ROLEY

Tag: Launching a Podcast

  • 7 Steps to Good Podcast Audio

    In the late Nineties, when getting audio posted on the internet was more complicated than now, I remember using a headset mic to record audio with a Sound Blaster 16 PCI Card, then editing it with SB Studio on my 486SX PC.

    (Yes, humans had evolved to the point of having opposable thumbs by then.)

    To stream audio on the internet back then, you either used Windows Media Encoder or, my personal preference, RealAudio. Both methods needed two files to work: the audio file itself and a file that acted as a middleman. When you clicked the play button, you were engaging the middleman file, which pointed to the audio file on your server. Once accessed, it loaded up in Audio Player, and once it felt like it had enough lead time, it would play. The smaller your audio file the better.

    Having a small file was great for another reason — you didn’t have a lot of space for things back then. My first website was on GeoCities, and that gave me 10MB. Megabytes. By today’s standards, that’s microscopic, and yet we managed to get audio entertainment up on the internet long before podcasting and long before anyone really cared much about audio quality. As a result, the bit rate on those early sound files was usually Mono 16-bit 22kHz files — they’re pretty horrible. You won’t be listening to Dark Side of the Moon at that quality, and if you are, I seriously question your life choices!

    Today, we don’t have these problems. Definitely not one of length or server space if a podcaster like Joe Rogan can go to three hours regularly. And not one of quality if you’ve heard anything from NPR — the gold standard of production quality. That said, if you’re just starting out, no one expects you to produce anything like the quality of Serial.

    Most independent podcasters are an army of one, while big podcast outfits have the staff to dedicate to production. Most people who evangelize podcasting will tell you that the message is more important than the production quality if you’re connecting with an audience. As you gain experience, the desire to make your show sound better is perfectly natural. I have found this a stress point for some beginners because while they might have a decent audio editing program, they’re not quite sure what to do with it beyond recording. This is compounded somewhat by people who would like to make this sound complicated so they can sell you their solution. The good news: it isn’t complicated at all.

    There are seven steps to making sure you have decent podcast audio.

    1. STFU or GTFO

    Simply put, if it’s in your recording space and it makes noise, silence it or remove it. Clinking glasses, pencils or fingers tapping on tables, pets, kids, you name it. If it cannot be made to be quiet, it should be made to leave. The less noise you have to deal with during recording, the less cleanup you’re going to have to do later. Remember: “We’ll fix it in post” is a pipe dream, and sometimes you just can’t fix it.

    2. Stop That Damn Racket

    Some noise can’t be silenced — air conditioning, for example. It’s also possible that the ambient noise in the recording space can’t be quietened much at all.

    That’s OK. Most of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) available today can capture a ‘noise print’ from a file and remove as much of that noise. When you record, make sure to have at least five to ten seconds of silence before anyone speaks so you can capture that noise print. I also like to leave five to ten seconds at the end of the recording.

    You can also use a noise gate that quietens the input if the signal falls below a certain level. If you have a budget, you can purchase DAW plugins or standalone programs that analyze the sound file and attempt to correct them automatically.

    Once you’ve removed most of the general noise, make sure you listen to the file and check for any other noise that needs to be removed manually. Sometimes, you can’t remove a noise because someone is talking over it. In that case, assess whether you can remove the line and still retain the context and meaning of what the speaker is saying. That brings me to the next step….

    3. They’re Smarter Than They Sound. Really.

    This next step is not only helpful for good sound, but it’s also a great idea if you don’t want you or your guests to sound like idiots: get rid of the filler words like ‘Um’, ‘Ah’, and ‘Er’. If you or your guests stammer through something and trip all over the words, remove it. Likewise, if you or your guests use crutch words or phrases like ‘you know, ‘like,’ or ‘I’m just saying,’ remove them if you can.

    I personally can’t stand the relatively new trend of people starting an answer with the word ‘So’. If I can remove it, I do. Shorten long pauses. Remove audible breaths. Finally, as you edit, you may become familiar with the talent’s pacing. Do your best to match that pacing throughout. The talent will sound much more professional, and if it’s a guest, you have increased the odds of having that guest back.

    4. The Audience Can’t Listen If They’re Deaf

    I’m sure everyone has had this experience watching TV or listening to radio or podcast: The ads are much louder than the content, and you break speed records to wrench the volume down before you bleed from the ears.

    Dialogue, music, remote interviews, and sound effects are sound files that come from a myriad of sources, and almost none of them are recorded or exported in the same way. Also, you may have spots within your own dialog where your volume goes up and down while speaking. It’s your job to make sure you don’t leave your audience riding the volume knob to hear you while running the risk of leaving them with permanent hearing loss at any moment. DAWs can do this through the normalization function, while websites like Auphonic can do this automatically.

    Aren’t You A Little Tweaker?

    Next, we need to make the talent’s voice sound good. To do this properly, I need to give you a hard truth: every voice is different, so the things that make one voice sound good will not make every voice sound good. Another hard truth is that, for the most part, no one sounds quite like they think they do. I think most people believe their voice is deeper than it really is because it sounds that way to us. When you play a person’s voice back to them, it’s entirely possible they don’t recognize it. Sometimes, people will tell you upfront they don’t like hearing themselves — that’s perfectly natural. Using equalization, this is very much a trial and error process where you’ll be tweaking the low end, midrange, and high end until you hit a sweet spot. Since every voice is different, it’s simply a learning process. For example, you don’t want to add more low-end to someone who already has a deep voice. Instead, you may play with the mids and highs to add some crispness and brightness to the voice. In some cases, you may decide to add some light compression, but I don’t think it’s always appropriate to do so. Your results may vary, but the only way to learn this is to do it.

    Put It All Together

    Now we’re ready to assemble all your resources and add them to your multitrack space. Intros, outros, music, dialogue, sound effects, and anything else you need for your production. Lay them out on your timeline, adjusting the volume so that everything sounds natural and has the right flow. Nothing should be drowned out; nothing should overpower.

    Are You Listening?

    Finally, listen to your whole timeline in real time and correct any mistakes you haven’t caught. Once you’re satisfied, export your file at -16 LUFS. This is the standard for loudness with podcasts and ensures that your podcast will sound consistent with the loudness of the majority of podcasts out there today.

    You won’t get it right the first time— that’s ok! By following these steps to getting good podcast audio, you’ll increase the chances of having the kind of consistent, high-quality podcast you want — one that listeners will appreciate and share with others.

  • The 3 Questions You Need to Answer Before Starting a Podcast

    In my last article, I made the case that there are three different types of podcasters: The Hobbyist, The Corporate Podcaster, and The Entrepreneur. Each one has its place in the world of podcasting, and I believe every one of them belongs here.

    You might come into the world of podcasting for fun and find yourself as an entrepreneur at a later time. You might create a podcast for the company you work for and do something for fun in your off-time. You may do all three if you’re in the game long enough.

    When I started in 2006, podcasting was still very much a pirate thing, and there weren’t any “rules.” Incidentally, there weren’t as many podcasts out there either. Today, according to Nielsen and Edison, there are at least 700,000 live podcasts.

    You’re free to take anything I’m saying with a massive grain of salt, but if the days of “If you build it, they will come” were ever a thing in podcasting, those days are long gone. If you want them to listen and subscribe to your show, then you need to make something people can find and want to listen to.

    If you’re a hobbyist, this may not be that important to you. That’s fine. Podcasting can and should be fun. However, if you’re a podcaster that wants a following, engagement, community, and a possible way to market a product or service down the road, then there are some things to consider.

    In my mind, there are three questions that any podcaster who is serious about the craft needs to answer.

    What’s It About?

    While this would seem to be an obvious question, it would astound you how many people simply turn on a microphone and just ramble all over the place. Full disclosure, I’ve done this as well. Go look at the descriptions of podcasts and see how many of them are a variant of “whatever I feel like talking about.”

    If you look at the reviews, you may not see many. In fact, you may only see less than 10 episodes, the last one being more than six months ago. Why? Because they didn’t define the show. If you can’t describe the show, then you can’t tag it correctly in the Podcast Directories. You can’t write a good description. You won’t know where you should promote the show, or you’ll promote it in places that will have no interest at all in it. If you can’t do these things, then no one is going to find your show.

    Who’s It For?

    Do you know who your audience is? I have a client that found his audience in a unique way. In fact, without this experience, he wouldn’t have a podcast. He’s a Civil War historian from the South with a contrarian point of view from other Southern “Civil War historians” you may have heard of. He made a video explaining this on Twitter, and it went viral. He had a built-in audience of hundreds before he even decided to do a podcast.

    When he announced that he was thinking about starting a podcast, his audience enthusiastically encouraged him. Ten episodes in, he’s doing quite well, and he’s leveraged his success to drive people to a Patreon account that’s pulling in over $100 a month. Not bad for a first-time podcaster who’s still learning.

    My client found his audience, and a passionate one at that. Do you know who your audience is? What’s your subject? What are you passionate about? Try testing your idea out as my client did. Post your idea somewhere on social media, and see if it travels beyond your followers. Does it engage with people who usually never engage with you? Does it get the attention of Opal in Toledo, who you’ve never met? If it does, you may be onto something. Test it out.

    Why Would Anyone Listen to This?

    Of all the questions needing to be answered here, this one is possibly the most important. After all, there are many podcasts about podcasting or creative work out there. Why in the heck would anyone want to listen to mine? How am I different?

    With over 700,000 podcasts out there, the market for every niche is filled in some way. Do some market research. Listen to the other people in your category. What are they doing?

    In the Podcasts about Podcasting category, most of the podcasts are more about marketing and less about what appealed to me back at the very beginning. The appeal was the act of creating art for fun, for therapy, for a purpose, or for any reason that floats your boat. This is in direct opposition to the supposed podcasting ‘gurus’ who believe — in my opinion — that podcasting should be done by certain people with a particular purpose.

    I rebel against that philosophy, as any good pirate should. That’s the podcast I wish to present to the world, and I think that’s why people should listen. Find what sets you apart from the others in your space. That’s your lane to occupy.

    Final Thoughts

    This is the very beginning of the process, but if you’re treating podcasting as a serious venture, then you really can’t afford to overlook these questions. Answering these questions provides you with clarity. If you have clarity at the very beginning, then every other decision you make as you go through the process is less complicated.