Podcast Engineering School

Most podcast hosts interview their guests remotely using a VoIP service like Zencastr, Squadcast, Ringr, or Skype. The guests internet connection speed is one factor that will affect the flow of the conversation as well as the quality of the guests audio. A couple tips: Although rare these days, it is best for the guests computer to be connected to the internet via a hardwired connection – an ethernet cable. Remember those?! If the guest must connect via WiFi (which almost everyone does these days) it’s best of they are connected via a strong WiFi signal, which usually means they should be close to their WiFi router. Original blog post: The Connection Speed of Internet Guests -- https://podcastengineeringschool.com/daily-goody-the-connection-speed-of-internet-guests/

Do you need a mixer for podcasting? No, but in some more complex situations you may want one, for instance when there are more than two podcast participants in the same location, when you’re simultaneously sending multiple audio feeds to multiple places (Livestreaming, recording locally, backups, etc.), or if you want to process your audio Live (EQ, compression, fading in or out, etc.). Essentially a mixer is a piece of hardware or software that: Accepts audio inputs from various different sources Allows the audio to be “mixed” together, manipulated and routed in many varied and customizable ways Sends audio out in many varied and customizable ways There are many different types and brands of mixers with varying capabilities, features and qualities. NOTE: A mixer can also be called a… Sound mixer Mixing board Audio mixer Mixing console Audio console Mixing desk or simply as a board My blog post on this topic — https://podcastengineeringschool.com/daily-goody-mixer/

Your ears are the most important part of you when it comes to podcast audio production. And it is possible to develop your critical listening skills so that you can identify audio qualities and problems quickly and accurately. Of course correctly identifying a problem is necessary in order to correctly fix it. By the way, there are many types of problems that can occur when producing audio, and learning how to handle them all will make you a bulletproof engineer 😉 It all comes down to focused practice, really. Just by living life you’ve already had a lot of experience hearing different audio in different places, etc. Now, to develop deeper perception of frequencies, amplitudes and characteristics you just have to start listening more intently. For starters, here’s one good exercise you can do: Listen to one of your favorite songs on computer speakers, then listen to the same song on earbuds, and then through the car stereo, etc. *Notice the difference in sound when listening in these different places. What do you hear? *My blog post on this topic — https://podcastengineeringschool.com/daily-goody-ear-training/

This is an amazing sounding plugin modeled off the famous Neve 8078 console at Blackbird Studios in Nashville. The EQ sound is legendary and the Saturation knob adds very smooth analog warmth. LINKS: BB N105 V2 Channel Strip Plugin — https://kitplugins.com/products/kit-bb-n105 Blackbird Studio A — https://www.blackbirdstudio.com/studio-a PES PROGRAMS: Podcast Engineering School Full Program (Earn a GREAT living from home - Learn to engineer and produce podcasts at a professional level) — https://podcastengineeringschool.com/product/pes-online-program/ Getting New Clients at Higher Rates (on-demand course) — https://podcastengineeringschool.com/product/getting-new-clients-at-higher-rates/

I discuss my experience opening and operating a brick and mortar podcast studio for 3 years, including: Discovering podcasting in late 2011 Starting my own show in my apartment solely for the experience of starting a podcast – The Chris Curran Show! Why I decided to open a physical podcast studio in June 2012 Economics: -- I had no idea if this kind of business could be profitable, but I was so energized to do it that I took the leap. -- I’ll talk more later about the monetary success or failure of the studio 😉 History: -- Before Serial hit in the fall of 2014 the podcasting space was still relatively small and unknown. -- I don’t know anyone who ran a physical podcast studio back when I did, but I’m sure at least a few people must have. What were my competitive advantages? -- My audio experience -- My local networking experience I was fortunate that: -- I found a space very close to my apartment. -- I had previously been a member of the largest Chamber of Commerce in that area, so I knew a bunch of people already. I signed a 3 year lease, but it wasn’t overly expensive because it was in an older building and the space was unique (perhaps difficult to sell to most average businesses). Fractal Recording was born in June 2012. Equipment setup: -- 4 mics (Sennheiser e835’s) -- 4 Heil boom arms -- 4 channels of dbx 166xs -- Headphone amp -- Digital hybrid to take actual phone calls -- iPad for playing music and sound clips -- Bought my first Mac for the studio -- Focusrite interface (stereo!) -- Bought a couch, chairs, and a round table Started several shows to jumpstart the content coming out of my studio. I did this to generate as much buzz as possible around my studio. Attending Chamber of Commerce networking events to promote my studio and invite local business people to be interviewed on my local business podcast. *Back then most people didn’t even know what podcasts were! I met Barry the maintenance guy and got to know him. Trying to partner with 2 different people – both were going to be in charge of marketing and sales (obviously because I wanted to focus on the audio production!) – and both ended up in tragedy. The studio not being soundproof… UGH. THE END: Deciding to NOT sign up for another 3 years, which happened to coincide with my move to Colorado (where I would start doing all client recordings virtually). To sum up my experience having the studio for 3 years: -- Overall, I absolutely loved it. -- I learned so much and had so much fun. -- Got tons of experience hosting shows. -- Made some good friends. -- I paid my dues for what was to come next. -- The painful aspects of that experience have completely dissolved into nothingness. Was the studio profitable? Barely. It took a lot of effort and technically the studio was profitable but not by much. If I had a good salesperson it could have been more profitable. The Universe is funny – as soon as we moved to Colorado I got a call from a NJ business (who lived close to my old studio) who wanted to hire me to produce their podcast, but they did NOT want to come into my studio, and I said GREAT that works out nicely! I started on-boarding additional remote production clients and within 5 months I got a huge contract with Forbes to produce their podcast network remotely. What Did I Learn: -- When you know you can be successful at something, you just have to be bold and keep working hard and adapt when you need to. Eventually you will arrive in a place where you are making a good living doing something you love, though that place will definitely NOT be the place you originally had in mind. Hope you enjoyed that. Other Notes: -- If you ever have questions please reach out! -- The start date for the next PES semester is April 19, 2022! -- If you’d like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, “Btw, here’s a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful” with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/) Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything, ~Chris

I explain and demonstrate the CLA-2A plugin from Waves and how you can use it in podcast post-production. This a compressor/limiter plugin which tames/compresses peaks and adds a nice smooth analog sound to the audio. It is modeled from the classic LA-2A which is one of the best hardware compressors of all time and used on a zillion of your favorite records. LINKS: Waves CLA-2A plugin — https://www.waves.com/plugins/cla-2a-compressor-limiter User Guide for the Waves CLA-2A — https://www.waves.com/1lib/pdf/plugins/cla-2a-compressor-limiter.pdf Universal Audio LA-2A Collection — https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/compressors-limiters/teletronix-la-2a-collection.html PES PROGRAMS: Podcast Engineering School Full Program (Earn a GREAT living from home - Learn to engineer and produce podcasts at a professional level) — https://podcastengineeringschool.com/product/pes-online-program/ Getting New Clients at Higher Rates (on-demand course) — https://podcastengineeringschool.com/product/getting-new-clients-at-higher-rates/

I explain and demonstrate the MaxxVolume plugin from Waves and how you can use it in podcast post-production to control the dynamics of a participant - making sure their volume never gets too loud or too soft. Of course we do this to ensure a good listening experience for the listeners. LINKS: MaxxVolume plugin from Waves — https://www.waves.com/plugins/maxxvolume MaxxVolume video by Waves themselves: Mix and Master with the Waves MaxxVolume Plugin — https://youtu.be/uEtYFD84TjY PES PROGRAMS: Podcast Engineering School Full Program (Earn a GREAT living from home - Learn to engineer and produce podcasts at a professional level) — https://podcastengineeringschool.com/product/pes-online-program/ Getting New Clients at Higher Rates (on-demand course) — https://podcastengineeringschool.com/product/getting-new-clients-at-higher-rates/