Podcasting 101
Guest: Lee Tusman, Associate Professor of New Media and Computer Science
Host: Artists and Hackers
Today
- Planning a podcast
- Producing a podcast episode
- Workshop
Podcast forms
Some are long: This American Life, 1 hour.
Others are short: WBUR Kind World (10 minutes usually).
Some podcasts (getting press now!) feature conversations. It’s Been a Minute.
Others are educational. 99% Invisible on “the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world.” or Artists and Hackers on “art, code and community.”
What makes for a good episode?
- An interesting topic
- Great audio
- A compelling story, by having good editing
Process
- Prep
- Record
- Edit
- Release
Tools
You need:
- microphone(s)
- headphones
- recording device (computer or hardware)
- audio editing software
Workshop
Prompt (pick one):
- Tell a story about something that recently happened to you at Purchase. It should be something that your audience should know about.
- Pick a topic that there are opposing or multiple views on and have a conversation with multiple perspectives.
- Explain something that people get wrong (or that Professors get wrong but students understand, etc.)
Brainstorm
Come up with some ideas based on the prompt. Think about a concept for an episode. Then come up with a structure.
Possibilities: * narrator * an interview with someone * background audio or field recording? * add in audio clips?
Check
Is the idea realistic and doable?
What’s the timeline? Can you complete it on time in the time you have available?
Recording checklist
What sounds do you need? Make a list.
Structure
The Big W questions:
- Who?
- Where?
- What?
- When?
- Why?
And 6 more:
source: NPR training. Illustrations by Chris Kindred.
Prep
When interviewing someone, do your research. Why are you interviewing them? Write up a list of questions first. These should be: the BIG questions, but you should make sure your questions are open-ended.
Make sure you get permission to include the person’s interview. You can do this via email (“Is it okay if I interview you for the podcast XXXXX? It’s an interview program on the topic XX. And I’ll be presenting the work in class/distributed via major podcast platforms/something else.” At the beginning of the interview you should ask for permission to record and for you to use the recording in your podcast.
Charge all batteries. Silence alarms. Close windows/doors. Save audio and back it up. Give it a useful name (“Lee-interview-Jan-3-2024.wav”).
Silence is golden
Meet somewhere quiet. Record somewhere quiet.
Start with WHO are you
Ask the person to introduce themself.
When asking questions, record yourself asking the question. If possible, have them explain to you like it’s a story. What happened first? Then what happened? Then what happened after that? What were they feeling? etc.
Production / Editing
Write
If it’s a narrated podcast, come up with your ‘script’.
Record
Then record it. This includes introductions, outros and anything in-between interviews.
Mix
Mixing is a slow, deliberate process. Take your time. Edit until you get it right. Mix in a quiet environment.
=> Mixing Audio Stories tutorial from NPR.
Additional mixing resources
Software
Free sound editor: Audacity.
Need more advanced sequencing and editing? Try Reaper, which is free to try out unlimited. You can pay for a discounted license.
Getting Good Audio Quality
Most important: Wear headphones when recording! You will then be able to hear mistakes on the spot and and correct them! It is much harder or impossible to fix “bad” audio later.
- clipping and distortion - Clipping is when your voice is too loud and you get a digital click sound. Distortion can be caused by the mic input gain volume being set too high or too low. Shoot for your audio peak from speaking to be about -12db in your software and any hardware devices. Many have scales that indicate this.
- plosives - If you hear “pop” sounds on P words, move your mouth to the side.
- Quiet / distant voice - Move someone to the correct place of your mic! Try to place one’s mouth 4 - 6 inches away from the mic, with the mouth aimed just slightly off from the mic.
- Taps, rubbing of microphone, handholding of microphone. Never hold the mic directly! Place it on a stand or mic support.
- Wind - Don’t record on a windy day, and certainly without a wind shield (a big fuzzy one). If there is a little wind and it can’t be helped, try to block the wind with your back, get in a doorway, or behind a car, etc.
- Bounce - Try to record in a place that isn’t a hollow bouncy room. Fabric on the walls, ceilings, especially places like closets have a lot of fabric and make for good recording environments! Some people pull a blanket over their head to record. This might work especially well when recording a monologue.
More tips on all of these and many other audio issues can be found in NPR’s The ear training guide for audio producers.
Music
You are not legally allowed to take commercial music and use it as background audio and distribute it without permission.
Recommendation: Use Public Domain music or Creative Commons licensed music (as long as it is not NoDerivatives licensed).
- YouTube Audio Library - Free to Use
- Free Music Archive has creative commons licensed music. Make sure to cite the source for the audio (name of artist and license and link)
- Pixabay Music - Free to use
Credits
- NRKbeta Podcast photo by Andreas Grimsæth / NRK, from Flickr. CC BY-SA.
- NPR Starting Your Podcast: A Guide for Students