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How do conversation skills make your podcast process more enjoyable? Even if we're lucky enough to “do what we love,” work tends to have tedious aspects we don't like. Craig Constantine is a passion podcaster who, through the creation of thousands of episodes and rigorous reflection, has built a workflow that simplifies every step of his method, from prep to publication. A consummate conversationalist, Craig's overarching goal is to use understanding and compassion to have exciting exchanges that inspire listeners to dive directly into meaningful dialogues. In this episode, he gets into the nitty-gritty of the personal process that led him to discover his devotion to podcasting. Let Craig's passion inspire you to: Understand the difference between compassion and empathy in conversation Consider why you might not want to bring your prepared questions into the conversation Approach AI tools to create the perfect research assistant Simplify your process to make it more fun in the long run Links worth mentioning from the episode: Listen to Episode 51, Honing Your Podcast Voice Through Second Language Learning with Stephanie Fuccio - https://www.organizedsound.ca/honing-your-podcast-voice-though-second-language-learning-with-stephanie-fuccio-episode-51/ Engage with Craig: Keep on top of what Craig is up to - https://craigconstantine.com/current-projects/ Learn more about Craig's podcasting mission - https://openandcurious.org/ Connect with Mary! Leave a voicemail with your feedback at https://www.speakpipe.com/VisibleVoice or email visiblevoicepodcast@gmail.com Get the full transcript of the episode at http://www.visiblevoicepodcast.com Read up on more secrets with the Visible Voice Insights Newsletter https://www.organizedsound.ca/newsletter To learn more or work with Mary, check out https://www.organizedsound.ca Link up on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/marychan-organizedsound/ Engage on Instagram @OrganizedSoundProductions https://www.instagram.com/organizedsoundproductions Show Credits: Podcast audio design, engineering, and edited by Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions Podcast cover art by Emily Johnston of Artio Design Co. Show notes written by Shannon Kirk of Right Words Studio Post-production support by Kristalee Forre of Forre You VA Transcript with Audio Description: CRAIG: Oh, no pressure. But thank you so much for inviting me. You get the prize for, of all the people who ever asked me to be on their show, you're the one who worked the hardest. So thank you so much for that. > MARY: A lot of logisticals behind the scene, and, you know, personal schedules and stuff. CRAIG: You actually hunted me down. You asked me through a service that we're both on, and I totally ghosted you, like a lot of people. And then you went and found my website and found my contact form and emailed me, and I'm like, wow, all right, this person is motivated. Yes, I want to be on the show. MARY: Well, what you do is intentional practice of conversations, and I think that is so unique because a lot of people find podcasting as like, oh, I can talk, I'll just plug a microphone in and start talking. > But what is intentional conversation? Why is it so important to you? CRAIG: Well, it's important to me because I found myself having more and more really great conversations, and that's like a whole separate story. And the more that I learned how to shut up and listen, which took me longer than it should have, the more I shut up and listened, the more I enjoyed the conversations and the more other people seemed to enjoy them. And then the people lurking around it enjoyed them too.  So I started wondering, well, this isn't new. Humans have been doing this for a long time. And the more that I looked into it, now I have a books problem. You know, like, oh, here's a book from 150 years ago where somebody had all these things. And then I started having conversations that I was intentionally picking challenging guests. Not that the people were challenging, but, like, I have no knowledge about the topic we're going to have this conversation about, then, what would the skills be that I would need to have that be a good conversation when I'm totally floundering every second of the way?  And I'm like an autodidact nerdy self learner. So it works well for me to be like, whoa, that sucked. That was horrible. And then I, like, write down, why did suck? What was wrong with it? How could I make it better? So I'm always preaching, like, you know, take notes and reflect, um, on your conversations, reflect on your life in general, and figure out, could I try something different next time? Or maybe that just, it happened. The bird flew into my head. That, that went weird. MARY: So then what do you need then to have a conversation? Because, you know, you were saying, I stopped talking, so I listened. But when people think of dialogue, well, you gotta talk. So how do you define that art of conversation? CRAIG: That's a really hard question. That's two different questions. How do I define the art of conversation? I'm gonna ignore how I define it. That's hard. I would say that you actually, you don't really have to talk for it to be a good conversation. And a lot of times when I'm having conversations with people, they are already aware of my, my issues of, like, wanting to dig into the meta.  But even when I'm talking to people who don't know anything at all about me, they have an agenda and the real question is, when you're having a conversation with someone, is the other person aware of their own agenda? That's really, like, determines are we going to have a spectacular conversation. So Mary has ideas about where this conversation is supposed to go, ideas about what she wants the two of us to find here for the people who are listening. So that's like the biggest switch or choice. Like, when I'm having a conversation with someone, I'm, as best I can, always intentional about why I'm here, what I'm saying, why I'm saying, and I'm always curious, like, what is the other person thinking when they started talking? Were they just talking at me because they haven't seen me in a week, or are they really interested in something?  So that's like, the first thing is like, are both people on the same page about what does it mean to have a good conversation? Some people, they just talk. I'm not saying that's bad. It's just, you know, that's a deli conversation that's going to be a little more shallow maybe, or a little different. MARY: Yeah. What about then in the role of podcasting? That being intentional piece, do you then prep your questions and you have your set questions, or do you allow that conversation to unfold? Because, like you said, everyone's got an agenda. CRAIG: Yes. It depends on what you mean by you. So if you mean, does Craig? I generally don't write down my questions anymore in the very, very beginning, which would be like 2017. So I was kind of late to the party, but when I started, yes, I used to be intentional about, the show was all about movement, I would be intentional about, I'm going to talk to this person because I have this question or this story I want to know. And I would write down my questions, and I would imagine, like if I wasn't thinking story arc, but I was kind of imagining a story arc about, I want to start here and then I want to go here, and I want to end over there if I can.  So in the beginning, yes, I totally did that. And I got heavily involved in coaching podcasters. I've literally helped thousands of people as an assistant coach in courses. And that's a very good question for people to ask. So I say yes, in the beginning, write literally, preferably with a pencil, not like typing on your computer, because writing is different than typing.  MARY: Yeah,  CRAIG: Write your questions out in whatever your chicken scratch looks like. And then when you get to the recording, don't bring your notes. That's what I tell people, because the notes will distract you. I have a blank piece of paper on the table in front of me just in case I need to write something down. But when you go into those recordings as the host, all of that homework that you did, you're not going to forget it. It's going to be in the back of your head.  So I would say yes, I used to write things down, and I do recommend that that's a great place to start. And then eventually I can hold the questions in my head for weeks. I think about someone, you know, and I listened to one of your episodes as I was preparing for this, and I had, oh, that's interesting. And I see the kinds of things that Mary is attracted to, and I feel like I have enough things in my head that I could, I don't want to, but we could probably flip this around, and I could probably, you know, be the host if I had to, but I don't want to. > That's, if you ask Craig, how Craig does it, how does everybody else do it? I don't think people write their questions down based on what I hear, When I hear people. MARY: Certain shows, there are some shows where it's like, bam, bam, bam, question, question. There was, like, no follow up. And I feel like, yeah, that's not good either. CRAIG: Right. That's the other problem. That's the opposite of prepared. MARY: Yeah, exactly. So then if you don't write your questions, it feels a lot to me, too, about when I worked in radio, we called this show prep. You know, it's all about being prepared and kind of knowing, like you said, that agenda. But having the follow up questions are the sparks in that conversation. So do you then, have, like, a toolbox of ways to guide a conversation, or like,...  CRIAG: Oh yeah. MARY: …those. Oh yeah? Yeah. Okay, What is that?  CRAIG: So there's a whole bunch of them, and rather than try to rattle them off, but just kind of, like, paint kind of what they are. MARY: Yeah. CRAIG: I have these ideas in mind about, I have a visual, I live, like, 2 hours from Manhattan, so I've been there a bunch of times. And if you ever walk down Broadway is, like, the biggest street, you can walk the whole length of the place. I imagine that in conversations, I'm walking with someone.  So if I'm talking with someone and something strange happens, like, they ask me a question that I wasn't expecting, or they give me a strange answer, or they stopped, like, something weird happens. I'm imagining they, like, turned left into a side street. And my reaction needs to be not, wait, where are you going? Yeah, come back. My reaction needs to be, well, that's interesting. And follow, like, go with them. So I'm always trying to listen, air quoting is useless, you can't even see. I'm trying to listen not only to the words that they're saying, but the emotions that they're conveying. The emotions maybe they're trying to convey, which could be different, and try to imagine what is the experience that that person is having.  So I'm always yammering about my mission is about creating better conversation to spread understanding and compassion and empathy is close, but I think empathy is a thing that might come later after understanding and compassion. And I feel like that is what I'm trying to do, is I'm trying to deploy understanding and compassion as a tool.  So in a conversation, when something weird happens, I'm thinking, do I understand? Like, that's my first thought is, do I really understand what just happened here? Like, maybe I don't understand and I should ask a question about what just happened here. So I have, like, lots of nerdy tools that I can bring up, but they all fit in that toolbox of my first, you know, do I understand? And then, am I being compassionate? Is this person freaking out because Craig's too energetic for them? Like, that happens to people. I understand. MARY: You mentioned empathy, and I feel like empathy is very similar to compassion. CRAIG: Yes. MARY: So how do you differentiate that? CRAIG: The way that I think of it is that empathy is about the feeling and compassion is about, I don't want to say doing something about it, but imagining what could be done, either generally or that I should be doing. So, empathy, if you're empathic and you can't distance yourself from that, that's really hard. That's people who, like, if the elections go bad and then they have, like, a nervous breakdown, I'm like, well, okay, I mean, you're feeling for those other people, but you really need to be able to control that. You have to have boundaries. You have to be able to protect yourself physically and emotionally.  So, empathy, I think of as like, a feelers reaching out, sensitivity. And even I would say I'm pretty empathic. But even if you're really empathic, you really never know. You really can't say, I know what you're feeling, but that would be the goal, would be to feel outward. And then the compassion is, all right if I understand what's going on and I have some empathy for the person, the situation, or whatever we're talking about, then I might, if I'm a compassionate person, I might begin to imagine, is there something I could do about that? Could I help that person pick up whatever they dropped? Or could I donate money to this charity? Or could I help push this car out of a snowbank? That's the kind of thing that I do because I'm a large guy, you know.  But if you didn't have empathy for the person who was stuck in the snowbank, you'd just be like, sucks to be you. And you'd walk right by, you know? So that's why when I wrote my mission. That's why I wrote compassion rather than empathy, because I feel like empathy, I don't want to say it's easier, but I felt like I already had enough empathy and I wanted to work on the compassion part. So very, the mission is very specific to me, of course. MARY: What about then, if you're in a conversation with someone and you don't agree? CRAIG: That depends on why I'm in the conversation. So I don't do journalistic interviews, just because it's not my cup of tea. But I've listened to a lot of journalists talk about their process. And, yeah, if you're a journalist and you're supposed to be getting facts or truth or you're trying to, you know, uncover a particular story, if people say something you disagree with, you need to push back, and you can push back nicely. You can ask clarifying questions. You can, you know, throw in juxtapose. I thought it was X. You can make jokes. There are ways to reveal questions without actually asking questions, which then lets the two of us stand in one place and point at the question over yonder without it getting very antagonistic.  So there are things you can do to sort of direct, or in this case, redirect the conversation where you hope it would go. But that's not normally what I do because I'm not a journalist looking for something I don't have, like a target I'm aiming for, which kind of cuts both ways. Not having a target makes it harder because I think it would be easier if I knew where I was supposed to be going. So I don't often find myself in situations where, no, that's wrong, and I need to get you to tell me the other thing, so.  MARY: Yeah, it's just a matter of, okay, yes, you've said what you've said now. Oh, I'm going to ask you this question to, to redirect. CRAIG: Yeah, ask more questions. Ask different questions. You were asking for about tools earlier. I sometimes talk about people's salience, the word salience. Humans are spectacular at noticing salience. I always say I'm afraid of three kinds of snakes, little snakes, big snakes, and any stick that looks anything at all like a snake. So snake fear and, like, falling. These are wired in.  So there are other things, in conversations when you're listening to someone and you have an agenda and a story arc and a plan, and your brain suddenly goes, wait, what? And, like, it grabs these two things. The thing that you thought you were going to ask about and the thing that just lit you up, you have these two. Those things are related. I'm telling you, they are. That's what your brain just went, these are related. And you could just say, I wonder if these two things are related. You can just say that I do that and give people two, you know, like cheese and sneakers, and people will go, huh, that's a really good question. And then they'll think about it, and it's.  Conversations are just people sharing ideas. There's no rules about my ideas have to follow logically and clearly from the last. It can be whatever two people want to share. So I really feel like people, like I've said, I've seen a lot of people do this. A lot of people take courses and say, how do I do interviews? They really undervalue this magical, I don't want to say device, because your brain's not a computer, but, like, this magical power that you have about identifying the things that light you up. That already works. So that's probably what your podcast is about. If you have a day job as a journalist, then you got to work a little harder, because now you have to. You have to aim those tools at a specific. My producer said, I must do X. MARY: Yes. CRAIG: Just a little harder. MARY: Yeah. Like you were saying we're not computers, right? This. This isn't an AI interview. CRAIG: Whew, good. MARY: You know, we are humans. We have emotion. We have feelings in our bodies that will then guide us to. Okay, what is that curiosity piece? What is that follow up question? CRAIG: Why am I upset all of a sudden? MARY: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, like, go with that feeling in your body and make sure that, you say it out loud. CRAIG: Yeah. A lot of times, just naming the thing goes a long way toward helping both parties understand, because sometimes people say something and, you know, somebody's triggered, and if you're really good at hiding that, well, that's not helping anybody. I mean, maybe if you're really triggered, you're trying to leave the space. Okay. But if it's the kind of thing that can be discussed, people can't read minds. I used to make that error a lot. I'm like, the other person opposite me is fuming. And I don't know. MARY: Yep. You can still hear it in their voice, even though you can't see them fuming. Like in the podcasting world. CRAIG: Yeah. Audio is magical. MARY: Yeah. Is magical that way, for sure.  Let's move into a little bit with your podcasting journey. You have two active shows right now. Even one show is a lot, like, how. How do you manage all of this? CRAIG: Oh, I actually have. Well, if you want to count accurately, I have five active shows.  MARY: You have five active, oh geeze.  > CRAIG: Okay. All right. So how do I manage it? I have a pride problem. I love, you know, shiny things. I love to go after them.  So the very first show that I created, I did not set out to make a podcast. I didn't say, I want to become a podcaster. This is the thing I want to do. I was literally having cool conversations in movement spaces. I would be out, like, in London running and jumping and playing with people at an event or doing a thing, and then I'm the kind of person who just walks up to someone and says, whoever they are, oh, hey, and we start talking.  And then I turn around, there's people walking behind us because I'm talking to somebody semi-famous. And then they say, you should have recorded that. I would have listened to that. That's literally how I got into podcasting. Then I was like, well, I guess I should get some SM58 mics and a little interface. I just started basically pressing record on conversations that I was having. So I'm super lucky, super privileged that that happened to me.  So that's how I started into it in 2017. And I did, like, 40 episodes with no clue what I was doing. Just like, you know, like, I don't know, let's try this. I had a friend who knew how to edit. I'm like, hey Brian, and he's like, use this mic and get this interface. And, you know, like, people just giving me tips. And I went about, like, 35 or 40 episodes along. And then I took a course. And I took the course not, and it's. It was a sofa, I call it sofa to 5K. I had a podcast course, and I already knew all that. I had 40 episodes out. MARY: Yeah. CRAIG: But I wanted to completely tear it apart, and I did. I took it all apart, and I, like, changed the descriptions, and the course made me think about things differently. It was one of the greatest things I ever did. And I met a whole bunch of people who were passionate about podcasting. That was the third time they ran the course. I went back as an assistant coach for 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, for the runnings of the course, till they stopped the course.  And along the way, I kept having more ideas. So the first show was, I was having conversations. People wanted to hear them. But the next show which came out, I was like, I wonder what would happen if you did a daily podcast. That was just me for 30 seconds reading a quote every day and didn't tell anybody. Just, like, stealth launched the thing. So I did 1,400 episodes of that show.  And then while that show was going on, I started a podcasting community, and I started interviewing the other podcasters in the community and working my way up with, like, who should I talk to after I did a show? And that show was all about podcasting.  So once I fell backwards into it and figured out how to do it, then it became this. Like, I imagine painters might just, oh, I got a paint. They run to the easel and they start painting. And, like, I do that with podcasting. I, like, I run to the microphone and I start making. Or I get people and I make a recording. So that's how I wound up with all these shows. It's really not any harder to have five shows. It's just, how many episodes are you doing? That's all that really matters. MARY: Yes. CRAIG: So, uh, you also, I haven't forgotten, you asked me, how do I do it? But if you want to follow up on that before I tell you how I do it. Or I can just tell you how I do it. MARY: Yeah, how do you do it? CRAIG: How do I do it? I'm a checklist and process nerd. So I have, for every one of the shows, I have a separate document that I maintain that tells me every detail. Like, this is the, you get an e nine minor guitar chord, goes here as the music bumper, and then the intro, and it has every step all the way through to emailing the guests at the end to say, thank you, your show is published. Here's the, you know, please share.  And if you do ten of those, then you'll be editing your list. And then the list gets a little more detailed. And eventually, all of the things that used to make me get stuck, I don't want to do the editing. I'm, I don't like editing. Oh, I don't want to do the show notes. All these things that I get stuck on. I just kept making it simpler. What's the simplest thing that could possibly work? And that's what I, and I broke it down to more and more steps until, when I look at the checklist, I have an episode that you go out sometime this week, and the next checkbox is so easy. I'm like, you know, I could totally do that, that I could do that.  And that's. That was how I broke it down, was to just make it simple enough that I could find a simple next step for whatever was going on. And then the checklist helped me remember. So if I'm not doing anything for three weeks. When I come back. Oh, right, here's where I was. Here's how I start, here's how I finish. MARY: What's an example of making it simpler? What does that mean? CRAIG: So we were talking about AI before. I use ChatGPT to write the episode notes. Shhh. I say that at the bottom, I wrote, written with, actually, it's written with help from ChatGPT. MARY: Yes. I was just going to say, I like that you have it written down. CRAIG: I'm a computer nerd, but I'm not an AI. Like to me, I was like everybody else, a what? How do you work this? I had no clue. But I have a checklist that helps me prompt the AI to give me what I want. So just like little nuances of sentences, like I'm resisting urge to open it up and read them, but it's like these really detailed, like, I want, say, I want one sentence to be the hook sentence for the thing that might be like 120 word paragraph that I've slowly fiddled with and kept in a document.  So now when I learn what the hook sense, that it's like copy, paste, and it actually says, write me five variations of a sentence and then it tells it what to do and then it writes me five sentences and I look at them and none of them are good enough. But somebody, once I forget where this comes from, somebody said, working with AI fixes the blank page problem, so you should totally use it for everything because it will do a terrible job and you will rush to fix it's work. And it gets me going every time.  So like, I rush and I'm like, no, no, you cannot use the word delve. No, no, no, edit the sentence, right? And then I edit my instructions and I say, you may not use the word delve. Put that in the instructions. So now when I have to write episode notes for like, say, a 15 minute conversation, I'm like, I can do that in 3 minutes. Watch this. > And I'm all done, you know, copy and paste and, and I have to edit, you know, like everybody has their personal writing style. I don't bother to try and make it do my style. I just edit the thing. I look at the paragraph and I go, hey, I don't like this part. Edit it. And then at the bottom I just write, written with help from ChatGPT.  I tell everybody who asks, like podcasters. It's like having the greatest research assistant. This person is tireless. They have infinite patience. No matter how many dumb questions I ask, they're just like, here's your answer. You can, like, just ghost them for two weeks, come back, they pick up right where you left off without a single. As long as you realize it's really more about, I think of it like the first stage on the rocket launch. Get me moving, get me off the ground here so I can get a feel for what this thing is supposed to be. And that's what I use it for. MARY: What about not AI? What can you make simpler? That has nothing to do with AI, because that's what everybody's talking about these days. CRAIG: I stopped editing my shows. How about that one? If you've listened to, so the one show is called Movers Mindset is 170 episodes. I think Podtalk is at 150 or something like that. And basically the last hundred plus maybe 150 episodes on those two shows that I've released. I don't edit the audio.  Now, full disclosure, I'm actually hard of hearing. I have hearing aids and crappy hearings. I'm a terrible audio editor to begin with, but I also can't afford to pay ninety cents a minute to edit all this stuff. So I went, well, what if I had a conversation that was so good, there wasn't anything that had to be cut out? How would you do that? Yes, and then work on that for 300 conversations. I've done about 500 recorded conversations for my shows, for other shows, not counting my guesting appearances. And every time I do them, I listen back and I'm like, why did I say that? Why didn't I shut up? > Because a lot of times the guest is about to say the great thing, and I'm still like, wait, you got to hear me. It's like, no, I'm the host. Shut up.  So I've looked at, like, exactly what percentage of myself, when I'm the host, do I want in the audio? The answer is 25%. I want one quarter Craig and three quarters of the guest. And I occasionally drop that into Otter, which will give you a percentage speaker rating. And I make sure I'm at the target number that I want. And if I'm over or under, then I think about that for my next conversation.  So, if you don't want to edit, could you just make the conversations better? Could you screen out people who are poor speakers unless you really need them? Like, there can be issues sometimes. I won't really want to guess because I want that representation. I really want this voice to be heard of. So I'm willing to live with thumbs and aahs and pauses. Just put it out raw you know, edit the levels, run the anti white noise background thing, 30 seconds. I mean, sometimes I'm, I have a 45 minutes conversation. It takes me five minutes to go from raw audio to mp3, final mix down, including the time it takes my Mac to make the mp3. It's, you know, because otherwise I wouldn't get it done if I didn't cut that corner.  And there are other ones, like, I stopped doing introductions in the guest. Like, I never, when I'm recording, I never ask the guest to tell me who they are. Tell us, no, that's a disaster. And I don't. I don't read that in anymore for a while. I would open the show by saying, oh, my guest today is. I skipped all that. I got tired of recording intros and outros because I actually don't think people listen to them. So I skip them. My show opens, and I say, Hello, I'm Craig Constantine. There's like a sentence or two of what the show is. And then I asked the guest the first question, and we just have a conversation. There are other things about, oh, I can only do so much social media. So I have a WordPress plugin. I hit a button, and it just posts the three platforms. And then I'm like, good enough. Yep. I'm not making short form. I figured out how to do YouTube auto load from RSS. Good enough. MARY: Done. Yes. CRAIG: Moving on. I just looked at every single thing on the list that was in my head, and I went, this is stressing me out. Write it down. And then when I looked at the list written down, I identified, I can't do this. This is too much. I want to have hundreds, thousands of great conversations, and I don't want to do all these pieces. So delete pieces until I only want to do the part between record and stop and anything else that I absolutely have to, to make the show go out. MARY: And I think that's the difference, too, between people who are podcasting as a passion, like you do, or those who are like, I need to generate income, so I have to do X, Y, and Z, right? So it's like talking about that agenda piece. You were, you were saying at the very beginning, it's like, what is your goal for your podcast? So what would you define as success, then, for your podcast? CRAIG: Oh. Sometimes people can read each other's minds. I was listening to some of your shows, and that's a question you ask often because it's super important. And I'm like, this would be the spot where we need to talk about what Craig thinks success is.  Success, in my opinion, for my shows is so for the two shows that have guests, if somebody listens to an episode and then they manage to email in real life, whatever, talk to the guest and they can skip over the parts that make conversations suck and go right to the good part. That's the definition of success for my show.  So one of the shows is all about parkour and has french names and all these things, and there's people who run and jump and play all over the world, and everybody's pretty famous that I'm talking to. If they, somebody runs into that person and says, hey. And just goes right to the part of the conversation where both of them are enjoying it. Not, my guest, who's semi famous is like, oh, another fan. But where the fan comes up and says something and that person goes, oh, yeah, I'd love to talk about that.  Like, that's my definition of success. People listen to the episodes that I did, and that enables them to have a better conversation with that person, even if it's just email or, you know, direct messaging or whatever. That may be a weird definition of success, but it turns out to be hard to do that. But it only means I have to have a certain kind of conversation. It doesn't mean that I have to advertise or, you know, kill myself in editing, I hope. > MARY: Yeah. CRAIG: That nobody listens. MARY: That's always the podcaster problem.  CRAIG: Yeah. MARY: Nobody's listening. CRAIG: Well, there's only one problem and lots of problems. MARY: So what are some other problems that you have with podcasting? CRAIG: Uh, I spend too much time on it. Spend too much time on it. It's like I have an embarrassment of riches. So I understand. I'm not claiming this is weird, but I understand why people say they're nervous about reaching out to guests. I do not have that problem. I'm a computer nerd. I have something like 600 guests. I'm not exaggerating in queues. And I wrote software that mails me weekday mornings that suggests, you know, you mailed this person three weeks ago and they never got back to you, so you probably should message them again. Like, I wrote software to keep track of all that, so that I can just turn the crank. I do the fun part, which is, new email, Hey, Bob, would you like to be on the show? Or like that kind of thing?  People mention a guest to me and I put it in a certain little config file, and I don't forget, two years later, it comes up. And then when I look at the notes, I know who recommended them. And maybe I, maybe they said, I'd really like to hear them talk about X. Like, I figured out a way to capture that stuff. You can do it with pieces of paper or excel spreadsheet, whatever you like.  I think a lot of the struggle with guest outreach is in it's just an infinite number of threads. Like, it's complex, and it's always going to be complex. Don't put your friends into customer relationship management software. That doesn't make it better. So I just figured out, well, what would this have to be for me to enjoy doing this?  So I have, the other problem is, if I turn that crank, if I start messaging people, I can do like five touches in a day in like ten minutes, because I just send an email, send a thing, go to whatever platform they're on. You do that for a few days, then people start showing up in your calendar. And like, that's the other side is make sure people can schedule themselves in using Calendly or something.  If I'm not careful, all of a sudden it takes about two to three weeks. Three weeks out, all of a sudden it's like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I have all these podcast recordings scheduled. And even if I say one show per day, I can still wind up with two or three on one day because I have multiple shows. > That's my problem. I removed all of the sticky points, and I really wasn't paying attention to that means it's all going to go really fast. So I have to like, woah, slow down and try to keep it under control. MARY: Wow, you definitely have a very unique challenge. > CRAIG: Nice choice of words that you're going to say, that's very special. MARY: Earlier you were talking about, you got a lot of advice. You give advice about podcasting. So what was one advice that you got that did, you know, good. You're like, you know what, this is an advice that's out in the podcasting space, don't follow it. CRAIG: Oh, well, it's, uh, a similar version of that. Question is, what's something I disagree with that everybody else would be mad at me, and that's that you have to publish on a schedule. That's the piece of advice that I patently, I started on that at one point, I had a show that was all over the map, and I actually had hired someone to work on my team. I said, job one, get me on a schedule, which meant get the guest work and all that stuff. And I got on a schedule and I published every week for like a year and a half. I have completely given up, I don't care about, I don't care about schedules. So I said, like, mary, when was my last episode put out? MARY: I'd have to look, I don't know. CRAIG: Right? I mean, even if you went and listened, it's okay if you didn't. I don't think Craig is that interesting. But, even if somebody goes and listens to one of my shows, thing they look at is not the publication date. They go to the chronological list. They want to listen to the most recent one. Maybe they scroll back and listen to the trailer, or maybe they search for a word.  So I think that the advice to get yourself on a schedule. Okay. If it's your first episode, yes. Get on a schedule for five or ten or something, seven. But have it in your mind that you're planning on getting off the schedule, or you're at least planning on slowing way down. Because weekly, if you're. If you're, like, a one man band, and if you're doing things by all by yourself, weekly is insane. MARY: Oh, yeah. CRAIG: Even if it's hostile, weekly is like the treadmill. So I, I think that's the advice that it's super useful if someone is literally starting out on the sofa to 5K journey of podcasting. Yes. You need to imagine how do I, because it teaches you to close the loop. If I start here and I got to do all these steps, and I got to be done by next week, because I got to do it all over again, and then you start to think, oh, can I do the guest outreach in parallel? So I was working multiple guests, could I work ahead? So I got one or two in the can I. It teaches you those things. But then once you learn those lessons, then let go of having to publish on a schedule is my advice that I think didn't serve me because I took the course and people said that, and I was at 40, and I was like, yeah, I already want to get off this. > MARY: Get off this, because it is a lot of work and a lot of pressure on yourself to make sure it goes out at a certain day and time. CRAIG: Yeah. And, like, your die hard listeners, I've had people talk about. We talk about feedback and hearing from your fans. I've had people come up to me at, like. Like, I bump into them in person, and they talk about the show, and I've had people say to me, I can't keep up. Like, sometimes they drop, like, three or four in one week, and people are like, what are you doing? I can't listen to all this. It's too much content. MARY: That is a lot! CRAIG: Well, it is, but from my side, it's not. And I just had. It was a 30, 40 minutes conversation. I had a blast. It was awesome. And then I blasted through the post production, right? Sometimes I'm done, and if I'm really flying, I can be done in 45 minutes. I hit stop. The guest hasn't even, like, finished with their. You know, and I'm like, I'm done. It's crazy. MARY: So wait, why not then? Wait. Like, okay, if you've got this back, not back log. Like, then why not schedule? CRAIG: Because then the next week, I did three more, and then the next week I did three. Was like, well, there's another scheduled to, you know, never. And I also. I felt bad sometimes. I don't know, there's something about it. Everybody says, you always love all of your children the most. And every one of them, when I'm done with them, I'm like, that's the best thing I've ever created that has to go out right now.  It's part of my drive to make and do and create. And I feel like when I hit stop, I'm doing a disservice. I'm sitting on something I shouldn't be sitting on. And I have had some weird situations where I had some that I sat on for, like, ten months because I get nervous about that. Like, why isn't this done, well, because I can't get a transcript from the thing. I got stuck on details.  So, I really just love. I don't know, I love the feeling of, wow, I had a great conversation, and now everybody else can hear it with as little time between those two statements as I can get. MARY: Okay then, I'm checking out the time. Like, I had scheduled a certain amount of time with you, but then it got me thinking, then, do you schedule, like, a certain amount of time, or do you just let this conversation go? Because, like, I think I can talk to you for hours, right? And I literally mean that, you know, people say that on shows, but, you know, there has to be an end. CRAIG: Oh, I guess this is like a whole nother show. Okay, so I will say, yeah, you got 60 seconds before the time you allotted. However, I do not have a hard stop. So you could, if you want to record a second shows worth of material, knock yourself out.  Here's what I will say. People often ask if they're. If they're good podcasters, it occurs to them to ask, how do I have a good ending to my conversation? How do I have a good ending to my show, if I have a host and guest situation, and I always say, well, the first thing you can do is cross off anything that you know that won't work.  So, if you want to have a good ending, do not stop when the show sucks. > Right? So the friction and this is good. You always want to feel this as a host when you're on your show. This is great. This is where we should stop when you feel that tension of, this is awesome because people are going to slap their headphones off and go, that was awesome. And they're going to be like, they're going to go talk to somebody about the show or they're going to share it or whatever.  I mean, maybe don't stop right in the middle of an idea. But that part where we all want to go, wow, that was great. Now what do I ask? Oh, wait, there's more, Mary, let's talk about that. Don't do that. Just go, that was awesome. Thanks so much, Mary. It was a pleasure talking to you today. And hit stop. Hit stop when you're going is great, and you'll be good. Then there are a couple other little tips. Conversations go in, I call them saccades, not cicadas, the insect. Saccades, is a reference to how you move your eyes when you're reading. I don't know if people talk about cicadas in conversation, but, um, I'm doing it. There's a saccade to conversation. It's follow the bouncing ball, and it's about 20 minutes per hop on a conversation. MARY: I've heard about that. Yeah, yeah. CRAIG: And you might need to do people going, what? You might need to do a few hundred conversations to get out your metrics and look at the things. And what happens is, if you just let that bouncing ball go, you can't really stop at 30 if you're in the middle of a bounce and you can't really stop at the 20 minutes because that's the sucky part in the middle where you need to have a follow up question to get us back to the >.  So that's another thing is to understand, like, as a host on your show, understand some of the dynamics of conversation. Have your, have your conceptual head only if you can manage it. Only half in the show, half out of the show, watching the clock, knowing what you wrote that you wanted to get to, that you haven't got to yet. So, you know, oh, I have to get this one more thing. The next bounce of the saccade is going to be this. If you can manage to stay out. That's hard. Then that lets you have some of that. You know, you can have your head. You like old gopher, you know, like you stand up, you look around a little bit. Okay, let's go back into the next 20 minutes. So that's the, those are the things that I think about when I'm trying to figure out where to stop.  Really. Just don't stretch. You get to the end and it's awesome, and somebody says something profound, just say, that was awesome. MARY: That was awesome, Craig. CRAIG: But I did it on purpose.  MARY: I know. CRAIG: But, like, it's tough to do that when you're ahead. When you're really as a host, if you're having an awesome conversation, you get completely lost. That's good tape. MARY: So, yeah, that is. But I always end my show with the same question, and I'm going to let you go. So my last question for you is, what are you excited about podcasting right now? CRAIG: I totally should have prepared for that because I heard that what am I excited about podcasting? Well, in case people couldn't tell, I'm not excited about anything. I'm really excited about more people are starting to want to talk to me about conversation, and that's great because that means that I'm either, well I'm going to say I'm not doing something offensive. At least it means that things aren't going badly pessimistic.  So I'm really excited about having the chance. It's been happening more often to have conversations like this, where the whole thing is very meta about conversation. So that's really kind of makes me want to start another show. > I'm going to do more of this, but I'm not going there. So that's what I'm going to say. I'm really excited about and getting back, I was mentioning before I was sick, so I'm, like, on a pause at the moment. So I'm excited to get back to having more conversations, but it's really. I feel like I'm getting more interest in talking about talking. MARY: Yeah, I think that's what we need, because it's that human connection that we're all craving, you know? CRAIG: Oh, yeah. MARY: So thank you so much for this human connection with me and for the conversation. > CRAIG: My distinct pleasure. Thanks for inviting me. MARY: Thanks so much, Craig. I love the enthusiasm in his voice and for the work that he does. And, you know, during the conversation, he mentioned saccades and following the bouncing ball. I love that he brought up how conversations cycle through around 20 minutes, and we talked about this before, actually, in a previous episode with Steph Fuccio in number 51, we talked about Honing Your Podcast Voice Through Second Language Learning, and Steph had done similar research as well. She mentioned that same phenomenon around 20 minutes for a conversation. So if you want to revisit that episode number 51, the link is in the show notes.  So after listening to this conversation, what advice would you take from Craig's podcasting journey for your own show? Now, like I said on the show in the beginning, his podcast is a passion project and his success is not going to be the same as your success. So we're not saying you need to follow what he is doing. Like the way how he doesn't schedule. Scheduling is important to some people because it provides them structure and to make sure they do things so that they go out. Craig's really great at finding out what works for him, so I hope this episode makes you think about what could potentially really work for you. It's his idea of making things simpler. That's what he found works for him. But what does that mean for you?  Send me a voice note with your feedback at VisibleVoicePodcast.com. you'll find the purple button that says send voicemail. From there, click on that, send me your feedback, and let me know what would be simpler for your podcasting workflow. Or as always, you can email me as well VisibleVoicePodcast@gmail.com.  On the next episode we're talking voice tips. How do we embrace our voice as a tool? We think of podcasting as an easy thing to do where you can plug in your microphone and just start talking, but it's not as easy as that. We'll explore more of your voice next time. > > >

The Killers came roaring out of Las Vegas desert with the flashing lights behind them. The boys discuss underbaked melodies, Bono's love for the SM58, and a the power of a kicking band to make even the dorkiest of singers confident. Email us your complaints (or questions / comments) at 1001AlbumComplaints@gmail.comListen to our episode companion playlist (compilation of the songs we referenced on this episode) here:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7GokzXorltMTGbqbwmgt46?si=bdb3b33fe61040aaListen to Hot Fuss here:https://open.spotify.com/album/4piJq7R3gjUOxnYs6lDCTg?si=q7ZNAagcQaWQgkTMfM9ZNwIntro music: When the Walls Fell by The Beverly CrushersOutro music: After the Afterlife by MEGAFollow our Spotify Playlist of music produced directly by us. Listen and complain at homeFollow us on instagram @thechopunlimited AND @1001AlbumComplaintsSupport us on Patreon, now including our new show Song Battle!https://www.patreon.com/1001AlbumComplaintsWe have 1001 Merch! Support us by buying some.US Merch StoreUK Merch StoreNext week's album: The Zutons - Who Killed......The Zutons?

When rappers claim to be “the best on the mic”, they’re talking about verbal skills, not their technical prowess with any specific equipment. Clearly that’s the case, since you’ll see those same people spend a whole set cupping the SM58 ’cause it turns out their mic technique actually sucks. But in terms of intimate familiarity […] The post Tone Royal: “Alone” (feat. Daddy NAT) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Thank you for watching my video! I hope you enjoy this mic competition with layered echo asmr.

Dave's mic went caboom, and four letter words were said... and Daniel went to a second vision lab !

Keep Us Live, Loud & Appropriately Caffeinated: https://buymeacoffee.com/pipr5 Benefits of Podcasting That Aren't Financial:You might just meet a best friend, or two.You might get to speak to people that you would never get the chance to speak with if you didn't have a show.You will most likely build creative and tech skills that can help you in both your professional life, and also your personal life.You will most likely become a more confident and engaging communicator.Podcasting might be the next step in your creative life.Episode Production Chain = an unwell Josh > SM58 > MixPre-6 > Auphonic > Adobe Audition.Socials: @deadsetpod on Twitter/X and @deadsetpod on Instagram. Email: hello@deadsetpodcasting.comHire Us To Edit Your Show(s): https://www.deadsetpodcasting.com/services

Embark on a sonic journey with Anne and audio expert, Gillian Pelkonen, as they explore the world of microphones. From understanding the difference between dynamic, condenser, and ribbon mics, to unraveling the pricing mystery and debunking the 'quality equals cost' myth, your hosts cover it all. Learn what makes a great microphone, how to choose the best one for your unique voice, and how to navigate the complex pricing landscape. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, this episode is your ticket to achieving your dream sound without breaking the bank.   Transcript   Anne Ganguzza (00:01.171) Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss podcast. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and I am so excited to bring back once again, very special guest, audio engineer, musician, and all around amazing tech person, Gillian Pelkonen. Hey, Gillian.   Gillian (00:18.462) Hi, so good to be back talking to you and the bosses.   Anne Ganguzza (00:24.311) Yes, I love talking to you because, wait, hang on a second here. I know it's corny, but here. Is this thing on?   Gillian (00:33.543) Oh, it's on. Let me tell you, it is on.   Anne Ganguzza (00:39.433) How do I sound?   Gillian (00:41.738) Honestly, I'm not even saying this because we're on. I think that you sound great and this podcast sounds so great and your audio editor who is listening to this now, you don't need me to tell you, but you're doing a good job. I really like how it sounds because I listen to a lot of stuff and I'm very critical. I'm always like, oh, I don't really like that. But I really like the way VioBoss sounds.   Anne Ganguzza (00:45.727) Ha ha ha!   Anne Ganguzza (00:54.953) Aww.   Anne Ganguzza (01:01.676) Well, I would imagine an audio engineer listening to a podcast. I mean, that's what you do. So I think there's so many contributing factors to what really produces great sound. And I know that we've talked about studios in the past and things that we can do to create great sound. But we haven't really concentrated on   Gillian (01:09.523) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (01:20.43) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (01:25.707) this guy right here because first of all we were always maintaining that you didn't have to have a great mic to sound great. However, I think that it would be really a good topic. Yes, there you go. I think it would be a good time to talk about microphones.   Gillian (01:27.17) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (01:33.697) Mm-hmm. Expensive. Expensive is...   Gillian (01:41.694) It's not really, there's, yeah. Yeah, no, I totally agree. And I always say that great mics come at many different price points and people think, oh, a great mic is the $1,000 mic, is the $1,500 mic, even like the $800 mic. And that's not.   always, you know, it's not always true and there is a lot that goes into microphones and I am learning more and more all the time. Realistically, the price point has a lot to do with like how it's made, where it's made, but if you break down what's inside the mic, which I don't know if any like, I don't even know if audio engineers care about this, but like there's the capsules and the transformers and all of those things that are in the mic that are what produce the sound quality that either makes it more expensive or less expensive or sometimes   Anne Ganguzza (02:03.241) Mm.   Gillian (02:29.928) expensive mic has the same inside design as a more expensive one, but it's just like a brand thing or that might not be 100% correct, but it is true that people will take the shell of one type of mic and they can make the insides and kind of scope it out to be similar electronics to a more expensive mic. So I don't know, it's not all about the price point, it's all about what you what you think.   Anne Ganguzza (02:35.079) Mmm.   Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (02:54.087) So do I dare ask, have you gone inside the capsule? I mean, have you taken, I mean, is that what you do? Do you go into microphones sometimes to check them out, repair them, just be geekily interested?   Gillian (03:08.154) Sometimes you have to fix... I haven't opened up microphones. I mean a lot of the times like if you're looking at... well you have a you have like a pop filter windscreen on yours because I know you use a 416 and I use a KMS 105   Anne Ganguzza (03:22.022) Mm-mm.   I do.   Gillian (03:28.83) which is just my talking mic. I like to use it for vocals. It's one of the only mics I own because I work at so many studios. I can just basically use whatever mics are there. But this one I love for singing, for talking. It's a really good live mic. But it has like an... I wish I could like take it off without disrupting the audio, but I can't. It has like an outer windscreen, like a metal windscreen that a lot of mics have. And if you look, you can actually see the capsule in there.   Gillian (03:58.784) looking at capsules is if you shine a flashlight in you can like really see it. But no, to answer your question in a long-winded way, I haven't taken apart a mic yet. I have been doing a lot of looking at the inside of like outboard gear, like pre-amplifiers and stuff like that, but microphones are on the list for me to look at.   Anne Ganguzza (04:18.235) Well, so because you use so many different types of microphones, I think, in your everyday job being an audio engineer, you're not just working with voiceover artists. You're working with musicians. I'd love to like, can you break it down for the bosses? Like, let's make it easy. Like, what are the different types of microphones? Like, would...   Gillian (04:26.274) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (04:32.718) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (04:40.398) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (04:43.908) a voiceover artist from what I understand that we're not gonna be using the same mics as a musician necessarily. So let's talk about those types of mics, differences in microphones, like from a very bass level.   Gillian (04:48.407) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (04:57.09) Yes, there are basically three different types of microphones and the types are determined a lot by how they work but a lot of what is going on inside of them. So there's dynamic microphones which are never really used for voice, they're used for other things. And then there's condenser mics which are used by voice actors and used a lot for voice and for detailed things. And then there are ribbon mics which are not usually used for speaking voice. So basically as a voice actor all you need to worry about are condenser mics.   microphones, but there are other types of microphones that work for other things that you want to be recording. I could go into more detail about them, but I don't know how necessary it is for voice actors. They always say dynamic mics are durable. That's like, I mean, you use certain ones for voice, like a SM57 or SM58, which is like a   Anne Ganguzza (05:43.945) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (05:50.046) you go to a house party or you go to like a live event, someone's going to be using one of those microphones, the joke is like they're $99 and you can throw them off a building and they'll still work. Like they are so durable. They're, they're so, I don't know. It's   Anne Ganguzza (05:50.047) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (05:56.952) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (06:01.801) Ha ha!   Gillian (06:05.786) I think I don't know how to break one without like submerging it in water. And condenser mics are known for being sensitive, which is why we want to use them with our voice because there's so many intricacies in your voice and in your performance that need to be picked up. And ribbon mics, they're ribbons because they have a little metal ribbon on the inside and it's part of how it works. And those are more sensitive mics and use those a lot either on like, I mean, I know we use them a lot for like guitar amps or like horn instruments because you can be really   Anne Ganguzza (06:15.071) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (06:35.76) loud and it like smooths out the signal from my understanding of how I use them and what I know about them.   Anne Ganguzza (06:41.199) Ah, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And so a voice artist wants to use the condenser mic. And so for our podcast, OK, so I will say in my studio here, I've got a couple of different mics. Now before I purchased my 416, I had a TLM 103, which I also have here in the studio, which I like.   Gillian (06:48.706) condenser microphone. Yeah, TLDR, condenser mic.   Gillian (07:03.83) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (07:08.579) But even before that, I had a Rode NT1 mic. And of course, I went through, I think, the gamut of price ranges. And I think when I started, I mean, goodness, I just admitted the other day on a podcast that when I was streaming live from my living room, my first VO peeps meetups, I used a USB mic that was the Blue Snowball. And from there, I went to a Rode NT. And then I went to an AT2020 too, which I think was...   Gillian (07:16.834) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (07:27.618) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (07:37.127) you know, in terms of expensiveness was not that expensive, but I thought it was a decent mic. And I think at that point, you know, what would you say in terms of the different types of mics? Cause like my TLM 103 was over a thousand dollars, you know, compared to my AT2020, which is like right now, I think you can buy one for $99. What would you say is the biggest difference between those two mics?   Gillian (07:40.61) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (07:51.255) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (07:57.659) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (08:06.047) I mean, without knowing a ton about what goes into either of them, I do kind of, like I said before, I think the price difference does come from parts. And so...   Anne Ganguzza (08:10.419) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (08:17.503) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (08:18.162) I would assume the capsule inside of a Tlm 103 is more expensive than the other one, the electronics. Really upgrading, when we talk about upgrading mics, it does come with a price, but if you think about what the mic is, it's the capsule, everything inside, the electronics working together, higher quality materials will produce a higher quality signal that's recorded into your computer. So, can you get a lower priced mic that sounds good? Yes.   Anne Ganguzza (08:32.838) Mm-hmm   Gillian (08:47.956) of we're degrading the audio quality and listening to it through a phone speaker or out of computer speakers. So having really a really good signal to start with is great but sometimes it's not, basically you can get a signal that sounds good enough to sound professional at those lower price points but I do think it all comes down to.   Anne Ganguzza (08:53.927) Mm.   Anne Ganguzza (09:04.255) Basically you can get a signal that sounds good enough to sound rational.   Gillian (09:10.786) price of materials and sometimes like prestige of brand, at least a little bit, because there are a lot of brands that I know like Warm Audio, Flea Audio, they make remakes of vintage mics, but also they make like remakes of like a U87, which U87s are still sold, which basically all of the remakes is kind of what I was talking about earlier, similar parts to get a similar sound without the brand price point.   Anne Ganguzza (09:14.343) like the Steve Huff brand. Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (09:26.727) Remakes of like a U87, which is still sold. Which basically all of the remakes is kind of what I was talking about earlier.   Anne Ganguzza (09:40.211) So it's not necessarily, and I know we've talked about this before, so it's not necessary for a voice artist to get good sound by paying more for a microphone.   Gillian (09:50.478) Mm-hmm.   Yeah, it's like anything when you're starting out in a business. Like I keep talking about my tech work because it's on my mind. I've been doing it all week. I just bought a soldering iron and I bought a $40 soldering iron and the guy I'm working with has a $200 one, but I don't know how much I'm going to be doing it. I'm just dipping my toes in. I don't have a big budget for something that's not paying me back yet. And so it's kind of like this is my intro thing and it works. We're doing the same work. It works. One day would I want the more expensive one? Maybe. Just to have a higher quality.   Anne Ganguzza (10:10.459) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (10:21.807) Yeah.   Gillian (10:23.013) But you know when you're especially for people who are starting you got to have something to work up to and something to you know get started with because who is starting a voiceover and has a couple thousand dollars to drop on microphones I don't know anybody   Anne Ganguzza (10:30.843) Sure.   Anne Ganguzza (10:38.735) Yeah, that's rare. That's rare. And I do know that it took me, oh gosh, at least 10 years to get my TLM 103, because my Rode NT1, which was a few hundred dollars, did a great job for me for many years, at least six years, in the voiceover industry. And I finally decided, well, you know what? I mean, people talk about the TLM 103, and I   Gillian (10:47.464) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (10:57.774) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (11:05.763) I actually went for that one before I bought my 416, and then I decided that after I got my TLM 103 and I moved to a new studio, I would entertain the 416 because I was also thinking about my 416 for a travel mic. And so I think in terms of microphones, and you were talking about sensitivity before, I know that, you know,   Gillian (11:09.806) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (11:23.445) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (11:29.367) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (11:31.803) I have, you know, sitting outside of the studio, I have a Shure SM7B, which I use because I'm not in my studio, but it's a lot of podcasts, you know, use that mic, podcast hosts use that mic, because it doesn't pick up a lot of external noise and it sounds good kind of no matter what environment you're in. However, the higher the mic price, the higher the sensitivity, it seems. My TLM 103 picks up like, you know, a fly.   Gillian (11:36.526) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Gillian (11:56.162) Mmm.   Anne Ganguzza (12:00.463) you know, or a breath, like super easily. And my 416 does as well, but I have to be in a particular location, right? It picks up more in the front of the mic versus the TLM 103, which picks up all the way around. So I guess maybe it has to do with, you know, it's something, it's called the cardioid pattern, is that correct?   Gillian (12:01.098) Yeah.   Gillian (12:11.104) Yeah.   Gillian (12:22.522) I know, yeah, yes, we're talking about polar patterns. It's so interesting, I hear you talking and I'm like, I know exactly why you think these things. Because it is interesting, the SM7B is a dynamic microphone actually, but it has a cardioid polar pattern and we use those all the time. I personally don't like the way my voice sounds on it for singing purposes, but a ton of people love it. It's a great studio microphone just in the music recording environment. If you wanna be in the control room,   Anne Ganguzza (12:24.819) Mm-hmm. Yeah.   Anne Ganguzza (12:36.638) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (12:50.291) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (12:52.336) singing with stuff playing back on the speakers. It's a great mic because it's dynamic and because of the pickup pattern, because it doesn't feedback the way if you use the TLM 103 with speakers, just the pickup pattern, it would feedback. Anyway, am I losing everybody? I'm sorry. I'm just nerding out. Basically, what we're talking about is TLM 103. It's actually a large...   Anne Ganguzza (12:54.778) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (13:02.419) Right.   Gillian (13:17.154) I'm pretty sure it's a medium or large diaphragm condenser mic. And so the polar pattern is more wide and the capsule is bigger, so it's more precise and it picks up more sound. The issue that I personally have with the 416 that we can talk about is not everyone has good mic technique with it. And because the pickup pattern of that mic is so precise, I don't know...   Anne Ganguzza (13:21.138) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (13:40.999) Mmm.   Gillian (13:46.262) I don't know exactly what the pickup pattern is of it, but it's definitely cardioid if not like super cardioid, which means the pickup pattern area is even smaller. I find people love that mic because they say, oh, I hear a lot of things that like, once I have this mic, then I'll sound great. And people get a 416, they spend a lot of money on it, and then they're outside the range of where the mic picks up. And then it's like, I can't...   Anne Ganguzza (13:52.703) Mm-hmm. It's smaller. Mm-hmm.   Gillian (14:11.282) hear you, you know? So I don't know, technique is a big part of sounding good on a mic too. It's not just about the gear, it's knowing where the mic's picking up and just positioning yourself in that area so that it gets you the best sound.   Anne Ganguzza (14:13.444) Yeah, yeah.   Anne Ganguzza (14:26.803) That makes so much sense. And I know that one of the reasons why I love the 416 for travel is because you end up in environments where it's less than ideal. And so, I mean, you're not like in my studio here, I've got all my acoustic panels, it's built, it's double walled. And so I have a really good environment in which I'm recording. But when I go travel and I'm in a hotel, I don't have this studio. And so...   Gillian (14:28.834) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (14:39.587) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (14:49.846) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (14:56.075) I need something that is not gonna pick up the hum of the air conditioner or the fan that's in the room. And the 416 I found to make a huge difference. And yeah, you're so right about understanding like your mic and how to use it and mic technique because I have to be in a particular place in order to make my voice sound good with the 416, close to the proximity.   Gillian (15:02.058) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (15:23.379) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (15:25.347) versus my TLM 103 where it's not as critical because, but yeah, I couldn't take my TLM 103 to a hotel easily and make it sound as good as I do here in this studio.   Gillian (15:30.725) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (15:35.038) It picks up everything.   Gillian (15:39.614) Yeah, and something interesting about polar patterns when I first learned about them, and you can look it up. There's diagrams that show you basically the shape.   of what they look like. I was always thinking, oh, like the pickup pattern, I need to be thinking about what it's picking up. But another big thing about it is thinking about the rejection. Like if it's picking up in a certain way, it's actually rejecting audio from other spaces, which makes everything you're talking about completely true. It's going to reject a lot of the stuff that you don't want in your recordings, which could be a really helpful choice when picking a mic. Like what's your environment like? If you have a noisy studio or if you have a less than ideal situation, then maybe a   Anne Ganguzza (15:57.927) Mmm.   Anne Ganguzza (16:11.743) Sure.   Gillian (16:16.88) condenser TLM 103 is going to pick up too much unwanted noise. So there's a lot of things that go into making the decision and just things to think about to help you find the best mic for your voice and your situation, I think.   Anne Ganguzza (16:21.467) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (16:31.935) What would be your recommendations for people starting out? I mean, is there a particular mic that you think would be great, or is there a particular, I guess, methodology in terms of picking out a good mic for your voice? Like, what would you recommend? I mean, there's so many people that post on the forums, and they're like, what should I buy? Like, how do you attack that in terms of selecting a mic for your voice?   Gillian (16:51.63) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (16:57.326) Um, well, I think my situation is different than most because I work at a bunch of recording studios so I, um...   When I was picking my favorite mics for my voice, I did what is called a shootout, where you just line up a whole bunch of mics and you record yourself on all of them and then you see which one sounds the best to you. I know you have a bunch of recommendations on your site and on my site I do as well, but I guess without getting into specific, like you should get this mic, you should get that mic. There are a few places I actually, this past weekend I went into New York City, if anyone   Anne Ganguzza (17:12.295) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (17:22.975) Mm-hmm. I do.   Gillian (17:36.016) area, B&H, photo, video, whatever, that technology store has a room and you can go in and there's a technician that sits with you and you can try out all of the microphones. So really like my advice would be to have a chance. I know at music stores too you also have that. If you go to like Sam Ash or Guitar Center, you can totally go and try a few microphones before you buy them and all the ones that we're talking about, the 416, the TLM 103,   Anne Ganguzza (17:39.076) Oh yeah.   Anne Ganguzza (17:47.843) Oh, that's wonderful.   Anne Ganguzza (17:53.986) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (18:03.414) the SM7B, those are all there, because those are very popular microphones. So if you have a chance to try them, great. If you have a friend that has one that you could try it. But also, if you can't do a shootout in person, there's a lot of resources on YouTube of people.   Anne Ganguzza (18:05.907) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (18:12.616) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (18:18.626) testing out different microphones. Sweetwater is one of my favorite resources. They give you so much information and they do recorded mic shootouts so you can hear what they sound like on a voice or on the same voice and maybe just determine what you think sounds good for yourself. And then also be aware of your price range. Sorry, I'm just giving like a bullet point list of advice and maybe look into a company like Warm Audio that has a remake of the U87   Anne Ganguzza (18:22.431) Mm-hmm. Water is one of my favorite resources. Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (18:42.64) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (18:48.64) for most people's voices but is cheaper than a real U87 to get a similar sound without paying the full price. That'd be my advice to do a combo of all those things.   Anne Ganguzza (18:53.053) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (18:59.116) And also I know that certain companies like Sweetwater, you can buy and they have a great return policy. So it's kind of like try before you buy or, you know, and I think it's just wise for anyone who's trying out a mic. I mean, don't, I wouldn't go on blanket advice from anyone really. I think you still have to, you have to get that mic and it has to be in your environment. I remember   Gillian (19:04.246) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (19:15.92) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (19:23.847) Gosh, a long time ago I went into a studio and I loved the way I sounded on this particular mic and I went and I bought it immediately. And when I put it in my studio, it did not sound the same. And of course that makes a lot of sense because the studio I was in versus the studio that I had at home were completely different. I mean, number one, the studio I was in was a huge studio, had different acoustics than what I had in my room and I just didn't like it as much and I ended up returning it.   Gillian (19:47.182) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (19:52.871) And so I feel like, yes, I have lots of recommendations of like, here, I think this would sound good. But I think you should always try first and put it in your environment and see if you like it. And then always have that option to return it.   Gillian (19:59.426) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (20:09.842) Yeah, I think that's a great point. And Sweetwater too, they have representatives that you can talk to and get on with them and be like, this is my situation. This is my pre-empt that I have. This is what I'm using my mic for. This is what my... and they can give you recommendations as well. And I don't... I've never returned with them, but I do know they have a good return policy. And also, I mean, we've said this in previous episodes, like people...   Anne Ganguzza (20:19.827) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (20:32.066) glamorize the microphone, but really, first off, no one ever asks you what microphone you're using. And as an audio engineer, I don't care what microphone you're using, as long as you sound good. If you sound good, I don't care, I'm happy. And there's so many other things within the chain that we've talked about, the computer, the preamp, all of those things that contribute to how high or low quality your final sound is.   Anne Ganguzza (20:34.879) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (20:39.647) Hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (20:55.139) Mm-hmm. I do know that there are some studios or some clients that do request a particular mic, but I have a feeling it's if you're trying. Yeah.   Gillian (21:04.215) Really?   Anne Ganguzza (21:08.687) I think what they're trying to do is they're either matching or trying to match like a sound from the mic from before, but it's very rare. It's not, I don't think it's typical. As a matter of fact, in most of the work that I do, nobody ever said to me, you need to have this type of microphone. It's in very rare instances where they say, and maybe in promo or something like that, you need to have a 416 or... But I also feel like...   Gillian (21:13.029) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (21:18.143) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (21:26.743) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (21:34.239) Yeah.   Anne Ganguzza (21:37.743) I could be just saying that. I know I've read that, that it's very infrequent, but it does happen. But for the most part, I've never been requested to have a particular type of mic. As a matter of fact, nobody's ever asked. And so I've just only heard if my mic, or if I didn't sound good, and that had a lot of different factors to it. Wasn't just the microphone that was at play there.   Gillian (21:51.212) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (22:00.366) Mm-hmm. Yeah. I agree. Facts.   Anne Ganguzza (22:06.455) So any other good tips that you have in terms of, I guess, purchasing a mic or for a person just starting out? I mean, in terms of price point, do you think, like, I mean, if a microphone costs $79, do you, you know, is that something that you think is a good price point to start with or is it, you know, what are your thoughts?   Gillian (22:30.618) Yeah, I guess that's a good question. I never think about it like that, but I think um   Obviously if you can avoid a USB microphone, I would just because I think we might have talked about this previously or I just talk about All the time basically with a USB microphone. You're paying the price which is usually lower than most for all of the you know a to D conversion Your microphone your preamp all of that in one and then the power source is Coming fully just from like that USB a so everything within that mic is usually lower quality   Anne Ganguzza (22:43.067) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (23:04.275) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (23:07.888) afford to have a preamp and mic even if they're not very expensive. And in my head, not very expensive is like $200. I would say like $200 microphone, $150 microphone, even some that are like $100 and then preamps same sit at like $100, $115, $200. Then that's what I consider inexpensive. And then anything in like the $250 range is like mid.   Anne Ganguzza (23:17.467) Yeah.   Anne Ganguzza (23:22.925) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (23:28.818) Yeah.   Gillian (23:37.948) like 300, 400, 500, I would say that's like higher than all of the like super pro super expensive stuff is usually closer to a thousand dollars. So that's what in my brain what the range is.   Anne Ganguzza (23:40.871) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (23:45.81) Yeah.   Anne Ganguzza (23:50.791) Well, I know that when I'm recommending to a student, and I have a studio gear page, and I know you do too, and it really depends on their budget, number one. I think if they aren't sure that this is a career for them or   Gillian (23:59.81) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (24:08.499) They may not get into it more than a few hours a week, or they're just not sure about it. I say don't invest a ton of money right away. I mean, you can get some really reasonable equipment. And I'm not talking USB. I would never recommend a USB as a mic for you to use for creating audio for your client. It's good for webinars. It's good for maybe some quick.   Gillian (24:17.966) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (24:24.366) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (24:31.979) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (24:36.174) here.   Anne Ganguzza (24:37.603) Auditions, even then I say, oh, try not to because you want to put your best foot forward. So, I mean, but there's some really inexpensive mics that I think sound great as long as you've got a good environment. And audio interfaces, like I would recommend, the AT2020 mic I think is a great mic. The Rode NT1 mic is great. It's not more than a few hundred dollars. And audio interface, we've talked about this before. I love the Steinberg.   Gillian (24:44.93) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (24:56.412) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (25:04.392) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (25:05.351) and I think the Steinberg is a great interface and it's $169. So you're not talking about a large investment and it's something that you can probably resell easily if you decide you don't wanna get into the voiceover. Yeah, absolutely.   Gillian (25:09.667) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (25:15.718) And reuse. I mean, everybody is online now. Zoom meetings, it's just.   so much better to have some sort of microphone. And I have, there's one USB mic that I've heard that is actually like, I've been like, oh, what mic is that? Thinking it was, you know, an interface and it was just like a gaming mic, but that was like a $200 USB microphone. So even like, when I was talking about USB microphones, I'm talking about like the $50 ones, the $20 ones that you see on Amazon that it's like, oh, just get this and you'll have a microphone. That's not   Anne Ganguzza (25:23.321) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (25:33.299) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (25:36.883) Mm-hmm. Yeah.   Anne Ganguzza (25:45.631) Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (25:49.905) Yeah.   Gillian (25:51.724) enough quality for professional voiceover, I don't think.   Anne Ganguzza (25:56.111) Agreed, agreed. And I think, you know, going along with, if somebody doesn't have a huge budget and they're just getting into the voiceover industry, I think you have to pay equal attention to your microphone as well as the space that you are recording in because you want that sound, right, that potential audition or that sound to be decent.   Gillian (26:13.486) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (26:21.291) Mm-hmm.   Anne Ganguzza (26:21.979) You know, and to really, again, first impressions are everything. And so I think it's a combination of, you know, a decent mic with a place that's not gonna be, you know, having a ton of echo or, you know, I mean, that's probably the first thing that we do as casting directors is when we get an audition is throw away somebody that has poor quality audio. And the mic is a part of it, you know, the mic is a part of it, so.   Gillian (26:27.722) Mm-hmm.   Gillian (26:45.571) I agree, 100%.   Anne Ganguzza (26:51.131) Absolutely. Well, we could probably talk all day about microphones, but I think this is a great primer on microphones for those bosses that are just starting out. I mean, absolutely. I think, you know, Gillian, I'm sure if you had any other recommendations, can people go to your Studio Gear page? I know VIA Boss has Studio Gear as well. Mm hmm. For for recommendations.   Gillian (26:58.315) Yeah.   Gillian (27:14.558) Yeah, yeah, it's gear recommendations. So you can check it out. And I will say outside of.   gear issues and mic issues. My next biggest gripe, which we can do an episode on with voiceover audio that I am like, I wish this was different, is over or incorrect processing. So that's really that starts to be almost worse. So we will leave it there. But just so you know what's in the near future for you guys, I know we're going to have much, much more to talk about.   Anne Ganguzza (27:36.424) Ah yes, agreed.   Anne Ganguzza (27:47.145) Well, thank you so much. Yes. Thank you so much, Gillian, for those words of wisdom. Absolutely. Bosses, take a moment and imagine a world full of passionate, empowered, diverse individuals giving collectively and intentionally to create the world they want to see. You can make a difference. Visit 100VoicesWhoCare.org to learn more.   Gillian (27:49.467) Oh, thank you for having me.   Anne Ganguzza (28:10.111) And I'm going to give a great big shout out to our sponsor, IPDTL. You too can network and connect like bosses. Find out more at IPDTL.com. You guys have an amazing week and we will see you next week. Thank you. Bye.

Is the SM58 the most popular microphone of all time? Quite possibly, yes. This stage stalwart can truly handle anything thrown its way: from Mitski's drama to Frank Carter's screams and Run-DMC's rhymes. Listen to a special edition of Signal Path as part of the Shure Iconic Mic Celebration this month to discover how the SM58 has set the industry standard for live performance for more than half a century.

Kimberley George is a singer-songwriter and topliner for DJs. She joins Alexa today on Singing Teachers Talk to tell you everything you need to know about songwriting for electronic music styles. Listen in to find out what happens when a DJ contacts a vocalist, the problems in communicating creative ideas, the advantages of doing your own production, and what you, as a singing teacher, can do for a student wanting to get into that industry.  KEY TAKEAWAYS When it comes to collaborating with DJs, Kimberley always looks at the music from a perspective of no ego. She looks at what kind of vocals the song actually needs, not necessarily how her own vocals would be best for that specific track. Some DJs want to create a track around an existing vocal, which Kimberley has already recorded lots of different versions of with a basic background loop. The background loop is usually just used as a reference and not used on the final track. Other DJs send her instrumentals for which she writes vocal tracks. When Kimberley does this, she asks for reference tracks with notes about why this track has been chosen as a reference. The notes on the references are very important because sometimes they might like the style or maybe just the placement. There is no common language between vocalists, DJs and producers. The producers might not know how to ask for what they want, and the vocalist is left guessing what they might mean. As a voice teacher working with someone who wants to go into this industry, you might want to invest in a good laptop, a DAW (digital audio workstation), an interface, mic and reflection filter. This would just be for recording demos etc. On a vocal level, as a teacher, you should be very versatile and able to teach students to sing in multiple different styles for different types of electronic music. These have their roots in varied genres over multiple decades.  BEST MOMENTS‘By being versatile I can adapt to what people need and create the best vocal that I can'‘It's a massive advantage doing your own production and not having to go to a studio'‘A DAW is like your kitchen cupboard, the one that works for you is the one where you can find the cups' EPISODE RESOURCESAbout The GuestKimberley George is a well-established session vocalist, songwriter, performer, and coach known for her exceptional talent and versatility.Her skills as a vocalist allow her to adapt to different genres, making her a sought-after collaborator among producers and DJs. Her ability to create captivating toplines and deliver outstanding vocals is earning her a reputation as the go-to vocalist for many in the industry.Kimberley made her mark in the electronic music scene just 3 years ago, and since then, her vocals have amassed over 6 million streams on Spotify.In addition to her success as a vocalist and songwriter, Kimberley is also a dedicated vocal coach, deeply passionate about the voice and empowering creatives to achieve long and successful careers. Specialising in artist development, songwriting, and vocal technique, Kimberley shares her expertise and passion with aspiring artists. Guest Website: https://www.kimberleygeorgemusic.com Social Media: Instagram: @kimberleygeorgemusic Relevant Links & Mentions: Artists Mentioned: Fleetwood Mac; Ellie Goulding; Avicii; Jax Jones & Becky Hill Singing Teachers Talk Podcast: Ep. 105 How to Teach Popular Music Styles to Singers with Jo Sear: https://linktr.ee/basttraining?utm_source Equipment: DAW (Kim uses Logic); interface; SM58 microphone; reflection filter (Kim uses Aston Halo) Tommy Ludgate: @tommyludgatecoach Singing Teachers Talk Podcast: Ep. 49 - Unlocking Your Creative Potential with Tommy Ludgate: https://linktr.ee/basttraining?utm_source Chad Kowal: @chadkowal ABOUT THE PODCASTBAST Training is here to help singers gain the knowledge, skills and understanding required to be a great singing teacher. We can help you whether you are getting started or just have some knowledge gaps to fill through our courses and educational events. Website: basttraining.comGet updates to your inbox: Click here for updates from BAST TrainingLink to presenter's bios: basttraining.com/singing-teachers-talk-podcast-biosSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I was overhearing this guy talking on the phone directly outside my window, and I was playing these chords over and over. The two combined in my head. Sometimes we just need a little bit of hope. This is the second single for the upcoming Rose with Teeth album. LYRICS: "It's a huge trauma thing with him—I'm not a therapist." There's nothing in our blood that determines who we are. This pain is not a natural outcome of existence— to be honest, it's incredible we've gotten this far. This is our chance, listen here: all we have to do is wait, wait here and listen to me. (That's an annoying trait!) Wait, what are you doing there? GET THE FUCK DOWN FROM THAT TREE Splitting little hairs isn't fair! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME? "There's a future for both of us unencumbered— unencumbered by the pain of our pasts." I know that everyone's days are numbered, but you'd be shocked by how long we could last. Personnel: • Angie Sutherland ──vocals, guitars, bass, synths, lyrics, composition, production, mixing, mastering, cover art • Spencer Rider ──saxophone, composition Notes: Instruments and equipment used: Shure SM57 and SM58 microphones, Steinberg UR22mkII and Behringer U-Phoria UM2 USB audio interfaces, a Line 6 Variax 300 electric modelling guitar, an Ibanez GSR200 bass guitar, a Guild G37 acoustic guitar, a Yamaha Advantage YAS-200AD tenor saxophone, and Ableton Live using presets, the sforzando and Dexed VSTs, and the soundfont/library Virtual Playing Orchestra. Wherever possible, care has been taken to tune all instruments to the Werckmeister III well temperament.

NOTE: This episode was recorded with new kit and SM58 mics instead of our usual set-up, so the volume is a little janky in a couple of places. Joe Versus the Volcano (1990). Directed by John Patrick Shanley. Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (2010). Directed by Edgar Wright. Starring Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The Mitchells Vs the Machines (2021). Directed by Mike Rianda. Starring Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Mike Rianda and Olivia Colman. Please review us over on Apple Podcasts. Got comments or suggestions for new episodes? Email: sddpod@gmail.com. Seek us out via Twitter and Instagram @ sddfilmpodcast Support our Patreon for $3 a month and get access to our exclusive show, Sudden Double Deep Cuts where we talk about our favourite movie soundtracks, scores and theme songs. We also have t-shirts available via our TeePublic store!

Recorded from tea-cup perspective for maximum authenticity, this episode explains how to get from Douglas Adams to Terry Pratchet (via Brian Wilson) in a sleepy country voice. Jon, as befits a member of his multi-award-winning community, has been filling numerous creative roles: convicted pirate; amateur organ salesman; inadvertently fraudulent (but unfireable) accountant; and inverse Lazarus, smiting the unworthy asunder. So how come his SM58 died of shame? Mike, on the other hand has been installing the latest in New Age musical-box security while extolling the virtues of choral child labour, Bela Fleck's musical chicken, and agent-swap Bumble. In Alanis Morissette's happy village, meanwhile, we witness the shocking abuse of some herringbone origami by a bunch of Tony Bennetts wielding slowly wilting flowers, and learn how best to display 15 Grammies. So leave your vintage paperweights behind, honeychild, and join us as we build a compost heap to the accompaniment of 'Leave The Montero Open'. Those about to be drunk, we salute you! Fancy more of our nonsense? Then please support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/projectstudioteabreak and check out the merch store at https://www.projectstudioteabreak.com/merch For more episodes, as well as links relating to each one (via our zero-spam but 100-percent-idiocy mailing list), check out https://www.projectstudioteabreak.com. Or get in touch by email at teabreak@projectstudioteabreak.com.

Recorded from tea-cup perspective for maximum authenticity, this episode explains how to get from Douglas Adams to Terry Pratchet (via Brian Wilson) in a sleepy country voice. Jon, as befits a member of his multi-award-winning community, has been filling numerous creative roles: convicted pirate; amateur organ salesman; inadvertently fraudulent (but unfireable) accountant; and inverse Lazarus, smiting the unworthy asunder. So how come his SM58 died of shame? Mike, on the other hand has been installing the latest in New Age musical-box security while extolling the virtues of choral child labour, Bela Fleck's musical chicken, and agent-swap Bumble. In Alanis Morissette's happy village, meanwhile, we witness the shocking abuse of some herringbone origami by a bunch of Tony Bennetts wielding slowly wilting flowers, and learn how best to display 15 Grammies. So leave your vintage paperweights behind, honeychild, and join us as we build a compost heap to the accompaniment of 'Leave The Montero Open'. Those about to be drunk, we salute you! Fancy more of our nonsense? Then please support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/projectstudioteabreak and check out the merch store at https://www.projectstudioteabreak.com/merch For more episodes, as well as links relating to each one (via our zero-spam but 100-percent-idiocy mailing list), check out https://www.projectstudioteabreak.com. Or get in touch by email at teabreak@projectstudioteabreak.com.

Please help SKMAC in supporting a great cause as we celebrate Iconic Mic week and SM58 day with Shure this year. This year, instead of just “SM58 Day”, Shure is celebrating Iconic Mic week with both and Super 55 day (5/5) and SM58 Day 5/8. Every year as part of our promotional campaign, SKMAC picks a charitable organization to tie into the promotional efforts. This year's organization is Cancer Can Rock. Cancer Can Rock was founded by record producer and cancer survivor Jim Ebert, this week's podcast guest. Cancer Can Rock offers musicians struggling with aggressive cancer the opportunity to get into a recording studio and produce a song and video to offer solace to the performer and a keepsake for their family, paid for entirely by the organization. Please spread the word on your own social media accounts to help us maximize the charitable contributions to Cancer Can Rock this year.     This year, we are soliciting charitable donations to enter to win one of 3 prizes. The Grand Prize is one of three custom pink Colorware SM58 signed by Sheryl Crow. Second prize is a pair of Shure Aonic 40 headphones. Third prize is a set of Aonic Free earphones. A minimum ten-dollar donation will earn an entry to win any of the prizes, which will be chosen at random. Winners will be chosen and announced at the Cancer Can Rock Nova Music Fest on May 15th at 868 Estate Vineyards 14001 Harpers Ferry Rd Hillsboro, VA. Musician's in this year's Nova Music Fest include The Greek and the Freak, Juliet Lloyd, Gary Smallwood, the Eric Scott Trio, the 19th Street Band, the Chris Timbers Band, Tommy Gann and Kim, and the Jason Masi Band.   Winners do not have to be present to win. The link for donations is https://cancercanrock.org/sm58 Cancer Can Rock's website: cancercanrock.org   Jim Ebert's website: https://www.ebertaudio.com/  

There's a snarky saying about how women change their minds. It goes something like, A woman's mind is cleaner than a man's because she changes it more often. In my experience, women won't mind you saying that when you're with a group of people and everyone is smiling, laughing, and generally having a by-golly swell time. Experience has also taught me that there is a time and a place for everything. Saying that when it's only you and your wife in the car after you've been arguing about where to eat because at first she wanted a burrito, but now she's decided she's in the mood for baked ravioli, and she's already giving you the stank eye because you said something like, “Make up your mind”, … you probably ought to think about not whipping that nugget out of your grabbag. She ain't in the mood for your shenanigans. I don't really think it's that fair of a quip anyway, because I am A Man, By Thunder, and men can be just as wishy-washy. From Atomic Red Studios, which is being moved again because I keep changing my mind about where to put it, I'm Michael Blackston, and I'm about to highlight some decision making issues from my Funny Messy Life. _________________________   Ladies, don't let your man get away with it. I'm on your beautiful indecisive sides all the way. He's likely to one day say something about how you can never make up your mind, and if I'm right, you'll immediately be able to bring up some of the things he's guilty of in that same arena. For me and a lot of other guys I know, it'll show up in the category of our toys. We'll tidy it up and call it collecting, or upgrading, but in reality, it often comes down to indecision. I know musicians - especially guitarists (Good LORD, guitarists are bad about it) - who are never satisfied with the last instrument they bought. They saw it in the guitar store, played the most impressive riff in their personal catalog, while pretending not to care who's listening, loved how it felt, and just had to have it. Then when they get it home, they decide it doesn't play right. The action isn't as good now as it was in the store when they were hammering out Eddie Van Halen's Eruption as everyone else around them secretly rolled their eyes. There's a funky twang in the pickups they suddenly don't like. And Is it me, or does that sunburst look different in this light? They have changed their minds. Case in point, Atomic Red Studios, and my setup for recording these podcast episodes and other audio. I'm not going to try and remember exactly how many different versions of my studio there have been, or in how many different places I've tried to put it. It doesn't matter, because here's the problem: I keep going to great lengths to make a new, better version, then changing my mind about it. This last place seemed to be perfect. I was allowed to convert a small room at my church, free of charge, into the perfect studio space. My house is small, and there's just no room for a sound studio, so I went to great lengths to set one up at the church. The plan was to record Funny Messy Life, as well as audio books, and do voiceover work. Okay, I counted, and if I'm not leaving anything out, there have been approximately 562 versions of my studio, none of which gave me the great audio I was looking for. The problem with the church site is, any time I want to record, I have to get stuff together and go there. A home studio is more convenient for me because none of the stuff I do so far earns me one red cent.. I have, at last count, ten different microphones. I started with one - a SURE SM58. Old Reliable. The trustworthiest of trustworthy microphones. It's so durable you can glue a hook to it and use it as a fishing lure, and it'll still work when you plug it in. It's been a standard in the professional vocal world since the beginning of time. The SURE SM58 is the microphone God used when He said, “Let there be light.” But I heard about another microphone that would be better for my podcast. It would give me the rawest, most natural sound for my voice, and I could always do adjustments in editing. The guy at Sweetwater swore by it, so I bought it. The new mic cost me $250, and I loved the way it sounded. At least I did for a minute. When I decided my voice sounded richer with the SM58, I said to my wife, “Wife, I hereby change my mind! I shall returneth to my SM58. And henceforth, I shall call it my favorite. So sayeth me.” She didn't believe me, of course. She'd been down that road before, and she was right. It wasn't long before I realized I needed something of good quality that I could take on the road and use to record podcasts in my hotel rooms. It needed to connect directly to my laptop via USB port, and before I knew it, Dave Jackson of The School of Podcasting fame was recommending a dandy little microphone by Audio-Technica. “I must have it!” I decreed.  Luckily my wife was nowhere in sight, and I was near Birmingham, Alabama. There's a music store there that had it in stock.  “I shall journey forth to the store, and there avail myself of the equipment I require. Then, and only then, shall I find contentment.” I bought it, and I loved it. I still do. But I also continue to find myself drawn to my SM58. Then I heard through my research on successful voice overing, that the RODE NT1 was a fantastic microphone for serious voice actors getting started. Michael was moved within his spirit to act, and thus, he sent a message to the owner of the ad. “Is this microphone still available?” The owner replied, “Yes. Yes it is.” ”I must have it!” Michael bade and light shone upon his face. The angels rejoiced, and glory shone upon the face of the earth. In reality, God was probably shaking His head. “He never learns.” I bought it and used it quite a lot, but …. I've recently gone back to using the SM58 mostly.  I feel like this is boring. It probably is, but it serves to show just a hint of my own indecision. Like I said, there are ten microphones altogether, as well as other equipment, each supposedly better than the next. I mentioned the restaurant thing earlier, but I'm worse than my wife about it. I have days when I wasn't something, I'm starving, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what it is I really want. It's not that there's an epic battle going on in my mind between pancakes and pita bread. I don't want any of it. Nothing! I'm about to die to eat something, but I don't want anything. It doesn't make sense. It's like a culinary glitch in The Matrix. It happens to me all the time, and I'm helpless to do anything, but flop around on the ground like a tantruming child, flailing my arms and legs hither and yon, and whining about life worse than an overly woke socialist. By the way, if that last statement offended you, we likely aren't a good match. So where was I? Ah yes, arms thrashing, and legs akimbo. “I wanna eat, but I don't want nuthin', but I'm hungry, but nuthin's good, but I wanna eat!” It should not surprise you that in these moments, my wife has perfected the art of the side-eye. She's never gone as far as to say, Idiot, out loud, but it's there on her face. She doesn't appreciate the highly evolved man-cision system I have in place, and how because I have such a developed and complicated process to navigate regarding the intricacies between one thing and another, there is sometimes a disruption that causes a failure of calculation, resulting in said flailing arms and legs akimbo. When she reads this, she's going to give me the side-eye. I know it. I still don't know whether or not to use this piece for the podcast/blog/swim in Lake Me at all. I'm having a hard time making that decision. It's difficult finding the time to record these episodes lately anyway, but I guess I could get some pvc pipes and blankets and carry a sort of portable studio with me on trips. Seems like a lot of trouble, though. I'm not sure. I could cut the pipes in half and connect them with joiners. That way I could throw the whole thing in a duffle. But what kind of duffle should I get? Plain? Black? Georgia Bulldog red? Something with a logo? Maybe I could make an Atomic Red Studios logo and print it on a plain, Georgia Bulldog red duffel. That would be neat. The Atomic Red Studios duffel could actually carry the Atomic Red Studios. Is that over thinking it? I don't know. I can't decide.

On episode 299 of the BSP I talk about youtube's plans for podcasting in the future and what it might mean, Universal Audio Spark and why it's good and terrible as well as how audio gear does not matter!   Subscribe to the full audio podcast at http://www.bandrewsays.com   Gear Used This Episode (Affiliate Links): Cad U1: https://geni.us/cadu1 Lyxpro DKR1: https://geni.us/lyxDKR1 Shure A7WS: https://geni.us/a7ws Universal Audio x8: https://imp.i114863.net/zMg2r Sennheiser HD650: https://geni.us/sennhd650   As an affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.    Ask Questions: https://www.askbandrew.com Merch; https://teespring.com/stores/podcastage-store Discord: http://www.podcastage.com/discord   00:00 - Intro 01:08 - YouTube's Podcast Plans PodNews Announcement: https://podnews.net/update/youtube-podcasting-plans 11:20 - Universal Audio Spark Spark Page: https://spark.uaudio.com/ Initial Plugins: https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/sections/4573072157460-UAD-Spark-UADx-Documentation 20:12 - Audio Gear Doesn't Matter 26:20 - WYHTS: Audio Companies Raising Prices? 31:00 - WYHTS: Review Format Limiting Creativity 33:30 - Ask Bandrew 34:10 - Voice Submission 1 36:05 - How to Connect GoXLR to a Mixer? 38:20 - Voice Submission 2 39:09 - Has Travis Barker Saved or Ruined Punk Rock? 41:30 - Voice Submission 3 42:50 - Should I Get an SM7b or SM58? 45:24 - Outro

Transmission Omission, Antlers, Firestarter, The Fear Index, Archive 81, Station Eleven, Lost in Space, Star Trek: Discovery, Rick and Morty, The Sandman, SM58, Hello Again, Old Friends

I had the opportunity to test 3 SHURE mics for podcasting! I put the MV7, SM7B and SM58 side by side and well I was surprised by what I heard! If you are a podcaster or thinking about podcasting this is a review to dive into! #shure #mic #podcast #professor #review --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thejamescast/message

Ben's House. Paul called Ben and explained that Paul had just dropped a bunch of money on a very nice ribbon microphone. Ben was itching to record with it. The rest of Gato was unavailable due to familial obligations. The first two tracks are just the melody from When Sunny Gets Blue, played w the same setup but on two different mics for the sax. The difference is palpable. Ben setup two SM57s pointed directly at the piano body and panned them far left and far right. Paul and Ben had not played most of these songs together prior to this recording session. Paul did not bring his flute, which was unfortunate.

Hypnogogia, My Eye, Eternals, Luther, Trigger Point, I'm Still on the SM58, Your Mic Cable Might be Noisy, Disco

Hypnogogia, My Eye, Eternals, Luther, Trigger Point, I'm Still on the SM58, Your Mic Cable Might be Noisy, DiscoShow notes at RoyMathur.com/blog.html

Radio art & sound edit: Tara Downs  Writer & stand up poet: Jonny Fluffypunk Jonny Fluffypunk: "One of the joys of Short-wave listening that has captivated me all these years is the pure randomness and unpredictability of the experience...' I was inspired by the explanation that accompanied the original recording; the listener surprised and thrilled by the sudden interruption of unfamiliar station idents and snippets of broadcast… so how about another, even shorter-lived station, ‘interrupting the interrupter'? What comes through on the original recording (some sort of banal anti-smoking advice) is rendered strange and exotic by virtue of it swirling, unexpected, out of the ether, from somewhere unknown on the far side of the world; our shrinking planet suddenly seems vast and mysterious again. So imagine you're listening from a Polynesian island, in the dead of night, and how- distorted by distance, layered under interference and leaping out of nowhere- the voice of an aggrieved Englishman, exiled to a friend's shed after a row over a tinned pie, might somehow sound similarly magical. So often when surfing across the wilder weirdnesses of the radio dial the imagination is forced to come up with some sort of flimsy raft of narrative, lashed together from incomplete, ambiguous and incoherent snippets, if for no other reason than so one can get to sleep." Technical Production & Sound Editing: "A ritual attempt to invoke the gods of otherness and unleash the ghosts in the machine. Text and station ident recorded using 1986 Casio SL-1 keyboard and broken SM58 microphone, fed through Boss loop pedal and recorded on worn-out cassette on Tascam 244 portastudio. Result then played out via MW test transmitter and finally digitally captured for this project crackling from a cranky 1940's Phillips bakelite radio. Then sent to Tara in the Netherlands for further burial into the static... " Tara: "Jonny and I are similarly entranced by the magic of radio and divinations on shortwaves. This curiosity brought us together as colleagues and provides a constant, erratic wave that runs through Radio Droogdok & our Radiophonic Hut project.  This was a lot of fun, mixing Jonny's story into the original piece (picked up by DXer Colin Newell), peppering with field recordings from my own collection (made when resuscitating old radios) , playing with rhythm, distance and proximity to evoke both the feelings of isolation of a lone broadcaster calling out through the ether, and the impulse to connect with the ‘other' out there. I love both the contrasts between the transmissions and, strangely, the parallels. The seeking of solace in an invisible scattered congregation, and something of a therapeutic, self-help, ‘agony aunt' quality. And there's an irony to our piece: we really do both sit in our respective home-made sheds, playing with collections of beautiful old kit, swearing, experimenting and figuring out how to make it work, and how to reach out there into the impossible vastness of reverberating static..." Composition by Radio Droogdok - Tara Downs in collaboration with Jonny Fluffypunk. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

The day has finally arrived! Today's episode is part one of a two-part event, in which we take a deep dive into the gear needed to be successful in this industry. We cover the core essentials instruments, speakers, mixers, and cables. You won't want to miss a minute of this episode. Check out the episode notes below for direct links to all of the gear discussed in the show, and stick around for part 2 dropping next Thursday. Please Like and subscribe for all future content.    *Episode Notes: QSC Speakers - https://www.qsc.com/solutions-products/loudspeakers/portable/powered/portable-pa/k2-series/ Sm58 mic - https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/microphones/sm58 Furman surge protector - https://furmanpower.com/compact-power-120v/ Gaffers tape - https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Gaffer-Power-Non-Reflective-Multipurpose/dp/B00GZE3UJ8

Joe Rogan leaves the top spot on Spotify!    Continue the conversation, join our PRIVATE group - Expert to Influencer Podcasting Secrets   What We Discuss in today's news:   00:00 Introduction 00:08 Heavyweights goes exclusive, Joe Rogan knocked out of Spotify's #1 spot 01:29 Transistor's poll on the most used podcast player 02:02 Radio Tech Survey on public radio fans listening to podcasts 02:22 Shure released the MV7x 03:05 Podcast of the Week: Only Murders in the Building Podcast   Like this show? Please leave us a review here - even one sentence helps! Post a screenshot of you listening on Instagram & tag us so we can thank you personally!   In this episode of the Record Edit Podcast, Dustin Knouse brings us some of the latest news in the podcasting industry - Spotify lands another exclusivity deal with Heavyweight while gaining momentum as the most preferred podcast player, more radio fans are now listening to podcasts weekly, and the most recent review on the best mic.    Episode Resources: Podcasts Get Interactive With New Q&A and Polls Features A Gen Z perspective on podcasting Shure MV7x Podcast Mic Review / Test (vs. SM7b, RE20, Q2u, SM58, and More) Survey Results from Public Radio Techsurvey 2021: Public Radio in the COVID Era

The Russian and Chinese governments have been profoundly involved in the global opioid trade, as has the United States government. Chinese and Russian actors have been known to mass-produce carfentanil, a highly potent synthetic opioid, not only as a drug and cutting agent, but as a chemical weapon. Carfentanil and other fentanyl derivatives are the most common agents in what have been termed "deaths of despair" in the poorer, neglected regions of the United States and Russia. The drug trade has always been wrapped up in political intrigue, and the role of the United States, specifically the CIA, is no exception. As Peter Dale Scott has written about, the so-called War on Drugs has mostly been an excuse for intelligence agencies and cartels, often in alliance, to enrich themselves at the expense of other people. Iran-Contra was only one small piece of the gigantic puzzle, and even then, it goes deeper than assumed. For instance, the CIA in the '50s and '60s was deeply tied with the business of psychedelics manufacturing and distribution, in part because the recreational use of such enabled them to gather a large recruitment base for experiments involving combining drugs, electronics, and various forms of torture and abuse in order to determine if the individual mind, and society at large, could be controlled. Maybe it was these experiments that fed into worldwide delusions about electronic harassment, or what is often called 電波 in Japanese... This is the first single for the upcoming second Rose with Teeth album. LYRICS: Александра Элбакян, моя любовь – милость твоя. Знание заставляет меня потерять себя в странных занятиях, что отвлекают меня от боли, и волн, что они вещают. I don't know what I am trying to do with my time, with my life. I am waiting for you to tell me what my move is, but I don't even know who you are. Tell me when it is my time to go and I'll go without a fight, but the horrific light makes me wonder if it's worth having eyes and eyesight. And I know that I'm waiting and I can't stand the wait 'cause the drugs are pumping in and I know I'll suffocate. みんな楽しもうとしている。 でも、うまくいきません。 誰もが泣きたい、でも、 涙管が壊れている。 彼らは私の涙を盗んだ。 彼らは私の楽しみを盗んだ。 涙が出ない。楽しめない。 誰に何が残るの？ Russian transliteration: Aleksandra Elbakian, moja liubov' – milost' tvoja. Znanije zastavliajet menia poteriat' sebia v strannyh zaniatijah, što otvlekajut menia ot boli, i voln, što oni veščajut. Russian translation: Alexandra Elbakyan, I am in love with you. Knowledge makes me lose myself in strange preoccupations that distract me from the pain and from the waves they broadcast. Japanese transliteration: Min'na tanoshimou to shite iru. Demo, umaku ikimasen. Daremoga nakitai, demo, namida-kan ga kowarete iru. Karera wa watashi no namida o nusunda. Karera wa watashi no tanoshimi o nusunda. Namida ga denai. Tanoshimenai. Dare ni nani ga nokoru no? English translation: Everyone is trying to enjoy themselves, but it's not working. Everyone wants to cry, but their tear ducts are broken. They stole away my right to cry. They stole away my right to enjoy. If we can't cry or enjoy, then what's left for anyone? Personnel: • Angie Sutherland ──vocals, guitars, bass, synths, lyrics, composition, production, mixing, mastering, cover art • Spencer Rider ──saxophone, composition • Liz W. ──translation assistance (Japanese) • NEKOSATTVA ──translation assistance (Russian) Notes: Instruments and equipment used: Shure SM57 and SM58 microphones, Steinberg UR22mkII and Behringer U-Phoria UM2 USB audio interfaces, a Line 6 Variax 300 electric modelling guitar, an Ibanez GSR200 bass guitar, a Guild G37 acoustic guitar, a Yamaha Advantage YAS-200AD tenor saxophone, and Ableton Live using presets, the sforzando and Dexed VSTs, and the soundfont/library Virtual Playing Orchestra. Wherever possible, care has been taken to tune all instruments to the Werckmeister III well temperament.

We're back again with a full two watts of pure podcasting power and a shirt full of double-necked electric guitars! Our indoor cat Jon has been busy scaling 30-metre mountains, painting an SM58 like a spy pencil, and making a mic out of a hula hoop. Meanwhile, Mike parts the kimono to reveal the single organ he's been relying on for employment, but (to give discredit where's discredit's due) you have to admire his kitten-perspective cooking blog's Spidey Sense. There's plenty to learn this episode too. How to pull more emotion out of a lampshade. How to get 90% worse at eating silent toasted pitta. How to make lollipops look like trees. And how to reach Zen convergence between calming highlighters and a paradoxically expensive ukulele. Plus, don't miss a guest appearance by the very unhippy Mr & Mrs Clipboard, reminding us all to check the big text again. Fancy more of our nonsense? Then please support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/projectstudioteabreak and check out the merch store at https://www.projectstudioteabreak.com/merch For more episodes, as well as links relating to each one (via our zero-spam but 100-percent-idiocy mailing list), check out https://www.projectstudioteabreak.com. Or get in touch by email at teabreak@projectstudioteabreak.com.

We're back again with a full two watts of pure podcasting power and a shirt full of double-necked electric guitars! Our indoor cat Jon has been busy scaling 30-metre mountains, painting an SM58 like a spy pencil, and making a mic out of a hula hoop. Meanwhile, Mike parts the kimono to reveal the single organ he's been relying on for employment, but (to give discredit where's discredit's due) you have to admire his kitten-perspective cooking blog's Spidey Sense. There's plenty to learn this episode too. How to pull more emotion out of a lampshade. How to get 90% worse at eating silent toasted pitta. How to make lollipops look like trees. And how to reach Zen convergence between calming highlighters and a paradoxically expensive ukulele. Plus, don't miss a guest appearance by the very unhippy Mr & Mrs Clipboard, reminding us all to check the big text again. Fancy more of our nonsense? Then please support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/projectstudioteabreak and check out the merch store at https://www.projectstudioteabreak.com/merch For more episodes, as well as links relating to each one (via our zero-spam but 100-percent-idiocy mailing list), check out https://www.projectstudioteabreak.com. Or get in touch by email at teabreak@projectstudioteabreak.com.

How professional does your podcast sound?  What recording software do you use? Do you record your podcast in a closet? Should you upgrade your equipment? What's the best mic, at the best price? I get questions about these things from podcasters all the time. And I haven't really answered them much, because, in most cases, podcasters need to focus more on their content and premise than their equipment. But, it's true, sound quality is indeed important. And, it's actually way easier - and cheaper! - than you think to have a really professional-sounding podcast. In fact, when I recorded the first 30 episodes of Philly Who?, I did it with two $98 SM58 mics, that's it! No studio, no $400 mic. I literally just carried the two mics in my backpack and recorded the interviews in random conference rooms. Yet, the most common feedback I got back then was how professional the show sounded. So, how is it done? How can you get top-notch recording quality, anywhere, on a budget? Today Rockwell Felder is here to break down the answers. Rockwell is the Co-Founder and CFO of Squadcast, a remote recording software platform for podcasters. On this episode of Grow The Show, he is going to talk about how you can get crisp, high-quality podcast audio, without spending a fortune on complicated equipment or state-of-the-art studio time. In fact, with just a few adjustments, and the right technique, you can have professional-sounding audio by the next time you sit down to record!   Resources Mentioned: Squadcast: Use this link to sign up (https://growthe.show/squadcast) and use promo code "growtheshow" and you'll be able to try the platform for free for an entire month! Shure MV7 Microphone (https://growthe.show/mv7) ATR2100 Microphone (https://growthe.show/atr2100) Between Two Mics podcast Want to join a community of high-performing independent podcasters? Want to swap tactics, get feedback, and grow together? Want to have your questions answered during AMAs with podcasting legends? Join us in the Grow The Show online community!: https://growthe.show/fb   Ready to have Kevin join your podcasting team? Apply for the Grow The Show Podcast Accelerator!: https://growtheshow.com/apply or watch Kevin's 70-minute Masterclass on how he took his first podcast past 100k and $100k to learn more about the program: https://growthe.show/masterclass

Leading up to this year's SM58 Day celebration we stumbled across a picture posted online of a man who had a tattoo of a Shure SM58 microphone on his forearm. Since that's not something you see every day, even in our line of work, we did a little digging and realized that the arm in question belonged to a man named Frank who just so happened to be the lead singer in a band AND lived here in Florida. We immediately reached out, packed our gear, and drove out to St. Augustine to sit down with Frank and discuss music, his band, and his love for the SM58. Frank is the lead singer of the band Sladicidal, a Suicidal Tendencies cover band. Frank grew up around music, so when it came time for him to pick a mic he knew it was going to be the Shure SM58 dynamic vocal microphone. And when it came time for him to get a tattoo, it was his wife who suggested he go with the legendary microphone. We also get into the history of the St. Augustine musical scene, specifically at Shanghai Nobby's who were gracious enough to let us record the podcast live at their bar and also happened to be the spot where Frank and Sladicidal first performed. Listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

Si hay una leyenda en los micros, sin duda es el SM58, uno de esos micros que no pueden faltar para un escenario o un estudio de grabación. No se pierdan este nuevo episodio de Equipos y Configuraciones.

Amelle reçoit celui qui, avec brio et profonde gentillesse, aime autant raconter sa vie qu'écouter celles des autres. Monsieur Seb Mellia. La conviction que tous les gens ont quelque chose d'intéressant à partager, savoir faire la différence entre un micro SM58 et un SM7B, parce qu'en matière de podcast on ne rivalise pas avec Seb Mellia et les incontournables qu'il a son actif (1 heure avant la rupture ; 4 Comiques dans le vent mais à conter sens ; Le podcast dont tu es le héros et le petit dernier En Détente - pas encore sorti au moment de notre enregistrement). Le théâtre Le République, le Jamel Comedy Club promo 2007, la puissance des rires qui galvanisent et cette envie de rendre aux gens l'amour qu'ils donnent. Les avis qui comptent plus que d'autres, la règle de ne jamais prendre le melon, encore moins après les épreuves (un peu trauma) des castings pub et ciné. L'amour et un FaceTime surprise à La Réunion, les faux beaux livres, les vrais piments, un dédoublement de personnalité qui passe crème lors d'une conf call entre amis... Mais aussi les failles, les racines, les amis, quelques cheveux blancs… et toujours en fil rouge des anecdotes sur des dingueries arrivées sur (et hors) scène. Bienvenue dans la Dinguerie Room d'un humoriste qui ne prendra jamais le melon.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Podcast studios need adjustments and tuning up every once in a while, and definitely at least once every 15 months, which is what we did at the Blubrry studio. Todd made his first trip back to the Columbus office and not only fixed all of the mistakes MacKenzie made moving microphones, but gave it a nice cleaning. Thanks for joining us on this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know. Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distanced podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan; here's Podcast Insider. No live recording this week. News: Mark Cuban will virtual keynote at Podcast Movement 2021 New from Facebook: podcasts and live audio chatrooms Mobile media usage to grow slowly in 2021 Podcasting winners and losers during pandemic Podcast Choice Awards nominations open on July 1st Best Practice: Stay positive and upbeat on your show. Be excited to be there. Blubrry News: The PowerPress webinar will be June 29th at 3:30pm EST. Sign up here. Blog Post: 3 keys to develop your podcast content, by Kim Krajci. Affiliate payments going out this week Follow us on Social! We are active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Follow our Instagram at blubrry_podcasting to keep up with the most recent news, updates, podcast tips and trends as well as giveaways. We would love to connect with more members of the Blubrry family on social media and give you a shoutout. Also, once a month, we have the Podcaster of the Month to highlight one of our customers and their podcast. Let us know if you are interested in being a Podcaster of the Month. Interview: Meet the Team -  Dave Clements Dave's podcast, Playing Games with Strangers  Question(s) of the Week  Question: From Facebook: Anyone podcast while they travel with a co-host in a different location? What software do you use? Answer: Riverside.fm, Zoom (meeting software), Skype (with call recorder), or Streamyard. Bring a decent mic with you when you travel. Also, don't forget the headphones! Todd uses an ATR2100 USB microphone and Mike uses an SM58 with a Zoom H5 recorder as an audio interface. Those work with the above software to record. ______________ Be sure to follow or subscribe to the companion show to this one, Podcast Help Desk where Mike goes a little deeper into the geeky and techy side of podcasting. https://www.podcasthelpdesk.com What are show notes anyway? ______________ If you have a question you would like us to answer on the show, drop an email to mike@blubrry.com (audio or text or even video if you want) and we may use it on the show. The best place for support with any Blubrry product/service is our ticket system (https://blubrry.com/support/). Sending a ticket gives the whole team access to the question rather than direct emails or direct phone calls. ______________ Promo code INSIDER for a free month at Blubrry.com Coming at you this week from Blubrry Studios in northern and southern Michigan. Produced by the Blubrry Pro-Production team. Schedule a one-on-one with Todd (hosting customers only). Email todd@blubrry.com Schedule a tech checkup with Mike (hosting customers only). Email mike@blubrry.com Send us your podcast sticker and a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) and we will send you a Blubrry care package. Our mailing address is: Blubrry – MacKenzie 150 E. Campus View Blvd. #180 Columbus, Ohio 43235

Podcast studios need adjustments and tuning up every once in a while, and definitely at least once every 15 months, which is what we did at the Blubrry studio. Todd made his first trip back to the Columbus office and not only fixed all of the mistakes MacKenzie made moving microphones, but gave it a nice cleaning. Thanks for joining us on this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know. Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distanced podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan; here's Podcast Insider. No live recording this week. News: Mark Cuban will virtual keynote at Podcast Movement 2021 New from Facebook: podcasts and live audio chatrooms Mobile media usage to grow slowly in 2021 Podcasting winners and losers during pandemic Podcast Choice Awards nominations open on July 1st Best Practice: Stay positive and upbeat on your show. Be excited to be there. Blubrry News: The PowerPress webinar will be June 29th at 3:30pm EST. Sign up here. Blog Post: 3 keys to develop your podcast content, by Kim Krajci. Affiliate payments going out this week Follow us on Social! We are active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Follow our Instagram at blubrry_podcasting to keep up with the most recent news, updates, podcast tips and trends as well as giveaways. We would love to connect with more members of the Blubrry family on social media and give you a shoutout. Also, once a month, we have the Podcaster of the Month to highlight one of our customers and their podcast. Let us know if you are interested in being a Podcaster of the Month. Interview: Meet the Team -  Dave Clements Dave's podcast, Playing Games with Strangers  Question(s) of the Week  Question: From Facebook: Anyone podcast while they travel with a co-host in a different location? What software do you use? Answer: Riverside.fm, Zoom (meeting software), Skype (with call recorder), or Streamyard. Bring a decent mic with you when you travel. Also, don't forget the headphones! Todd uses an ATR2100 USB microphone and Mike uses an SM58 with a Zoom H5 recorder as an audio interface. Those work with the above software to record. ______________ Be sure to follow or subscribe to the companion show to this one, Podcast Help Desk where Mike goes a little deeper into the geeky and techy side of podcasting. https://www.podcasthelpdesk.com What are show notes anyway? ______________ If you have a question you would like us to answer on the show, drop an email to mike@blubrry.com (audio or text or even video if you want) and we may use it on the show. The best place for support with any Blubrry product/service is our ticket system (https://blubrry.com/support/). Sending a ticket gives the whole team access to the question rather than direct emails or direct phone calls. ______________ Promo code INSIDER for a free month at Blubrry.com Coming at you this week from Blubrry Studios in northern and southern Michigan. Produced by the Blubrry Pro-Production team. Schedule a one-on-one with Todd (hosting customers only). Email todd@blubrry.com Schedule a tech checkup with Mike (hosting customers only). Email mike@blubrry.com Send us your podcast sticker and a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) and we will send you a Blubrry care package. Our mailing address is: Blubrry – MacKenzie 150 E. Campus View Blvd. #180 Columbus, Ohio 43235

On episode 262 of the BSP, I answer questions about the Universal Audio 610 Solo tube preamp, the Neumann TLM103 or Austrian Audio OC18, Why is the Zoom h5 so noisy?, what beanies do I wear, and share SM58 or sE v7?   Subscribe to the full audio podcast at http://www.bandrewsays.com   Gear Used This Episode (Affiliate Links): Neumann TLM49: https://imp.i114863.net/tlm49 Hakan P110 Pop Filter: https://imp.i114863.net/Za2Ag Yellowtek Boom Arm: https://www.yellowtec.com/mika.html Golden Age Projects Pre73 MKIII: https://imp.i114863.net/gap73iii Universal Audio x8: https://imp.i114863.net/zMg2r Sennheiser HD650: https://geni.us/sennhd650   Twitter: @bandrewsays Ask Questions: https://www.askbandrew.com Merch; https://teespring.com/stores/podcastage-store Discord: http://www.podcastage.com/discord   00:00 - Intro  01:00 - What I've Been Testing 02:15 - Ask Bandrew 03:15 - Email 1 03:30 - Test of Universal Audio 610 Solo? 08:30 - Email 2 09:10 - Neumann TLM103 or Austrian Audio OC18 13:40 - Email 3 15:00 - Why Is My Zoom H5 So Noisy!? 19:00 - Voice Submission 4 20:40 - What Beanies Do I Wear? Rothco Watch Cap: https://geni.us/rothco 24:00 - Voice Submission 5 25:10 - Shure SM58 vs. sE Electronics V7? 27:40 - Outro Just Heather: https://www.bandrewscott.com/blog/2021/6/9/guest-on-not-just-heathers Taylor Guitars: https://www.bandrewscott.com/blog/2021/6/8/guest-on-taylor-primetime-episode-47-5-great-mics-for-acoustic Why I Stopped Wearing Smart Watches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfQ4T1m-5go

Join us as we celebrate SM58 day (5/8) with Shure historian Michael Pettersen! We discuss the history of the SM58 including many stories from it's past and present. 

Salut à toutes et à tous, Un 25ème épisode un peu particulier puisqu'il date maintenant de quelques mois; période où l'on pouvait se poser au Walrus pour boire une bière, poser 2 SM58 et tailler le bout de gras avec Manu, camarade podcasteur de l'excellent podcast musical "Tartine ta culture". Nous revenons, dans un 1er temps, sur son parcours musical et journalistique, ses motivations pour lancer ce podcast en compagnie de Léo et Clément. Côté sélection, Manu vous a concocté un sacré menu, soul, folk, rock, rap, tout y passe; jugez plutôt : 1950 : Ray Charles - Ray Charles (1957)  extrait : Come Back Baby 1960 : Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1969)  extrait : Cecilia 1960 : Joan Baez - Joan Baez (1960)  extrait : Donna Donna 1970 :  Marvin Gaye - What's Going on (1971) extrait : Right On 1970 :  Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life (1976) extrait : Contusion 1970 :  Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) extrait : Darkness on the edge of town 1980 :  Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (1989) extrait : Shake your rump 1980 :  RUN DMC - Raising Hell (1986) extrait : It's tricky 1980 :  Public Enemy - It takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988) extrait : Louder than a bomb 1990 :  Soundgarden - Superunknown (1994) extrait : Let me drown 1990 :  A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory (1991) extrait : Buggin' out 1990 :  Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (1994) extrait : The becoming 2000 : Gorillaz - Gorillaz (2001) extrait : Clint Eastwood 2010 : Queens of the Stone Age - Like Clockwork (2013) extrait : My god is the sun 2010 : Triggerfinger - All This Dancing Around (2011) extrait : I'm coming for you 2010 : Amerigo Gazaway - Yasiin Gaye (2014) 2020 : Run the Jewels - RTJ4 (2020) extrait : Walking in the snow      Episode enregistré le 26/08/2020 ... ça date au Walrus Retrouvez Manu sur Twitter @Tartine_ta_Cult et vou pouvez retrouver les épisodes de la TarTeam sur Apple Podcast et toutes les applis de podcast.  N'hésitez pas à laisser des commentaires sur vos applis de podcast et à me retrouver sur Twitter ; @MDAM_pod Générique : "It was 3am I was looking up at the sky" by Springtide (www.springtide.jp)

I overview recent Daily Goody‘s from Sep.18 - Oct. 1 (see list below). You can sign up to receive Daily Goody’s in your email every day or a weekly roundup. Sign up here. And, in this episode I switch back and forth between the Heil PR 30 and Heil PR 40 for you to be able to hear the difference, which is subtle. Michelle Levitt and I discuss the difference between these two microphones in the previous episode. *SPECIAL* Focusrite has a limited time partnership with Shure offering an SM58 along with a Scarlett 2i2 and a pair of SRH440 headphones at a discount with select dealers! Find all the details of this “Create and Cast bundle” HERE! And be sure to check out the Focusrite Scarlett series of audio interfaces -- 6 different interfaces -- works with the recording software you already use -- works with any type of XLR microphone -- new unique Air feature adds brightness and presence to your voice. Thanks to Focusrite for sponsoring this episode! Daily Goody posts that were discussed in this episode: Specializing in Producing/Editing Podcasts in a Specific Niche NEW Course Announced! “Getting New Clients at Higher Rates” What is Dynamic Range Processing? Noting Down Your Hardware Settings Where To Buy Sound Absorption Blankets and Acoustic Room Treatments? iZotope RX 8’s New Loudness Control Module Other notes: The start date for the next PES semester is January 12, 2021. VIDEO: Audio Cleanup and Processing Andrew Gelina's Voice Using Various Audio Plugins Join the Podcasters’ Lounge Facebook group If you’d like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, “Btw, here’s a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful” with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/ Daniel Hager did a STELLAR job revamping the PES website! He was my guest on episode 109, he's the host of Let’s Talk Re-Touching, and he's the owner of Hager Media. THANK YOU DANIEL for making the site amazing! My other podcast -- The Mystic Show (I hope to publish new episodes soon) New plugins I bought after Black Friday / Cyber Monday: EMI TG12345 Channel Strip MaxxVolume MV2 CLA-3A Compressor / Limiter Abbey Road Chambers IR1 Convolution Reverb (we discussed this type of reverb in episode 168 with Pascal Wyse) AMEK EQ 200 Trackspacer by Wavesfactory Level Magic by Flux Jünger dearVR PRO Phil's Cascade Unfiltered Audio TRIAD bx_console N channel strip Melodyne 5 assistant by Celemony Quadravox by Eventide Decapitator by Soundtoys

Image by Podcast Movement. Choosing a podcast microphone typically involves some testing. With such a wide variety of options to choose from, we tested some for you live and give recommendations and a clear understanding of condenser vs dynamic microphones. Wondery is still up for grabs, Joe Rogan is now Spotify exclusive and QCode just gained a former Apple Podcasts exec. That's not all, tune in to hear more. Thank you to Elisa for sitting down with Todd to talk about her show In the Business of Change. Thanks for joining us on this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know. Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distanced podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan; here’s Podcast Insider. News: Apple Podcasts Connect will require 2-factor sign-in starting in February 2021.  In a note sent to podcasters... “Starting February 2021, additional authentication will be required for all users to sign in to iTunes Connect. This extra layer of security for your Apple ID helps ensure that you’re the only person who can access your account. If you haven’t already updated your account, you can enable two-step verification or two-factor authentication now in the Security section of your Apple ID account or in the Apple ID section of Settings on your device.” A Spotify employee has supposedly removed a Joe Rogan Episode. Survey says that young adults replace TV watching with listening to podcasts. QCode hires Steve Wilson, Former Apple Podcasts Executive. Congrats Steve! Less than 2 weeks left to submit your show to the Ambies. Deadline December 15th. Amazon may buy Wondery for $300 million. Don't take our word for it. Best Practice: How to choose the right microphone for you. Three different microphones, three different price points. Electro-Voice RE20 $450 (Todd uses the Shure SM7B $400) Sennheiser e835 $100 Audio-Technica BPHS1 Headset Mic. $200 Dynamic vs. Condenser Dynamic is better for noise rejection Examples: Heil PR40, SM7B, RE20, SM58, ATR2100 and the new MV7 The condenser is more “full” sounding Examples: Snowball, Blue Yeti, Any built-in mic for Portable Recorders, Blue Mickey and the REALLY expensive Neumann U 87 ($3600!) Expensive vs. cheap Is a $400 microphone $300 better than a $100 mic? What is your budget? Does YOUR voice sound good on the mic you choose? Some voices do not sound good on some microphones.  For instance, often times women’s voices do not sound as good on the Heil PR40 as they do on the Heil PR30 or the SM7B.  If you can borrow a mic to test with, test with as many as you can. What is your podcast environment like? Dynamic mics are better if you have background noise or for recording in the field. If you are very sound-proofed room, or the coat closet, a condenser microphone could work for you. USB vs. XLR Bottom line, if you find one that works for you, you can check it off your list of things to do.  Don’t overthink it. Blubrry News: Microphone giveaway! It's the last few hours of our Instagram giveaway for an ATR2100x-USB. To participate, follow us, like the Instagram post and tag 3 friends, it ends tonight Dec. 4 at midnight EST. PowerPress 8.4.5 is out, with some minor bug fixes. Leave us a review! From our blog, Internet Security and Podcasting. Interview: Elisa Birnbaum - In the Business of Change Connect with Elisa here... Facebook Twitter Instagram Question(s) of the Week: Question: What would you recommend to backup your files for your Podcast? Answer: Here is what I [Mike] do, I have offline backup disks on two portable hard drives. One is set up on my Mac as a running backup (Time Machine).  The second one is in another building (my office/studio is separate from my house).

Image by Podcast Movement. Choosing a podcast microphone typically involves some testing. With such a wide variety of options to choose from, we tested some for you live and give recommendations and a clear understanding of condenser vs dynamic microphones. Wondery is still up for grabs, Joe Rogan is now Spotify exclusive and QCode just gained a former Apple Podcasts exec. That's not all, tune in to hear more. Thank you to Elisa for sitting down with Todd to talk about her show In the Business of Change. Thanks for joining us on this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know. Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distanced podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan; here’s Podcast Insider. News: Apple Podcasts Connect will require 2-factor sign-in starting in February 2021.  In a note sent to podcasters... “Starting February 2021, additional authentication will be required for all users to sign in to iTunes Connect. This extra layer of security for your Apple ID helps ensure that you’re the only person who can access your account. If you haven’t already updated your account, you can enable two-step verification or two-factor authentication now in the Security section of your Apple ID account or in the Apple ID section of Settings on your device.” A Spotify employee has supposedly removed a Joe Rogan Episode. Survey says that young adults replace TV watching with listening to podcasts. QCode hires Steve Wilson, Former Apple Podcasts Executive. Congrats Steve! Less than 2 weeks left to submit your show to the Ambies. Deadline December 15th. Amazon may buy Wondery for $300 million. Don't take our word for it. Best Practice: How to choose the right microphone for you. Three different microphones, three different price points. Electro-Voice RE20 $450 (Todd uses the Shure SM7B $400) Sennheiser e835 $100 Audio-Technica BPHS1 Headset Mic. $200 Dynamic vs. Condenser Dynamic is better for noise rejection Examples: Heil PR40, SM7B, RE20, SM58, ATR2100 and the new MV7 The condenser is more “full” sounding Examples: Snowball, Blue Yeti, Any built-in mic for Portable Recorders, Blue Mickey and the REALLY expensive Neumann U 87 ($3600!) Expensive vs. cheap Is a $400 microphone $300 better than a $100 mic? What is your budget? Does YOUR voice sound good on the mic you choose? Some voices do not sound good on some microphones.  For instance, often times women’s voices do not sound as good on the Heil PR40 as they do on the Heil PR30 or the SM7B.  If you can borrow a mic to test with, test with as many as you can. What is your podcast environment like? Dynamic mics are better if you have background noise or for recording in the field. If you are very sound-proofed room, or the coat closet, a condenser microphone could work for you. USB vs. XLR Bottom line, if you find one that works for you, you can check it off your list of things to do.  Don’t overthink it. Blubrry News: Microphone giveaway! It's the last few hours of our Instagram giveaway for an ATR2100x-USB. To participate, follow us, like the Instagram post and tag 3 friends, it ends tonight Dec. 4 at midnight EST. PowerPress 8.4.5 is out, with some minor bug fixes. Leave us a review! From our blog, Internet Security and Podcasting. Interview: Elisa Birnbaum - In the Business of Change Connect with Elisa here... Facebook Twitter Instagram Question(s) of the Week: Question: What would you recommend to backup your files for your Podcast? Answer: Here is what I [Mike] do, I have offline backup disks on two portable hard drives. One is set up on my Mac as a running backup (Time Machine).  The second one is in another building (my office/studio is separate from my house).

Image by Podcast Movement. Choosing a podcast microphone typically involves some testing. With such a wide variety of options to choose from, we tested some for you live and give recommendations and a clear understanding of condenser vs dynamic microphones. Wondery is still up for grabs, Joe Rogan is now Spotify exclusive and QCode just gained a former Apple Podcasts exec. That's not all, tune in to hear more. Thank you to Elisa for sitting down with Todd to talk about her show In the Business of Change. Thanks for joining us on this episode of Podcast Insider. Looking to be a guest on the show? Let us know. Recorded live from two well-separated and socially distanced podcast studios in northern and southern Michigan; here’s Podcast Insider. News: Apple Podcasts Connect will require 2-factor sign-in starting in February 2021.  In a note sent to podcasters... “Starting February 2021, additional authentication will be required for all users to sign in to iTunes Connect. This extra layer of security for your Apple ID helps ensure that you’re the only person who can access your account. If you haven’t already updated your account, you can enable two-step verification or two-factor authentication now in the Security section of your Apple ID account or in the Apple ID section of Settings on your device.” A Spotify employee has supposedly removed a Joe Rogan Episode. Survey says that young adults replace TV watching with listening to podcasts. QCode hires Steve Wilson, Former Apple Podcasts Executive. Congrats Steve! Less than 2 weeks left to submit your show to the Ambies. Deadline December 15th. Amazon may buy Wondery for $300 million. Don't take our word for it. Best Practice: How to choose the right microphone for you. Three different microphones, three different price points. Electro-Voice RE20 $450 (Todd uses the Shure SM7B $400) Sennheiser e835 $100 Audio-Technica BPHS1 Headset Mic. $200 Dynamic vs. Condenser Dynamic is better for noise rejection Examples: Heil PR40, SM7B, RE20, SM58, ATR2100 and the new MV7 The condenser is more “full” sounding Examples: Snowball, Blue Yeti, Any built-in mic for Portable Recorders, Blue Mickey and the REALLY expensive Neumann U 87 ($3600!) Expensive vs. cheap Is a $400 microphone $300 better than a $100 mic? What is your budget? Does YOUR voice sound good on the mic you choose? Some voices do not sound good on some microphones.  For instance, often times women’s voices do not sound as good on the Heil PR40 as they do on the Heil PR30 or the SM7B.  If you can borrow a mic to test with, test with as many as you can. What is your podcast environment like? Dynamic mics are better if you have background noise or for recording in the field. If you are very sound-proofed room, or the coat closet, a condenser microphone could work for you. USB vs. XLR Bottom line, if you find one that works for you, you can check it off your list of things to do.  Don’t overthink it. Blubrry News: Microphone giveaway! It's the last few hours of our Instagram giveaway for an ATR2100x-USB. To participate, follow us, like the Instagram post and tag 3 friends, it ends tonight Dec. 4 at midnight EST. PowerPress 8.4.5 is out, with some minor bug fixes. Leave us a review! From our blog, Internet Security and Podcasting. Interview: Elisa Birnbaum - In the Business of Change Connect with Elisa here... Facebook Twitter Instagram Question(s) of the Week: Question: What would you recommend to backup your files for your Podcast? Answer: Here is what I [Mike] do, I have offline backup disks on two portable hard drives. One is set up on my Mac as a running backup (Time Machine).  The second one is in another building (my office/studio is separate from my house).

Buying gifts for musicians is hard. So let us help! This episode is for the non-musicians in your life -- A lovely list of great, sub-$100 prezzies for the musician in your life! SM58- https://amzn.to/35WZ8FH SM57- https://amzn.to/2KAb5Ja Earasers earplugs- https://amzn.to/3kZESHw Whirlwind IMP-2 Direct Box- https://amzn.to/2Ht3cE5 Drum Key 3 Pack- https://amzn.to/2UVWk5c Ernie Ball Super Slinky 6 Pack*- https://amzn.to/370LXD1 Rock N Roller Micro Cart- https://amzn.to/2IVhgqS Duracell Procell AA 24 Pack- https://amzn.to/3nPBl0y Duracell Procell 9V 12 Pack- https://amzn.to/3pRMyiN Gator Mic Stand Drink Holder/Table- https://amzn.to/35XliaU iKlip Tablet Holder- https://amzn.to/374WZHl Lasko Air Mover- https://amzn.to/36ZCyLL Gaffe Tape 4 Pack- https://amzn.to/3pW4bOE

This episode bops! Our guest on the show this week is Chel Wong, an award-winning game composer who has worked on several published and early-access titles, like Watch This Space and Kine. Her work on Kine earned the game the award for Best Audio at Reboot Develop Red 2019. From composing to mastering, we ask Chel to describe her preferred tools and workflows for creating music for games. Also, there is a tense debate—Galaxy or Sunshine?MetaReboot Developed Red ConferenceGame Audio Network Guild (GANG) Awards Mark mentioned that once upon a time in a previous episode, he also talked about using Reaper. "She also cheats a lot." Game Audio Tools and Workflows AudioGamesKine - SteamLab Rats (a satirical puzzler by Gwen Bond, formerly Gwen Frey) - SteamAudio Software ToolsReaperReasonFL Studio (stand for Fruit Loops)Helm AudioTAL NoisemakerMusescore - Software for Written MusicInstrument SynthizersKomplete - Native InstrumentsKontact - Native InstrumentsAudio HardwareFocusrite -Scarlett SeriesMicrophonesShure SM57Shure SM58Shure SM7bAudio-Technica AT2035Other MentionsGame Sound ConChel and her friend Tiffany Otto are going for 120 stars on Super Mario 64!  - ChelWongAudio, TwitchChel WongGuestChel Wong (or Mitchel) is a freelance composer specializing in video games. She's also co-organizer of Game Audio Boston and Head Curator of Audio for BostonFIG. Chel has conducted orchestras and is also a musician, collecting all sorts of instruments to record for her work. You'll regularly find her in the recording studios at Berklee College of Music. External link Chel's websiteChel on BandcampChel on TwitterChel on TwitchChel on SpotifyChel on Soundcloud

This episode bops! Our guest on the show this week is Chel Wong, an award-winning game composer who has worked on several published and early-access titles, like Watch This Space and Kine. Her work on Kine earned the game the award for Best Audio at Reboot Develop Red 2019. From composing to mastering, we ask Chel to describe her preferred tools and workflows for creating music for games. Also, there is a tense debate—Galaxy or Sunshine? Meta Reboot Developed Red Conference Game Audio Network Guild (GANG) Awards   Mark mentioned that once upon a time in a previous episode, he also talked about using Reaper. "She also cheats a lot." Game Audio Tools and Workflows Category Audio   Games Kine (out on Steam October 19!) Lab Rats (a satirical puzzler by Gwen Bond, formerly Gwen Frey) Tools Reaper Reason FL Studio Focusrite Shure SM57, SM58, SM7b, Audio Technica AT2035 Helm TAL Noisemaker MuseScore Native Instruments: Komplete Native Instruments: Kontact Other Mentions Game Sound Con Chel and her friend Tiffany Otto are going for 120 stars on Super Mario 64! Watch it on Twitch!   Guest   Chel Wong (or Mitchel) is a freelance composer specializing in video games. She's also co-organizer of Game Audio Boston and Head Curator of Audio for BostonFIG. Chel has conducted orchestras and is also a musician, collecting all sorts of instruments to record for her work. You'll regularly find her in the recording studios at Berklee College of Music.   External link Chel's website Chel on Bandcamp Chel on Twitter Chel on Twitch Chel on Spotify Chel on Soundcloud

On episode 233 of the BSP, I talk about if trying out other mics on your voice is worth while, if you can use the Rodecaster Pro for music, one or two mic setup for music lessons, what is output impedance and load impedance and what they should be set to, and the Shure SM58 compared to the Lewitt MTP 350CM, Rode M2, and Audio Technica AT2020,    Gear Used This Episode (Affiliate Links): Townsend Sphere L22: https://imp.i114863.net/7AYRV Triton Audio Fethead: https://geni.us/fethead Yellowtek M!ka Boom Arm: https://www.yellowtec.com/mika.html Universal Audio x8: https://imp.i114863.net/zMg2r Sennheiser HD650: https://geni.us/sennhd650   Twitter: @bandrewsays Ask Questions: https://www.askbandrew.com Merch; https://teespring.com/stores/podcastage-store Discord: http://www.podcastage.com/discord   00:00 - Intro  00:55 - Political News 01:15 - Townsend Labs Sphere L22 02:55 - Ask Bandrew 03:45 - Email 1 04:08 - Sm58 vs. MTP350CM vs. M2 vs. AT2020 07:46 - Voice Submission 2 10:15 - Is It Worthwhile to Try Out Other Microphones? 15:00 - Voice Submission 3 16:11 - Can You Use the Rodecaster Pro for Music? 18:21 - Voice Submission 4 19:09 - One or Two Mics for Micing Accordion for Lessons? Shure’s Article on Accordion Micing https://www.shure.com/en-US/performance-production/louder/eight-ways-to-mic-an-accordion 21:20 - Voice Submission 5 22:16 - What is Output Impedance and Load Impedance and What Should You Set your Load Impedance To Neumann Article: https://www.neumann.com/homestudio/en/what-is-impedance AEA Article: https://www.aearibbonmics.com/how-impedance-affects-ribbon-microphones/ 28:00 - Outro

音声配信のノウハウについて、ブログもぜひご覧ください！ 聞きやすい音声配信のための、話し方や音質改善のコツ【ポッドキャスト・ラジオ】 https://starpot.net/podcast-onshitsu/ 【解説】Audacityでポッドキャストの音声を聞きやすく編集する方法！ https://starpot.net/audacity/ 【保存版】プロっぽいラジオ配信に必要な機材や配信のやり方を解説します【Podcast】（友人の記事です） https://rikublog.jp/radio-howto === 【放送のもくじ】 * 00:00 オープニング * 00:17 おたより：雑談力を高めるには？ * 05:31 音声配信が盛り上がっています * 07:00 おたより：わたなべ夫婦のノウハウが知りたい * 08:38 配信サービス①：ポッドキャスト * 11:03 ブログにも詳しく書いています * 11:36 配信サービス②：stand.fm * 15:48 機材について（まずはスマホでOK） * 17:05 とはいえ、音質は超重要 * 19:53 わたなべ夫婦の使用機材 * 20:30 おすすめマイク：Blue Yeti（手軽） * 21:20 コンデンサーマイクとダイナミックマイクの違い * 22:22 おすすめマイク：SM58（やや面倒） * 23:17 機材についてまとめ * 23:48 収録時の注意点 * 24:55 話す内容は「雑談」でOK * 27:27 「あなた自身」にファンが付く * 28:46 しっかりハッキリ、自信をもって話すのがコツ ※文字数たりませんでした

音声配信のノウハウについて、ブログもぜひご覧ください！ 聞きやすい音声配信のための、話し方や音質改善のコツ【ポッドキャスト・ラジオ】 https://starpot.net/podcast-onshitsu/ 【解説】Audacityでポッドキャストの音声を聞きやすく編集する方法！ https://starpot.net/audacity/ 【保存版】プロっぽいラジオ配信に必要な機材や配信のやり方を解説します【Podcast】（友人の記事です） https://rikublog.jp/radio-howto === 【放送のもくじ】 00:00 オープニング 00:17 おたより：雑談力を高めるには？ 05:31 音声配信が盛り上がっています 07:00 おたより：わたなべ夫婦のノウハウが知りたい 08:38 配信サービス①：ポッドキャスト 11:03 ブログにも詳しく書いています 11:36 配信サービス②：stand.fm 15:48 機材について（まずはスマホでOK） 17:05 とはいえ、音質は超重要 19:53 わたなべ夫婦の使用機材 20:30 おすすめマイク：Blue Yeti（手軽） 21:20 コンデンサーマイクとダイナミックマイクの違い 22:22 おすすめマイク：SM58（やや面倒） 23:17 機材についてまとめ 23:48 収録時の注意点 24:55 話す内容は「雑談」でOK 27:27 「あなた自身」にファンが付く 28:46 しっかりハッキリ、自信をもって話すのがコツ 31:04 収録時はマイペースで大丈夫 32:16 継続が一番大切 34:25 更新が止まっちゃう番組が多い 35:17 音声配信頑張りましょう！ 35:47 おたより：～するべきの思考をなくせば心の余裕が出る 36:57 エンディング === YouTubeチャンネルメンバーシップでは、メンバー限定の夫婦対談（収録風景あり）も投稿しています。 【詳細はこちら】 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbIC3BDRk_vOjURQquYnclw/join 【限定動画の一覧】 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7KcUT36ZB8kzpO08US6ILmdpvSUUqpDO === 【おたより】 https://forms.gle/TBgnUhYuedeh8JVq9 【YouTube】 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbIC3BDRk_vOjURQquYnclw 【Blog】 https://starpot.net 【Twitter】 https://twitter.com/daiki_w22 【お仕事関係のお問い合わせ】 https://starpot.net/contact/

Sm58 and a speaker married

Tengo ya la mesa Evo4 y el sm58, y hablo sobre la mierda de los ssd que integra Apple, el único iMac 2020 27” que merece la pena de los que han presentado, y sobre la polémica de Epic games.Oferta de echo dot a 19,95€ con un mes de Amazon Music.https://amzn.to/3iwMEb6Micrófono Sm58https://amzn.to/33uiRLSInterfaz evo4https://amzn.to/3i8q4WcSi queréis uniros al grupo de “Adictos al Mac” aquí tenéis el enlace:https://t.me/adictosalmacSi queréis uniros al grupo de podcasting aquí tenéis el enlace del podcaster chat.https://t.me/joinchat/DbBT1U1YKoiAmzIvM40K-A

We explain why BootHole is getting so much attention and break down the key issues. Then we review our favorite Linux-compatible headsets. Plus community news, feedback, and more. Special Guests: Drew DeVore and Neal Gompa.

Hoy te cuento un poco de mis compritas irrelevantes para el podcasting y Youtubirismo. La resolución del drama del final de Versos a Voces que al final quedó en ná y el tío de la moto os desea felices vacaciones varias veces.

Die komplette Veranstaltungsindustrie steht auf Stop. Keine Konzerte, Festivals, Messen, Clubs, Konferenzen, nicht mal die mobile Disco für die Gartenparty. Lichttechniker, Tontechniker, Rigger, Stagehands, Backliner, Caterer, Promoter, Booker und Betreiber von Veranstaltungsstätten arbeiten nicht. Dürfen sie nicht. Denn das finale Resultat ihrer Arbeit, runtergebrochen das Zusammenführen von Menschen, ist gegenwärtig nicht erlaubt und das ist mal Fakt. Und während sich so Mancher über den Sinn und Unsinn das Maul zerreißen mag, setze ich mich mit drei guten Freunden und jahrelangen Wegbegleitern innerhalb der Branche zusammen, um einfach mal darüber zu sprechen. Und sobald wir den anfänglich fokussierten Ansatz zur Analyse der Sachlage verlassen haben, mäandert das Gespräch über das bedingungslose Grundeinkommen, Empfehlungen zum Schwarzfahren, Anzuchttipps für Hobbygärtner bis hin zu den ganz großen systemumstürzlerischen Theorien. Viel Spaß! PS: 57 oder 58 bezeichnet zwei allgegenwärtige Mikrofonmodelle der Firma Shure, nämlich das SM57 und das SM58. Wir haben uns für die 58er entschieden. Aus Gründen.

Guests: Ray Ortega, Abe Deshotel Hosts: Stuart Yoshida, Doug Brown While we hunker down in place, I’m holding a special Podcasters summit to talk about Ukulele in the time of the Corona Virus Pandemic. Special guests Ray Ortega of the Podcasters’ Studio, Abe Deshotel of the Ukulele Podcast, and my co-host Doug Brown join in to share their thoughts on making it through these difficult times. Oh, and then we totally geek out on Podcasting equipment. Subscribe on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ooktown-the-ukulele-podcast/id436722774 YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRWKuVjsJKQUHYXaXXfmGtA/ Shoutouts: • Tori Knight for sending me his ukulele song, “You’re My Brother” - great funky, upbeat song - send me a link if you have one • Dan Panke of the My Uke site for including the OokTown Podcast in his News page (http://myuke.ca) Links:  • Ray Ortega – Professional Podcast Producer: Ray Ortega – Professional Podcast Producer • This Week in Tech (TWiT): https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech  • Kala brand ukuleles: https://kalabrand.com/ • Abe's Ukulele Podcast: https://ukepodcast.com/ • Finch: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqQdNoTSFRgCMkf7L-3wjeU0xCYHWhvs6 • Gordi: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPxSZXH70k-tz92kRv5HY8plHbynQDM • The Oh Hellos: https://music.theohhellos.com/album/notos • Simon and Garfunkel: https://youtu.be/yoY84cJoLe0 • Mini-Uke Fest: http://www.cheemaisel.com/minifest • Post Malone x Nirvana Tribute - Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7eaGcIyhPU • Opera-lele: https://www.opera-lele.co.uk/ • John Krasinski Surprises 'Hamilton' Superfan With A Cast Reunion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0zXReyaNCA • Ep. 77: Unconscious Ukulele Playing from OokTown: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ooktown-ukulele-podcast/e/59856160 • Heavyweight | Gimlet: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/heavyweight • COVID 19 and the ukulele world: https://ukepodcast.com/episode/2d2e3977a83740d7/covid-19-and-the-ukulele-world • Podcasters’ Roundtable: https://podcastersroundtable.com/ • Potterless Podcast | A Grown Man Reads Harry Potter for the First Time: https://www.potterlesspodcast.com/ • Ep. 38: A Moody Songwriting Bear: https://ooktown.com/2015-shows/ep-33-a-moody-songwriting-bear • Ray Ortega on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thepodcastersstudio • Opinion | Rules for Using the Sidewalk During the Coronavirus: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/opinion/coronavirus-walk-outside.html • Terry Carter | Ukulele Teacher | Uke Like The Pros: https://www.ukelikethepros.com/about • RØDE Microphones: http://en.rode.com/ • Rode RodeCaster Pro Podcast Production Studio: https://www.rode.com/rodecasterpro • “Arpeggio Meditations For Ukulele” By Daniel Ward – Review: https://liveukulele.com/reviews/arpeggio-meditations-for-ukulele-daniel-ward/ • I will be what I will be, by Abe Deshotel: https://ukuleleabe.com/releases • Ukulele Wednesdays group in UK: https://ukulelewednesdays.com/latest-news/

Part 3 of 3 with the great Aliki Katriou, best heavy metal distortion voice teacher in the game! alikikatriou.com Deep dive on physiology, what Tibetan Throat Singing can teach you, why Aliki always makes nice with sound techs and the SM58, Death Core vs. Black Metal vs. Death Metal technique, overtones, and sweet, demonic UNDERTONES! Aliki just started a youtube channel. What are you waiting for?! Go subscribe! Ian Temple releases his first solo music video EVER to rave reviews. Check out the best parody of We Didn't Start The Fire everrr Our second sponsor ever, the NLP Center of New York, and how NLP can serve you during the epidemic. Enjoy, and email ian@allvoicemedia to say hello and subscribe to my very classy and very infrequent newsletter :) Oh and consider subscribing and supporting the show for as little as $2.50 per month! Entertainment that helps you grow, what a concept! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/all-voice-media/support

Joe talks about the basics of podcasting including recording spaces, types of microphones, post-production techniques, editing, and more.

とある事情で収録用にSHUREのSM58を購入。それまではAUDIXのOM5を使用していました。こちらはこちらで非常に良いマイクなのですが、デファクトスタンダードと化しているsm10a-cn58を一度使ってみたいとは思っていたんです。そしてSM58のテストを兼ねてAUGMの振り返り、反省会。

Heute kam mein neuer Popschutz für mein Behringer XM8500 an. Ich habe ihn gleich ausprobiert und einen Podcast damit aufgenommen. Der Popschutz ist eigentlich für das Shure SM58, passt jedoch auf mein Behringer, wegen der Baugleichheit. Bestellt habe ich bei Thoman. Gekostet hat der Popschutz etwa 6 Euro. Jetzt habe ich die Poplaute richtig im … „Der neue SM58 Popschutz für mein Behringer XM8500 Mikrofon“ weiterlesen

My guest today on Episode #300 is Dennis Moody who’s the engineer of choice for some of the worlds top drummers, including Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, Gregg Bissonette, and many more. He’s also one of the few studio engineers that also tours the world as a front of house engineer as well. Dennis was my first guest on my very first podcast back almost 6 years ago. Since then he’s been the only guest to return more than twice, appearing on podcasts 50, 100, 150 and 200 to bring us updates in the world of audio from various parts of the globe. During the interview we spoke about the trends in audio (especially live sound), the economics of the touring business, using subwoofers, the search for the mic that works better than an SM58, and much more. On the intro I’ll take a look at how streaming hit over 1 trillion streams last year but is actually slowing, and how music can evoke up to 13 emotions.

My guest this week is engineer, mixer and composer Jesse Ray Ernster, who grew up in a musical family with both his parents playing in bands and making records. Jesse’s entrance in the music business began at age of 16 touring with several artists as a lead guitarist/vocalist, but he then realized his true calling was being […]

My guest this week is engineer, mixer and composer Jesse Ray Ernster, who grew up in a musical family with both his parents playing in bands and making records. Jesse’s entrance in the music business began at age of 16 touring with several artists as a lead guitarist/vocalist, but he then realized his true calling was being in the studio, creating music from the ground up.  Jesse originally paid the bills by scoring for TV shows like Ripley’s Believe It Or Not and indie films, but his big break came working for Kanye West. That lead to working on two of Nigerian star Burna Boy’s albums, including the huge global hit African Giant. During the interview we spoke about learning Pro Tools and engineering from his dad, working in Uganda with Kanye West, the unique workflow for mixing the African Giant album in different countries, and much more. On the intro I’ll take a look at how Deezer might change streaming royalties for the better of indie artists, and some interesting facts about the Shure SM58.

Shure: How to Choose the Best Microphones for Live Streaming, Podcasting and Mobile VideoIf you love Shure products, want to learn more about them or can't decide what microphone to get, this is the podcast for you! On Livestream Deals, Ross Brand of Livestream Universe talks with Shure's Laura Davidson, Lead Retail Market Development Specialist. SHURE:Shure is a leading developer of audio products including the legendary SM7B broadcast microphone & legendary SM58 on-stage microphone, the MVi Audio Interface (Mobile & Computer) and MV88+ mobile video kit.LAURA DAVIDSONLaura Davidson is an experienced marketing manager with a history of working in the MI and advertising industries. She's skilled in professional audio, digital marketing, singing, guitar playing, and songwriting. Laura is a strong marketing professional with a Bachelor of Music focused in Professional Music from Berklee College of Music. Products discussed in this video:Shure SM7B Dynamic Vocal MicrophoneShure MV51 Digital Large-Diaphragm Condenser MicShure SM58 Dynamic Vocal MicrophoneShure Beta 58A Dynamic Vocal MicrophoneShure MV88+ Video Kit w/ Digital Stereo Condenser MicrophoneShure MV88 Digital Stereo Condenser MicrophoneShure VP83F LensHopper™ Camera-Mount Condenser Microphone with Integrated Flash RecordingShure MVi Digital Audio Interface▶️ SHURE Website: http://Shure.com▶️ Ross' Gear Recommendations: http://LivestreamUniverse.com/Resources▶️ Show Website: http://LivestreamDeals.com▶️ SUBSCRIBE: http://YouTube.com/LivestreamUniverse

Episode 26 of Livestream Deals Shure: How to Choose the Best Microphones for Live Streaming, Podcasting and Mobile Video If you love Shure products, want to learn more about them or can't decide what microphone to get, this is the podcast for you! On Livestream Deals, Ross Brand of Livestream Universe talks with Shure's Laura Davidson, Lead Retail Market Development Specialist. SHURE: Shure is a leading developer of audio products including the legendary SM7B broadcast microphone & legendary SM58 on-stage microphone, the MVi Audio Interface (Mobile & Computer) and MV88+ mobile video kit. LAURA DAVIDSON Laura Davidson is an experienced marketing manager with a history of working in the MI and advertising industries. She's skilled in professional audio, digital marketing, singing, guitar playing, and songwriting. Laura is a strong marketing professional with a Bachelor of Music focused in Professional Music from Berklee College of Music. Products discussed in this video: Shure SM7B Dynamic Vocal Microphone Shure MV51 Digital Large-Diaphragm Condenser Mic Shure SM58 Dynamic Vocal Microphone Shure Beta 58A Dynamic Vocal Microphone Shure MV88+ Video Kit w/ Digital Stereo Condenser Microphone Shure MV88 Digital Stereo Condenser Microphone Shure VP83F LensHopper™ Camera-Mount Condenser Microphone with Integrated Flash Recording Shure MVi Digital Audio Interface ▶️ SHURE Website: http://shure.com/ (http://Shure.com) ▶️ Ross' Gear Recommendations: http://livestreamuniverse.com/Resources (http://LivestreamUniverse.com/Resources) ▶️ Show Website: http://livestreamdeals.com/ (http://LivestreamDeals.com) ▶️ SUBSCRIBE: http://youtube.com/LivestreamUniverse (http://YouTube.com/LivestreamUniverse) Originally livestreamed on the Livestream Universe Facebook Page as part of a multi-segment show (234 views). This segment was subsequently uploaded to YouTube (418 views).

Enjoy my awesome conversation with Evo Terra, host of Podcast Pontifications, and podcast strategist who has been podcasting since Oct. 14, 2004! He's the 40th podcaster EVER!!! And he's also the head honcho at Simpler Media Productions. We discussed TONS including: The real history of the beginnings of podcasting! Shure SM7b Fethead Zoom H6 Mac Mini 2018 Hindenburg Journalist Pro iZotope RX 6 Waves Sibilance plugin Dealing with sibilance with EQ On location recording with lavaliers (SM93's), Zoom H4, H6, and SM58’s Visiting France, Copenhagen, Belgium, England, Italy, Bangkok, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia Thanks for sharing so much, Evo! DID YOU KNOW........We exist for the purpose of helping you, so please comment below with any questions or remarks. We appreciate you listening. Want to Start a Business or Have a Career as a Podcast Producer/Engineer? Listen and Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, TuneIn, Android, RSS, Email

There was so much news this week it was hard to pick what to talk about, so we hit our favourite news sources to see what was what. Believe it or not fur trading is a thing again — and it's not just for haberdasheries anymore. From video game 'Red Dead Redemption 2', migraines, cutting weight for MMA, Vietnamese food, DoorDash vs. Skip the Dishes, Johnny Depp, the movie 'Spotlight', to Rick Mercer's well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award, we cover all that and more. Oooohhhh Canada! LINKS FOUND IN THIS PODCAST Long and McQuade The New York Times The Globe and Mail The Sprawl Canada Goose Red Dead Redemption 2 The Hustle DoorDash Skip the Dishes Movie: Spotlight Pho Houz SPECIAL THANKS TO Emre Cords for the great music!

On episode 143 of the BSP I talk about the October 2018 Apple Event Announcements, the iPad Pro 11” and 12.9”, the 2018 Mac Mini, and the 2018 MacBook Air. I also talk about 81,000 facebook accounts being hacked, provide an update to the Equifax Data Breach, and cover 3 new audio devices: Helicon GoXLR, Audio Technical’s M50XBT, and MidiPlus Mirror.    Become a Podcastage member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvOU-zTlankT-JjN3ZzvuKA/join Subscribe to the full audio podcast: http://www.bandrewsays.com   Twitter: @bandrewsays Ask Questions: AskBandrew@gmail.com Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/podcastage-store Discord: https://discord.gg/dXQUc7v   00:00 - Intro 00:44 - October 2018 Apple Event Announcements 11:20 - Amazon New Delivery Scheduling 11:54 - 81,000 Facebook Account Private Messages Hacked 14:02 - Update to Equifax Data Breach 20:44 - Helicon GOXLR Interface / Processor 22:20 - Audio Technica M50X - Bluetooth Edition 24:05 - Audio Interface for Women! 25:54 - Sennheiser MD441U Update 26:47 - It’s Impractical for Companies to Sue Google for every Infringement (Article 13) 30:30 - Ask Bandrew 30:50 - Email 1 31:31 - Is this a good beginner setup? 32:30 - Email 2 32:45 - Do I need a shock mount & boom arm for my SM58? 34:15 - Email 3 35:33 - Why is my mic changing gain on Skype? 37:25 - Email 4 38:31 - Can I use Copyrighted Material in my Podcast? 43:40 - Outro 

Singer-songwriter and recording artist Elder Sister Plum talks about how she realized as a teen-ager that while none of the traditional career paths made any sense to her – but music always did. What do you do if you’re a musician and you make a mistake during a song onstage? What does it mean to be a professional musician? And what’s it like for a young musician trying to make a living from music today? In this episode of Staccato, Elder Sister Plum answers these questions based on her own experience and from what she learned from an Artist Development Course at Seneca College. Elder Sister Plum talks about the reality check offered by her college instructor: “If you want to be independent musicians – you’re going to be broke, so here’s how you can use an SM58 (microphone) and your crappy laptop and you’re living in your basement apartment and this is how you record like that.” We’ll hear her describe her song-writing process and extraordinary effort to apply to play at fifty different music festival venues. She also shares the unique challenges - but also the ultimately rewarding experiences of playing live music to an audience. And we’ll also play a haunting track from her latest album: ‘At The Edge of The Woods.’ Elder Sister Plum - her music will hook you in and keep you entranced!

Dave Garrity: Bass, Jeremy Plog: Guitar, Chris Arnett: Guitar, Steve Stizzo: Organ, Tony Eddlemon: Guitar, Dustin Burton: Drums.

In preparation for a presentation at Dell's headquarters on Podcasting, I wanted to dive deep on microphone technologies and there's no one better than Shure in the industry. From broadcast, to music, to podcasting, Shure were pioneers in the industry and continue to lead the pack. In our own podcast studio, you'll find a variety of Shure microphones - from the MV88 for the iPhone, to wireless lavalier microphones, to the portable SM58, to the granddaddy of them all - our prized SM7B microphones. We discuss the physical design of microphones as well as the best environments to use each. Special Guest: Soren Pedersen.

My guest this week is professional audio engineer Ryan Monette. Ryan graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Music Production & Engineering. For the last 4.5 years he's been the Post-Production Audio Engineer on staff at Elevation Church, in Charlotte, NC, where he mixes their global TV show, and has many other responsibilities (boom operator, field recorder, sound designer, audio editor, etc.). You may have heard some of his work, as he sound-designed and mixed the opener video for the Circles conference for the past two years. He even had his own podcast for a short while (TheQueuecast.com). I asked Ryan to come on the show to share his journey towards becoming a professional audio engineer (a job that I've always wanted), and to get him to share some tips for anyone interested in working in audio/video professionally. Highlights, Takeaways & Quick Wins: Think long term and dream big. If you want to do anything with audio, start by getting a cheap USB microphone. Take advantage of free online courses to learn more about audio engineering. Get started with whatever you have. Your mix may sound completely different in a different environment, so listen with different headphones/speakers in different locations. Master the basics and keep going back to them. If you're mixing a podcast, make sure your levels are consistent. When mixing, always use a reference track. Show Notes Aaron: You graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in music production and engineering. For the last five years, you've been the post production audio engineer for Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. You have a lot of jobs there: boom operator, field recorder, sound designer, audio editor, and you mix their global TV show. Do you mix that live? Ryan: Not necessarily. We can get into that later. There's a process for that. Aaron: Some of the creative people here might have heard of some of your work. You sound designed and mixed the opening videos for the past two years of Circles Conference, which I was at. Have you been there for the past two years? Ryan: I haven't been personally, no. I have wanted to go. I love it from afar, and I want to go in person. Aaron: I wanted you to come on this show because when I first got started, I had dreams of being a professional audio engineer. I thought, “How cool would it be to work in audio and get paid for it? That'd be awesome!” I fell backwards into it by doing podcast editing as a hobby first, then for money, then I met Sean McCabe and ended up working for him full time. I edit podcasts and help out with a ton of other stuff. I asked you to come on the show to share your advice for anyone who's interested in working in audio/video professionally, and to talk about how you got there yourself. So tell me a little bit about how you got into audio. When did you first realize that this was something you wanted to do? Ryan's Journey to Becoming a Professional Audio Engineer Ryan: I love listening to your podcast, Aaron, and what I love about it is I feel like you and I have a lot of similarities in our backgrounds. You're a musician, a drummer, and I'm also a musician. I play several things. My primary instrument is bass, but along with that, I started on piano. I picked up bass, and with the bass I picked up guitar. I took some drum lessons here and there as well. I sing as well. I dabbled in a little bit of everything. I'm kind of a jack of all trades, master of none. I'm okay at a lot of things, but I'm not superb at one thing. Anyway, right around junior high or high school, I started playing the bass. I started playing in little bands here and there. When it came time for college, I had no clue what I wanted to do. All I knew was that I loved music. Aaron: Same here! Ryan: I was living in Las Vegas at the time, so I decided, well, everyone has to have that college experience, and I didn't want to go to college in the same city, so I decided that I needed that “being away from home” experience. I went to the University of Nevada, Reno. I took your basic, general classes, not knowing what I wanted to do. At this time, for my high school graduation, I had received a graduation present of a Macbook Pro. With that, of course, you get the wonderful iLife suite, including Garageband. As a musician, a whole new world was opened up to me. When I was in a band in high school, I was the gear head—I loved the PA and putting cables together. I was drawn to that. Once I had this Macbook Pro with Garageband and I had my bass and my guitar in my dorm, I was like, “I can create music!” I figured out how to work it and record myself. I bought a USB microphone, and that world was opened up. When I was there, I had a friend, and her brother went to this school where all they learned about was music. I was like, “Wait, you can do that? You can go to school for just music?” That's how I found out about Berklee School of Music. I applied, and you have to audition as well. I applied and auditioned, and the first time I tried, I actually didn't get into the music school I wanted to go to. Aaron: This sparks something in my mind. I feel like I might have read an article about Berklee or looked into it and thought, “No, they're really strict on who they accept, based on your performance.” That was intimidating to me at the time, because I never felt like I was that good of a drummer. Ryan: It was intimidating for me, too. Clearly, I wasn't up to par. Aaron: Yet you went for it. That's more than a lot of people would do. Ryan: Yeah. After I finished my first year at UNR, I moved back to Vegas and went to UNLV, the University of Nevada Las Vegas. I took all music classes, forgetting the general ed stuff you need to get a degree. I took all music classes—music theory, because I had never had actual music theory classes, so I thought I needed that. With that, there were some audio classes that I took as well. I was like, “Hey, I like this audio thing.” At the University of Nevada Las Vegas, I had my first exposure to a formal audio class, where I learned all the proper techniques. Later on that year, I applied and auditioned again for Berklee. I got accepted, and the next year, I moved to Boston and went to Berklee for about three and a half years. Then I graduated. When I went to Berklee, the only thing that drew me as a major was Music Production and Engineering. I naturally loved the gear side of things. I fell in love with recording. I was like, “This is what I want to do.” Aaron: You got to spend three and a half years there, studying and learning? Ryan: It is non-stop, 24/7, music, audio, and to be honest, I miss being in that environment so much. Aaron: That sounds fantastic. I always love setting aside time to take online classes, read books, and listen to interviews about audio. Think Long-Term Aaron: You were drawn to the audio engineering stuff, and then you graduated. Ryan: I can remember a specific time in my life, and I'm pretty sure it was my last semester at Berklee. They went by semesters instead of years. It was in one of my capstone classes. Our instructor asked us the typical, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” question. Aaron: I love that question now. I hated it when I was 22. ** Think long term and dream big** Aaron: Plan out where you want to be, because if you can envision it, then you can figure out how to get there. But you have to start by saying, “I want to do this thing someday.” For me, it was, “I want to do work from a laptop. How do I get there?” Now I'm there. So you were 22 and someone asked you, “Ryan, where do you want to be? Where do you see yourself in five years?” Ryan: At that moment, I was trying to figure that out, naturally, as you do when you're approaching the end of college. While I was at Berklee, I loved music. I loved recording music, but my absolute favorite class—they only had one of them, but it was the class I yearned for, that I wanted to take and put in all these extra hours for—was audio for visual media, audio for video. By far, that was my favorite class. The whole class, we were working toward our final project. You choose a five to seven minute clip from a well known movie, and all the audio is completely stripped. You have to recreate everything. That's all the dialogue, all the foley, all the ambient background, all the hard effects, and so on. You have to connect with a film scoring student there at Berklee, and they have to provide the score. I absolutely loved every aspect of that project and the process. When it came time to decide what I wanted to do with my life, it was between audio engineering at a recording studio, working at Disney as an Imagineer, or doing audio at a church. I have always been involved with church, playing on worship teams and whatnot, so I also saw myself doing audio for a church. Long story short, I was really privileged to dip my feet in all of those things after college. After I graduated, I moved back to Las Vegas. Eventually, I found an incredible recording studio, probably one of the top two recording studios in Las Vegas, and I landed an internship. First Audio Engineering Jobs Ryan: I say “internship” loosely, because your typical studio internship is all the stereotypical grunt work—taking out the trash, doing the coffee, and whatnot. I showed up, and they were like, “You went to Berklee? Berklee guys are cool. Here, hop in this session and help us out.” It was open to me, thrown at me, and next thing I knew, I was assisting on sessions with huge clients, I won't name drop. Aaron: You can drop a couple of names if you want. Ryan: I had a pretty fun time helping out with a session with the famous engineer Eddie Kramer, who is engineering for Carlos Santana. Aaron: Dang, man! That's awesome. Ryan: That was pretty incredible. But while I was there, I had this gut feeling inside of me saying, “This isn't it.” Aaron: It's fine, but it's not quite right? Ryan: I could see myself staying there and working my way up, but it didn't feel right. A few months after I realized that I didn't want to stay at the studio, I applied and was offered a job at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I packed my bags, moved to Orlando, and I was working as a stage technician at the Epcot park. There, they found out that I was an audio guy, so they pushed me toward the live audio side of things. I was mixing shows and bands at Epcot and what was at the time Downtown Disney, now Disney Springs, area. Same thing. Almost as soon as I got there, the same gut feeling came in. I was like, “This isn't it. I'm more of a studio engineer. I definitely don't want to do live stuff.” Although I love Disney, it just wasn't sitting right. I was only there three months before the next great opportunity came up, which is where I am right now. One of my friends told me about a job opening for this church in Charlotte, North Carolina, Elevation Church. I had actually been following them because of their podcast. At the time, I was kind of like, “I've got a job, whatever.” For some reason, I ended up on their website, looking at the job. I was reading, and I was like, “Wait a minute, they're looking for someone to do audio for video. That's what I really want to do!” On a whim, I threw out my resume. Next thing you know, I've been here going on five years. Aaron: Did you mention that you were a podcast listener when you sent in your resume? Ryan: Yeah. Aaron: The connections you can make through podcasting is really incredible. Ryan: It is. And I've been working there for 5 years now. How to Get Into Audio Engineering Aaron: I want to jump into what you do at your job at Elevation, but let's pause and do a section on what advice you would tell someone who's wanting to get started. I wrote a couple of things down here. I think it's hilarious that you got a Macbook and your first microphone was a USB microphone. Ryan: Which was the Blue Snowball, by the way. Aaron: That's the worst microphone! Ryan: I had no idea how to use it, either. If I find some of the earliest recordings I did, there are times I'm clipping to the max, square waves. Aaron: Probably bad mic technique, too. But hey; it got you started! If you want to do anything with audio, start by getting a cheap USB microphone. Any USB mics will work for getting started. I like the Blue Yeti, but it's like $100. The ATR-2100 is fine, too. You just have to get something that can record some audio and start playing with it. Start playing with Garageband. Start playing with the free programs. Learn how to enable recording on a track, how to set your input device to the microphone, how to set your output device to wherever your headphones are plugged into, whether that's your mic or your computer. It took me so long to figure that stuff out. I was like, “Why can't I hear the audio in my headphones? What is going on?” Ryan: Same here. Aaron: You have to set input and output, then you have to record enable or do the input monitoring, all that stuff. But start with the USB microphone. Take some basic classes. There are so many great online classes. If you don't have any money at all, if you're super broke like I was when I started, watch some free YouTube videos. Read a book. Ryan: If you go to Coursera.org, they're a website where you can pay to take online courses and get certifications and whatnot, but they also offer free online courses. They even offer free online courses from Berklee. I've seen a music production class there. I've taken a free online song writing class. Check out free online courses, because they can be a pool of incredible knowledge. I took a photography class on there. Coursera is a great place. They're great if you want to take free online courses. Aaron: There are places where you can learn all this stuff. You just have to invest some time. You really just have to start: Don't wait until you have $500 for an interface and $200 for some professional headphones and microphone. Whether you want to start a podcast, start recording audio for a video, or record and mix a demo for a band, start doing something. Stop spending all your time thinking about how you can't do anything because you don't have certain gear or you're not in the right place. You'll learn as you do, especially in audio. You're going to make a ton of mistakes. Ryan: That's how you learn, though! That's one of the most valuable things I've learned in life. You learn from your mistakes. Aaron: You don't really learn when everything goes well. Just Start Aaron: Any other advice you would give somebody, thinking back on how you got to where you are right now? Ryan: Honestly, you hit the nail on the head with “just start.” It's as simple and cliche as Nike, “Just do it.” There is always going to be the next latest craze, the gear, and we've all been susceptible to that. We say, “Oh, well, I could do this if I had X.” It starts with the drive and determination, wanting to do it. There's knowledge out there everywhere. You just have to dig for it. Chances are, you have at least something you can start with. Record something on your phone. Aaron: I have a friend who makes some awesome music on his iPhone. Ryan: Oh, totally. It's as simple as getting an adapter. You can plug your guitar or whatever into your phone. Aaron: Kids these days have it so easy! Ryan: You have Garageband on your phone. I remember when I was figuring this out in high school, and we actually had a four track tape recorder. That was my first start. Get started with whatever you have. Aaron: What kind of stuff do you do at the church? What's your day to day life like? Are you there every day, or is it just a couple of days a week? Ryan: Oh no, I'm definitely there every day. It has been a whirlwind for sure. In the past five years, I have probably played every audio role that there is to be played here. My main thing now is audio for broadcasts, pretty much anything that leaves the church. Our biggest output is the sermon, which goes to a lot of places. It also goes in the TV episode, which we talked about, which goes locally, nationally, and, I believe, globally as well. That's a lot of what I've done. We also create a lot of films, short films, for our worship experiences, anything you can imagine that's video and audio related. Audio post production, like we talk about. I'm constantly on video shoots using field recorders, the boom op, anything you can think of. Audio for video, I've done it. The Gear Ryan Uses Aaron: Let's talk about your gear a little bit. What kind of stuff are you using most in everyday life? I'll do a quick recap: I have the Shure Beta 87A Mic as my main podcasting microphone. It's attached to a Scarlett 18i20 USB Interface (update: I'm now using my Zoom H6 exclusively), which is plugged into a quadcore iMac that's a couple years old. Nothing super fancy, but I'm really happy with where I am. I remember wanting all this stuff back in 2011, thinking how awesome it would be to have it. I have a Zoom H6 portable recorder and a couple of SM58 microphones. I've been pairing down my gear collection because I'm planning on moving in the spring. What kind of stuff are you working with? I use Logic Pro X for editing, and then Izotope iZotope RX 5 for cleaning up background noise or fixing clipping. What about you? What's your day to day favorite gear? Ryan: We use a lot. There's a bunch of gear for field recording and then in my office, which is where I'm at right now. I'll start with my office. Right now, I'm talking into my personal mic, which is a Rode NT1A. It's very affordable. The Rode NT1A is a nice beginner mic which works and sounds great, and I use it for a lot of voiceover projects. Aaron: I like those mics. Ryan: I'm talking into that right now. We also use the Shure SM7B. We have a nice Neumann that we'll use for bigger projects. We like to use Universal Audio Interfaces, so I've got one of those. They're great. They're rock solid. You really can't beat them. At our main recording/editing audio work station, we use Pro Tools. That's very standard, and I've been using that for years and years. I use a lot of plugins. I use a lot of the Waves Plugins. I do use RX as well, and that's the bulk of it. I do a lot of processing, depending on the project. I have a really huge sound library for if I'm doing narrative pieces that involve sound design, sound effects. I have a great app called Audio Finder, which a lot of electronic musicians use to help them find sounds. I use it to help me find sounds. It's a nice way to catalogue sounds if you're a sound designer or anything like that. You can basically tag all these audio files with meta data, and you can search for sounds by their title. Or, if you type in a word in the search bar, it can pull up things based off the the metadata. If you have notes on something, it can find it. Audio Finder is a great way to find sounds. I have some other things in here. I have the Artist Mix Controller made by Avid. I use those if I'm automating stuff. I use those a lot, actually, when I'm mixing the sermons. I do a lot of automation for that. If I'm mixing a piece with a music bed or something, I like to automate the music by hand. It feels more natural, as opposed to clicking and making little dots. That's the bulk of it here in the office. All of our audio engineers have a nice pair of Focal monitors. I also have another set of monitors I built myself. When I mix TV episodes, I have an output routed to a TV here in my office so I can hear how it translates on TV speakers. Recording Audio for Video Ryan: On the front end of things, if we're doing shoots for videos, we use Sound Devices field recorders. We have three different models: the Sound Devices 788T 8 Channel Recorder, a 702 2 Channel Recorder, and then a 633 6 Channel Recorder. That last one is one of their newer models, which is great. Sound Devices are steep in price, but they are rock solid. One of the most trustworthy, well known field recorder brands on the market. That's what you'll see on pretty much every big budget shoot in some way. I do a lot of freelance on the side, which gives me the opportunity EPK shoots or BTS shoots for, recently, a show on HBO called Outcast. Aaron: Outcast? I've been seeing that (I watch Westworld). Ryan: I'm pretty sure it's the same writers or producers or something. I know it's the same writer as The Walking Dead. They shoot here in North Carolina, so with a local production company, we've done some interviews with some of the cast and crew. It's been really neat to be on set and see what they're using. It's cool to see how similar their world is to what we're doing day to day, just with more money and more resources. It's the same thing. Most of their audio guys have some sort of Sound Devices. A lot of them use the 788 as a backup recording rig, and they've got larger multitrack recorders as well, that are also made by Sound Devices. Sound Devices is a great brand. They're crazy expensive, but when you buy that, you know you've basically got it for life. Aaron: Yeah, I'm looking at the Sound Devices 788T SSD 8 Channel Portable Solid State Audio Recorder. It's almost $7,000. I love that! So fancy. Ryan: That SSD does have an internal hard drive. Ours has a hard drive as well, so it's great, because it has the internal hard drive, but you can also use CF cards. You can record on two different mediums. In case something runs out of space, you have it in two places. Aaron: This is super professional stuff. Ryan: Yeah. It is. It's top of the line. Aaron: Fantastic. For all the rest of you, just go with the Zoom H4N or the H6. Ryan: Hey, we do have a Zoom H4N, and we do use that every now and then. Before I came on staff, our first field recorder was the Zoom H4N. Aaron: If I could start over and go back to before I had any kind of interface at all, I think I would buy myself an H4N or an H6. Not only are they portable field recorders so you can walk around with them—they have little stereo condensor mics on them—but they work as audio interfaces, too. You can plug it into your computer with a USB cable and record straight to your computer if you do any kind of podcasting or stuff like that. It's good for the price. Otherwise, the little two channel interfaces are great. They're about $100 for a good one, but they aren't portable. You can't take them to a show or out to a video shoot the way you can an H4N or an H6 or something. Ryan: Speaking of Zoom, they've recently come into the more professional field recording market. About a year ago, they releases the F8, I believe, which is an 8 channel field recorder with 8 mic pres. It's $999 for something very comparable to a Sound Device. It's not quite as high-fidelity, but for anyone starting out, you're really not going to notice the difference. Mixing On Expensive Headphones or Monitors Aaron: I was going to ask you this earlier. You mentioned that you had Focal monitors. Did you listen to the episode I did a few episodes back where I talked about mixing on headphones (Episode 69: Do You Need Expensive Headphones to Mix a Podcast?)? Ryan: Yes, I did. Aaron: I mix on $10 Panasonics. What do you think about that? You can be totally honest with me. You can tell me that it's a stupid idea or that it's okay. Ryan: I agree to a certain extent. I agree that you should be listening to what you're making on whatever the majority of people are going to be listening to it on. For a lot of audio engineers mixing music, that's iPod earbuds, those standard earbuds you get. Something like that. When I mix TV, I have an output routed to a TV in my office, so I can hear it on TV speakers. I do also believe in mixing on something with some sort of higher fidelity type of monitoring environment, whether that's nicer speakers or nicer headphones. Naturally, you're going to hear things differently. The main thing to take away is how things translate. If you're listening to something on one source and you make it sound good there, that's great, but in a different environment, it may sound completely different. iPhone earbuds may not have the bass that a car stereo has. You want to hear how it translates from one thing to another. That's why it's good to at least listen to it on two different sources and not just narrow yourself down to one cruddy thing. That's good in theory, but again, the key takeaway is translation. Aaron: Maybe it's a little bit different for me and I can get away with it because of the consistency of the microphones and the recording environment set we use. Ryan: Yeah, totally. Aaron: I think if I was doing more stuff like you are, with videos and clients and all that kind of stuff, I would absolutely be using my higher fidelity headphones. Ryan: Very true. The bulk of your work is dialogue, podcasts. Aaron: Yeah, that's really it. Just dudes talking into a microphone. Ryan: Yeah. I have done a lot of work here where I'm working in a small studio, but a lot of my mixes have played in auditoriums and arenas. If you're working on projects like music or film that have different audio frequencies and spectrums, remember that sound will be perceived differently in different places. Aaron: How do you even test for that? Ryan: Here, I at least have a sense of how our auditorium sounds, so I've trained my ear to hear in advance and understand how it's going to translate. For something like when we did a live recording in the biggest arena here in Charlotte, we had a video opener piece. I was on point for mixing that, so basically, I had to work with tech and production to find a time after setup where I can bring my session, copy it onto a laptop, and play it through the PA. Then I can make any final mix tweaks there in the auditorium or the arena. I perfected it in my studio, and any small tweaks I was able to do in that actual environment. Granted, a lot of the times, we may not have that luxury. There are also great plugins you can buy that simulate different monitoring environments, like Sonarworks. If you have certain pairs of headphones, you can tell the program, “I have these headphones, now make my mix sound like it's coming through these headphones or these speakers,” so you can hear how it might translate. In that program, they have a final output like the Beats headphones. You can hear how it might sound on there, super bass heavy. Aaron: I hear they're getting better, but I still have never bought any Beats headphones. I probably should (just for testing purposes). Ryan: There are definitely programs out there to help you see how things translate to different monitors. On Location Gear Ryan: We were talking about the gear we use for on location recording. Sound Devices would be our main recorders. For our mics, we use Schoeps. It's a shotgun microphone, so it's a narrow polar pattern with good off axis rejection. Schoeps is a great brand. Again, you'll see this on professional movie sets. That's the mic we use. We have some Sennheiser shotguns as well, the ME66, we have a couple of those, which is more their entry shotgun mics. Recently, I rented some of the MKH416. Aaron: I would like one of those. The Sennheiser 416 is well known as the classic TV shotgun mic, right? Ryan: Exactly. I rented those out because I wanted to try it out for that reason. The Schoeps is very good and very well known on set as well, but so is the 416. I rented it to try it out. It's a trusted mic that a lot of people use for these professional things, and it doesn't really break the bank for what it is. Aaron: They're like $1,000, I think. Ryan: Yeah, and it sounded great. Aaron: The next mic I get is either going to be that or the Rode NTG 3. Ryan: I've heard a lot of great things about that. I haven't tried one myself. Aaron: That's the shotgun mics we shot my podcasting courses with. Ryan: Yeah, I know that Sean uses that for all of his videos. Aaron: I'm excited about getting to go work with those (I'm moving to San Antonio in March or April). Master the Basics Aaron: That's a pretty good run through of your gear. I'm sure you could keep going and discuss a lot more, but I don't think we need to go into that. It seems like you guys are at a super professional, high quality. You have made big investments in professional gear, which is fantastic. I encourage everyone to strive for that, to aim for that, but like we said earlier, use what you have right now. I don't have anything close to what you guys have, but I'm still doing my podcast. I'm doing the best I can with what I have. Ryan: It still sounds great. Aaron: Thanks! It's mostly just knowing how to set gain levels and not having a noisy room. It's crazy how far the basics will get you— everything else is just icing on the cake. I've been watching this video course called Zen and the Art of Work, which I really recommend to everybody. It's mindfulness training mixed with productivity training, which is such a great combination. In this course, he says, “So many of the masters continually revisit the basics.” Mastery is staying on a path. It's not reaching some final goal, it's more about being with the work and investing in getting better, but also revisiting the basics. He was talking about playing piano. He was like, “A lot of times, I just start by touching the keys, pressing the keys, and then doing basic scales over and over again.” It's true. When you get so good at the basics that you don't have to think about it, that's when you start to expand and get to that level where people say, “Wow, you're so good at that. How did you get so good?” You're like, “That was just doing the basics. It's not anything fancy.” It's so important to master the basics and keep going back to them. Learning More Aaron: What's next for you? How do you invest in yourself and improve? Or are you working so much that you always have more learning opportunities? Do you buy books or courses or follow any websites to learn more about this audio stuff? Ryan: Honestly? We had a shift at work to where my role has shifted to mainly just broadcasts. That has enabled me to have a little bit more flexibility and free time, so I've been doing a lot more freelance work. That's great, because it energizes me and keeps me engaged. It keeps me from routine. Routine is great. I love routine, that's very much my personality, but freelance work keeps things interesting. For me, it's all about where and how I can get inspired and constantly feeding that. It's about feeding my desire for creativity. We're all creatives. We like to create. We were designed to be creators, really. Everything I try to do is about how I can become a better creator and what I can create next. It's about finding things that inspire me, really. We touched lightly on a few of the resources that I like, things I've learned and places I've picked things up. If you're interested in audio for post production, there are a couple of great books by Ric Viers. I have two books by him that are really great. The first one is The Sound Effects Bible, and it's not just sound effects in there. He talks about everything from gear to microphones, basics, setting proper gains, compression, some mixing techniques, etc. He also has The Location Sound Bible. There are a lot of similarities, but there's also a lot of talk about gear, shotgun mics, lop mics, recorders, and then he also dives into some of the basics when it comes to mixing, proper gain staging, and so on. Those are a really great pool of knowledge in book form. There are a lot of other books out there, but I have found those two to be really helpful. Other than that, when it comes to audio for video, it's a very small, niche field. There isn't a crazy amount of stuff out there, like there might be for mixing music. For that, you've got tons. You've got Pensado's Place, all these people on YouTube putting out channels on mixing, mixing from home, mixing on a budget, etc. There's plenty of that. Aaron: Graham Cochrane and Joe Gilder are pretty awesome resources for anyone who wants to start a home studio. Ryan: YouTube can be a pool of knowledge for anything and everything, too. You have to dig a little bit and do some searching. On the inspiration side, for me, since I love audio for video, Sound Works Collection is a great place. They'll do mini videos interviewing the sound people that did sound for X movie. Whether it was the last Harry Potter or anything and everything, big budget films, they'll sit down with the recording people, the sound designers, the mixers… It's really cool, because they'll show footage of them doing stuff on location or the foley artists. It's cool to see their process. For me, that helps me stay inspired. It gives me ideas to do other things. They have a podcast as well, and that's great. The videos can be kind of short, maybe 10 minutes or so, but the podcast will go on at length, talking to the audio guys who have made sound for videos possible. It will also be music composers for movies as well. That's really great. I found that great not only as inspiration, but to know what and how audio professionals for big budget films get inside their minds, how they're thinking, and what their process looks like. It's neat to see stuff about sound engineers for big movies and realize that we're not so different. Dealing With a Broad Loudness Spectrum (Dynamics) Aaron: I have a nerdy question here. This is about normalizing and compression, I think. Aiya had asked, “I'm so torn about normalizing sound clips. If I'm working on a longer project in segments, would it be better to adjust my peaks manually for the sake of consistency? It's for a video project.” I'm hearing that there are differences in video volumes. How do you deal with that? Do you do compression? Do you do automation for the different parts? How do you deal with dynamics? Ryan: It depends on the project. I'll talk about how I would mix a sermon, because that's very dynamic. Our pastor will go from whispering, holding his handheld mic close to his stomach, to screaming, holding the microphone, cupping the capsule. Power and respect to him, because it creates a certain atmosphere, which has a powerful effect. That's what I'm dealing with on a weekly basis. That dynamic range is tremendous. Keep in mind, this is going to TV eventually. TV has very strict restrictions. It's not so much on level, but on perceived level. There's a difference between what you see meter and what you're hearing. I can talk at length about that, too. Aaron: Could you give us a super short version? I'm kind of aware of that, but since I just mix in Logic, I'm not sure how to measure it. Is there a way to measure it in Logic? Do you know? Is there a plugin you use? Ryan: I use a plugin from Waves. It's a loudness meter, and its just that. It has a lot of presets, so I'll use the TV standard preset. I'll use it for ATSE85, and I'll use it for a dialogue bus. They've also got one for a master bus. The standard right there is your average level around -24 dB LUFS, so that's full scale. If you have a classic meters, your peak would be zero, so that would average metering right around -10. At least for TV, I've got a hard limiter at -10 dB, to where nothing can go above that. The difference between levels on a meter vs. perceived loudness is the differences between what we hear and the actual energy. In our TV program, we'll have the sermon, but we'll also have a talking heads segments, which is dialogue and a music bed. We'll also go into segments where they'll go into worship from our live album, which had been mixed and mastered as an album. That thing is slammed. If you look at the wave form, it's a sausage. If I'm setting all that by the meters alone and they're all hitting -10, it may look right, but if I look at my loudness meter, that worship segment is going to be off the charts. There's so much more content in there. There's so much going on with all the different frequency ranges as opposed to a dialogue track, which is a narrow field in the frequency spectrum. That's the gist of it. When it comes to my technique for controlling dynamics, for something like mixing a sermon, if I'm going down my plugin chain, the first thing I naturally have is a high pass filter. I'm rolling off those unnecessary lows that are hogging energy. The next thing I'll do is use a compressor, and I'll set the attack to right in the middle, so not fast or slow, and I'll have the release time at fast. We don't want to hear it pumping, letting go. That's catching my peaks. It's not doing a crazy amount, but it kind of is. That's helping do a lot of the bulk compression. Before anything really hits the compressor, I will go through, and as I work my way through the mix, I will clip gain the wave form, so that, say, if he's whispering somewhere, I might keep that, depending on how I have my compressor set. Then, if we go up to a part where he's screaming and my wave form is huge, I will take that down and create those nodes, those dots in the wave form, and drag the actual clip volume down, that gain down. That way, it's not going into the compressor at this high gain level. It's hitting the compressor evenly as the rest of it would. That way, it's not driving the compressor crazy. Then I'll go through and do some EQ and DSing and whatnot. I might add some more compressors in there, just to grab some of those little things coming through. After that, it's subtle, just smoothing it out. Aaron: It is a little bit of both. If she has access to an audio editing program—I don't know what she's using for editing. If you can put a compressor on the track, do that. It's not exactly the same, but I did a YouTube video about how I process podcast vocals, and it's very similar. For podcast vocals, I start with a Logic noise removal plugin. Ryan: I actually have my noise suppressor, and I'll use that later on down in my signal chain. My way of thinking is that if I've got all this compression going on, the compression is narrowing that dynamic range, so it's bringing up that noise floor. I tend to do my noise suppression after the bulk of that compression, because the noise floor is higher and it's easier to work on a supressor. If that makes sense. Aaron: I've thought a lot about whether you should do the noise removal before or after you add a bunch of gain with a compressor or something, and I can't think of a good reason that it matters. You can take out the noise before you add a bunch of gain, or you can add a bunch of gain and take out the noise afterwards. Which is better? I don't know. Anyways, after the noise removal plugin, I put an EQ with a high pass filter, a peak compressor, an RMS or an average level compressor, and then a limiter. Ryan: Like I mentioned earlier, before I had my long-winded answer, it also depends on what it is you're mixing—whether it's music, or a podcast, or something for film. When it comes to dialogue for film, you want it to sound as natural as possible, but you also want to be able to hear if someone is whispering. When it comes to that, I'll still use a compressor, but it will be very, very light. If there's anything I need to do to meet loudness, that I will automate the volume on my dialogue bus. I'll bring that up. That way, it sounds a little bit more natural, instead of solely relying on a compressor to do all the work for you. Aaron: That makes sense. For podcasts, if I notice that there's a section where someone was talking much quieter, like if a guest backed away and talked like that for four or five minutes and then went back to the normal distance from the microphone, in Logic, I'll turn that into its own clip. I make a cut on either side of the quiet part, and then, in Logic, you can double click on it and change gain by hitting Control G. Then you can add 3, 4, or 5 dB to it. That works out pretty well. If it's every five seconds or I have to do it more than five or six times in an episode, I won't do the clip gain changes, I'll just use a compressor. Look at the overall audio file and see if there are long stretches where you can use automation to change the gain, or change the clip gain. Common Audio Mistakes Podcasters Make Ryan: You asked a question that I think would be good to talk about in regards to podcasting. You had asked, “What do you like about podcasts? What common mistakes do you hear people make?” Initially, I read this and thought, “I don't know,” but I spent some time thinking about it. This is great, because it piggybacks off the loudness thing. A lot of the mistakes that I hear when it comes to podcasts in regards to audio is the levels and loudness aspect. I'll listen to some podcasts that sound great, and I'll put on another podcast where the whole thing is super quiet. Then they start laughing, and it's really loud. There are some, like mine, where they have a music bed underneath the entire thing, and then sometimes the music bed is so quiet that you hardly know it's there. You're like, “What the heck is that noise in the background?” Sometimes, it's the opposite. Sometimes, the music bed is way too loud. That's a few of the things I've noticed. A lot of the fixes relate to what we just talked about. It helps to have knowledge of levels and perceived loudness. If you're mixing a podcast, make sure your levels are consistent. One of the biggest things I can recommend for anyone mixing anything, whether it's music, movies, a podcast, is the importance of having a reference track. Aaron: Yeah, I don't talk about that enough. Ryan: That is huge. Professional audio engineers who mix platinum records still do this. They will pull in a track from a different song that is mixed well and is mixed how they want theirs to sound, and they'll have it muted in their session. When they want to have a reference to listen to or train their ear, they'll un-mute it, and they'll go, “Oh, okay.” I'm sure you've done the same thing as me, where you'll be so involved in a mix, you're in it, and you think it sounds great, and then maybe you go away. You go home, sleep, and maybe you come back, and you open it up and you go, “Woah! What was I thinking!” You can get so involved in it that the blinders go up. You get tunnel vision, and you're not aware to some things. It's good to have a reference track or get an outsider's opinion on a mix. The main takeaway here is the reference track. That would help with anything, whether it's the timbre, how you're EQing, or the loudness. You pull in their track and it's far louder than yours, and you automatically know that you need to do something about it. Aaron: That's a great idea. You can kind of do this before or after. You go through and you edit your whole podcast, get everything set up the way you want, create an extra track, and then find a podcast that sounds really good—This American Life or pretty much anything by NPR—download an episode, drop it into your editing program, and play it, mute it, and see what the difference is. Maybe you need to add some gain with an adaptive limiter or with a compressor, or maybe you can tell that your track sounds way sharper or harsher. Are there are too many high frequencies or too much bass compared to your reference track? You can adjust those things. I'm so glad you mentioned that. I've never thought of that before, and that's such a good idea. Ryan: It's one of those things you don't think of much, but once you do it, you're like, “Oh my gosh!” It's really eye opening and really helpful. You can find Ryan online at ryanmonette.com, and follow him on Twitter @RyanMonette.

My guest this week is professional audio engineer Ryan Monette. Ryan graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Music Production & Engineering. For the last 4.5 years he's been the Post-Production Audio Engineer on staff at Elevation Church, in Charlotte, NC, where he mixes their global TV show, and has many other responsibilities (boom operator, field recorder, sound designer, audio editor, etc.). You may have heard some of his work, as he sound-designed and mixed the opener video for the Circles conference for the past two years. He even had his own podcast for a short while (TheQueuecast.com). I asked Ryan to come on the show to share his journey towards becoming a professional audio engineer (a job that I've always wanted), and to get him to share some tips for anyone interested in working in audio/video professionally.Highlights, Takeaways & Quick Wins:Think long term and dream big.If you want to do anything with audio, start by getting a cheap USB microphone.Take advantage of free online courses to learn more about audio engineering.Get started with whatever you have.Your mix may sound completely different in a different environment, so listen with different headphones/speakers in different locations.Master the basics and keep going back to them.If you’re mixing a podcast, make sure your levels are consistent.When mixing, always use a reference track.Show NotesAaron: You graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in music production and engineering. For the last five years, you’ve been the post production audio engineer for Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. You have a lot of jobs there: boom operator, field recorder, sound designer, audio editor, and you mix their global TV show. Do you mix that live?Ryan: Not necessarily. We can get into that later. There’s a process for that.Aaron: Some of the creative people here might have heard of some of your work. You sound designed and mixed the opening videos for the past two years of Circles Conference, which I was at. Have you been there for the past two years?Ryan: I haven’t been personally, no. I have wanted to go. I love it from afar, and I want to go in person.Aaron: I wanted you to come on this show because when I first got started, I had dreams of being a professional audio engineer. I thought, “How cool would it be to work in audio and get paid for it? That’d be awesome!”I fell backwards into it by doing podcast editing as a hobby first, then for money, then I met Sean McCabe and ended up working for him full time. I edit podcasts and help out with a ton of other stuff. I asked you to come on the show to share your advice for anyone who’s interested in working in audio/video professionally, and to talk about how you got there yourself. So tell me a little bit about how you got into audio. When did you first realize that this was something you wanted to do?Ryan’s Journey to Becoming a Professional Audio EngineerRyan: I love listening to your podcast, Aaron, and what I love about it is I feel like you and I have a lot of similarities in our backgrounds. You’re a musician, a drummer, and I’m also a musician. I play several things. My primary instrument is bass, but along with that, I started on piano. I picked up bass, and with the bass I picked up guitar. I took some drum lessons here and there as well.I sing as well. I dabbled in a little bit of everything. I’m kind of a jack of all trades, master of none. I’m okay at a lot of things, but I’m not superb at one thing. Anyway, right around junior high or high school, I started playing the bass. I started playing in little bands here and there. When it came time for college, I had no clue what I wanted to do. All I knew was that I loved music.Aaron: Same here!Ryan: I was living in Las Vegas at the time, so I decided, well, everyone has to have that college experience, and I didn’t want to go to college in the same city, so I decided that I needed that “being away from home” experience. I went to the University of Nevada, Reno. I took your basic, general classes, not knowing what I wanted to do. At this time, for my high school graduation, I had received a graduation present of a Macbook Pro.With that, of course, you get the wonderful iLife suite, including Garageband. As a musician, a whole new world was opened up to me. When I was in a band in high school, I was the gear head—I loved the PA and putting cables together.I was drawn to that. Once I had this Macbook Pro with Garageband and I had my bass and my guitar in my dorm, I was like, “I can create music!” I figured out how to work it and record myself. I bought a USB microphone, and that world was opened up. When I was there, I had a friend, and her brother went to this school where all they learned about was music. I was like, “Wait, you can do that? You can go to school for just music?”That’s how I found out about Berklee School of Music. I applied, and you have to audition as well. I applied and auditioned, and the first time I tried, I actually didn’t get into the music school I wanted to go to.Aaron: This sparks something in my mind. I feel like I might have read an article about Berklee or looked into it and thought, “No, they’re really strict on who they accept, based on your performance.” That was intimidating to me at the time, because I never felt like I was that good of a drummer.Ryan: It was intimidating for me, too. Clearly, I wasn’t up to par.Aaron: Yet you went for it. That’s more than a lot of people would do.Ryan: Yeah. After I finished my first year at UNR, I moved back to Vegas and went to UNLV, the University of Nevada Las Vegas. I took all music classes, forgetting the general ed stuff you need to get a degree. I took all music classes—music theory, because I had never had actual music theory classes, so I thought I needed that. With that, there were some audio classes that I took as well. I was like, “Hey, I like this audio thing.”At the University of Nevada Las Vegas, I had my first exposure to a formal audio class, where I learned all the proper techniques. Later on that year, I applied and auditioned again for Berklee. I got accepted, and the next year, I moved to Boston and went to Berklee for about three and a half years. Then I graduated. When I went to Berklee, the only thing that drew me as a major was Music Production and Engineering. I naturally loved the gear side of things. I fell in love with recording. I was like, “This is what I want to do.”Aaron: You got to spend three and a half years there, studying and learning?Ryan: It is non-stop, 24/7, music, audio, and to be honest, I miss being in that environment so much.Aaron: That sounds fantastic. I always love setting aside time to take online classes, read books, and listen to interviews about audio.Think Long-TermAaron: You were drawn to the audio engineering stuff, and then you graduated.Ryan: I can remember a specific time in my life, and I’m pretty sure it was my last semester at Berklee. They went by semesters instead of years. It was in one of my capstone classes. Our instructor asked us the typical, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” question.Aaron: I love that question now. I hated it when I was 22.** Think long term and dream big**Aaron: Plan out where you want to be, because if you can envision it, then you can figure out how to get there. But you have to start by saying, “I want to do this thing someday.” For me, it was, “I want to do work from a laptop. How do I get there?” Now I’m there. So you were 22 and someone asked you, “Ryan, where do you want to be? Where do you see yourself in five years?”Ryan: At that moment, I was trying to figure that out, naturally, as you do when you’re approaching the end of college. While I was at Berklee, I loved music. I loved recording music, but my absolute favorite class—they only had one of them, but it was the class I yearned for, that I wanted to take and put in all these extra hours for—was audio for visual media, audio for video.By far, that was my favorite class. The whole class, we were working toward our final project. You choose a five to seven minute clip from a well known movie, and all the audio is completely stripped. You have to recreate everything. That’s all the dialogue, all the foley, all the ambient background, all the hard effects, and so on. You have to connect with a film scoring student there at Berklee, and they have to provide the score. I absolutely loved every aspect of that project and the process. When it came time to decide what I wanted to do with my life, it was between audio engineering at a recording studio, working at Disney as an Imagineer, or doing audio at a church.I have always been involved with church, playing on worship teams and whatnot, so I also saw myself doing audio for a church. Long story short, I was really privileged to dip my feet in all of those things after college. After I graduated, I moved back to Las Vegas. Eventually, I found an incredible recording studio, probably one of the top two recording studios in Las Vegas, and I landed an internship.First Audio Engineering JobsRyan: I say “internship” loosely, because your typical studio internship is all the stereotypical grunt work—taking out the trash, doing the coffee, and whatnot. I showed up, and they were like, “You went to Berklee? Berklee guys are cool. Here, hop in this session and help us out.” It was open to me, thrown at me, and next thing I knew, I was assisting on sessions with huge clients, I won’t name drop.Aaron: You can drop a couple of names if you want.Ryan: I had a pretty fun time helping out with a session with the famous engineer Eddie Kramer, who is engineering for Carlos Santana.Aaron: Dang, man! That’s awesome.Ryan: That was pretty incredible. But while I was there, I had this gut feeling inside of me saying, “This isn’t it.”Aaron: It’s fine, but it’s not quite right?Ryan: I could see myself staying there and working my way up, but it didn’t feel right. A few months after I realized that I didn’t want to stay at the studio, I applied and was offered a job at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.I packed my bags, moved to Orlando, and I was working as a stage technician at the Epcot park. There, they found out that I was an audio guy, so they pushed me toward the live audio side of things. I was mixing shows and bands at Epcot and what was at the time Downtown Disney, now Disney Springs, area. Same thing. Almost as soon as I got there, the same gut feeling came in.I was like, “This isn’t it. I’m more of a studio engineer. I definitely don’t want to do live stuff.” Although I love Disney, it just wasn’t sitting right. I was only there three months before the next great opportunity came up, which is where I am right now. One of my friends told me about a job opening for this church in Charlotte, North Carolina, Elevation Church. I had actually been following them because of their podcast.At the time, I was kind of like, “I’ve got a job, whatever.” For some reason, I ended up on their website, looking at the job. I was reading, and I was like, “Wait a minute, they’re looking for someone to do audio for video. That’s what I really want to do!” On a whim, I threw out my resume. Next thing you know, I’ve been here going on five years.Aaron: Did you mention that you were a podcast listener when you sent in your resume?Ryan: Yeah.Aaron: The connections you can make through podcasting is really incredible.Ryan: It is. And I’ve been working there for 5 years now.How to Get Into Audio EngineeringAaron: I want to jump into what you do at your job at Elevation, but let’s pause and do a section on what advice you would tell someone who’s wanting to get started. I wrote a couple of things down here. I think it’s hilarious that you got a Macbook and your first microphone was a USB microphone.Ryan: Which was the Blue Snowball, by the way.Aaron: That’s the worst microphone!Ryan: I had no idea how to use it, either. If I find some of the earliest recordings I did, there are times I’m clipping to the max, square waves.Aaron: Probably bad mic technique, too. But hey; it got you started!If you want to do anything with audio, start by getting a cheap USB microphone.Any USB mics will work for getting started. I like the Blue Yeti, but it’s like $100. The ATR-2100 is fine, too. You just have to get something that can record some audio and start playing with it.Start playing with Garageband. Start playing with the free programs. Learn how to enable recording on a track, how to set your input device to the microphone, how to set your output device to wherever your headphones are plugged into, whether that’s your mic or your computer. It took me so long to figure that stuff out. I was like, “Why can’t I hear the audio in my headphones? What is going on?”Ryan: Same here.Aaron: You have to set input and output, then you have to record enable or do the input monitoring, all that stuff. But start with the USB microphone. Take some basic classes. There are so many great online classes. If you don’t have any money at all, if you’re super broke like I was when I started, watch some free YouTube videos. Read a book.Ryan: If you go to Coursera.org, they’re a website where you can pay to take online courses and get certifications and whatnot, but they also offer free online courses. They even offer free online courses from Berklee. I’ve seen a music production class there. I’ve taken a free online song writing class.Check out free online courses, because they can be a pool of incredible knowledge.I took a photography class on there. Coursera is a great place. They’re great if you want to take free online courses.Aaron: There are places where you can learn all this stuff. You just have to invest some time. You really just have to start: Don’t wait until you have $500 for an interface and $200 for some professional headphones and microphone. Whether you want to start a podcast, start recording audio for a video, or record and mix a demo for a band, start doing something.Stop spending all your time thinking about how you can’t do anything because you don’t have certain gear or you’re not in the right place. You’ll learn as you do, especially in audio. You’re going to make a ton of mistakes.Ryan: That’s how you learn, though! That’s one of the most valuable things I’ve learned in life. You learn from your mistakes.Aaron: You don’t really learn when everything goes well.Just StartAaron: Any other advice you would give somebody, thinking back on how you got to where you are right now?Ryan: Honestly, you hit the nail on the head with “just start.” It’s as simple and cliche as Nike, “Just do it.” There is always going to be the next latest craze, the gear, and we’ve all been susceptible to that. We say, “Oh, well, I could do this if I had X.” It starts with the drive and determination, wanting to do it. There’s knowledge out there everywhere. You just have to dig for it.Chances are, you have at least something you can start with. Record something on your phone.Aaron: I have a friend who makes some awesome music on his iPhone.Ryan: Oh, totally. It’s as simple as getting an adapter. You can plug your guitar or whatever into your phone.Aaron: Kids these days have it so easy!Ryan: You have Garageband on your phone. I remember when I was figuring this out in high school, and we actually had a four track tape recorder. That was my first start. Get started with whatever you have.Aaron: What kind of stuff do you do at the church? What’s your day to day life like? Are you there every day, or is it just a couple of days a week?Ryan: Oh no, I’m definitely there every day. It has been a whirlwind for sure. In the past five years, I have probably played every audio role that there is to be played here. My main thing now is audio for broadcasts, pretty much anything that leaves the church. Our biggest output is the sermon, which goes to a lot of places.It also goes in the TV episode, which we talked about, which goes locally, nationally, and, I believe, globally as well. That’s a lot of what I’ve done. We also create a lot of films, short films, for our worship experiences, anything you can imagine that’s video and audio related. Audio post production, like we talk about. I’m constantly on video shoots using field recorders, the boom op, anything you can think of. Audio for video, I’ve done it.The Gear Ryan UsesAaron: Let’s talk about your gear a little bit. What kind of stuff are you using most in everyday life? I’ll do a quick recap: I have the Shure Beta 87A Mic as my main podcasting microphone. It’s attached to a Scarlett 18i20 USB Interface (update: I’m now using my Zoom H6 exclusively), which is plugged into a quadcore iMac that’s a couple years old.Nothing super fancy, but I’m really happy with where I am. I remember wanting all this stuff back in 2011, thinking how awesome it would be to have it. I have a Zoom H6 portable recorder and a couple of SM58 microphones. I’ve been pairing down my gear collection because I’m planning on moving in the spring.What kind of stuff are you working with? I use Logic Pro X for editing, and then Izotope iZotope RX 5 for cleaning up background noise or fixing clipping. What about you? What’s your day to day favorite gear?Ryan: We use a lot. There’s a bunch of gear for field recording and then in my office, which is where I’m at right now. I’ll start with my office. Right now, I’m talking into my personal mic, which is a Rode NT1A. It’s very affordable.The Rode NT1A is a nice beginner mic which works and sounds great, and I use it for a lot of voiceover projects.Aaron: I like those mics.Ryan: I’m talking into that right now. We also use the Shure SM7B. We have a nice Neumann that we’ll use for bigger projects. We like to use Universal Audio Interfaces, so I’ve got one of those. They’re great. They’re rock solid. You really can’t beat them.At our main recording/editing audio work station, we use Pro Tools. That’s very standard, and I’ve been using that for years and years. I use a lot of plugins. I use a lot of the Waves Plugins. I do use RX as well, and that’s the bulk of it. I do a lot of processing, depending on the project.I have a really huge sound library for if I’m doing narrative pieces that involve sound design, sound effects. I have a great app called Audio Finder, which a lot of electronic musicians use to help them find sounds. I use it to help me find sounds. It’s a nice way to catalogue sounds if you’re a sound designer or anything like that.You can basically tag all these audio files with meta data, and you can search for sounds by their title. Or, if you type in a word in the search bar, it can pull up things based off the the metadata. If you have notes on something, it can find it. Audio Finder is a great way to find sounds.I have some other things in here. I have the Artist Mix Controller made by Avid. I use those if I’m automating stuff. I use those a lot, actually, when I’m mixing the sermons. I do a lot of automation for that. If I’m mixing a piece with a music bed or something, I like to automate the music by hand.It feels more natural, as opposed to clicking and making little dots. That’s the bulk of it here in the office. All of our audio engineers have a nice pair of Focal monitors. I also have another set of monitors I built myself. When I mix TV episodes, I have an output routed to a TV here in my office so I can hear how it translates on TV speakers.Recording Audio for VideoRyan: On the front end of things, if we’re doing shoots for videos, we use Sound Devices field recorders. We have three different models: the Sound Devices 788T 8 Channel Recorder, a 702 2 Channel Recorder, and then a 633 6 Channel Recorder. That last one is one of their newer models, which is great.Sound Devices are steep in price, but they are rock solid.One of the most trustworthy, well known field recorder brands on the market. That’s what you’ll see on pretty much every big budget shoot in some way. I do a lot of freelance on the side, which gives me the opportunity EPK shoots or BTS shoots for, recently, a show on HBO called Outcast.Aaron: Outcast? I’ve been seeing that (I watch Westworld).Ryan: I’m pretty sure it’s the same writers or producers or something. I know it’s the same writer as The Walking Dead. They shoot here in North Carolina, so with a local production company, we’ve done some interviews with some of the cast and crew. It’s been really neat to be on set and see what they’re using. It’s cool to see how similar their world is to what we’re doing day to day, just with more money and more resources.It’s the same thing. Most of their audio guys have some sort of Sound Devices. A lot of them use the 788 as a backup recording rig, and they’ve got larger multitrack recorders as well, that are also made by Sound Devices. Sound Devices is a great brand. They’re crazy expensive, but when you buy that, you know you’ve basically got it for life.Aaron: Yeah, I’m looking at the Sound Devices 788T SSD 8 Channel Portable Solid State Audio Recorder. It’s almost $7,000. I love that! So fancy.Ryan: That SSD does have an internal hard drive. Ours has a hard drive as well, so it’s great, because it has the internal hard drive, but you can also use CF cards. You can record on two different mediums. In case something runs out of space, you have it in two places.Aaron: This is super professional stuff.Ryan: Yeah. It is. It’s top of the line.Aaron: Fantastic. For all the rest of you, just go with the Zoom H4N or the H6.Ryan: Hey, we do have a Zoom H4N, and we do use that every now and then. Before I came on staff, our first field recorder was the Zoom H4N.Aaron: If I could start over and go back to before I had any kind of interface at all, I think I would buy myself an H4N or an H6. Not only are they portable field recorders so you can walk around with them—they have little stereo condensor mics on them—but they work as audio interfaces, too. You can plug it into your computer with a USB cable and record straight to your computer if you do any kind of podcasting or stuff like that.It’s good for the price. Otherwise, the little two channel interfaces are great. They’re about $100 for a good one, but they aren’t portable. You can’t take them to a show or out to a video shoot the way you can an H4N or an H6 or something.Ryan: Speaking of Zoom, they’ve recently come into the more professional field recording market. About a year ago, they releases the F8, I believe, which is an 8 channel field recorder with 8 mic pres. It’s $999 for something very comparable to a Sound Device. It’s not quite as high-fidelity, but for anyone starting out, you’re really not going to notice the difference.Mixing On Expensive Headphones or MonitorsAaron: I was going to ask you this earlier. You mentioned that you had Focal monitors. Did you listen to the episode I did a few episodes back where I talked about mixing on headphones (Episode 69: Do You Need Expensive Headphones to Mix a Podcast?)?Ryan: Yes, I did.Aaron: I mix on $10 Panasonics. What do you think about that? You can be totally honest with me. You can tell me that it’s a stupid idea or that it’s okay.Ryan: I agree to a certain extent. I agree that you should be listening to what you’re making on whatever the majority of people are going to be listening to it on. For a lot of audio engineers mixing music, that’s iPod earbuds, those standard earbuds you get. Something like that. When I mix TV, I have an output routed to a TV in my office, so I can hear it on TV speakers.I do also believe in mixing on something with some sort of higher fidelity type of monitoring environment, whether that’s nicer speakers or nicer headphones. Naturally, you’re going to hear things differently. The main thing to take away is how things translate.If you’re listening to something on one source and you make it sound good there, that’s great, but in a different environment, it may sound completely different.iPhone earbuds may not have the bass that a car stereo has. You want to hear how it translates from one thing to another. That’s why it’s good to at least listen to it on two different sources and not just narrow yourself down to one cruddy thing. That’s good in theory, but again, the key takeaway is translation.Aaron: Maybe it’s a little bit different for me and I can get away with it because of the consistency of the microphones and the recording environment set we use.Ryan: Yeah, totally.Aaron: I think if I was doing more stuff like you are, with videos and clients and all that kind of stuff, I would absolutely be using my higher fidelity headphones.Ryan: Very true. The bulk of your work is dialogue, podcasts.Aaron: Yeah, that’s really it. Just dudes talking into a microphone.Ryan: Yeah. I have done a lot of work here where I’m working in a small studio, but a lot of my mixes have played in auditoriums and arenas.If you’re working on projects like music or film that have different audio frequencies and spectrums, remember that sound will be perceived differently in different places.Aaron: How do you even test for that?Ryan: Here, I at least have a sense of how our auditorium sounds, so I’ve trained my ear to hear in advance and understand how it’s going to translate. For something like when we did a live recording in the biggest arena here in Charlotte, we had a video opener piece. I was on point for mixing that, so basically, I had to work with tech and production to find a time after setup where I can bring my session, copy it onto a laptop, and play it through the PA.Then I can make any final mix tweaks there in the auditorium or the arena. I perfected it in my studio, and any small tweaks I was able to do in that actual environment. Granted, a lot of the times, we may not have that luxury. There are also great plugins you can buy that simulate different monitoring environments, like Sonarworks.If you have certain pairs of headphones, you can tell the program, “I have these headphones, now make my mix sound like it’s coming through these headphones or these speakers,” so you can hear how it might translate. In that program, they have a final output like the Beats headphones. You can hear how it might sound on there, super bass heavy.Aaron: I hear they’re getting better, but I still have never bought any Beats headphones. I probably should (just for testing purposes).Ryan: There are definitely programs out there to help you see how things translate to different monitors.On Location GearRyan: We were talking about the gear we use for on location recording. Sound Devices would be our main recorders. For our mics, we use Schoeps. It’s a shotgun microphone, so it’s a narrow polar pattern with good off axis rejection. Schoeps is a great brand. Again, you’ll see this on professional movie sets.That’s the mic we use. We have some Sennheiser shotguns as well, the ME66, we have a couple of those, which is more their entry shotgun mics. Recently, I rented some of the MKH416.Aaron: I would like one of those. The Sennheiser 416 is well known as the classic TV shotgun mic, right?Ryan: Exactly. I rented those out because I wanted to try it out for that reason. The Schoeps is very good and very well known on set as well, but so is the 416. I rented it to try it out. It’s a trusted mic that a lot of people use for these professional things, and it doesn’t really break the bank for what it is.Aaron: They’re like $1,000, I think.Ryan: Yeah, and it sounded great.Aaron: The next mic I get is either going to be that or the Rode NTG 3.Ryan: I’ve heard a lot of great things about that. I haven’t tried one myself.Aaron: That’s the shotgun mics we shot my podcasting courses with.Ryan: Yeah, I know that Sean uses that for all of his videos.Aaron: I’m excited about getting to go work with those (I’m moving to San Antonio in March or April).Master the BasicsAaron: That’s a pretty good run through of your gear. I’m sure you could keep going and discuss a lot more, but I don’t think we need to go into that. It seems like you guys are at a super professional, high quality. You have made big investments in professional gear, which is fantastic. I encourage everyone to strive for that, to aim for that, but like we said earlier, use what you have right now. I don’t have anything close to what you guys have, but I’m still doing my podcast. I’m doing the best I can with what I have.Ryan: It still sounds great.Aaron: Thanks! It’s mostly just knowing how to set gain levels and not having a noisy room. It’s crazy how far the basics will get you— everything else is just icing on the cake.I’ve been watching this video course called Zen and the Art of Work, which I really recommend to everybody. It’s mindfulness training mixed with productivity training, which is such a great combination.In this course, he says, “So many of the masters continually revisit the basics.” Mastery is staying on a path. It’s not reaching some final goal, it’s more about being with the work and investing in getting better, but also revisiting the basics. He was talking about playing piano. He was like, “A lot of times, I just start by touching the keys, pressing the keys, and then doing basic scales over and over again.”It’s true. When you get so good at the basics that you don’t have to think about it, that’s when you start to expand and get to that level where people say, “Wow, you’re so good at that. How did you get so good?” You’re like, “That was just doing the basics. It’s not anything fancy.”It’s so important to master the basics and keep going back to them.Learning MoreAaron: What’s next for you? How do you invest in yourself and improve? Or are you working so much that you always have more learning opportunities? Do you buy books or courses or follow any websites to learn more about this audio stuff?Ryan: Honestly? We had a shift at work to where my role has shifted to mainly just broadcasts. That has enabled me to have a little bit more flexibility and free time, so I’ve been doing a lot more freelance work. That’s great, because it energizes me and keeps me engaged. It keeps me from routine. Routine is great.I love routine, that’s very much my personality, but freelance work keeps things interesting.For me, it’s all about where and how I can get inspired and constantly feeding that. It’s about feeding my desire for creativity. We’re all creatives. We like to create. We were designed to be creators, really. Everything I try to do is about how I can become a better creator and what I can create next. It’s about finding things that inspire me, really. We touched lightly on a few of the resources that I like, things I’ve learned and places I’ve picked things up.If you’re interested in audio for post production, there are a couple of great books by Ric Viers. I have two books by him that are really great. The first one is The Sound Effects Bible, and it’s not just sound effects in there. He talks about everything from gear to microphones, basics, setting proper gains, compression, some mixing techniques, etc. He also has The Location Sound Bible.There are a lot of similarities, but there’s also a lot of talk about gear, shotgun mics, lop mics, recorders, and then he also dives into some of the basics when it comes to mixing, proper gain staging, and so on. Those are a really great pool of knowledge in book form. There are a lot of other books out there, but I have found those two to be really helpful.Other than that, when it comes to audio for video, it’s a very small, niche field. There isn’t a crazy amount of stuff out there, like there might be for mixing music. For that, you’ve got tons. You’ve got Pensado’s Place, all these people on YouTube putting out channels on mixing, mixing from home, mixing on a budget, etc. There’s plenty of that.Aaron: Graham Cochrane and Joe Gilder are pretty awesome resources for anyone who wants to start a home studio.Ryan: YouTube can be a pool of knowledge for anything and everything, too. You have to dig a little bit and do some searching. On the inspiration side, for me, since I love audio for video, Sound Works Collection is a great place. They’ll do mini videos interviewing the sound people that did sound for X movie. Whether it was the last Harry Potter or anything and everything, big budget films, they’ll sit down with the recording people, the sound designers, the mixers…It’s really cool, because they’ll show footage of them doing stuff on location or the foley artists. It’s cool to see their process. For me, that helps me stay inspired. It gives me ideas to do other things. They have a podcast as well, and that’s great. The videos can be kind of short, maybe 10 minutes or so, but the podcast will go on at length, talking to the audio guys who have made sound for videos possible.It will also be music composers for movies as well. That’s really great. I found that great not only as inspiration, but to know what and how audio professionals for big budget films get inside their minds, how they’re thinking, and what their process looks like.It’s neat to see stuff about sound engineers for big movies and realize that we’re not so different.Dealing With a Broad Loudness Spectrum (Dynamics)Aaron: I have a nerdy question here. This is about normalizing and compression, I think. Aiya had asked, “I’m so torn about normalizing sound clips. If I’m working on a longer project in segments, would it be better to adjust my peaks manually for the sake of consistency? It’s for a video project.” I’m hearing that there are differences in video volumes. How do you deal with that? Do you do compression? Do you do automation for the different parts? How do you deal with dynamics?Ryan: It depends on the project. I’ll talk about how I would mix a sermon, because that’s very dynamic. Our pastor will go from whispering, holding his handheld mic close to his stomach, to screaming, holding the microphone, cupping the capsule. Power and respect to him, because it creates a certain atmosphere, which has a powerful effect. That’s what I’m dealing with on a weekly basis.That dynamic range is tremendous. Keep in mind, this is going to TV eventually. TV has very strict restrictions. It’s not so much on level, but on perceived level. There’s a difference between what you see meter and what you’re hearing. I can talk at length about that, too.Aaron: Could you give us a super short version? I’m kind of aware of that, but since I just mix in Logic, I’m not sure how to measure it. Is there a way to measure it in Logic? Do you know? Is there a plugin you use?Ryan: I use a plugin from Waves. It’s a loudness meter, and its just that. It has a lot of presets, so I’ll use the TV standard preset. I’ll use it for ATSE85, and I’ll use it for a dialogue bus. They’ve also got one for a master bus. The standard right there is your average level around -24 dB LUFS, so that’s full scale. If you have a classic meters, your peak would be zero, so that would average metering right around -10. At least for TV, I’ve got a hard limiter at -10 dB, to where nothing can go above that.The difference between levels on a meter vs. perceived loudness is the differences between what we hear and the actual energy.In our TV program, we’ll have the sermon, but we’ll also have a talking heads segments, which is dialogue and a music bed. We’ll also go into segments where they’ll go into worship from our live album, which had been mixed and mastered as an album. That thing is slammed. If you look at the wave form, it’s a sausage. If I’m setting all that by the meters alone and they’re all hitting -10, it may look right, but if I look at my loudness meter, that worship segment is going to be off the charts.There’s so much more content in there. There’s so much going on with all the different frequency ranges as opposed to a dialogue track, which is a narrow field in the frequency spectrum. That’s the gist of it. When it comes to my technique for controlling dynamics, for something like mixing a sermon, if I’m going down my plugin chain, the first thing I naturally have is a high pass filter. I’m rolling off those unnecessary lows that are hogging energy.The next thing I’ll do is use a compressor, and I’ll set the attack to right in the middle, so not fast or slow, and I’ll have the release time at fast. We don’t want to hear it pumping, letting go. That’s catching my peaks. It’s not doing a crazy amount, but it kind of is. That’s helping do a lot of the bulk compression. Before anything really hits the compressor, I will go through, and as I work my way through the mix, I will clip gain the wave form, so that, say, if he’s whispering somewhere, I might keep that, depending on how I have my compressor set.Then, if we go up to a part where he’s screaming and my wave form is huge, I will take that down and create those nodes, those dots in the wave form, and drag the actual clip volume down, that gain down. That way, it’s not going into the compressor at this high gain level. It’s hitting the compressor evenly as the rest of it would. That way, it’s not driving the compressor crazy. Then I’ll go through and do some EQ and DSing and whatnot. I might add some more compressors in there, just to grab some of those little things coming through. After that, it’s subtle, just smoothing it out.Aaron: It is a little bit of both. If she has access to an audio editing program—I don’t know what she’s using for editing. If you can put a compressor on the track, do that. It’s not exactly the same, but I did a YouTube video about how I process podcast vocals, and it’s very similar. For podcast vocals, I start with a Logic noise removal plugin.Ryan: I actually have my noise suppressor, and I’ll use that later on down in my signal chain. My way of thinking is that if I’ve got all this compression going on, the compression is narrowing that dynamic range, so it’s bringing up that noise floor. I tend to do my noise suppression after the bulk of that compression, because the noise floor is higher and it’s easier to work on a supressor. If that makes sense.Aaron: I’ve thought a lot about whether you should do the noise removal before or after you add a bunch of gain with a compressor or something, and I can’t think of a good reason that it matters. You can take out the noise before you add a bunch of gain, or you can add a bunch of gain and take out the noise afterwards. Which is better? I don’t know. Anyways, after the noise removal plugin, I put an EQ with a high pass filter, a peak compressor, an RMS or an average level compressor, and then a limiter.Ryan: Like I mentioned earlier, before I had my long-winded answer, it also depends on what it is you’re mixing—whether it’s music, or a podcast, or something for film.When it comes to dialogue for film, you want it to sound as natural as possible, but you also want to be able to hear if someone is whispering.When it comes to that, I’ll still use a compressor, but it will be very, very light. If there’s anything I need to do to meet loudness, that I will automate the volume on my dialogue bus. I’ll bring that up. That way, it sounds a little bit more natural, instead of solely relying on a compressor to do all the work for you.Aaron: That makes sense. For podcasts, if I notice that there’s a section where someone was talking much quieter, like if a guest backed away and talked like that for four or five minutes and then went back to the normal distance from the microphone, in Logic, I’ll turn that into its own clip. I make a cut on either side of the quiet part, and then, in Logic, you can double click on it and change gain by hitting Control G. Then you can add 3, 4, or 5 dB to it.That works out pretty well. If it’s every five seconds or I have to do it more than five or six times in an episode, I won’t do the clip gain changes, I’ll just use a compressor.Look at the overall audio file and see if there are long stretches where you can use automation to change the gain, or change the clip gain.Common Audio Mistakes Podcasters MakeRyan: You asked a question that I think would be good to talk about in regards to podcasting. You had asked, “What do you like about podcasts? What common mistakes do you hear people make?” Initially, I read this and thought, “I don’t know,” but I spent some time thinking about it. This is great, because it piggybacks off the loudness thing.A lot of the mistakes that I hear when it comes to podcasts in regards to audio is the levels and loudness aspect. I’ll listen to some podcasts that sound great, and I’ll put on another podcast where the whole thing is super quiet. Then they start laughing, and it’s really loud. There are some, like mine, where they have a music bed underneath the entire thing, and then sometimes the music bed is so quiet that you hardly know it’s there.You’re like, “What the heck is that noise in the background?” Sometimes, it’s the opposite. Sometimes, the music bed is way too loud. That’s a few of the things I’ve noticed. A lot of the fixes relate to what we just talked about. It helps to have knowledge of levels and perceived loudness.If you’re mixing a podcast, make sure your levels are consistent.One of the biggest things I can recommend for anyone mixing anything, whether it’s music, movies, a podcast, is the importance of having a reference track.Aaron: Yeah, I don’t talk about that enough.Ryan: That is huge. Professional audio engineers who mix platinum records still do this. They will pull in a track from a different song that is mixed well and is mixed how they want theirs to sound, and they’ll have it muted in their session. When they want to have a reference to listen to or train their ear, they’ll un-mute it, and they’ll go, “Oh, okay.”I’m sure you’ve done the same thing as me, where you’ll be so involved in a mix, you’re in it, and you think it sounds great, and then maybe you go away. You go home, sleep, and maybe you come back, and you open it up and you go, “Woah! What was I thinking!” You can get so involved in it that the blinders go up. You get tunnel vision, and you’re not aware to some things.It’s good to have a reference track or get an outsider’s opinion on a mix.The main takeaway here is the reference track. That would help with anything, whether it’s the timbre, how you’re EQing, or the loudness. You pull in their track and it’s far louder than yours, and you automatically know that you need to do something about it.Aaron: That’s a great idea. You can kind of do this before or after. You go through and you edit your whole podcast, get everything set up the way you want, create an extra track, and then find a podcast that sounds really good—This American Life or pretty much anything by NPR—download an episode, drop it into your editing program, and play it, mute it, and see what the difference is. Maybe you need to add some gain with an adaptive limiter or with a compressor, or maybe you can tell that your track sounds way sharper or harsher.Are there are too many high frequencies or too much bass compared to your reference track? You can adjust those things. I’m so glad you mentioned that. I’ve never thought of that before, and that’s such a good idea.Ryan: It’s one of those things you don’t think of much, but once you do it, you’re like, “Oh my gosh!” It’s really eye opening and really helpful.You can find Ryan online at ryanmonette.com, and follow him on Twitter @RyanMonette.

            NEWS The big streaming music services are in a price war The Shure SM58 is 50 years old GUEST Engineer Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young Click here for Headliner Magazine and skiomusic.com  

            NEWS The big streaming music services are in a price war The Shure SM58 is 50 years old GUEST Engineer Jordan “DJ Swivel” Young Click here for Headliner Magazine and skiomusic.com   The post Episode #137 – Streaming Price Wars, SM58 50th Anniversary and Jordan “DJ Swivel” Young appeared first on Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast.

There are lots of great options out there for recording in-person interviews. Mentioned on this episode Fan Fission – our membership community Zoom H5 – digital recorder Zoom H1 – digital recorder ATR3350 – lav mic Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 – preamp Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 – preamp SM58 – dynamic mic MXL990 – condenser mic Samson […]Support the show

There are lots of great options out there for recording in-person interviews. Mentioned on this episode Fan Fission – our membership community Zoom H5 – digital recorder Zoom H1 – digital recorder ATR3350 – lav mic Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 – preamp Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 – preamp SM58 – dynamic mic MXL990 – condenser mic Samson […]Support the show (https://pod.academy)

Dan Powell is one half of Dead Signals Production, creator of the popular Archive 81 and Deep Vault found sound, radio drama podcasts. In this episode, we talk about his recording process, how he designs sound, and his editing process. He shares some of the hurdles he overcame while producing podcasts and what advice he'd give to anyone interested in making a modern radio drama. Key Takeaways: Don't buy your gear new—if you buy the best gear used, it'll last you forever. The hardest part of any narrative creative medium is the transition between two parts. Make sure you understand what's happening in your environment before you choose a space to record in. What you make should be in conversation with your audience, but don't make something just because it'll get a lot of downloads. Find people who are established in your field, reach out to them, and ask for some direct advice. Think about how the ambience and background noise where you're recording can contribute to the story and the feel of your whole piece. Aaron: Hey Dan, thanks for joining me today. Tell me a little bit about yourself—where you're from and where you are now. Maybe a little bit about what your path to audio and podcasting has looked like over the course of your life. Dan: I was born in Rome, Georgia and I was there until I was about 18. It was a medium/small size town in the middle of the woods. I spent a lot of time by myself alone with my thoughts, which is probably what caused me to gravitate to sci-fi, horror, and secular fiction. I began making radio dramas at the age of eight or nine. I used Window 95 Sound Recorder to make these one-man shows. Sometimes it would be me and sometimes it would be my friends, and we would get in front of a microphone and see what happened. That's really what introduced me to audio editing and creative sound design. From an early age, I was interested in what would happen if you slowed down, sped up, or changed the pitch of your voice. I went to Syracuse University for college and majored in English. I loved reading and still really do, but I realized I was spending all my free time in studios recording my friend's bands (or recording myself), and that working with audio might be a good career path. I'd always been interested in creative writing, but I thought it might be good to develop a more technical skill or trade that I could have on the side while writing. I ended up really enjoying working with audio and I decided to make that my primary creative and career pursuit. After school I moved to New York City. I interned, I did some odd jobs, I worked at an Apple store, and I eventually got my first job in the sound industry at Soundsnap, a commercial sound effects library. I did that full time for about two years and then transitioned to working there part time while making more time for freelance work, sound engineering, and working on my own podcast on the side. That's where I'm at now. Aaron: You met Marc (the other half of Dead Signals) in college? Dan: Yeah, Marc and I met his senior year and my post-senior year. I stayed after I graduated to do a fellowship in audio engineering and sound design. One of the cool things about Syracuse is they have this program where if you get to the end of your four years and you decide you want to do something different than what you studied, you can apply for a fellowship that will let you stay an extra year. You basically get a free year of credits that you can do what you want with. I did that after I finished studying English so I could build up my portfolio and get some more one-on-one mentoring strictly with audio stuff. That's where Marc and I met. Aaron: Then you guys formed Dead Signals Productions. Dan: We formed Dead Signals this time last year. Marc came and visited me in New York and we were talking about ideas we had. The project we worked on together in college was Marc's senior thesis project, a radio play he wrote and produced. I was just acting in it, playing the lead. More recently, starting last year, was when we started collaborating and both giving equal input for the project. Recording Radio Drama Podcasts Aaron: Let's talk about Archive 81 and Deep Vault, the recording process and the tools you use to handle the editing. Marc said you guys recorded Archive 81 in a bedroom. Do you remember which mic you used for that? Dan: It was the Sennheiser MKH 8040. I got this mic because it's a really good all-purpose sound design mic. It's good for all-purpose folio recording, like footsteps, fabric movements, and every day objects you want to record. It's also really good for ambient field recording. We recorded the dialog with this mic and another mic called a Sennheiser MKH30, which is a bi-directional stereo mic. The two of these things together form a really good pair for mid-side stereo recording. What I was really interested in when I bought these mics was, one, it was the best deal I found on eBay, and two, I was interested in doing more ambient field recording. Living in New York City there's so many interesting sounds everywhere. There are neighborhoods, parks, and subways. You can turn a corner and be in an entirely different sonic landscape than you were just in. I wanted something that was good for capturing my environment, but when it came down to produce Archive 81, after doing some tests, we realized that these mics would work just as well for dialog recording. I personally would have liked to use a wider diaphragm AKG microphone, but I still think the mics we used worked well for recording dialog. It's good gear and it's what we had available at the time. Aaron: I know a lot of podcasters who use $60 or $70 USB mics and there's a big difference in quality between those and the MKH. What do they run used, close to $1,000? Dan: Close to $1,000. The mic I'm on right now goes for about $1,200 new, but I'm a big Craigslist and eBay deal-hunter. When I was first getting into audio, one of the best pieces of advice I got was when I was talking to someone five years my senior who's successful and established in the music production scene here in New York. He said: Don't buy your gear new. Even if you buy the best gear used, it'll still last you forever. He told me, “I've made a spreadsheet of every piece of equipment I've purchased from when I first started out. Collectively I've saved about $30,000.” That really stuck with me, so now I only buy used gear. I got the mic I'm talking on now for about half of what it would cost new. Aaron: I'm currently on a Shure BETA 87A, which costs $250 new and I think I paid $120 for it used at Guitar Center and it's an awesome sounding mic for podcasting. Dan: I like the richness of it. In general, I really like dynamic mics for podcasts. I like the rich low end and the proximity effect you can get. I use the mics I use because I want to have a lot of applications for things like sound design and field recording, but I don't want to make it seem like you have to buy a $700 or $1,000 microphone. I've seen people get fantastic results with an SM58, which I use when I do event recording gigs. You can get one of those used on Craigslist for $50 in most cases. In many cases, it's probably more ideal if you're at home instead of a treated acoustic space because dynamic microphones do a better job of isolating the sound source and not picking up your refrigerator, your roommate, or your neighbors yelling at each other. Aaron: I agree. I love the large diaphragm condensers, but you do need a quiet, treated room to make them sound good and not pick up a bunch of sound. Alright; let's talk about sound design. Here's a clip of episode one of Deep Vault, which has some dialog with some reverb on. I wanted to ask you about that, and about the part in the music where the footsteps transition into the beat of the song. First, let's talk about the ambience and reverb you used. As I'm listening to it, there's some kind of ambient sound in that. I'm not sure if it's reverb in the space you recorded it in or if it's reverb you added afterward. There's also an air conditioning kind of “swoosh” background ambience. Can you describe how you achieved those effects? Dan: None of that reverb is natural. It's all added in post. I exclusively use impulse response reverb, which is basically the ability to capture the sonic snapshot of a real, indoor space by going in and blasting a sign wave or white noise in it and then recording the echo that comes afterwards, then notching out the original sign wave in post. This gives a ghost emanation of what a space actually sounds like. There's two reverbs fading out and in. There's the outdoor reverb, which I have a light touch on. It's meant to evoke the sense that the space is outdoors and then there's the echo-y underground reverb of the vault they're about to go into. If you listen prior to them entering the vault, you can hear how it evolves from one space to another. I think very visually when I'm working on it. I've said this a lot in various interviews, but because I'm working with Marc on the scripts from the beginning, I don't really think of this as post production. I'm always thinking about space and sonics as I'm reading the first draft of a show. I usually visually map out or make a flow chart of what the space looks like and how things need to transition from one stage to another. That helps me focus better. In the background, we have a desert ambient sound. It's a field recording of a desert that's near an urban area. You have some wind and outdoor air atmosphere, called the air tone, which is the outdoor equivalent of a room tone. If you search Soundsnap for air tone, you'll find a bunch of ambient recordings of outdoor air spaces that don't have crowds, people, or traffic. It's more a general wash like you hear in that clip. There's the air tone and then there's the vault sounds—the ambient sounds of the space they're going into, which is a field recording by a field recordist named Stephan March. I think it's some recordings of some abandoned bomb shelters on the Danish coast. It's some industrial room tones with some distant waves, but they have an underground low-fi industrial roominess to them. Those things blend together to create the atmosphere of the vault. Aaron: I'm embarrassed to say it now, but I was thinking these were effects you could achieve with something like the reverbs that come with ProTools or Logic Pro X. What program do you use to do all this stuff with? Dan: I use ProTools for editing, mixing, and basic sound effect placement. For what's referred to as composite sound effects design—designing a sound effect that needs a lot more depth to it than what you can pull from a library as is—I use Logic. I do that for two reasons. One, I think it's good to have separation between sound effect editing and show editing. I like to be in two different programs when I'm creating the sound of a robot or a door and when I'm editing the show. Having the different software environment helps to streamline that. The other reason is, though I do think ProTools is great, I think it's very flawed for making things creatively from scratch. I would never write a song or demo a song in ProTools because I don't think the user experience is tailored toward composition, whether that's composing a song or compositing a sound effect from scratch. It's great for editing and taking material that's aesthetically already done—like you recording a guitar through an amp—but if you're trying to dial in the tone of a guitar, I prefer to use Logic, something a little more built for making music from scratch. For this scene, I used pretty much all ProTools because I wasn't designing anything beyond simply layering things together and the reverb that goes along with that. I wrote the music in Logic. Dan's Favorite Editing Programs and Plugins Aaron: Are there any stock plugins you use inside of Logic or do you have any favorites? Dan: I use Logic's modular synth plugin, the ES2, a lot because I know it really well. It has a very particular sound but I've been using it for many years, and I can dial in the sound I want pretty quickly with it. I probably should learn some more synth plugins so I don't get set in my ways. Aaron: What about reverb or special effects? I know there's like 50 stock plugins inside Logic. Dan: Space Designer Plugin for Logic Pro X is incredible. It's a great impulse response reverb plugin. I use Waves IR1 for the reverb in this scene, but it could have as easily been achieved with the stock Logic Space Designer plugin, probably easier even, because they have a larger native sample library. Any sound designer you talk to will say that Space Designer is the best free stock plugin of anything. That's a big one. There aren't a lot of other stock Logic plugins I use for sound design in terms of compositing. Although I do really like the basic Chorus and Phaser modulation stuff for voice processing for robot voices. Aaron: You wrote the music for the show. Is the music going to be available somewhere else later? Dan: Marc and I would really like to release an album of the music from our shows. It's something we want to do and there's a few reasons we haven't done it yet. One reason is time. I'm very skittish about making sure everything is mixed properly. I wouldn't want to release the music stand alone unless I was absolutely sure it was put together well. The other reason is that I write most of the music for our shows, but we do have some songs that are done with side collaborators and I would want to make sure it's done legally and copywrite-wise we were in the clear. I want to sign some kind of licensing or formal distribution agreement to make sure everyone is happy money-wise. The song from episode one was me ripping off Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. I'm a big fan of their scoring work. Music & Sound Effect Creation for Podcasts Aaron: Let's talk about how you achieved that effect for the song in the sample clip I played earlier. I'm guessing you had the sound of the footsteps on a ladder. Is that something you recorded yourself or is that something you got out of the sound library? Dan: I used several different libraries for that. There's a mixture of some simulated ladder movement in there, like arms reaching and hands grabbing the rungs of the ladder. There's also some pure metal footsteps in there. When I was originally putting that together, there were six or seven tracks, three of which were cloth movements and body motions and three of which were footsteps. Some were more foregrounded, like when one character named Jeremy is counting his steps. His footsteps are louder because he's drawing attention to the fact that he's counting them. The others are more off to the side to evoke the sense of space and depth, because presumably, they're going down a circular enclosure to a vault. That was a real pain to put together. Aaron: I can't believe you recorded clothes rustling to make this realistic. Dan: I can't speak to film, tv, or video, but part of what makes the footsteps convincing in audio dramas is the footsteps being good, but also having cloth movement and fabric rustling. Aaron: With headphones and soundscapes, you have left and right channels, obviously. What do you do when you're trying to make something seem like it's coming from above or below. Is there any way to achieve that affect? Dan: In episode two of Deep Vault, where two characters crash through the floor of the room their in, they're down there for a bit, and then you hear them crawling up through the crash hole to the other characters that are above them. I think it worked pretty well. I think the sequence of the narrative and that you hear them crash through the floor first and the space change around them helps to establish that. It's just a matter of having more reverb and/or more delay on the voices that are further away than the voices that are close to you. I'm still figuring out what my philosophy on panning things is for the Deep Vault. It's an ensemble cast with four actors talking at once, I have them panned around the clock—some are hard left, some are hard right, and some are close to the center. Usually if characters are interrogating or trying to get information from another character or recording, I'll try to have whatever recording or character they're talking to in the center to give the sense that they're gathered around this new source of information they're trying to learn. As far as making things sound far away or from above or below, it's a matter of adding more reverb to the things that are farther away and hoping the sense of space translates. Aaron: I think it does most of the time, but it's something I'm curious about. I'm thinking about the future with virtual reality and how they're going to handle the different angles of sound. Have you had a chance to try VR yet? Dan: No, but I have some friends who told me I need to do it and I really want to. I have some friends who say Google Cardboard alone is incredible. I'm curious what that technology is like, but also what it's going to mean for sound. I'm curious what sound for VR is going to be like and how it's going to differ from the old guard, but also how it's going to use some of the same techniques to make a realistic experience. Aaron: I used the equivalent to Google Cardboard, not even one of the great ones, and it blew my mind. It's going to be a game-changer. Maybe we'll both have future careers in sound design for VR applications. Dan: I'm just trying to stay ahead with what's new for sound design because I'm afraid of being replaced by robots. It's something I think about regularly. Am I doing something that will still be done by a human in 20 years? I feel ok about it most of the time, but you never know. Aaron: I like to think that you'll still have a job because you're being creative and you're doing things that take a human. I guess we'll see. Let's talk about then music a little more. You did this transition where you have this music playing over the sound of the footsteps, and the footsteps blend into the beat of the music. Did you write the beat first? Were you listening to the pattern of the footsteps or did you go back and match those things up later? Dan: They were matched up later, but my choice of percussion samples definitely made them more easily blendable. With the exception of the kick drum, which is more of a classic, electronic bass-pulse kick drum, everything else is found percussion—everyday objects being tapped on. Things like chairs, bags, or plastic silverware. I like working with low-fi sound percussion samples. I think the fact the percussion track in the song isn't a real snare drum recorded in a studio helps serve as the connective tissue between the footsteps and their percussiveness and the song's percussion, and it's driving the melody forward. The hardest part of any narrative creative medium is the transition between two parts. It glues two things together that work well on their own. Sonically, that could be a good example of choosing the right percussion sample in the context of this being a score rather than a stand alone song. Perhaps if this was just a song released on an EP and it wasn't meant to score anything, it would sound better with a non-found percussion or some other type of sound. Sound Proofing vs. Sound Treatment for Podcasts Aaron: Let's jump into some mistakes or hard times you came across when you started doing Archive 81 and the Deep Vault. What are some of the things you struggled with? Dan: I do have one thing about recording in a bedroom. The bedroom we recorded in sounded really good as far as bedrooms go, but we had only ever tested the sound in the room at night when everyone else in the house was really quiet. When it came to production time, we were recording during the three most blizzardy weeks in January when every person was holed up in their apartment in New York City. Above my friend's bedroom is a family with five teenagers, so we had to pause all the time because there were so many footsteps, running water, and cooking sounds. We didn't plan for all of that. I realized that, even though acoustically the room sounded very good, there was no isolation from what's above and outside. That was definitely an error I made in trying to plan the space. The next time, we paid for a real studio, because as cool as it is to record in a good-sounding bedroom for free, it's worth that money to not have to stop every take for outside noise. When you're pausing takes like that for noise coming from upstairs or outside, you're losing the groove you have with the actors. The actors might move around if you have to wait for 10 minutes between a scene and you might have to reset levels, which makes it harder to set levels in post and mix. That was a real learning experience. Make sure you understand what's happening in your environment before you choose a space to record in. Aaron: That applies to regular podcasting too. Someone asked me the other day, “How do I soundproof my room?” They're actually asking two different questions: “How do I make the sound of my room less noisy?” and, “How do I keep outside noise from coming in?” First, you have to stop noise from computers, air conditioners, refrigerators, and the sound of your voice from bouncing off the walls and being recorded by your mic. Then you have to soundproof the room so that the external sounds aren't picked up by your mic. For me, I have three windows directly in front of me and it's an old house, so the windows aren't soundproof at all. If someone was running a lawn mower outside of my window, everyone would hear it. Soundproofing is making sure noises from outside don't come in. Sound treatment is making sure there aren't noises inside your room causing problems in your audio. Know Your Limits Aaron: Any other mistakes or things that stood out throughout this process? Dan: There are so many. The question is what's a useful mistake to talk about, and what's one I perpetually torture myself about at night? I'll talk about casting. With Archive 81, we didn't have a system for how we went about casting it. We put the character notices out on Craigslist one at a time and auditioned and chose people piecemeal. It worked out for the most part, but there were some characters where we were in a real bind because we didn't have enough people in time, so we had to choose the best option. I would have liked to have more options. I pretty much did all the casting for the first season and I didn't go about it systematically, so for the Deep Vault, I wanted to make sure I did it more systematically. I spent a whole weekend auditioning people and planned in advance the characters they were auditioning for and allot time slots throughout the day so I could do it all at once. That was good and it was organized, but I packed too many people in one weekend, so by Sunday afternoon it was too much. I'm pretty introverted by nature and I think I chose my line of work in the technical side of audio production because a lot of times, it's just you and the machine. You do need other skills and to be able to talk to people professionally, but you also spend a lot of time alone, which I'm fine with. I definitely love socialising, like on this interview, but I'll be glad to go back to my little audio hole. That Sunday after three eight-hour days of auditioning and reading lines in character for these people, I was totally depleted. I think I've learned I need to be more systematic about it, but that I also need to spread it out over a few weekends in advance as opposed to trying to do it all in one weekend. Aaron: I'm a productivity nerd when it comes to planning out my days and making sure I have stuff to do. There's a lot I want to accomplish, but when you first get into that, you tend to overestimate what you can accomplish. You think you can do meaningful work for 12 or 14 hours and you don't realize that you can take on too much and say yes to too many things. Half way through, you've given it all you have for six hours and you're worn out and you feel guilty because you didn't do all the things you said you were going to do. It's good to plan and try that stuff so that you know next time not to plan 12 hours of work for both Saturday and Sunday. Maybe you can do that, but you don't know until you try. Start by planning and make notes about how it goes and you'll have a better understanding about yourself and your stamina for the next time. Dan: That speaks to the more general philosophy that doing it is the only way you'll know what your own patterns are, what works for you, and what doesn't work for you. Be open to some trial and error for your own personal workflow. It's easy to look up to certain human accomplishments and think, “This great musician practiced for 12 hours a day, so I must have to do that to be the Rachmaninoff of podcasting,” but at the same time, there are successful and accomplished people who have more human and normal working hour regimens. Trent Reznor is one of those people and it's obvious from his output that he's someone who never stops working. That works for him, but some people need more time to unwind and not get burnt out on things. Dan's Advice for Aspiring Podcasters Aaron: What kind of advice or tips would you give to someone who's interested in doing something like Archive 81 or Deep Vault—a found sound or radio drama podcast? I've noticed in the last year or two they're skyrocketing in terms of popularity. I think there's a lot of people who might be turning the idea over in their mind. What would you say to those people? Dan: The first thing is the writing and acting has to be really good. Have people you can trust give you feedback and critique who you can run things by. If the source material and story doesn't work, then everything that follows isn't going to work either. If you've never done a podcast before, be prepared for many ours of sedentary work. Doing this kind of work takes a lot time and it's a lot of time you have to spend alone in front of a computer. I lost count of the number of times this summer my friends said, “Hey, we're going to the beach. Want to come?” or other things I wanted to do and I had to blow them off because I was editing or doing revisions. Be prepared for that and make sure you're ok with that. If you need a lot of time outside of the house and you really need a social life, maybe this particular kind of podcasting isn't right for you. Interviewing is a very different thing. I don't like to be preachy about exercise, but I do think it's good to exercise if you're doing sedentary creative work because it makes the mind work better and for me, it puts me more at ease. Aaron: I'm with you on that, so two out of two podcasters recommend exercise and good sleep. Dan: Go out there and do it. Work hard and tell the story you want to tell. Don't make anything because you think it'll sell or bring an audience. Marc and I made Archive 81 because we thought it was a cool idea. What you make should be in conversation with your audience, but don't make something just because you think it'll get a lot of downloads. I still feel like I'm learning a lot and trying to figure all this stuff out. Keep an open mind and stay open to learning new things as you go along. I still study sound design with a mentor because there's always new levels I can push myself towards and I don't want to get too comfortable. Sound Design Resources Aaron: Are there any books, websites, or online courses for someone who's a total beginner, or someone like me who is relatively familiar with recording, mixing, and producing music and podcasts but hasn't really gotten into sound design? Dan: Transom.org is a great resource. Although it is geared towards beginners in radio and podcasting, I still find articles on there I can learn from. I think it has a good intro overview to things like sound design. I can't name anything specific, but for a few years now, when I want to learn more about a subject, I find someone I like and relate to who's established in that field and I reach out to them asking for some one-on-one mentoring lessons. That's something I think is worth paying for. Most people will take $50 for a few hours to talk about it. No matter what artistic discipline you're in, it's helpful to find people who are established in your field, reach out to them, and ask for some direct advice. That's what's been the most helpful for me. If there's a sound designer, composer, or radio producer you admire, reach out and see if that's an option. I don't think Ira Glass is capable of doing private lessons with as busy as he is, but I'm sure there are other people who are really good at what they do who are capable. Aaron: There's people at all different levels on this journey. We're talking about audio specifically, but it's true for anything. There are famous people you've heard of and then there's people in the middle who have more experience than you but maybe aren't quite so famous yet. Surrounding yourself with people who share your passion and interests on your skill level is great, but try reaching out and offering to pay for some consulting. Chances are they like talking about that stuff, but it is good to pay people for their time. That makes sure they're invested and they're not feeling like you're taking advantage of their time. Audio engineers have to make money to buy gear! Field Recording Gear and Tips for Podcasters Aaron: Diana asks, “What's your setup for mobile recording?” She's about to start a podcast and will be doing some traveling. I know there are times where you take microphones out into the real world to do field recordings. What's your setup? Is it the same mics and a portable recording device? Dan: A Sennheiser MD421 or a Shure SM58 will work great because most dynamic microphones are good at sound isolation. Another good option to consider would be the Sennheiser ME66 Shotgun Mic, which is a great short shotgun microphone. That's good for both ambient sound and interview recordings in a live setting. It's in the $200 to $300 range and you can find it on eBay, Craigslist, Guitar Center, or Reverb.com for much cheaper. Aaron: What device do you record into? Dan: The Zoom H5 or H6 is a fantastic piece of recording equipment. You can find that new for $300 or used for way less. It's a solid improvement over the H4N in many ways. There's less handling noise, it's less noisy, and the majority of people looking into podcasting would do great with one of those. Aaron: I think this is a situation a lot of people will get in. When you're out and about and recording, you have to think about the noise in the room and the ambient noise, and if there's a possibility of a lot of noise where you are. Coffee shops and crowded restaurants aren't going to be great for getting clean audio. You'll also want to set input gain levels correctly, so you can be sure the levels coming into the microphone doesn't hit zero and clip. You want to keep the highest peaks coming in around -12 DB. What's your thought on that? What do you aim for? Dan: I aim for -12 to -6 at absolute highest for both studio and in the field. I always stuck by that as universal truth of audio, but when I was doing some sound design training this summer with the person I was mentoring under, for sound effects recording, he was advising me to capture things at as high of a signal level as possible without clipping. Being able to focus and isolate the sound source that way really is much more beneficial when you're trying to make a sound effect at non-dialog level. Aaron: Did you have limiters on in that situation? Dan: I usually keep the limiters on, but I try not to hit them. I record on my rooftop a lot. Sometimes I get up at 6am and record the morning rush as it starts to unfold and I usually need the limiters to catch a truck horn or a plane that flies overhead. If you're in a noisy environment, that's another good case for using a dynamic microphone because it does isolate the sound source pretty well. When I was in school, I did a student radio project for a radio podcast production class where I was riding the campus buses and I was on one of those buses on a Friday night when it was filled with drunk kids going from one frat house to another. You can imagine how quiet that was. I was using a dynamic mic and it worked pretty well when I was cutting the interviews together. It had that loud, crazy ambience in the background, but if I held it pretty close to the speaker, I could still isolate them in a way that worked for the final product. Think about how the ambience and background noise where you're recording can contribute to the story and the feel of your whole piece. Dan: With all the woes that came with recording Archive 81 in a bedroom with loud upstairs neighbors, I do think the fact that it felt like an apartment helped the actors get the vibe. I'm not sure how much of that translated sonically, because it's hard for me to be objective about it at this point, but I do think that background worked for that piece. In theory, I would like to do more location recording for audio dramas. If something takes place on a busy street corner, I'd like to get out there with a more formal production sound rig and record it, but Marc and I work at a pretty intense pace and it's not always easy to coordinate that. Many times it makes the most sense to do it in the studio and create the atmosphere after the fact, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't. Aaron: Do what your gut says and plan for it. Last week, Marc said one of the hardest thing for him is the time constraints. I definitely feel that too. My podcast isn't anything complicated but it still takes a few hours to produce. When you have a full-time job, other projects, and people you want to hang out with, you really have to focus on what you want to say yes to and what you have to say no to. _Huge thanks to Dan and Marc for taking time out of their busy schedules to talk with me. If you've enjoyed these interviews, head over to their Patreon page and support these guys. Links: Dead Signals Productions Archive 81 Deep Vault Podcast: https://podcastingwithaaron.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/aaronpodcasting Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/aarondowd Blog: https://www.aarondowd.com Recommended Gear: https://kit.co/PodcastingwithAaron

Dan Powell is one half of Dead Signals Production, creator of the popular Archive 81 and Deep Vault found sound, radio drama podcasts.In this episode, we talk about his recording process, how he designs sound, and his editing process. He shares some of the hurdles he overcame while producing podcasts and what advice he’d give to anyone interested in making a modern radio drama.Key Takeaways:Don’t buy your gear new—if you buy the best gear used, it’ll last you forever.The hardest part of any narrative creative medium is the transition between two parts.Make sure you understand what’s happening in your environment before you choose a space to record in.What you make should be in conversation with your audience, but don’t make something just because it’ll get a lot of downloads.Find people who are established in your field, reach out to them, and ask for some direct advice.Think about how the ambience and background noise where you’re recording can contribute to the story and the feel of your whole piece.Aaron: Hey Dan, thanks for joining me today. Tell me a little bit about yourself—where you’re from and where you are now. Maybe a little bit about what your path to audio and podcasting has looked like over the course of your life.Dan: I was born in Rome, Georgia and I was there until I was about 18. It was a medium/small size town in the middle of the woods. I spent a lot of time by myself alone with my thoughts, which is probably what caused me to gravitate to sci-fi, horror, and secular fiction. I began making radio dramas at the age of eight or nine. I used Window 95 Sound Recorder to make these one-man shows.Sometimes it would be me and sometimes it would be my friends, and we would get in front of a microphone and see what happened. That’s really what introduced me to audio editing and creative sound design. From an early age, I was interested in what would happen if you slowed down, sped up, or changed the pitch of your voice.I went to Syracuse University for college and majored in English. I loved reading and still really do, but I realized I was spending all my free time in studios recording my friend’s bands (or recording myself), and that working with audio might be a good career path. I’d always been interested in creative writing, but I thought it might be good to develop a more technical skill or trade that I could have on the side while writing.I ended up really enjoying working with audio and I decided to make that my primary creative and career pursuit. After school I moved to New York City. I interned, I did some odd jobs, I worked at an Apple store, and I eventually got my first job in the sound industry at Soundsnap, a commercial sound effects library. I did that full time for about two years and then transitioned to working there part time while making more time for freelance work, sound engineering, and working on my own podcast on the side. That’s where I’m at now.Aaron: You met Marc (the other half of Dead Signals) in college?Dan: Yeah, Marc and I met his senior year and my post-senior year. I stayed after I graduated to do a fellowship in audio engineering and sound design. One of the cool things about Syracuse is they have this program where if you get to the end of your four years and you decide you want to do something different than what you studied, you can apply for a fellowship that will let you stay an extra year. You basically get a free year of credits that you can do what you want with. I did that after I finished studying English so I could build up my portfolio and get some more one-on-one mentoring strictly with audio stuff. That’s where Marc and I met.Aaron: Then you guys formed Dead Signals Productions.Dan: We formed Dead Signals this time last year. Marc came and visited me in New York and we were talking about ideas we had. The project we worked on together in college was Marc’s senior thesis project, a radio play he wrote and produced. I was just acting in it, playing the lead. More recently, starting last year, was when we started collaborating and both giving equal input for the project.Recording Radio Drama PodcastsAaron: Let’s talk about Archive 81 and Deep Vault, the recording process and the tools you use to handle the editing. Marc said you guys recorded Archive 81 in a bedroom. Do you remember which mic you used for that?Dan: It was the Sennheiser MKH 8040. I got this mic because it’s a really good all-purpose sound design mic. It’s good for all-purpose folio recording, like footsteps, fabric movements, and every day objects you want to record. It’s also really good for ambient field recording. We recorded the dialog with this mic and another mic called a Sennheiser MKH30, which is a bi-directional stereo mic. The two of these things together form a really good pair for mid-side stereo recording.What I was really interested in when I bought these mics was, one, it was the best deal I found on eBay, and two, I was interested in doing more ambient field recording. Living in New York City there’s so many interesting sounds everywhere. There are neighborhoods, parks, and subways. You can turn a corner and be in an entirely different sonic landscape than you were just in.I wanted something that was good for capturing my environment, but when it came down to produce Archive 81, after doing some tests, we realized that these mics would work just as well for dialog recording. I personally would have liked to use a wider diaphragm AKG microphone, but I still think the mics we used worked well for recording dialog. It’s good gear and it’s what we had available at the time.Aaron: I know a lot of podcasters who use $60 or $70 USB mics and there’s a big difference in quality between those and the MKH. What do they run used, close to $1,000?Dan: Close to $1,000. The mic I’m on right now goes for about $1,200 new, but I’m a big Craigslist and eBay deal-hunter. When I was first getting into audio, one of the best pieces of advice I got was when I was talking to someone five years my senior who’s successful and established in the music production scene here in New York. He said:Don’t buy your gear new. Even if you buy the best gear used, it’ll still last you forever.He told me, “I’ve made a spreadsheet of every piece of equipment I’ve purchased from when I first started out. Collectively I’ve saved about $30,000.” That really stuck with me, so now I only buy used gear. I got the mic I’m talking on now for about half of what it would cost new.Aaron: I’m currently on a Shure BETA 87A, which costs $250 new and I think I paid $120 for it used at Guitar Center and it’s an awesome sounding mic for podcasting.Dan: I like the richness of it. In general, I really like dynamic mics for podcasts. I like the rich low end and the proximity effect you can get. I use the mics I use because I want to have a lot of applications for things like sound design and field recording, but I don’t want to make it seem like you have to buy a $700 or $1,000 microphone. I’ve seen people get fantastic results with an SM58, which I use when I do event recording gigs. You can get one of those used on Craigslist for $50 in most cases. In many cases, it’s probably more ideal if you’re at home instead of a treated acoustic space because dynamic microphones do a better job of isolating the sound source and not picking up your refrigerator, your roommate, or your neighbors yelling at each other.Aaron: I agree. I love the large diaphragm condensers, but you do need a quiet, treated room to make them sound good and not pick up a bunch of sound. Alright; let’s talk about sound design. Here’s a clip of episode one of Deep Vault, which has some dialog with some reverb on. I wanted to ask you about that, and about the part in the music where the footsteps transition into the beat of the song.First, let’s talk about the ambience and reverb you used. As I’m listening to it, there’s some kind of ambient sound in that. I’m not sure if it’s reverb in the space you recorded it in or if it’s reverb you added afterward. There’s also an air conditioning kind of “swoosh” background ambience. Can you describe how you achieved those effects?Dan: None of that reverb is natural. It’s all added in post. I exclusively use impulse response reverb, which is basically the ability to capture the sonic snapshot of a real, indoor space by going in and blasting a sign wave or white noise in it and then recording the echo that comes afterwards, then notching out the original sign wave in post. This gives a ghost emanation of what a space actually sounds like.There’s two reverbs fading out and in. There’s the outdoor reverb, which I have a light touch on. It’s meant to evoke the sense that the space is outdoors and then there’s the echo-y underground reverb of the vault they’re about to go into. If you listen prior to them entering the vault, you can hear how it evolves from one space to another. I think very visually when I’m working on it. I’ve said this a lot in various interviews, but because I’m working with Marc on the scripts from the beginning, I don’t really think of this as post production.I’m always thinking about space and sonics as I’m reading the first draft of a show.I usually visually map out or make a flow chart of what the space looks like and how things need to transition from one stage to another. That helps me focus better. In the background, we have a desert ambient sound. It’s a field recording of a desert that’s near an urban area. You have some wind and outdoor air atmosphere, called the air tone, which is the outdoor equivalent of a room tone. If you search Soundsnap for air tone, you’ll find a bunch of ambient recordings of outdoor air spaces that don’t have crowds, people, or traffic.It’s more a general wash like you hear in that clip. There’s the air tone and then there’s the vault sounds—the ambient sounds of the space they’re going into, which is a field recording by a field recordist named Stephan March. I think it’s some recordings of some abandoned bomb shelters on the Danish coast. It’s some industrial room tones with some distant waves, but they have an underground low-fi industrial roominess to them. Those things blend together to create the atmosphere of the vault.Aaron: I’m embarrassed to say it now, but I was thinking these were effects you could achieve with something like the reverbs that come with ProTools or Logic Pro X. What program do you use to do all this stuff with?Dan: I use ProTools for editing, mixing, and basic sound effect placement. For what’s referred to as composite sound effects design—designing a sound effect that needs a lot more depth to it than what you can pull from a library as is—I use Logic. I do that for two reasons. One, I think it’s good to have separation between sound effect editing and show editing. I like to be in two different programs when I’m creating the sound of a robot or a door and when I’m editing the show. Having the different software environment helps to streamline that.The other reason is, though I do think ProTools is great, I think it’s very flawed for making things creatively from scratch. I would never write a song or demo a song in ProTools because I don’t think the user experience is tailored toward composition, whether that’s composing a song or compositing a sound effect from scratch.It’s great for editing and taking material that’s aesthetically already done—like you recording a guitar through an amp—but if you’re trying to dial in the tone of a guitar, I prefer to use Logic, something a little more built for making music from scratch. For this scene, I used pretty much all ProTools because I wasn’t designing anything beyond simply layering things together and the reverb that goes along with that. I wrote the music in Logic.Dan’s Favorite Editing Programs and PluginsAaron: Are there any stock plugins you use inside of Logic or do you have any favorites?Dan: I use Logic’s modular synth plugin, the ES2, a lot because I know it really well. It has a very particular sound but I’ve been using it for many years, and I can dial in the sound I want pretty quickly with it. I probably should learn some more synth plugins so I don’t get set in my ways.Aaron: What about reverb or special effects? I know there’s like 50 stock plugins inside Logic.Dan: Space Designer Plugin for Logic Pro X is incredible. It’s a great impulse response reverb plugin. I use Waves IR1 for the reverb in this scene, but it could have as easily been achieved with the stock Logic Space Designer plugin, probably easier even, because they have a larger native sample library. Any sound designer you talk to will say that Space Designer is the best free stock plugin of anything. That’s a big one. There aren’t a lot of other stock Logic plugins I use for sound design in terms of compositing. Although I do really like the basic Chorus and Phaser modulation stuff for voice processing for robot voices.Aaron: You wrote the music for the show. Is the music going to be available somewhere else later?Dan: Marc and I would really like to release an album of the music from our shows. It’s something we want to do and there’s a few reasons we haven’t done it yet. One reason is time. I’m very skittish about making sure everything is mixed properly. I wouldn’t want to release the music stand alone unless I was absolutely sure it was put together well. The other reason is that I write most of the music for our shows, but we do have some songs that are done with side collaborators and I would want to make sure it’s done legally and copywrite-wise we were in the clear. I want to sign some kind of licensing or formal distribution agreement to make sure everyone is happy money-wise. The song from episode one was me ripping off Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. I’m a big fan of their scoring work.Music & Sound Effect Creation for PodcastsAaron: Let’s talk about how you achieved that effect for the song in the sample clip I played earlier. I’m guessing you had the sound of the footsteps on a ladder. Is that something you recorded yourself or is that something you got out of the sound library?Dan: I used several different libraries for that. There’s a mixture of some simulated ladder movement in there, like arms reaching and hands grabbing the rungs of the ladder. There’s also some pure metal footsteps in there. When I was originally putting that together, there were six or seven tracks, three of which were cloth movements and body motions and three of which were footsteps.Some were more foregrounded, like when one character named Jeremy is counting his steps. His footsteps are louder because he’s drawing attention to the fact that he’s counting them. The others are more off to the side to evoke the sense of space and depth, because presumably, they’re going down a circular enclosure to a vault. That was a real pain to put together.Aaron: I can’t believe you recorded clothes rustling to make this realistic.Dan: I can’t speak to film, tv, or video, but part of what makes the footsteps convincing in audio dramas is the footsteps being good, but also having cloth movement and fabric rustling.Aaron: With headphones and soundscapes, you have left and right channels, obviously. What do you do when you’re trying to make something seem like it’s coming from above or below. Is there any way to achieve that affect?Dan: In episode two of Deep Vault, where two characters crash through the floor of the room their in, they’re down there for a bit, and then you hear them crawling up through the crash hole to the other characters that are above them. I think it worked pretty well. I think the sequence of the narrative and that you hear them crash through the floor first and the space change around them helps to establish that.It’s just a matter of having more reverb and/or more delay on the voices that are further away than the voices that are close to you. I’m still figuring out what my philosophy on panning things is for the Deep Vault. It’s an ensemble cast with four actors talking at once, I have them panned around the clock—some are hard left, some are hard right, and some are close to the center.Usually if characters are interrogating or trying to get information from another character or recording, I’ll try to have whatever recording or character they’re talking to in the center to give the sense that they’re gathered around this new source of information they’re trying to learn. As far as making things sound far away or from above or below, it’s a matter of adding more reverb to the things that are farther away and hoping the sense of space translates.Aaron: I think it does most of the time, but it’s something I’m curious about. I’m thinking about the future with virtual reality and how they’re going to handle the different angles of sound. Have you had a chance to try VR yet?Dan: No, but I have some friends who told me I need to do it and I really want to. I have some friends who say Google Cardboard alone is incredible. I’m curious what that technology is like, but also what it’s going to mean for sound. I’m curious what sound for VR is going to be like and how it’s going to differ from the old guard, but also how it’s going to use some of the same techniques to make a realistic experience.Aaron: I used the equivalent to Google Cardboard, not even one of the great ones, and it blew my mind. It’s going to be a game-changer. Maybe we’ll both have future careers in sound design for VR applications.Dan: I’m just trying to stay ahead with what’s new for sound design because I’m afraid of being replaced by robots. It’s something I think about regularly. Am I doing something that will still be done by a human in 20 years? I feel ok about it most of the time, but you never know.Aaron: I like to think that you’ll still have a job because you’re being creative and you’re doing things that take a human. I guess we’ll see.Let’s talk about then music a little more. You did this transition where you have this music playing over the sound of the footsteps, and the footsteps blend into the beat of the music. Did you write the beat first? Were you listening to the pattern of the footsteps or did you go back and match those things up later?Dan: They were matched up later, but my choice of percussion samples definitely made them more easily blendable. With the exception of the kick drum, which is more of a classic, electronic bass-pulse kick drum, everything else is found percussion—everyday objects being tapped on. Things like chairs, bags, or plastic silverware. I like working with low-fi sound percussion samples. I think the fact the percussion track in the song isn’t a real snare drum recorded in a studio helps serve as the connective tissue between the footsteps and their percussiveness and the song’s percussion, and it’s driving the melody forward.The hardest part of any narrative creative medium is the transition between two parts.It glues two things together that work well on their own. Sonically, that could be a good example of choosing the right percussion sample in the context of this being a score rather than a stand alone song. Perhaps if this was just a song released on an EP and it wasn’t meant to score anything, it would sound better with a non-found percussion or some other type of sound.Sound Proofing vs. Sound Treatment for PodcastsAaron: Let’s jump into some mistakes or hard times you came across when you started doing Archive 81 and the Deep Vault. What are some of the things you struggled with?Dan: I do have one thing about recording in a bedroom. The bedroom we recorded in sounded really good as far as bedrooms go, but we had only ever tested the sound in the room at night when everyone else in the house was really quiet.When it came to production time, we were recording during the three most blizzardy weeks in January when every person was holed up in their apartment in New York City. Above my friend’s bedroom is a family with five teenagers, so we had to pause all the time because there were so many footsteps, running water, and cooking sounds. We didn’t plan for all of that.I realized that, even though acoustically the room sounded very good, there was no isolation from what’s above and outside. That was definitely an error I made in trying to plan the space. The next time, we paid for a real studio, because as cool as it is to record in a good-sounding bedroom for free, it’s worth that money to not have to stop every take for outside noise.When you’re pausing takes like that for noise coming from upstairs or outside, you’re losing the groove you have with the actors. The actors might move around if you have to wait for 10 minutes between a scene and you might have to reset levels, which makes it harder to set levels in post and mix. That was a real learning experience.Make sure you understand what’s happening in your environment before you choose a space to record in.Aaron: That applies to regular podcasting too. Someone asked me the other day, “How do I soundproof my room?”They’re actually asking two different questions: “How do I make the sound of my room less noisy?” and, “How do I keep outside noise from coming in?” First, you have to stop noise from computers, air conditioners, refrigerators, and the sound of your voice from bouncing off the walls and being recorded by your mic. Then you have to soundproof the room so that the external sounds aren’t picked up by your mic. For me, I have three windows directly in front of me and it’s an old house, so the windows aren’t soundproof at all. If someone was running a lawn mower outside of my window, everyone would hear it.Soundproofing is making sure noises from outside don’t come in. Sound treatment is making sure there aren’t noises inside your room causing problems in your audio.Know Your LimitsAaron: Any other mistakes or things that stood out throughout this process?Dan: There are so many. The question is what’s a useful mistake to talk about, and what’s one I perpetually torture myself about at night? I’ll talk about casting. With Archive 81, we didn’t have a system for how we went about casting it. We put the character notices out on Craigslist one at a time and auditioned and chose people piecemeal. It worked out for the most part, but there were some characters where we were in a real bind because we didn’t have enough people in time, so we had to choose the best option. I would have liked to have more options.I pretty much did all the casting for the first season and I didn’t go about it systematically, so for the Deep Vault, I wanted to make sure I did it more systematically. I spent a whole weekend auditioning people and planned in advance the characters they were auditioning for and allot time slots throughout the day so I could do it all at once. That was good and it was organized, but I packed too many people in one weekend, so by Sunday afternoon it was too much.I’m pretty introverted by nature and I think I chose my line of work in the technical side of audio production because a lot of times, it’s just you and the machine. You do need other skills and to be able to talk to people professionally, but you also spend a lot of time alone, which I’m fine with. I definitely love socialising, like on this interview, but I’ll be glad to go back to my little audio hole.That Sunday after three eight-hour days of auditioning and reading lines in character for these people, I was totally depleted. I think I’ve learned I need to be more systematic about it, but that I also need to spread it out over a few weekends in advance as opposed to trying to do it all in one weekend.Aaron: I’m a productivity nerd when it comes to planning out my days and making sure I have stuff to do. There’s a lot I want to accomplish, but when you first get into that, you tend to overestimate what you can accomplish. You think you can do meaningful work for 12 or 14 hours and you don’t realize that you can take on too much and say yes to too many things.Half way through, you’ve given it all you have for six hours and you’re worn out and you feel guilty because you didn’t do all the things you said you were going to do. It’s good to plan and try that stuff so that you know next time not to plan 12 hours of work for both Saturday and Sunday. Maybe you can do that, but you don’t know until you try. Start by planning and make notes about how it goes and you’ll have a better understanding about yourself and your stamina for the next time.Dan: That speaks to the more general philosophy that doing it is the only way you’ll know what your own patterns are, what works for you, and what doesn’t work for you. Be open to some trial and error for your own personal workflow. It’s easy to look up to certain human accomplishments and think, “This great musician practiced for 12 hours a day, so I must have to do that to be the Rachmaninoff of podcasting,” but at the same time, there are successful and accomplished people who have more human and normal working hour regimens. Trent Reznor is one of those people and it’s obvious from his output that he’s someone who never stops working. That works for him, but some people need more time to unwind and not get burnt out on things.Dan’s Advice for Aspiring PodcastersAaron: What kind of advice or tips would you give to someone who’s interested in doing something like Archive 81 or Deep Vault—a found sound or radio drama podcast? I’ve noticed in the last year or two they’re skyrocketing in terms of popularity. I think there’s a lot of people who might be turning the idea over in their mind. What would you say to those people?Dan: The first thing is the writing and acting has to be really good. Have people you can trust give you feedback and critique who you can run things by. If the source material and story doesn’t work, then everything that follows isn’t going to work either. If you’ve never done a podcast before, be prepared for many ours of sedentary work. Doing this kind of work takes a lot time and it’s a lot of time you have to spend alone in front of a computer.I lost count of the number of times this summer my friends said, “Hey, we’re going to the beach. Want to come?” or other things I wanted to do and I had to blow them off because I was editing or doing revisions. Be prepared for that and make sure you’re ok with that.If you need a lot of time outside of the house and you really need a social life, maybe this particular kind of podcasting isn’t right for you. Interviewing is a very different thing. I don’t like to be preachy about exercise, but I do think it’s good to exercise if you’re doing sedentary creative work because it makes the mind work better and for me, it puts me more at ease.Aaron: I’m with you on that, so two out of two podcasters recommend exercise and good sleep.Dan: Go out there and do it. Work hard and tell the story you want to tell. Don’t make anything because you think it’ll sell or bring an audience. Marc and I made Archive 81 because we thought it was a cool idea.What you make should be in conversation with your audience, but don’t make something just because you think it’ll get a lot of downloads.I still feel like I’m learning a lot and trying to figure all this stuff out. Keep an open mind and stay open to learning new things as you go along. I still study sound design with a mentor because there’s always new levels I can push myself towards and I don’t want to get too comfortable.Sound Design ResourcesAaron: Are there any books, websites, or online courses for someone who’s a total beginner, or someone like me who is relatively familiar with recording, mixing, and producing music and podcasts but hasn’t really gotten into sound design?Dan: Transom.org is a great resource. Although it is geared towards beginners in radio and podcasting, I still find articles on there I can learn from. I think it has a good intro overview to things like sound design. I can’t name anything specific, but for a few years now, when I want to learn more about a subject, I find someone I like and relate to who’s established in that field and I reach out to them asking for some one-on-one mentoring lessons. That’s something I think is worth paying for. Most people will take $50 for a few hours to talk about it.No matter what artistic discipline you’re in, it’s helpful to find people who are established in your field, reach out to them, and ask for some direct advice.That’s what’s been the most helpful for me. If there’s a sound designer, composer, or radio producer you admire, reach out and see if that’s an option. I don’t think Ira Glass is capable of doing private lessons with as busy as he is, but I’m sure there are other people who are really good at what they do who are capable.Aaron: There’s people at all different levels on this journey. We’re talking about audio specifically, but it’s true for anything. There are famous people you’ve heard of and then there’s people in the middle who have more experience than you but maybe aren’t quite so famous yet. Surrounding yourself with people who share your passion and interests on your skill level is great, but try reaching out and offering to pay for some consulting.Chances are they like talking about that stuff, but it is good to pay people for their time. That makes sure they’re invested and they’re not feeling like you’re taking advantage of their time. Audio engineers have to make money to buy gear!Field Recording Gear and Tips for PodcastersAaron: Diana asks, “What’s your setup for mobile recording?” She’s about to start a podcast and will be doing some traveling. I know there are times where you take microphones out into the real world to do field recordings. What’s your setup? Is it the same mics and a portable recording device?Dan: A Sennheiser MD421 or a Shure SM58 will work great because most dynamic microphones are good at sound isolation.Another good option to consider would be the Sennheiser ME66 Shotgun Mic, which is a great short shotgun microphone. That’s good for both ambient sound and interview recordings in a live setting. It’s in the $200 to $300 range and you can find it on eBay, Craigslist, Guitar Center, or Reverb.com for much cheaper.Aaron: What device do you record into?Dan: The Zoom H5 or H6 is a fantastic piece of recording equipment. You can find that new for $300 or used for way less. It’s a solid improvement over the H4N in many ways. There’s less handling noise, it’s less noisy, and the majority of people looking into podcasting would do great with one of those.Aaron: I think this is a situation a lot of people will get in. When you’re out and about and recording, you have to think about the noise in the room and the ambient noise, and if there’s a possibility of a lot of noise where you are. Coffee shops and crowded restaurants aren’t going to be great for getting clean audio. You'll also want to set input gain levels correctly, so you can be sure the levels coming into the microphone doesn’t hit zero and clip. You want to keep the highest peaks coming in around -12 DB. What’s your thought on that? What do you aim for?Dan: I aim for -12 to -6 at absolute highest for both studio and in the field. I always stuck by that as universal truth of audio, but when I was doing some sound design training this summer with the person I was mentoring under, for sound effects recording, he was advising me to capture things at as high of a signal level as possible without clipping. Being able to focus and isolate the sound source that way really is much more beneficial when you’re trying to make a sound effect at non-dialog level.Aaron: Did you have limiters on in that situation?Dan: I usually keep the limiters on, but I try not to hit them. I record on my rooftop a lot. Sometimes I get up at 6am and record the morning rush as it starts to unfold and I usually need the limiters to catch a truck horn or a plane that flies overhead. If you’re in a noisy environment, that’s another good case for using a dynamic microphone because it does isolate the sound source pretty well.When I was in school, I did a student radio project for a radio podcast production class where I was riding the campus buses and I was on one of those buses on a Friday night when it was filled with drunk kids going from one frat house to another. You can imagine how quiet that was. I was using a dynamic mic and it worked pretty well when I was cutting the interviews together. It had that loud, crazy ambience in the background, but if I held it pretty close to the speaker, I could still isolate them in a way that worked for the final product.Think about how the ambience and background noise where you’re recording can contribute to the story and the feel of your whole piece.Dan: With all the woes that came with recording Archive 81 in a bedroom with loud upstairs neighbors, I do think the fact that it felt like an apartment helped the actors get the vibe. I’m not sure how much of that translated sonically, because it’s hard for me to be objective about it at this point, but I do think that background worked for that piece. In theory, I would like to do more location recording for audio dramas.If something takes place on a busy street corner, I’d like to get out there with a more formal production sound rig and record it, but Marc and I work at a pretty intense pace and it’s not always easy to coordinate that. Many times it makes the most sense to do it in the studio and create the atmosphere after the fact, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.Aaron: Do what your gut says and plan for it. Last week, Marc said one of the hardest thing for him is the time constraints. I definitely feel that too. My podcast isn’t anything complicated but it still takes a few hours to produce. When you have a full-time job, other projects, and people you want to hang out with, you really have to focus on what you want to say yes to and what you have to say no to._Huge thanks to Dan and Marc for taking time out of their busy schedules to talk with me. If you’ve enjoyed these interviews, head over to their Patreon page and support these guys.Links:Dead Signals ProductionsArchive 81Deep VaultPodcast: https://podcastingwithaaron.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/aaronpodcastingYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/aarondowdBlog: https://www.aarondowd.comRecommended Gear: https://kit.co/PodcastingwithAaron

Unless your entire cast are working remotely, you’re going to need a place to record your Audio Dramas. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ answer here, and there are a lot of factors that come into play. You’ll have many things to take into consideration regardless of where you plan to set up your ‘studio’, and that’s the purpose of this episode.Recording at HomeYou need to decide if you’re purely focused on recording voices, or if you’re working ‘around the mics’If it’s the former, you’ll want sound dampened conditions. This will benefit your audio quality in post-production.Are you setting up a permanent or semi-permanent studio?External walls can be an issue. Is your neighbour a drummer?Windows – do you have a busy road or environment outside?Does the floor creak when you walk around?Internal noise, are you in cupboard with boiler or gas meter?Other noises around the home, like the fridge. Try Ric Viers car keys tip.Equipment – Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, or for multiple actors, M-Audio M-Track 8, SM58 microphones.Field/Location RecordingThe great outsdoors are free to use. Working on location offers a great natural soundscape built in to your recordings.Choose sites with your ears, not your eyes.Take as many provisional sound samples as you can.Roads – look for natural barriers (trees, conifer hedgerows)Site visits – consider midweek and weekend differences.Weather – how exposed are you?Cheap or affordable gear – Zoom H1, ATR3350 lav mics (upgrade to Zoom H4 or recorder with ¼” inputs for more control)Hiring a Studio or Rehearsal SpaceCosts money, but can give session a sense of professionalism. What should you consider?Does it have a dead room or sound dampened conditions?Does hire include engineer?Does hire include equipment?Is there a band playing in the room next door?Equipment – vocal condenser micsOther OptionsSchool, college, community center, churchAlso mentioned in this episode.Alien: Out of the Shadows, We’re Alive: Lockdown, Archive 81, The Longest Podcast In The World.

For this SIDE QUEST, Keith and Neil try to stay on topic about Konami's recent escapades and Fallout 4, and answer what truly can be accomplished during a lunch break... Recorded on SM58's with a Zoom H5 for a change of pace.

Ryan sits down for a shootout between the Boss FRV-1, Catalinbread Topanga, Surfy Bear FET Reverb, and the SolidGoldFX Surf Rider.  Who will win in the battle for surf reverb drip?!!!Today's amp was a Fender Princeton Reverb RI mic'd with a SM57 and SM58. The guitar was a Hallmark Swept-Wing, and Ryan had eggs and potatoes for breakfast.Here's a view of the set up. http://i.imgur.com/rpc0nV8.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/VksvLth.jpg

Someone in a local music scene somewhere is always talking about how they watched band X grow, or how they've seen their music mature over the years. I'm not gonna be that guy. You've heard it all before.I knew John before I knew of his band Vasa. Our paths crossed when he was somehow added to the writing staff of Daily Dischord, a music website I used to (sorta still do?) run. I've seen him grow as a writer and over the years I guess his band have just always been there. Once I heard about his band, once I met the man himself, they seemed to be omnipresent in the Glasgow music scene and wherever his band was not, John was.I'm not going to talk about how much Vasa have changed since 2011. What I'm going to say is far more direct – their debut album ‘Colours' is a triumph. You'll hear us talk extensively about the record itself in the interview, but I think it's important to mention how interesting it is. It's dynamic, with huge production, odd and engaging arrangements, and with no shortage of hooks.Their ascension has been as well earned. Their star will, I think, continue to rise.This is the first interview I've ever conducted at home. I went mic to mic, breaking out the SM58 and leaving on the capsule mic for some ambience. There's weird noise in the background from time to time, and occasionally you can hear us laughing for what seems to be no reason – that's because my pet rabbit was out and about, causing trouble and generally being an adorable wee bastard.Highlights include: How he's waiting for the band to say something incredibly stupid in an interview Having been sitting on the album for ten months The reason Cynthia was added to the album Heavy, happy post rock Blaine as the primary songwriter Being heavier than most post rock bands Moving away from being a post rock band to just a general rock band And not being a math band The attraction to playing instrumental music stemming from hearing This Will Destroy You How Europe is so far ahead of the UK when it comes to playing shows and having friendly promoters with receptive crowds Shout out to Bloc in Glasgow for being one of the very few places that have a European style outlook on music – free entry, rider, food and payment Ruminating on why European shows are different from British ones John Niblock Loves Mudvayne (In a Non Ironic Way) Getting into bass, learning from Intronaut and Primus The John Niblock Toilet Graffiti Nexus and a shout out to Fecking Bahamas Why bass and not guitar Writing hooks in songs and how Blaine has a natural talent for writing them Asinine questions in interviews about the lack of vocalist and the origin of the name Where the drive to keep touring comes from Love for the new defunct The Darien Venture, Crusades and DIRTDRINKER The annoyance of not seeing bands fulfil their potential Being a relentless gobshite and talking to everyone The Creative Scotland application process The album recording process at The Ranch with Neil Kennedy and Daly George And my embarrassing bandsJohn's one of the easiest guys in the world to chat to and I think that come through in this interview. I hope you enjoy the episode.Featured MusicIntro: Voodoo Puppets – Electric Chair Blues (used under CC licence, you can check it out here).Vasa - The Angry DomeVasa - Ergonomic KeyboardVasa - Poseidon's KissLinksYou can buy their debut album over on their website. The vinyl is beautiful. Buy one.You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.Shoutouts to Bloc and Fecking Bahamas.Photo courtesy of Monster Sound Collective.You can see the John Niblock Toilet Graffiti Nexus here.Questions? Feedback?You can do either by dropping a comment in the comment box below.Or you can hit the contact link to show me some love by using the cool email form.Social MediaI'm on a few social media sites, so it'd be pretty handy if you could show me some love over there.Check out the Facebook page.Or you can get me on Twitter.Oh and seriously, rating and reviewing this podcast on iTunes would be amazing. New episode! I spoke to John from @vasaband about their debut album, Euro tour and bass inspiration: https://t.co/Ca7IoACWxi — The Curator Podcast (@thecuratorpod) October 29, 2015 Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey! Aaron from the future (2019) here. You can check out my updated gear guide at https://kit.com/thepodcastdude. There are a few things you’ll need to buy if you want your podcast to sound great. In this episode, I talk about why a great microphone is an essential investment for your show, and how much you’ll need to invest if you want your show to sound great and stand out from other podcasts. My goal was to create a comprehensive podcasting equipment guide for a beginner podcaster. I won't talk about every microphone, interface or pre-amp available, but I'll cover the essential pieces of gear you’ll need to get your show started. Podcasting Equipment Guide There are a lot of things you'll need to buy if you want to start a podcast. In this episode, I talk about why a great microphone is an essential investment for your show, and how much you'll need to invest if you want a great setup that will set you apart from other podcasters. My goal was to create a comprehensive podcasting equipment guide. I don't talk about every microphone, interface or pre-amp available, but I cover the essential pieces of gear you'll need to get started, and share what some of the best podcasters in the world are using to record shows. After listening, you'll know what the best options are for your budget. Key Takeaways: A great microphone is the most important piece of gear you'll buy. To stand out from other podcasts in a crowded market, you have to provide great content and high quality sound. Great sound quality makes your show easier and more enjoyable to listen to. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Make it a good one. If you have a tight budget, consider buying used gear online. When deciding which interface to buy, consider how many mic inputs you'll need. Always, always, always use a pop filter. Wear headphones to avoid causing echo from guests in your recording. If you're serious about making a great podcast and growing your audience, don't settle for the cheapest option. How to Stand Out in a Sea of Podcasts There are thousands of other podcasts vying for your listener's attention. To stand out, you have to provide great content, but you also need to have good sound. Great sound quality makes your show easier and more enjoyable to listen to. Attention to sound quality shows your listeners that you take podcasting seriously, which means they will take you seriously and be more likely to invest time listening to you. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Make it a good one. A Great Microphone Needs Less Post-Production Good mics require less post-production. Most recordings can be improved with post-production (noise removal, EQ, Compression, etc), but a great mic will require less post-production. If you're going to be podcasting, you can either hire someone to edit, mix, and master your show, or spend a little time to learn how to do it yourself. Cheaper mics just don't sound as good. They often have harsher high end, they sound brittle and don't have a good low-end (bass frequencies). A lot of people ask me, “What's the minimum I can spend to get started?” I don't want you to just meet the minimum. If you're going to do it, do it right. Get a great microphone as soon as possible. If you can't afford a decent mic, practice with what you have, but save money to get the mic you want. If You Have a Small Budget, Consider Buying Used Gear I understand that not everyone can spend $800 on a podcasting setup. When I started podcasting, I was using a Shure PG42 USB mic, but I wish I had invested in a better mic right away. If you have a small budget, I recommend checking out Guitar Center's used gear online, or checking your local music store for used gear. Make sure to save the receipts in case anything doesn't work, and make sure you buy from reputable sellers who offer returns if you're shopping on Ebay. If you have a tight budget, consider buying used gear online. Should I Buy a USB Mic, or a XLR Mic? One of the questions I often get asked about microphones is, “Should I get a USB mic, or an XLR mic?” If you're just starting out, and you want to spend the bare minimum, you can get a USB like the Audio Technica ATR-2100 ($60), or the Samson Q2U (also about $60). However, keep in mind that these are budget microphones, and will not give you great sound. Additionally, it's a pain in the butt to record multiple USB mics at the same, so if you plan on recording anyone else in the same place as you, go with XLR mics and an audio interface instead. If you want a good USB mic and are willing to spend a little more, check out the Rode NT USB mic. It's $170 but sounds noticably better than the cheaper USB mics. You'll also need to get a mic stand and a pop filter for each mic too: More on that a bit later. What about Dynamic vs Condenser? A dynamic mic will give you more mid-range warmth and has better off-mic noise rejection, so it won't pick up as much of the room sound or background noise. A condenser mic will give you more detailed recordings, but are often more sensitive than dynamic mics, so they may pick up more room echo and background noise. Dynamic microphones are usually a better choice for podcasting (there are a few exceptions, such as the Shure Beta 87A which is a condenser mic). If you're interested in learning more about dynamic vs condenser mics, check out 10 Statements on Condenser Microphones vs. Dynamic Microphones. The pickup pattern of the mic also affects how much background noise it'll record. Click here to learn more about microphone pickup patterns. XLR Microphones I love and recommend XLR microphones for podcasting. The microphone I use is the Shure Beta 87A. It's $250 new but you can find them used for less, and they sound great and pick up much less background noise then the other mics I've tested in that price range. If you're looking for an affordable XLR mic, you can't go wrong with a Shure SM57 or SM58. They sell new for $100, but you can find them used online for half that price. Pair a SM57 or SM58 with a simple USB interface (like the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2), and you've got a great sounding, affordable recording setup. Recording On the Go If you need to record with multiple microphones on the go, the Zoom H4N ($199) is a great option. This is a small, handheld device that has 2 microphone inputs plus a built-in condenser mic on top. If you need more than two mic inputs, get the Zoom H6 ($399) instead. The H6 has 4 mic inputs in addition to a built-in condenser mic on top. Lavaliere Mics I don't have much experience with using lav mics, but they're commonly used on stages, and they can work pretty well if you're out and about recording interviews. If you're looking for a lav mic you can use with your smartphone, check out the Rode Smartlav ($80), which is an affordable option for recording to an phone. I took a listen to the audio, and it wasn't as high quality as more expensive lav mics, but it's more affordable and convenient for mobile recordings. USB Audio Interfaces If you decide to get a XLR microphone, you will need an interface to convert the analog signal from the mic into a digital signal that your computer can record. Most interfaces connect to your computer via USB, and the smaller ones use USB for power as well. When deciding which interface to buy, consider how many mic inputs you'll need. Things to consider: How many mics will you be using at the same time? If you're just going to be recording yourself, an interface with one or two mic inputs will work fine. If you're going to be recording multiple people in the same room, you'll need an interface with four or maybe eight mic inputs. How many headphone monitoring channels will you need? Most interfaces offer one or two headphone monitoring ports (so you can listen to yourself while recording, or run your computers audio out through your interface). If you need more than one or two headphone jacks, you may want to invest in a headphone amp that you can plug additional headphone lines into. The audio interface that I'm using to record this episode is the Scarlett 2i2 ($149). It's USB powered, has two microphone inputs, and a single headphone jack. Quick note: most interfaces will give you phantom power (or 48v), which is used to power XLR condenser microphones. If you're using a dynamic microphone, you won't need to use phantom power (in fact, make sure it's turned off before you record). If you need more mic inputs (or headphone jacks), you'll want to go with the Scarlett 18i8 ($299). This has 4 mic inputs and 2 headphone jacks. If you need an interface with 8 mic inputs, get the Scarlett 18i20 ($350). Even though this interface has a higher price than the others I've listed so far, I wanted to mention the Apollo Twin Solo ($599). It's not cheap, and this model only has two mic inputs, but if you want to invest a little more money and get a fantastic interface, check it out. Cables, Stands, Pop Filters, and Other Accessories If you go with an XLR microphone, you'll need an XLR cable to connect your microphone to your interface. I use the Monoprice 15ft XLR Cable ($10). It's affordable and works great. You'll also need a mic stand. I use a normal microphone boom stand like the Samson Mic Stand ($20), which works fine for most mics. I would recommend the standard boom stand for most people, but if you want to invest a little more money and get something nice, you could go with the Heil Sound PL-2T Overhead Broadcast Boom ($120. This is a swiveling boom arm that attaches to your desk, and is very convenient for moving the mic around to any position you want. I recommend avoiding any stand that sits directly on your desk. They may cause your mic to pick up any vibrations (caused by typing or bumping the desk), which will cause thumps in your recordings. A shock mount for your mic might alleviate that, but I recommend using a standard boom stand or a boom arm instead. Always use a pop filter. A pop filter diffuses and prevents plosives and sibilants, and lets you get closer to the mic which will make your voice sound more rich and warm and gives a sense of intimacy to your recordings. The Nady Pop Filter is $10 on Amazon and is a no-brainer (pretty much any pop filter will get the job done). Power Conditioner A power conditioner cleans and filters noise and hums that might come through your computer or interface's power supply. You might not need one of these, but if you hear a hum or buzz in your recording that you can't eliminate, try a power conditioner to see if it helps. I plug my computer and pre-processor into a Furman Power Conditioner ($55). Audio Pre-Processors You may have heard about the DBX 286 ($200) before. The DBX 286 is pre-amp, compressor, de-esser, and noise gate. It's a pre-processor used by many professional podcasters to improve the sound quality of raw recordings. If you are brand new to audio, you'll need to invest some time in learning how to use the various controls of this unit, but if you want to get even better sound out of your XLR microphone, it's a solid investment. If you decide to buy a DBX 286 or any other pre-processor or pre-amp, you'll need to buy an additional XLR cable to connect it to your interface. Headphones Headphones are essential for both recording and editing. If you are talking to someone over Skype and you aren't wearing headphones, the sound will come out of your speakers and get recorded in your track which will cause a really annoying echo (and ruin your recording). Wear headphones to avoid getting echo from computer speakers in your recording. The headphones I use and love are the Sony MDR-7506 ($85). If you want to spend a little less, there are a lot of other options, including the Sennheiser HD-280 ($69) and the Panasonic RPHJE120K Earbuds ($12) (fine for listening and even mixing). Recording Software After you buy your recording gear, you'll need to use some kind of software to record audio. If you have a Mac, Quicktime is an easy way to record an audio track. It should already be installed, so you can open it up, select your mic or interface and be good to go. You might also have Garageband included in your Mac, and that works fine for recording audio as well. Audacity is a free program that works on both Mac and Windows. Here's a short tutorial on how to record an audio track in Quicktime or Audacity. If you'd like to spend a little bit of money on a real DAW (digital audio workstation), Reaper is a good affordable option (both Mac and Windows, $60). I use and love Logic Pro X, and there's also Pro Tools or Adobe Audition These programs are more for the audio professional, someone who is going to be doing a lot of editing, mixing and mastering. If you plan on learning and doing the post production yourself, you should invest in one of these programs. Recording Skype Conversations If you're going to be interviewing someone or talking to a co-host over Skype, there are a few options for recording Skype calls including Ecamm Call Recorder (for Mac), and MP3 Skype Recorder (for Windows). I recommend that each person on the call record a track on their computer and then send those to the person responsible for editing (this is called a "double-ender"). You should also record the audio from the Skype conversation to have as a backup. You might also check out Squadcast.fm, it's a web app that makes it easy to record multiple people at the same time. It costs $20/month but does come with a free 14 day trial. My Recommended Setups If you're looking for the most affordable option, I recommend the Samson Q2U with a pop filter and mic stand. This will cost about $100. The setup that I'm currently using is the Shure Beta 87a and an Scarlett 18i8 interface, with a few Shure SM58 mics to have as backups. I invested around $500 for this setup (buying everything used), but it sounds great and I can record up to 4 people at the same time if I need to. If you're serious about making a great podcast and growing your audience, don't settle for the cheapest option. Consider waiting to start recording your podcast until you've saved up enough money to be able to buy the gear you want, so you can make a show that sounds good from the start. You'll thank yourself later, and your listeners will too. Cool Stuff to Check Out: Recommended Gear: https://kit.com/thepodcastdude Podcast: https://thepodcastdude.simplecast.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/thepodcastdude Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thepodcastdude Successful Podcasting: http://successfulpodcasting.com Simplecast Blog: http://blog.simplecast.com/

  I had some time this week to finish up five new podcasts that I’ll be cranking out in the coming weeks. I also recently treated my room with homemade sound absorption panels, and the new podcast intros are my first tests of the panels. I normally record the spoken intros with an SM58 dynamic [...]

It’s time to get started in podcasting. I start off talking about headsets in general - Plantronics do nice ones. DISCLOSURE: Most of the links to purchase are AFFILIATE LINKS. I’ll get a commission if you end up buying the product. This helps me to feed my children. If you don’t want his to happen just use Google. For a good condenser microphone – take a look at the Samson C01U. Get it from Dolphin Music (UK). The Blue Snowball is another condenser microphone worth considering. You can buy this from Apple Store (UK), Dolphin Music (UK). Both these mics plug straight into your computer via USB. I talk about the Shure SM58 - this is a popular, robust dynamic microphone (It’s the one I use on this podcast). Bear in mind with this mic that you’ll need something to plug it into - it has an XLR plug that won’t plug directly into your computer. You’ll need an XLR to USB interface, a mixer or a separate audio recorder with XLR inputs such as the Zoom H4. Purchase the SM58 from Dolphin Music (UK).

This podcast is a recording of the lecture given at Loyola University New Orleans for the "Professional Development for Music Teachers Series: Technology for the Music Educator". The agenda for Day 3 included: microphone types, microphone pickup patterns, digital mics, analog mics, mixing boards, Installing Audacity, recording with Audacity, making an mp3 in Audacity, podcasting.

No synths this time (a first for me)! Used only the instruments pictured above (plus my voice and our kitchen wok-lid as a gong, not pictured): ashiko hand-drum (djembe like), kosika shaker, tambourine, box drum, mbira/kalimba, bamboo saxophone, and some weird bamboo/reed whistle. I used ample instances of Celemony Melodine to keep everything in tune (and repitch a few notes), and looped some of the parts a bit (and the 4-on-the-floor "kick" is the ashiko pitched down roughly 5 semitones). Most were recorded with an SM58, my voice with my CAD-M177. The reverb is a cave impulse in Cakewalk Perfect Space. http://www.victorlams.com/audio/Victor_Lams_-_Off_the_Grid.mp3

News, Crosstalk, Viewer Mail, a Spotlight segment and we tweak The Stupid Knob! News: Soft Tube's Acoustic Feedback 5 Gigs Of Free Samples: Sample Swap Vember Audio's FREE ShortCircuit Sampler RecordingFreak.com Source Connect Pro 3.0 Natural Grooves Drum Loops ToonTrack DrumTracker Crosstalk: Big Al's on his new Shure SM7B mic this week. What do you think? Bryan Daste of The Magic Closet Studio in Portland, Oregon has a SM7B as well and loves it. Mike found pictures of his old hippie band house! PSN is mentioned on Matt Serle's Asymmetric Biz Cult Podcast and blog here and here. Mike's in-store customer is looking for an all around studio mic for $400.00. Al ponies up with the recommendations. 1) Studio Projects C3 2) AudioTechnica AT4033/CL Viewer Mail: John Mulligan recommends a great movie, Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music. You can download it through Netflix or buy the DVD here. John Walker learns the secret to getting good guitar tone into his DAW. Dave Smith takes PSN to the dentist! Bill Feduska has a question about burning CDs with CDTEXT. Tim Marema finds the abused SM58 from last week's video feature on ebay. Spotlight: Big Al on over analyzing your mix elements and Bryan Daste of The Magic Closet Studio in Portland, Oregon has a great tip for recording acoustic guitar when there's a loud headphone click track nearby. The Stupid Knob: Saul Hudson of Guns N' Roses? Answer To Last Week's Trivia Question: Q: Who was the opening act of The Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969? A: Richie Havens! Turns out Al's played with Richie before. Well, how about that? This week's big winner is Charles Wyatt! He takes home a copy of Guitar And Drum Trainer courtesy of Ryan Smith over at GuitarAndDrumTrainer.com. Honorable mention goes out to Howard Northrup, Shannon Waldner, Stewart MacClellan, Kevin Anderson, Bryan Daste of The Magic Closet Studio in Portland, Oregon, Jim Farley, Don Dawber, Jon Julson, Ernest Daniels and Nick Cicero of Cicero Pro Audio. See you next week! Related Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin frappr creative commons digidesign pro tools mix it like a record project studio network bob brooks unsung heroes of the music business soft tube vintage amp room sample swap vember audio shortcirsuit recordingfreak source elements source connect isdn natural grooves toontrack drumtracker shure sm7b bryan daste the magic closet matt serle asymmetric biz cult podcast studio projects audio technica tom dowd the language of music ahmut ertegun oscar petersen charles mingus aretha franklin ray charles cream eric clapton the allman brothers otis redding booker t layla duane allman tubepre cdtext saul hudson slash richie havens woodsstock abbey road