January 5, 2024 • 20 mins
In Episode 05 of How to Start a Podcast, you'll learn how to set up and record a professional podcast from the comfort of your own home.
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Episode Transcript
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Gilon (00:00):
Welcome back to How to Record No. Sorry, we can't
(00:05):
record your voice episodeWelcome back to How To Start A
Podcast. I am Gilon.
Alban (00:14):
And I'm Alban. And in this episode, we are going to
record your first episode. Sofar we have done everything to
pick out the concept, theformat, we picked out, hopefully
some equipment and had it set toyour house. And now we are ready
to record your first episode.
Gilon (00:30):
Yeah, so recording your first episode is not as simple
as hitting the record button atall.
Alban (00:35):
Right? There's definitely things you can be doing the save
yourself a lot of time later, alot of the tips we're going to
give you in this episode, you'regoing to thank yourself for
listening to them when you'reediting the episode. Because as
every sound, an audio engineerwill tell you, every bit of work
you put in on the front end,you're going to save your
editor, probably you a ton oftime.
Gilon (00:58):
So think of your future self and do this work for future
you. First things first anoutline, why would we want to
start with an outline? Isn'tthat just gonna like slow us
down? We just need to berecording, why do we need an
outline?
Alban (01:09):
So have you ever gone to one of those meetings where
you're not exactly sure why themeeting was called? And then
like 45 minutes into it, then anhour into it? And it's kind of
going on? And then eventually itlets out. And you're like, did
we talk about anythingimportant? The reason that
meeting didn't go well isbecause there wasn't an agenda.
If there's an agenda, everybodyknows, here's the topics we've
(01:31):
got to talk about. Here's whatwe need to work through, here's
what we need to discuss, here'sthe conversation we need to
have. Well podcast is the exactsame way. If we are not writing
down, here's what we're tryingto cover, then it's very easy to
meander and actually miss themost important things we had to
say
Gilon (01:49):
definitely and beyond just not listening to someone
meander, because my goodness, Idon't know that I could continue
listening to that for 45minutes, you also miss or
potentially miss some reallyimportant real estate for your
podcast, right? If you don't setyour intentions with your
outline, you might missintroducing yourself, you might
miss your intro, you might missyour call to action. So making
(02:10):
sure that you'd have some sortof format that you're following
ensures that you hit the highpoints, as well as the important
opportunities along the way.
Alban (02:17):
So if you have an outline, it doesn't need to be a
script, you know, a script,which is written for like TV
shows is verbatim what'sprobably going to be in the
final version, you know, andthere's some you can play with
it a little bit. An outline,like the outline we wrote for
this episode does not have to bethat long. I'm looking at it
right now we have eight bulletpoints. And each of them is just
(02:37):
a phrase. The first bulletpoint, by the way, is write an
outline. So you don't have to besuper in depth. Instead, you're
just making sure, here are thethings that are important, the
order in which they should betalked about that way, you know,
okay, we're transitioning theconversation, and the more
people you have, the moreimportant it is to have everyone
(02:58):
on the same page for what you'regoing to talk about.
Gilon (03:00):
And I think along the lines of making sure you have an
order, some things really needto be laid out in a specific
order. Sometimes you can hoparound when you're just free
flowing, and people aren't ableto follow your thought or the
natural progression of theinformation you're presenting.
And so even just having anoutline to keep you on track for
how you want this information tobe presented, does wonders for
the flow of your audio so thatlisteners can know exactly what
(03:22):
it is you're trying to convey.
If you
Alban (03:24):
are entering into a conversation, and you know, some
of what you want to talk about,it's very easy to miss the very
basic points that are criticalto people understanding. Imagine
you're teaching someone how toplay baseball. And the first
thing you need to tell them istheir innings. And we're trying
to score runs. And here's how wescore runs. If you jump in and
(03:47):
say here is how to catch a ball,and here's how you know, base
running techniques, people arenot gonna understand why that's
important. So if you werewriting the outline for teaching
the game of baseball, you wouldfirst start out with is this a
competitive game. And here's howyou win it. In the same vein,
write down the main points, makesure they're in the most logical
(04:09):
order. And then we talk throughthe outline with your co host
before hitting record.
Gilon (04:15):
Gotcha. So we ready to hit record. Now.
Alban (04:17):
I hope you've already hit record on this exact episode.
Gilon (04:21):
So you've done your outline, right? And you might be
thinking, Alright, perfectrecord. Well, you got to set
your stuff up and you've got tofind a place to set your stuff
up. I'm just imagining peoplewalking around with like a
computer and a mic. Where areyou going to go? You're
homeless? podcaster so where arewe going? Where should we like
plant our stuff to record ouraudio?
Alban (04:39):
So there's a lot of considerations when picking the
right place to record a lot ofwe're gonna be obvious, but
we'll say them anyway. The firstis we want to get stuff a lot, a
lot of background noise. And sobe mindful of things like Hey,
am I in the room that's rightnext to the laundry room and
maybe someone's you know,running something in the washing
machine, maybe spincycle andshake the wall. Am I nearby kids
(05:03):
that are running around? Issomebody mowing the lawn
outside, if any backgroundnoises that are going to be
nearby, try to minimize them,maybe go and talk to people in
your house and say, Hey, I'mgoing to be recording for the
next hour ish. So if you coulddo your best to not walk in or
interrupt, I would greatlyappreciate it.
Gilon (05:21):
And I would also add, like time of day, right? So you
mentioned talking to the peoplein your home, I would wait until
everybody in my house went tosleep. Just because sometimes
even though I've said to you, Iam going to be recording this
podcast, that doesn't mean thatyou're going to stop having loud
conversations in the kitchenthat my mic somehow still picked
up. Right? So timing is not ahypothetical, no, this is
(05:42):
completely as never happened tome, I don't know, I'm just
spitballing here. But yeah, it'stime of day, you know, if you
live near a really busy street,and it's just really hard to not
get that road noise, you mightwant to pick a day or time of
day that you're not susceptibleto all of that road noise. So
just being mindful of theenvironment, people outside
noises, all of that it's reallyimportant one other
considerations.
Alban (06:02):
So what we've talked about there is minimizing
background noise, which is goingto make the editing a lot
easier. Other is soundtreatment, making sure that your
own voice is going to comethrough as clear as possible.
And so the things that you wantto be thinking about are what we
would call sound treatment, youprobably aren't going to be in
more of a studio environment,you're not going to have all the
(06:22):
sound dampening stuff on thewalls. But you can find a room
with carpet, you can find a roomwith lots of furniture, lots of
things that are soft, or want tosoak up sound so you don't get
the echoey reverb sound from theroom.
Gilon (06:37):
So the big thing is to kind of avoid a place that has
lots of hard surfaces becausehard surfaces allow sound to
bounce off and ricochet likecrazy. For instance, carpeted
rooms, like you said, if youmaybe I don't know recording the
closet, that would be a greatplace. Right? Right. We could do
that.
Alban (06:54):
We need to put this in the show notes. But during the
beginning of COVID, when we hadall the lockdowns, Jalon
actually filmed a bunch ofYouTube videos in her walking
closet. And I just remember itbecause so many people left
comments about it like, hey,that's actually where I record,
it's where I get the best audioquality, and where I know it
won't be disturbed. And all thehanging clothes, they soak up so
(07:17):
much noise. So not only were yougetting compliments on the
location, you had some gobblethat's on the actual clothes
sitting in the background.
Gilon (07:23):
People like where'd you get that shirt from that super,
I think I have a shirt. Greattop. I love it. Okay, so let's
say we've picked a spot, right?
We've minimize background noise.
We've talked to all the people,we're soaking up sound, we've
set our stuff down, how do weconnect it,
Alban (07:40):
the best thing we can recommend is whatever microphone
you bought, go type it intoYouTube and say, Samson, q2, you
set up and watch a video abouthow to actually set it up the
software that you pick, go watchthe setup for how to record with
that software. It's not thatthese things are too hard for
(08:00):
you to figure out. But we wantyou to feel so comfortable with
what it looks like how toapproach it, that you're not
spending your brain spacethinking about Did I hit record?
And I plug that in? Right? Oh, Ithink our audio is off. If
you're thinking about thatduring the podcast recording,
you're not going to be thinkingabout the flow of the
(08:20):
conversation and paying closeattention to your guests.
Gilon (08:23):
And I definitely when I started started with YouTube
videos like okay, how does thisget connected? How do I make
sure that I'm listening to myactual microphone through these
headphones? YouTube was the waythat I did it. And I really
recommend people doing it stepby step, right? So looking up
the microphone that you have inthe computer that you have and
just Googling like, Hey, what isthe Samsung cue to you, you
(08:44):
know, paired with a MacBook Pro,how do I set that up. And then
even doing that with yourediting software, right, there's
specific ways to set up yourediting software, so that you
can have a master tracks all thepresets, settings, all that good
stuff is already set up for you.
And do it like with yourproduct. You can watch it one
time, but then also do it stepby step so that you get that
hands on learning. You know,when you do it yourself, you're
(09:04):
able to then kind of be morecomfortable and it won't be like
your first time at the rodeowhen you go to record your first
episode.
Alban (09:11):
So we'll give you now kind of the checklist. These are
the things to think about whenyou're setting up just so you
don't make the big mistakes.
We'll start at the microphone.
The microphone itself needs tobe turned on in some instances.
So if your microphone has an onoff switch, turn it to the on
position, you might have an LEDlight that lights up so you
(09:32):
should have a cable goingdirectly from that microphone
into your computer. If you'rerecording with multiple people,
they're going to be runningthrough an audio interface like
that FocusRite Scarlett to ituwe talked about earlier, or
maybe the road caster Pro whichwe are recording with right now.
So you're going to have yourmicrophones that will either
plug in to the audio interface,or probably into your computer.
(09:55):
You need to make sure your inputis set to the right microphone,
so it's not annoying. Commonjust happened to me plenty of
times where you start recording,and then you go and you look and
you're recording the entire timeon your computer microphone. So
check that and make sure theinput device on the recording
software is set to themicrophone, the plugged in.
Definitely,
Gilon (10:15):
those are all really important as well as hitting the
record button. Because whohasn't missed hitting the record
button, right. So we've got oursetup, we've got our mic and our
computer, let's talk aboutsoftware. So that what's a
really important thing to dowhen it comes to our editing
software.
Alban (10:30):
Well, the big one there is recording separate tracks. So
I put out a thread on Twitterabout how to set up zoom
recordings. And one of the tipswas make sure you record
separate tracks. And it was likethe biggest giveaway, who the
audio editors were that theywere all retweeting that tip
because your audio editors areall living in a world where
(10:53):
people give them a single trackwith a bunch of voices. The
problem there is you now haveone waveform, and it's somebody
coughs that is overtop of allthe voices and stuff they
actually want to leave in. Andthe first episode that we
recorded a few days ago,hopefully everybody has already
(11:14):
listened to, we noticed we had alot of moments where we are
like, kind of talking andaffirming each other saying
let's uh, yeah, I agree withthat. And it kind of didn't help
the flow of the conversationmost Right, right. And so we
just went back, and we deletedthose little bits out was super
easy. Because we had suit twoseparate waveforms, one waveform
(11:34):
was just my voice, and onewaveform was yours. So we could
go in and clip all the pointswhere I did that. And instead,
now we have a clean audio filethat doesn't have those
mistakes,
Gilon (11:45):
like recording separate tracks is a game changer for
editing. Again, think about yourfuture self and how your future
self will feel having to edit asingle track with multiple
voices, and people likelycoughing. So recording separate
tracks is really important. Sowe've sat down, we've got our
setup physically, as well assoftware wise, and we've got our
microphone in front of us, howshould our microphone be set?
(12:06):
How should we be sitting, theseare all really important pieces.
Also to recording your audio.
Alban (12:11):
Yeah, we want to get our voices to sound as good as
possible. We're trying to avoida few different things. One is
there's a few noises you canmake with a microphone that you
don't hear real life. They'recalled plosives, or like
sibilant SS. So the S sound canget a little hissy inside of a
microphone, just the way they'reset up. And a plosive is that
(12:34):
sound. And what's happening is alot of air leaves your mouth,
and it hits the capsule in themicrophone. And it kind of makes
this boom sound. And thosearen't things you would hear in
real life. But there are thingsyou will hear when you're using
a microphone to record ears areshaped differently than
microphone capsules. So how dowe avoid those, you avoid those
(12:56):
with the pop filter. So wealready have a pop filter, kind
of that squishy thing on themicrophone, it diffuses the
sound waves are all the airthat's coming out of your mouth.
And you can also rotate yourmicrophone, so it's a little off
access rather than pointingdirectly into your mouth. It's
kind of at an angle. So you'retalking kind of past the end of
(13:18):
the microphone.
Gilon (13:19):
And then the other thing you want to make sure as far as
seating and posture is thatyou're about 445 ish, four to
three ish, a hand space, awayfrom your microphone, right. So
you kind of avoid those plosivesbut also sitting straight up so
that you're speaking from yourcleared out body diaphragm, your
diaphragm, but you want to havegood posture, right, you want to
(13:40):
be sitting so that you're notcramped down on your stomach or
your chest isn't caved in. Youjust want to have a nice good
straight posture in front ofyour microphone and kind of be
about three to four finger widthapart from your mic.
Alban (13:51):
Sitting up is really important for me, I know that if
I'm not using a boom arm thatallows the mic to sit up close
to my mouth fully up. Well thenI end up hunching over, your
energy drops. And you're reallyjust kind of start sounding a
little bit more high pitchedrather than a full body voice.
The other thing is, you'retalking about four finger width
(14:12):
subpart, which is perfect, butthen we're trying to keep that
consistent through the wholerecording. I know a lot of times
you can get in a habit of likedrifting away from the
microphone. So I'm gonna startdoing some of these you start
drifting away from themicrophone and then you start
realizing like how different itsounds. When you get a little
bit of distance from the mic.
Also, you're just like laughingand having a good time. Some
(14:34):
people have very intense laughsand if you're getting really
intense laughs right into themic or you start shouting or
getting intense. Well, now youare running into clipping and
that's where the audio is maxedout. If you look at like the
little volume controller, it'sgoing all the way to red, it's
hitting the top and even then ifwe bring the Audio down. And
(14:59):
editing, it's still not going tohave the like characteristic of
a voice because we've lost a lotof that audio data. And then
some
Gilon (15:09):
other kind of asides your device, put your device on Do
Not Disturb. Okay, sometimesyou'll get a text right in the
middle of recording, and you gotthat thing now in your audio,
and that'll mess things up. Andthen being mindful of your
hands, if you're like, tappingon the table where your mic is,
or you put your elbow down, thatnoise is also going to come
through. So whenever you can beas mindful as possible to kind
(15:31):
of keep your hands away fromwherever your mic mic is
sitting, and have your deviceson Do Not Disturb
Alban (15:36):
kind of in that vein jewelry that's like dangling. So
sometimes earrings can bebumping into the mic, and that
will make noise, I have a jacketthat kind of makes odd noise if
I'm wearing that. So I justcannot wear it when I'm doing a
recording. So just notice,that's why we've got the
headphones on, right. Like we'renoticing the way we sound and
we're catching any mistakes orfidgeting or anything we're
(15:57):
doing in real time. So that weonly have to worry about editing
that out once not editing it outa dozen times. And on that
Gilon (16:05):
note, we really encourage you to record a test track, you
don't want all the pressure ofbeing mindful of all of these
things we've mentioned, stickingwith your outline and having a
place that's quiet and makingsure there's no one mowing the
lawn and make sure everything ishooked up and connected. And oh,
did I hit record. Also, this ismy interview and I need to not
blow it like that can be a lotof pressure. But you can sort of
(16:26):
get to that pressure off ofyourself. If you record a test
track, it could be a wholewalkthrough of your first
episode or your trailer, or itcould just be a few minutes
where you're able to kind ofmonitor this is how it works.
Okay, the sound is on I hearmyself, Oh, that sounds too
loud, or I've got those plosivesAlban was talking about, that's
a really good moment for you totry things out to get a feel for
recording. And then to be ableto make some adjustments for
(16:49):
your real episode,
Alban (16:50):
it can be just as small as a minute, so that you listen,
you go, Oh, my mics a littlehot, it's a little too high, I
actually have somebody who mightbe using the wrong input device.
So they're not actually usingtheir microphone, we're actually
getting some sound bleed, it'sbecause some he's not wearing
headphones, like, all of thosethings become very apparent when
you do the test track. So werecord short test tracks when
(17:14):
we're doing this. And wedefinitely recommend it for you.
And then the last thing iswhatever recording software you
have, will allow you to exportyour file. So if you record on
Zoom, or squad cast Riversideare just on your own editing
software, all those you canexport the file, if you do
record it in a audio editingsoftware. So let's say in
(17:38):
GarageBand, we don't have toexport until after we've edited
so we would talk about that partin the next episode,
Gilon (17:45):
right? But we will say whenever you go to export your
audio file, we recommend usingeither an mp3 or a WAV file,
those work really well withBuzzsprout. We can take an mp4,
but it's it's a pretty largefile. It's pretty chunky dude.
So it takes a while a chunkyfile, chunky file to begin. And
so you just want to export in anaudio file format so that you
(18:07):
can upload to whatever yourhosting site is, after you've
edited and done all that goodstuff.
Alban (18:11):
WAV files are really good, but they're really big NP
threes are just super compatibleacross everything on the
internet. And they're prettylightweight. So those are like
the two we recommend everythingyou throw Buzzsprout we will
take it but those are likeoptimal for when you're
exporting. So we've talked a lotnow about how to record how to
(18:32):
pick the right spot, what to dobeforehand how to prep your
guests, everything. Well now itis time for you to hit the
record button. If you're stillfeeling a little intimidated,
we've got lots of resources foryou. So Travis, what should
people be thinking about beforethey hit that record?
Travis (18:48):
So I've got two really great videos and a blog post
that I think everyone listeningto this episode should go and
check out the first one isactually kind of a funny video
so I took it upon myself to seeif I could make the Samsung Q to
you or go to recommendation fornew podcasters for a microphone
if I can make it sound like aShure SM seven B and did like a
(19:08):
head to head audio test battlething and you'll see me
demonstrate all those mictechniques and different
strategies that Alban Jaloncovered in this video so if you
want to get a visual of what agood distance away from the
microphone looks like, if youwant to see what speaking of
access looks like and all thedifferent things that are
involved in helping yourmicrophone sound as awesome as
possible, definitely go andcheck out this video. We also
(19:31):
put together a video on how torecord a podcast remotely and
while in this episode, we talkeda lot about getting ready to
record and doing test recordingsand things like that that video
especially if you're planning onusing zoom or Riverside or squad
cast when these long distancerecording solutions that will
walk you through the settingsthat you'll want to have set up
ahead of time. So when you go torecord your podcast, it sounds
(19:54):
awesome. And then if you'relooking for some low cost ways
to help treat your space, theplace where you When I record
your podcast, whether it is awalk in closet, or a home office
or a spare bedroom or somethinglike that, there's a blog post
we have with a bunch of ideasfor acoustic treatment for your
podcast. So really easy thingsyou can do to improve the sound
(20:14):
quality of your podcast andreduce some of that nasty
reverb. So, two videos to gowatch one blog to read, and
you'll be all set to record yourpodcast.
Gilon (20:23):
Thanks so much, Travis.
So now that you have thoseresources, you've got a little
bit of homework. Before you comeback to our next episode. Make
sure you look at those things.
Get yourself set up, have thequestions, ask the questions, do
all that good stuff. But ournext episode will be about
editing your audio, which issuper exciting. Make sure you
come back it's not superintimidating, you can do this.
So we'll be talking about thegold editing some tips for
(20:45):
editing pointers, all that goodstuff, you're going to want to
make sure that you don't missthat. So be sure to come back
for Episode Six. And as alwayskeep by casting See y'all there.
Welcome back to How to Record No. Sorry, we can't
(00:05):
record your voice episodeWelcome back to How To Start A
Podcast. I am Gilon.
Alban (00:14):
And I'm Alban. And in this episode, we are going to
record your first episode. Sofar we have done everything to
pick out the concept, theformat, we picked out, hopefully
some equipment and had it set toyour house. And now we are ready
to record your first episode.
Gilon (00:30):
Yeah, so recording your first episode is not as simple
as hitting the record button atall.
Alban (00:35):
Right? There's definitely things you can be doing the save
yourself a lot of time later, alot of the tips we're going to
give you in this episode, you'regoing to thank yourself for
listening to them when you'reediting the episode. Because as
every sound, an audio engineerwill tell you, every bit of work
you put in on the front end,you're going to save your
editor, probably you a ton oftime.
Gilon (00:58):
So think of your future self and do this work for future
you. First things first anoutline, why would we want to
start with an outline? Isn'tthat just gonna like slow us
down? We just need to berecording, why do we need an
outline?
Alban (01:09):
So have you ever gone to one of those meetings where
you're not exactly sure why themeeting was called? And then
like 45 minutes into it, then anhour into it? And it's kind of
going on? And then eventually itlets out. And you're like, did
we talk about anythingimportant? The reason that
meeting didn't go well isbecause there wasn't an agenda.
If there's an agenda, everybodyknows, here's the topics we've
(01:31):
got to talk about. Here's whatwe need to work through, here's
what we need to discuss, here'sthe conversation we need to
have. Well podcast is the exactsame way. If we are not writing
down, here's what we're tryingto cover, then it's very easy to
meander and actually miss themost important things we had to
say
Gilon (01:49):
definitely and beyond just not listening to someone
meander, because my goodness, Idon't know that I could continue
listening to that for 45minutes, you also miss or
potentially miss some reallyimportant real estate for your
podcast, right? If you don't setyour intentions with your
outline, you might missintroducing yourself, you might
miss your intro, you might missyour call to action. So making
(02:10):
sure that you'd have some sortof format that you're following
ensures that you hit the highpoints, as well as the important
opportunities along the way.
Alban (02:17):
So if you have an outline, it doesn't need to be a
script, you know, a script,which is written for like TV
shows is verbatim what'sprobably going to be in the
final version, you know, andthere's some you can play with
it a little bit. An outline,like the outline we wrote for
this episode does not have to bethat long. I'm looking at it
right now we have eight bulletpoints. And each of them is just
(02:37):
a phrase. The first bulletpoint, by the way, is write an
outline. So you don't have to besuper in depth. Instead, you're
just making sure, here are thethings that are important, the
order in which they should betalked about that way, you know,
okay, we're transitioning theconversation, and the more
people you have, the moreimportant it is to have everyone
(02:58):
on the same page for what you'regoing to talk about.
Gilon (03:00):
And I think along the lines of making sure you have an
order, some things really needto be laid out in a specific
order. Sometimes you can hoparound when you're just free
flowing, and people aren't ableto follow your thought or the
natural progression of theinformation you're presenting.
And so even just having anoutline to keep you on track for
how you want this information tobe presented, does wonders for
the flow of your audio so thatlisteners can know exactly what
(03:22):
it is you're trying to convey.
If you
Alban (03:24):
are entering into a conversation, and you know, some
of what you want to talk about,it's very easy to miss the very
basic points that are criticalto people understanding. Imagine
you're teaching someone how toplay baseball. And the first
thing you need to tell them istheir innings. And we're trying
to score runs. And here's how wescore runs. If you jump in and
(03:47):
say here is how to catch a ball,and here's how you know, base
running techniques, people arenot gonna understand why that's
important. So if you werewriting the outline for teaching
the game of baseball, you wouldfirst start out with is this a
competitive game. And here's howyou win it. In the same vein,
write down the main points, makesure they're in the most logical
(04:09):
order. And then we talk throughthe outline with your co host
before hitting record.
Gilon (04:15):
Gotcha. So we ready to hit record. Now.
Alban (04:17):
I hope you've already hit record on this exact episode.
Gilon (04:21):
So you've done your outline, right? And you might be
thinking, Alright, perfectrecord. Well, you got to set
your stuff up and you've got tofind a place to set your stuff
up. I'm just imagining peoplewalking around with like a
computer and a mic. Where areyou going to go? You're
homeless? podcaster so where arewe going? Where should we like
plant our stuff to record ouraudio?
Alban (04:39):
So there's a lot of considerations when picking the
right place to record a lot ofwe're gonna be obvious, but
we'll say them anyway. The firstis we want to get stuff a lot, a
lot of background noise. And sobe mindful of things like Hey,
am I in the room that's rightnext to the laundry room and
maybe someone's you know,running something in the washing
machine, maybe spincycle andshake the wall. Am I nearby kids
(05:03):
that are running around? Issomebody mowing the lawn
outside, if any backgroundnoises that are going to be
nearby, try to minimize them,maybe go and talk to people in
your house and say, Hey, I'mgoing to be recording for the
next hour ish. So if you coulddo your best to not walk in or
interrupt, I would greatlyappreciate it.
Gilon (05:21):
And I would also add, like time of day, right? So you
mentioned talking to the peoplein your home, I would wait until
everybody in my house went tosleep. Just because sometimes
even though I've said to you, Iam going to be recording this
podcast, that doesn't mean thatyou're going to stop having loud
conversations in the kitchenthat my mic somehow still picked
up. Right? So timing is not ahypothetical, no, this is
(05:42):
completely as never happened tome, I don't know, I'm just
spitballing here. But yeah, it'stime of day, you know, if you
live near a really busy street,and it's just really hard to not
get that road noise, you mightwant to pick a day or time of
day that you're not susceptibleto all of that road noise. So
just being mindful of theenvironment, people outside
noises, all of that it's reallyimportant one other
considerations.
Alban (06:02):
So what we've talked about there is minimizing
background noise, which is goingto make the editing a lot
easier. Other is soundtreatment, making sure that your
own voice is going to comethrough as clear as possible.
And so the things that you wantto be thinking about are what we
would call sound treatment, youprobably aren't going to be in
more of a studio environment,you're not going to have all the
(06:22):
sound dampening stuff on thewalls. But you can find a room
with carpet, you can find a roomwith lots of furniture, lots of
things that are soft, or want tosoak up sound so you don't get
the echoey reverb sound from theroom.
Gilon (06:37):
So the big thing is to kind of avoid a place that has
lots of hard surfaces becausehard surfaces allow sound to
bounce off and ricochet likecrazy. For instance, carpeted
rooms, like you said, if youmaybe I don't know recording the
closet, that would be a greatplace. Right? Right. We could do
that.
Alban (06:54):
We need to put this in the show notes. But during the
beginning of COVID, when we hadall the lockdowns, Jalon
actually filmed a bunch ofYouTube videos in her walking
closet. And I just remember itbecause so many people left
comments about it like, hey,that's actually where I record,
it's where I get the best audioquality, and where I know it
won't be disturbed. And all thehanging clothes, they soak up so
(07:17):
much noise. So not only were yougetting compliments on the
location, you had some gobblethat's on the actual clothes
sitting in the background.
Gilon (07:23):
People like where'd you get that shirt from that super,
I think I have a shirt. Greattop. I love it. Okay, so let's
say we've picked a spot, right?
We've minimize background noise.
We've talked to all the people,we're soaking up sound, we've
set our stuff down, how do weconnect it,
Alban (07:40):
the best thing we can recommend is whatever microphone
you bought, go type it intoYouTube and say, Samson, q2, you
set up and watch a video abouthow to actually set it up the
software that you pick, go watchthe setup for how to record with
that software. It's not thatthese things are too hard for
(08:00):
you to figure out. But we wantyou to feel so comfortable with
what it looks like how toapproach it, that you're not
spending your brain spacethinking about Did I hit record?
And I plug that in? Right? Oh, Ithink our audio is off. If
you're thinking about thatduring the podcast recording,
you're not going to be thinkingabout the flow of the
(08:20):
conversation and paying closeattention to your guests.
Gilon (08:23):
And I definitely when I started started with YouTube
videos like okay, how does thisget connected? How do I make
sure that I'm listening to myactual microphone through these
headphones? YouTube was the waythat I did it. And I really
recommend people doing it stepby step, right? So looking up
the microphone that you have inthe computer that you have and
just Googling like, Hey, what isthe Samsung cue to you, you
(08:44):
know, paired with a MacBook Pro,how do I set that up. And then
even doing that with yourediting software, right, there's
specific ways to set up yourediting software, so that you
can have a master tracks all thepresets, settings, all that good
stuff is already set up for you.
And do it like with yourproduct. You can watch it one
time, but then also do it stepby step so that you get that
hands on learning. You know,when you do it yourself, you're
(09:04):
able to then kind of be morecomfortable and it won't be like
your first time at the rodeowhen you go to record your first
episode.
Alban (09:11):
So we'll give you now kind of the checklist. These are
the things to think about whenyou're setting up just so you
don't make the big mistakes.
We'll start at the microphone.
The microphone itself needs tobe turned on in some instances.
So if your microphone has an onoff switch, turn it to the on
position, you might have an LEDlight that lights up so you
(09:32):
should have a cable goingdirectly from that microphone
into your computer. If you'rerecording with multiple people,
they're going to be runningthrough an audio interface like
that FocusRite Scarlett to ituwe talked about earlier, or
maybe the road caster Pro whichwe are recording with right now.
So you're going to have yourmicrophones that will either
plug in to the audio interface,or probably into your computer.
(09:55):
You need to make sure your inputis set to the right microphone,
so it's not annoying. Commonjust happened to me plenty of
times where you start recording,and then you go and you look and
you're recording the entire timeon your computer microphone. So
check that and make sure theinput device on the recording
software is set to themicrophone, the plugged in.
Definitely,
Gilon (10:15):
those are all really important as well as hitting the
record button. Because whohasn't missed hitting the record
button, right. So we've got oursetup, we've got our mic and our
computer, let's talk aboutsoftware. So that what's a
really important thing to dowhen it comes to our editing
software.
Alban (10:30):
Well, the big one there is recording separate tracks. So
I put out a thread on Twitterabout how to set up zoom
recordings. And one of the tipswas make sure you record
separate tracks. And it was likethe biggest giveaway, who the
audio editors were that theywere all retweeting that tip
because your audio editors areall living in a world where
(10:53):
people give them a single trackwith a bunch of voices. The
problem there is you now haveone waveform, and it's somebody
coughs that is overtop of allthe voices and stuff they
actually want to leave in. Andthe first episode that we
recorded a few days ago,hopefully everybody has already
(11:14):
listened to, we noticed we had alot of moments where we are
like, kind of talking andaffirming each other saying
let's uh, yeah, I agree withthat. And it kind of didn't help
the flow of the conversationmost Right, right. And so we
just went back, and we deletedthose little bits out was super
easy. Because we had suit twoseparate waveforms, one waveform
(11:34):
was just my voice, and onewaveform was yours. So we could
go in and clip all the pointswhere I did that. And instead,
now we have a clean audio filethat doesn't have those
mistakes,
Gilon (11:45):
like recording separate tracks is a game changer for
editing. Again, think about yourfuture self and how your future
self will feel having to edit asingle track with multiple
voices, and people likelycoughing. So recording separate
tracks is really important. Sowe've sat down, we've got our
setup physically, as well assoftware wise, and we've got our
microphone in front of us, howshould our microphone be set?
(12:06):
How should we be sitting, theseare all really important pieces.
Also to recording your audio.
Alban (12:11):
Yeah, we want to get our voices to sound as good as
possible. We're trying to avoida few different things. One is
there's a few noises you canmake with a microphone that you
don't hear real life. They'recalled plosives, or like
sibilant SS. So the S sound canget a little hissy inside of a
microphone, just the way they'reset up. And a plosive is that
(12:34):
sound. And what's happening is alot of air leaves your mouth,
and it hits the capsule in themicrophone. And it kind of makes
this boom sound. And thosearen't things you would hear in
real life. But there are thingsyou will hear when you're using
a microphone to record ears areshaped differently than
microphone capsules. So how dowe avoid those, you avoid those
(12:56):
with the pop filter. So wealready have a pop filter, kind
of that squishy thing on themicrophone, it diffuses the
sound waves are all the airthat's coming out of your mouth.
And you can also rotate yourmicrophone, so it's a little off
access rather than pointingdirectly into your mouth. It's
kind of at an angle. So you'retalking kind of past the end of
(13:18):
the microphone.
Gilon (13:19):
And then the other thing you want to make sure as far as
seating and posture is thatyou're about 445 ish, four to
three ish, a hand space, awayfrom your microphone, right. So
you kind of avoid those plosivesbut also sitting straight up so
that you're speaking from yourcleared out body diaphragm, your
diaphragm, but you want to havegood posture, right, you want to
(13:40):
be sitting so that you're notcramped down on your stomach or
your chest isn't caved in. Youjust want to have a nice good
straight posture in front ofyour microphone and kind of be
about three to four finger widthapart from your mic.
Alban (13:51):
Sitting up is really important for me, I know that if
I'm not using a boom arm thatallows the mic to sit up close
to my mouth fully up. Well thenI end up hunching over, your
energy drops. And you're reallyjust kind of start sounding a
little bit more high pitchedrather than a full body voice.
The other thing is, you'retalking about four finger width
(14:12):
subpart, which is perfect, butthen we're trying to keep that
consistent through the wholerecording. I know a lot of times
you can get in a habit of likedrifting away from the
microphone. So I'm gonna startdoing some of these you start
drifting away from themicrophone and then you start
realizing like how different itsounds. When you get a little
bit of distance from the mic.
Also, you're just like laughingand having a good time. Some
(14:34):
people have very intense laughsand if you're getting really
intense laughs right into themic or you start shouting or
getting intense. Well, now youare running into clipping and
that's where the audio is maxedout. If you look at like the
little volume controller, it'sgoing all the way to red, it's
hitting the top and even then ifwe bring the Audio down. And
(14:59):
editing, it's still not going tohave the like characteristic of
a voice because we've lost a lotof that audio data. And then
some
Gilon (15:09):
other kind of asides your device, put your device on Do
Not Disturb. Okay, sometimesyou'll get a text right in the
middle of recording, and you gotthat thing now in your audio,
and that'll mess things up. Andthen being mindful of your
hands, if you're like, tappingon the table where your mic is,
or you put your elbow down, thatnoise is also going to come
through. So whenever you can beas mindful as possible to kind
(15:31):
of keep your hands away fromwherever your mic mic is
sitting, and have your deviceson Do Not Disturb
Alban (15:36):
kind of in that vein jewelry that's like dangling. So
sometimes earrings can bebumping into the mic, and that
will make noise, I have a jacketthat kind of makes odd noise if
I'm wearing that. So I justcannot wear it when I'm doing a
recording. So just notice,that's why we've got the
headphones on, right. Like we'renoticing the way we sound and
we're catching any mistakes orfidgeting or anything we're
(15:57):
doing in real time. So that weonly have to worry about editing
that out once not editing it outa dozen times. And on that
Gilon (16:05):
note, we really encourage you to record a test track, you
don't want all the pressure ofbeing mindful of all of these
things we've mentioned, stickingwith your outline and having a
place that's quiet and makingsure there's no one mowing the
lawn and make sure everything ishooked up and connected. And oh,
did I hit record. Also, this ismy interview and I need to not
blow it like that can be a lotof pressure. But you can sort of
(16:26):
get to that pressure off ofyourself. If you record a test
track, it could be a wholewalkthrough of your first
episode or your trailer, or itcould just be a few minutes
where you're able to kind ofmonitor this is how it works.
Okay, the sound is on I hearmyself, Oh, that sounds too
loud, or I've got those plosivesAlban was talking about, that's
a really good moment for you totry things out to get a feel for
recording. And then to be ableto make some adjustments for
(16:49):
your real episode,
Alban (16:50):
it can be just as small as a minute, so that you listen,
you go, Oh, my mics a littlehot, it's a little too high, I
actually have somebody who mightbe using the wrong input device.
So they're not actually usingtheir microphone, we're actually
getting some sound bleed, it'sbecause some he's not wearing
headphones, like, all of thosethings become very apparent when
you do the test track. So werecord short test tracks when
(17:14):
we're doing this. And wedefinitely recommend it for you.
And then the last thing iswhatever recording software you
have, will allow you to exportyour file. So if you record on
Zoom, or squad cast Riversideare just on your own editing
software, all those you canexport the file, if you do
record it in a audio editingsoftware. So let's say in
(17:38):
GarageBand, we don't have toexport until after we've edited
so we would talk about that partin the next episode,
Gilon (17:45):
right? But we will say whenever you go to export your
audio file, we recommend usingeither an mp3 or a WAV file,
those work really well withBuzzsprout. We can take an mp4,
but it's it's a pretty largefile. It's pretty chunky dude.
So it takes a while a chunkyfile, chunky file to begin. And
so you just want to export in anaudio file format so that you
(18:07):
can upload to whatever yourhosting site is, after you've
edited and done all that goodstuff.
Alban (18:11):
WAV files are really good, but they're really big NP
threes are just super compatibleacross everything on the
internet. And they're prettylightweight. So those are like
the two we recommend everythingyou throw Buzzsprout we will
take it but those are likeoptimal for when you're
exporting. So we've talked a lotnow about how to record how to
(18:32):
pick the right spot, what to dobeforehand how to prep your
guests, everything. Well now itis time for you to hit the
record button. If you're stillfeeling a little intimidated,
we've got lots of resources foryou. So Travis, what should
people be thinking about beforethey hit that record?
Travis (18:48):
So I've got two really great videos and a blog post
that I think everyone listeningto this episode should go and
check out the first one isactually kind of a funny video
so I took it upon myself to seeif I could make the Samsung Q to
you or go to recommendation fornew podcasters for a microphone
if I can make it sound like aShure SM seven B and did like a
(19:08):
head to head audio test battlething and you'll see me
demonstrate all those mictechniques and different
strategies that Alban Jaloncovered in this video so if you
want to get a visual of what agood distance away from the
microphone looks like, if youwant to see what speaking of
access looks like and all thedifferent things that are
involved in helping yourmicrophone sound as awesome as
possible, definitely go andcheck out this video. We also
(19:31):
put together a video on how torecord a podcast remotely and
while in this episode, we talkeda lot about getting ready to
record and doing test recordingsand things like that that video
especially if you're planning onusing zoom or Riverside or squad
cast when these long distancerecording solutions that will
walk you through the settingsthat you'll want to have set up
ahead of time. So when you go torecord your podcast, it sounds
(19:54):
awesome. And then if you'relooking for some low cost ways
to help treat your space, theplace where you When I record
your podcast, whether it is awalk in closet, or a home office
or a spare bedroom or somethinglike that, there's a blog post
we have with a bunch of ideasfor acoustic treatment for your
podcast. So really easy thingsyou can do to improve the sound
(20:14):
quality of your podcast andreduce some of that nasty
reverb. So, two videos to gowatch one blog to read, and
you'll be all set to record yourpodcast.
Gilon (20:23):
Thanks so much, Travis.
So now that you have thoseresources, you've got a little
bit of homework. Before you comeback to our next episode. Make
sure you look at those things.
Get yourself set up, have thequestions, ask the questions, do
all that good stuff. But ournext episode will be about
editing your audio, which issuper exciting. Make sure you
come back it's not superintimidating, you can do this.
So we'll be talking about thegold editing some tips for
(20:45):
editing pointers, all that goodstuff, you're going to want to
make sure that you don't missthat. So be sure to come back
for Episode Six. And as alwayskeep by casting See y'all there.
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