The fantastic thing about podcasting is that anybody can do it. It’s a uncommon medium that’s practically as simple to make as it’s to devour. And as such, no two individuals do it precisely the identical manner. There are a wealth of {hardware} and software program options open to potential podcasters, so setups run the gamut from NPR studios to USB Skype rigs (the latter of which has change into a sort of default in the course of the pandemic).
We’ve requested a few of our favourite podcast hosts and producers to focus on their workflows — the tools and software program they use to get the job performed. The listing to this point contains:
This week, Alex Goldman shares his setup. A former producer for WNYC’s On the Media, Goldman co-founded Reply All with Emmanuel Dzotsi in 2014. The wildly in style Gimlet podcast explored how the web shapes us — and vice versa. A decade later, Goldman is again with Radiotopia’s Hyperfixed, a “help desk for life’s most intractable problems,” which he produces from the consolation of his podcasting basement.
For the reason that starting of the pandemic, a lot of podcasting is definitely performed remotely, so it’s important to make somewhat area in your home the place it’s snug to do it. Mine is somewhat 8×8 room within the basement of my condominium, and it’s surprisingly cozy. So while you take heed to my new podcast Hyperfixed stuffed with hope, helpfulness, and journey, realize it’s coming from this torture closet.
I imply, certain, it appears like the cabin in “Evil Dead,” however all of the gear being on in right here retains it good and toasty in comparison with the remainder of the basement, and I prefer to assume I’ve made it my very own to a sure diploma.
Engineers act like prepping a room to report is tough, however actually it’s about ensuring there isn’t an excessive amount of open area or laborious floor for sound to replicate off of. The extra cluttered a room, the higher prepped it’s to report.
That’s why I’ve this big Black Sabbath Vol. 4 wall flag. Behind the flag is a wool blanket I’ve held on some nails to maintain the place sounding good, and I simply needed one thing I’d like . As a result of that album is so good. “Changes”? “Snowblind”? Oh my god. To the left and proper of my desk are sound baffles that reduce echo, after which all the opposite crud I’ve crammed my workplace with helps to maintain echo down as effectively.
I began in public radio, which signifies that I realized audio enhancing on Professional Instruments, a program that continues to be the trade commonplace regardless of being the most costly, overpowered, buggy program accessible to audio editors. Fortuitously they’ve not too long ago began to supply a $10 a month license as an alternative of shopping for a license outright for $599 just like the previous days.
My mic is a Shure SM7B, which has been the general public radio commonplace for 20 years, and a mic that, as soon as you recognize its profile, you will notice in every single place. I even noticed Metallica’s James Hetfield barking into one not too long ago throughout a rewatch of “Some Kind of Monster.” For audio interfaces, I’ve a Focusrite 2i2 and a Focusrite 18i8; the previous is mainly the little brother of the latter. I just like the 18i8 as a result of it is extremely helpful for recording instantly off your desktop, however the 2i2 doesn’t must be plugged into the wall, which simply makes it simpler to make use of.
The music for the present is made by both The Mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder or myself. I’m a really, very novice musician, but it surely’s fairly simple, and to do this I most frequently use the Sequential Circuits Prophet 6 Synthesizer. It’s primarily based on a synth from the early ’80s (named, imagine it or not, the Prophet 5) that was utilized by people like Gary Numan, The Automobiles, and Comfortable Cell, and it’s simply inconceivable to make a nasty sound with it. If I would like nice large fats synth bass or tremendous thick synth leads, I exploit the Moog Matriarch, a extra temperamental however nonetheless actually great and versatile synth.
For drum sounds, I principally have a tendency to make use of inventory drums from Ableton, however I even have a few samplers and drum machines (the Erica Synths LXR-02 and the SOMA Pulsar-23) that I like making little damaged beats with. I recorded an album a pair years again beneath the identify Gradual Fawns, and I’ve been identified to cannibalize these accomplished songs for music cues on podcasts as effectively.
Additionally I’d be remiss if I didn’t handle the elephant within the room, or the rubber glove within the room, because it have been. After I began renting this condominium, this room was stuffed with a earlier tenant’s junk, and I obtained all of it out and set every thing up earlier than I observed the rubber glove on the ground there, simply to the appropriate of my synthesizer. At this level it’s a lot part of the room decor, I barely even discover it.
