Jey's Podcasting Journal

Let's explore why headphones are crucial and how to choose a set. 

Any of the following brands are good example of what to look for. Buy only what you can afford:

Audio Technica ATH-M20X

AKG K92

Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 250

Sennheiser HD280PRO

Audio Technica ATH-M50x

Sony MDR-7506

PRODUCTION NOTES

Recording Mic: Zoom LMF-2 Lavalier mic

Recording device : Zoom F2 32 bit float Field Recorder

Recording location: Bedroom, facing into my closet. 

Recording format: WAV (32 bit float mono)

Editing app (and EQ) : Audacity

Sound Treatment: Auphonic Productions at Auphonic.com

Auphonic.com settings [to output as a 16bit mono WAV file]: Adaptive Leveler (on), Loudness Normalization (Loudness Target -19 LUFS ), Filtering (on), Noise and Hum Reduction (Reduction Amount: Auto), Sample rate: 44.1kHz

I uploaded the resulting WAV file to Anchor.fm to host the file and added the music from their free music stock.

Episode art: Canva

Anchor automatically converts the WAV file into a 128kbps, stereo, .m4a file

How can we use the rule of three to structure our podcast introductions. 

PRODUCTION NOTES

Recording Mic: Zoom LMF-2 Lavalier mic

Recording device : Zoom F2 32 bit float Field Recorder

Recording location: Llving room talking into my curtains

Recording format: WAV (32 bit float mono)

Editing app (and EQ) : Audacity

Sound Treatment: Auphonic Productions at Auphonic.com

Auphonic.com settings [to output as a 16bit mono WAV file]: Adaptive Leveler (on), Loudness Normalization (Loudness Target -19 LUFS ), Filtering (on), Noise and Hum Reduction (Reduction Amount: Auto), Sample rate: 44.1kHz

I uploaded the resulting WAV file to Anchor.fm to host the file and added the music from their free music stock - including the music for the one-ish minute podcast.

Episode art: Canva

Anchor automatically converts the WAV file into a 128kbps, stereo, .m4a file

Beginning, middle and end. Intro, main content, outro. The rule of three is a classic way to structure lots of elements of our podcast. Keep experimenting creating short podcasts between a minute to two minutes long. Just describing a tv show episode or a movie. 

Practice sharing stories with a definite beginning, middle and end. In this episode I give you an example. The point is not to be fluent but to develop fluency and an instinct to add structure to your content and show. 

PRODUCTION NOTES

Recording Mic: Zoom LMF-2 Lavalier mic

Recording device : Zoom F2 32 bit float Field Recorder

Recording location: Couch

Recording format: WAV (32 bit float mono)

Editing app (and EQ) : Audacity

Sound Treatment: Auphonic Productions at Auphonic.com

Auphonic.com settings [to output as a 16bit mono WAV file]: Adaptive Leveler (on), Loudness Normalization (Loudness Target -19 LUFS ), Filtering (on), Noise and Hum Reduction (Reduction Amount: Auto), Sample rate: 44.1kHz

I uploaded the resulting WAV file to Anchor.fm to host the file and added the music from their free music stock - including the music for the one-ish minute podcast.

Episode art: Canva

Anchor automatically converts the WAV file into a 128kbps, stereo, .m4a file

Let's record something. 60 seconds to describe an episode of a favorite TV show. 

PRODUCTION NOTES

Recording Mic: Samson Q2U (no pop filter)

Recording device : Zoom H6 Digital Recorder

Recording location: Sitting at dining table - no pillowfort

Digital Audio Workstation in EQ: Audacity for Windows

Recording format: WAV (24 bit mono)

Sample rate: 44100Hz

Sound Treatment: EQ applied in Audacity. Then cleanup and Loudness (-19LUFs) applied at Auphonic Productions at Auphonic.com

Auphonic.com settings [to output as a 16bit mono WAV file]: Adaptive Leveler (on), Loudness Normalization (Loudness Target -19 LUFS ), Filtering (on), Noise and Hum Reduction (Reduction Amount: Auto), Sample rate: 44.1kHz

I uploaded the resulting WAV file to Anchor.fm to host the file and added the music from their free music stock.

Anchor automatically converts the WAV file into a 128kbps .m4a file

The order in which you apply your effects matters. Let's spend a few minutes exploring the sequence I recommend to start with and the principle it's based on: remove before you enhance. 

PRODUCTION NOTES

Recording Mic: Zoom LMF-2 Lavalier mic

Recording device : Zoom F2 32 bit float Field Recorder

Recording location: Dining table. Urgh, I caught some reverb here. Left it in, oh well!

Recording format: WAV (32 bit float mono)

Editing app (and EQ) : Audacity

Sound Treatment: Auphonic Productions at Auphonic.com

Auphonic.com settings [to output as a 16bit mono WAV file]: Adaptive Leveler (on), Loudness Normalization (Loudness Target -19 LUFS ), Filtering (on), Noise and Hum Reduction (Reduction Amount: Auto), Sample rate: 44.1kHz

I uploaded the resulting WAV file to Anchor.fm to host the file and added the music from their free music stock.

Episode art: Canva

Anchor automatically converts the WAV file into a 128kbps, stereo, .m4a file

What is compression and what problems does it solve? Give me ten minutes and I'll tell you all about it. Well, as much as I can in ten minutes!

The short version is that a compressor reduces the dynamic range of a recording. Let's find out why that's useful. 

PRODUCTION NOTES

Recording Mic: Zoom LMF-2 Lavalier mic

Recording device : Zoom F2 32 bit float Field Recorder

Recording location: Facing into my closet (I'm not liking the sound here. Sounds muffled and boxy. I guess the mic is being shielded too much)

Recording format: WAV (32 bit float mono)

Editing app (and EQ) : Audacity

Sound Treatment: Auphonic Productions at Auphonic.com

Auphonic.com settings [to output as a 16bit mono WAV file]: Adaptive Leveler (on), Loudness Normalization (Loudness Target -19 LUFS ), Filtering (on), Noise and Hum Reduction (Reduction Amount: Auto), Sample rate: 44.1kHz

I uploaded the resulting WAV file to Anchor.fm to host the file and added the music from their free music stock.

Episode art: Canva

Anchor automatically converts the WAV file into a 128kbps, stereo, .m4a file

Limiters made sure you recordings are not too louds when your recording. And they help you create headroom in post production. Let's explore how. And also understand why analogue limiters are better than digital limiters. 

PRODUCTION NOTES

Recording Mic: Zoom LMF-2 Lavalier mic

Recording device : Zoom F2 32 bit float Field Recorder

Recording location: My Car (Supermarket carpark. Forgive me if the sound of traffic bleeds onto the tape)

Recording format: WAV (32 bit float mono)

Editing app (and EQ) : Audacity

Sound Treatment: Auphonic Productions at Auphonic.com

Auphonic.com settings [to output as a 16bit mono WAV file]: Adaptive Leveler (on), Loudness Normalization (Loudness Target -19 LUFS ), Filtering (on), Noise and Hum Reduction (Reduction Amount: Auto), Sample rate: 44.1kHz

I uploaded the resulting WAV file to Anchor.fm to host the file and added the music from their free music stock.

Episode art: Canva

Anchor automatically converts the WAV file into a 128kbps, stereo, .m4a file

Virtual audio devices allow us to take the sound coming out of one app and route it to our DAW. This way we can change the volume levels for remote interview apps and make sure the volume of our guest's voice is perfect. 

Apps for Windows: VB-Audio VoiceMeeter Banana (https://vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/banana.htm) is Donationware - give generously! 

Apps for Mac: Audiohijack from Rogue Amoeba  (https://rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/) is not free. The app Blackhole is free. ( https://existential.audio/blackhole/ )

PRODUCTION NOTES

Recording Mic: Zoom LMF-2 Lavalier mic

Recording device : Zoom F2 32 bit float Field Recorder

Recording location: My Car

Recording format: WAV (32 bit float mono)

Editing app (and EQ) : Audacity

Sound Treatment: Auphonic Productions at Auphonic.com

Auphonic.com settings [to output as a 16bit mono WAV file]: Adaptive Leveler (on), Loudness Normalization (Loudness Target -19 LUFS ), Filtering (on), Noise and Hum Reduction (Reduction Amount: Auto), Sample rate: 44.1kHz

I uploaded the resulting WAV file to Anchor.fm to host the file and added the music from their free music stock.

Episode art: Canva

Anchor automatically converts the WAV file into a 128kbps, stereo, .m4a file

How do you ensure the best gain settings when you don't have access to your entire signal chain? This happens when using Zoom or Skype when when we have to rely on apps that deny access to our guests mic gain. 

Let start exploring ways to control our guests' volume levels using the concept of Mix-Minus.

Examples of hardware with Mix-Minus capability:

1. Zoom Podtrak P4 (native mix-minus) 

2. Zoom H4N Digital Recorder. (Hacking required)

3. Zoom H5 Digital Recorder (Hacking required)

4. Zoom H6 Digital Recorder. (Hacking required - this is what I use)

5. Zoom Podtrak P8 (native mix-minus) 

6. Rode Rodecaster Pro (native mix-minus) 

7. Pretty much most mixing decks. 

PRODUCTION NOTES

Recording Mic: Zoom LMF-2 Lavalier mic

Recording device : Zoom F2 32 bit float Field Recorder

Recording location: Dining table

Recording format: WAV (32 bit float mono)

Editing app (and EQ) : Audacity

Sound Treatment: Auphonic Productions at Auphonic.com

Auphonic.com settings [to output as a 16bit mono WAV file]: Adaptive Leveler (on), Loudness Normalization (Loudness Target -19 LUFS ), Filtering (on), Noise and Hum Reduction (Reduction Amount: Auto), Sample rate: 44.1kHz

I uploaded the resulting WAV file to Anchor.fm to host the file and added the music from their free music stock.

Episode art: Canva

Anchor automatically converts the WAV file into a 128kbps, stereo, .m4a file

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How to set your gain correctly on local devices. What is gain. What is the difference between gain and volume. And why is Headroom so important. 

PRODUCTION NOTES

Recording Mic: Zoom LMF-2 Lavalier mic

Recording device : Zoom F2 32 bit float Field Recorder

Recording location: Dining table

Recording format: WAV (32 bit float mono)

Editing app (and EQ) : Audacity

Sound Treatment: Auphonic Productions at Auphonic.com

Auphonic.com settings [to output as a 16bit mono WAV file]: Adaptive Leveler (on), Loudness Normalization (Loudness Target -19 LUFS ), Filtering (on), Noise and Hum Reduction (Reduction Amount: Auto), Sample rate: 44.1kHz

I uploaded the resulting WAV file to Anchor.fm to host the file and added the music from their free music stock.

Episode art: Canva

Anchor automatically converts the WAV file into a 128kbps, stereo, .m4a file

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