Tagged: technique RSS

  • James 12:18 pm on September 15, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: technique   

    Better Audio Through the Tool You Already Have 

    If you are producing a prerecorded show, chances are you are using an audio editor like Audacity, Garageband, or one of the many multitrack and two track audio editors on the market. There are some solid basic tools built into these editors to get your mix smoothed out and sounding great, but there is also a learning curve. Compressors, limiters, and even EQs have more options these days than most hybrid cars. There are more options for shaping your sound with these tools, as well as more ways to make mistakes. And as we are presented with more features and more options, it leads to more gaps in our knowledge about how to use these tools to make our podcasts sound as awesome as possible.

    Luckily, there are people who care enough to give us free tutorials on how to make these tools work for us. The fine folks at Audiotuts + are knee deep in a series of tutorials on mastering, which includes compressors, EQ, limiters, and more. While the site is geared towards musical production, you can learn a lot from the techniques. Remember, if it’s good enough for high end producers, it’s good enough for you.

    Mastering Elements Part 1: The Buss Compressor

    Mastering Elements Part 2: The Mastering Equalizer

    Mastering Elements Part 3: Multi-band Compression (this is one of the main tools used by radio stations in their processing chain to get that hot FM sound)

    Mastering Elements Part 4: Stereo Enhancement

    Mastering Elements Part 5: Mastering Limiters

    Keep in mind that you already have most of the tools mentioned above in the software you already use. And that includes free software like Audacity. They may not be as pretty as some of the ones mentioned, and they may not have every feature, but most of them are there.

    They are saying that a part 6 will be coming out soon, so keep your eyes peeled. Audiotuts + is one of my must read sites, and I’ve learned a lot from them.

    Take a little time to learn these tools, and your podcast will sound better for it.

     

  • James 1:48 pm on July 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: ideas, technique   

    There used to be a certain validation to a website when it started with ‘www’ dot. There was an inherent legitimacy to a site. That’s changed, as more sites lop off the www at the beginning of their URL. In internet terms, it doesn’t really matter anymore.

    But for podcasting, I like the www. It doesn’t mean anything to a URL, but when you say the name of your podcast to your listeners, and you start with ‘www dot’ you are telling them a URL is coming up next. It’s an attention grabber, and while it is clunky to say, and takes more time to say than three little letters and a punctuation mark are supposed to, I think it’s a good thing to do. That time isn’t very useful to you, but it may be very useful to the listener, clicking on an address bar, grabbing a pen, or just setting them up for what they are going to hear.

    Amazing how useful three little letters can be when you think about it.

     

    • Brockl 2:30 pm on July 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      I think this is a pretty valid point if only a brief one most people might overlook. it is a good audible queue to let potential listeners know your addy is coming up, much better than traditional radio’s call letters in my opinion (the more W’s the merrier in my opinion). I take your idea to the extreme for extra effectiveness by prefacing my eventual show’s web address with “hypertext transfer protocol colon slash slash w….w…..w”. Being a sardonic there, but your way makes sense.

      I’m still acquiring equipment at this point so I have only been telling friends to take a look at the content I have up so far. What I’m looking forward to next is to slap a “www” then my logo/address onto my own bumper and seeing if I get any traffic from it. I’m surprised that I never see any guerilla style marketing for podcasts, maybe its just my region. Maybe I’m unique in the fact that if I see a wacky or obscure web address scrawled by hand or something out in “the wild”, I usually end going to it…..and then I’m usually disappointed.

      • James 1:50 am on July 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply

        There was a discussion on the maximumfun.org forums recently about podcasters helping other podcasters, and one of the members talked about handing out CDs of their podcast to people who had come to their live comedy show. It’s a good idea. Mind you, they are a live comedy troupe, and not just a podcast, so it was easy to tie them together.

        I look forward to hearing what gear you get for your podcast. I am ridiculously happy with my ‘studio’, and love almost everything I have. Happy hunting.

    • theinterrupters 4:38 pm on January 12, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Well said. I love putting the www. in front of my podcasts name. http://www.weinterruptthisbroadcast.com sounds great.

  • James 11:35 pm on March 1, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: technique   

    The Art of the Interview 

    If you google “interview techniques” right now, you will hit on a bunch of job interview sites, and, times being what they are these days, that’s fairly understandable. That isn’t what I am looking for. I want interview techniques of the radio / podcast variety, and they aren’t all that easy to come by.

    But I stumbled across a post by Colin Marshal listing the things he has learned after 100 episodes of podcasting and interviews.

    http://colinmarshall.typepad.com/blog/2010/02/what-i-can-tell-you-about-interviewing-after-conducting-editing-and-broadcasting-100-of-them.html

    The danger with any list is that you will focus on the list, rather than implementing the ideas, or even practicing and putting in the hard work to integrate those items into your work. You can read lists forever, but until you do something about it, you won’t get any work done.

    Some of Colin’s thoughts seem so simple, they also seem obvious, but that isn’t the point. Reading something and saying “of course” is one thing, but actually implementing them, and integrating them into your work is another. I can’t find a stinker in there, and while it may point to a few shortcomings I have, it’s all about using it.

    Read the post, it’s worth your time. If you have any others, please post them. I’d like to know.

     

  • James 3:12 am on September 24, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: technique   

    I just finished listening to Tom Ridge on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and he was doing something I find that I do on my podcast. Gov. Ridge would rarely end a sentence without starting another one. He would finish a sentence, then start another one without stopping or pausing.

    I tend to do this when I am talking to my main co-host, Tom. Part of the problem is that we are talking over Skype, and the pauses will seem a little exaggerated, but the other issue is that we each want to get what we want to say on the show, and interruptions mean we may have to leave out a point or two we wanted to get across. We don’t end out sentences well, and I don’t feel it serves my audience well.

    Being in a face-to-face setting helps. There is something to be said about facial expressions and slight cues when doing a podcast.

    Do you notice yourself doing the same thing?

     

    • Koomdogg 8:42 am on September 24, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Haven’t done a show using Skype yet, but I have done a bunch of shows face-to-face with special guests using my Zoom H2 recorder. Coming from a journalism background, I tend to let the other person speak more, but I interject a lot. I want to let the other person get their points across, but also want to jump in if I’ve got something of value to add. I have noticed that I use a lot of “y’know”‘s when I’m talking, so I’m trying to work on that.

      • James 1:05 pm on September 24, 2009 Permalink | Reply

        I heard one of those, and I was wondering what you were using to record with. The funny part for me was being able to tell when you guys were taking a sip of water.

        “Y’know” always seems like a cue to me that a person has something to interject, but also wants the other person to comment on. I like it used sparingly, so I wouldn’t get too bent out of shape about it. :)

        • Koomdogg 1:09 pm on September 24, 2009 Permalink | Reply

          Ha! That was beer and Jack Daniels, respectively. But yeah, it picks up everything.

          • James 1:15 pm on September 24, 2009 Permalink | Reply

            Podcaster Juice! :)

            I have an H2, and I’ve used it for interviews, but my favorite is to set it on a seat next to me at a hockey game and let it roll. I have gotten some great actualities like goals and celebrations, and even some background from it.

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