Podcasting…Sonic Excellence Awaits!
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Greetings [tag]bloggers[/tag] and surfers! Welcome to a few minutes of minutia from Mustech’s resident [tag]audio[/tag] [tag]geek[/tag] and tube aficionado. Today’s episode takes us to the scary land of “Webaudiodom”, where we will find many an incredibly talented musician, scholar, or commentator attempting to make a [tag]podcast[/tag] worthy of their content (which is the exact opposite of my creations, but that is subject for another session….err, blog).
Anyhoo, here is a list of simple things you can do to improve the [tag]fidelity[/tag] of your podcast (for those of you savvy and hip to the world of audio, please note that I am going to use some sweeping generalities below so as to not scare off the unsuspecting victims - don’t slam me for going all Kindergarten on you…so there!).
~GetDef(podcast)~
1 - DON’T USE THE STOCK SOUNDCARD ON YOUR COMPUTER!
Although there might be a cute little jack marked “Mic In” on said device, I can assure you that it is less a source of clean mic signal amplification than it is an unholy abyss of distortion and noise, just waiting to suck all of the talent out of you. For less than $200, you can get one of a myriad of USB interfaces that not only sound light years better than the stock card in your computer; they also yield substantial tech mojo (face it - dongles rock!). When shopping for the perfect device, make sure you get one with XLR connectors (3-pin connector in a 3/4″ circle) that has a mic preamp in it so that you can actually plug in a real mic. Which leads me to…..
2 - DON’T USE THOSE HORRID, LITTLE PLASTIC AUDIO TRANSDUCER THINGYS THAT COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS SELL UNDER THE NAME OF “MIC”!
Egad, there are few, more-awful, things that have been hoisted onto our un-audio-educated society as a whole than those tone-sucking beasts with a $.05 capsule in them. So, what constitutes a real mic? Good question. Mics are as varied in design and purpose as there are fish in the see (well, actually the sole purpose of a fish is to be eaten - perhaps I need to spend more money on an analogy writer). But, generally speaking, a hand-held, stage mic will work wonderfully for podcasting. What the average podcaster is looking for in the way of a general-purpose unit is a dynamic mic with a cardioid pattern.
Dynamics are the Honda Civic of the mic world - simple, relatively inexpensive, and durable. There are no on-board electronic components in a dynamic mic - just a capsule, some wires, and transformer…perfect. Cardioid refers to the pick-up pattern of the mic. A cardioid pattern will pick-up your voice wonderfully if you talk directly into the mic element and stay within a 6″ or so of it. But, any noise that is not in that zone in front of the mic (like the fan from that awful computer you keep bandaging together) will be attenuated or reduced by a fair amount. Speaking of noise…
3 - FIND A QUIET PLACE TO RECORD!
There are few things more annoying in a podcast than distracting ambient noise. Isn’t it bad enough that sonically perfect and otherwise-harmless audio files have to be ripped/mutilated into crummy mp3’s so as to fit in a data cable? Why make the audible experience worse by recording in a room with a printer and scanner humming away in the background? Find the quietest place in the house (no, think of another place - that’s gross), grab a laptop, and go record your manifesto in peace.
4 - DINKY LITTLE COMPUTER SPEAKERS ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR QUALITATIVE MONITORING!
It would amaze you what lies those nasty things will tell. They will assure you that everything in your file sounds just fine; then a buddy congratulates you minutes after downloading on the “killer toilet flush in the background, dood!”. Recording studios spend thousands and thousands of dollars on studio monitors (no, they don’t use those expensive, faux wood home theatre speakers from Best City or Circuit Buy…yech). The reason they spend the bucks is simple: they have to have an accurate sonic landscape presented to them.
Fear not though: I only want you to buy GOOD [tag]headphones[/tag]. Headphones that come bundled with other devices are not good…not even close. A good set of headphones will set you back anywhere from $90-$2000 and will last you many, many years. Remember: buy once - cry once.
5 - YOUR VOICE SOUNDS FINE! SHUT UP AND RECORD!
You may hate your voice, but trust me, it ain’t that bad! Podcasting is all about content - i.e. if you have something good to say, then the squeaky/horse/ raspy/guttural/ sputtering/gurgling vehicle of conveyance doesn’t matter one bit. Spend your time in topic research and making a clean recording - do not waste a second on worrying what you sound like.
Thus concludes our adventure for today. Now, grab some bucks, head out to a music store, and buy some toys!
~Darren
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