The Tech — Recording Equipment and Recording and Editing SoftwareYou knew that eventually, we were going to have to get to the gear, right? Now’s the time, but before we get to equipment, I want to make something clear. All the shiny gear and tools to make your podcast should slick amounts to nothing if all the things we’ve talked about before now aren’t clearly defined. Taking a pig to the makeup counter at Sephora means nothing except you have a needlessly pretty pig. The message is more important than the tech. That is your new mantra. Please remember it and chant it with the four-part harmony every time you look at a shiny thing you believe will kick your show up a notch.

Here’s what you need, at a minimum: You need a computer, a USB mic, and internet access to post your podcast. Because you may eventually grow your show to the kind of podcast that requires a mixer, I recommend you buy the Samson Q2U. At a price between 60 and 75 dollars, this is a very affordable microphone with room to grow. It has both USB and XLR connections and a headphone jack to monitor sound. It also comes with a little mic stand.

On your computer, you’ll need some editing software. If you’re just starting, you can use something free like Audacity, or if you have a Mac, you can use Garageband since it comes already installed right out of the box.

There are a lot of upgrades to this bare minimum. For example, I use a Rode Podmic to record my voice, I have a program called Audio Hijack which records the audio coming from my Mac if I need sound bytes, and I use Adobe Audition for my editing software. I’ve been using Audition ever since it was called Cool Edit back in the late 90s, and when I became a Multimedia Producer, I decided to pay for a subscription for the software to use the latest features. It’s pricey, though; a full subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud is slightly north of 50 bucks a month. If I didn’t make full use of the subscription, I would probably use Garageband.

I think it’s important to mention what many folks call GAS, or Gear Acquisition Syndrome. As you start down this new journey in podcasting, you’re going to see a lot of folks a lot farther down the road than you rocking all sorts of shiny stuff, and you’re going to like what you see. I’d warn you that higher-end gear means higher-end prices. I really like the RodeCaster Pro, and I’d like to get one. It’s shiny, it does more stuff than I need, and it’s six hundred dollars. I don’t have a use for it at this stage of my podcasting career, but I WANT ONE VERY BADLY. That, my friends, is how Gear Acquisition Syndrome starts. I haven’t bought it and don’t plan to, but the point is, if you don’t need it, I don’t want you to buy it either. Like the commercial says, only pay for what you need, and as you grow, upgrade as your budget allows.