as a bare minimum.
Personally, I used iZotope RX [2] for noise reduction when necessary, and iZotope Ozone [3] for controlling dynamics and applying EQ. Ozone has a feature where you can analyze the EQ of a recording - say, Leo Laporte's TWIT podcasts - and apply that EQ curve to your own recording. That together with Ozone's dynamics compression helped get a much more professional sound.
Lastly: you might want to look at Christopher Hawkins book Record & Release [4] about every step of the podcasting process.
[1] http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator
[2] https://www.izotope.com/en/products/repair-and-edit/rx.html
[3] https://www.izotope.com/en/products/master-and-deliver/ozone...
by coreymaass on 1/20/17, 2:38 PM
by crystalPalace on 1/18/17, 2:35 AM
by anotheryou on 1/18/17, 1:38 PM
- low noise enviroment
- mic placed as close as you can without pops or much change in the distance. (just try it a bit to find what soudns best). For multiple people: make sure they are all the same distance and angle to the mic.
- run it through a modest compressor once
I guess the kind of mic etc is not even that important.
by mathgeek on 1/18/17, 3:49 AM