Beginner Podcast Handbook

This article is a quick guide for those who want to launch their own podcast. When I launched the podcast “ To Infinity and Beyond” with my current co-host a year ago , I could not find a single truly comprehensive article. So I decided to try to fill this gap and write a guide for myself from the past.

A little bit about the structure - this guide contains 4 articles:

1. General philosophy
   1.1. Why make a podcast?
   1.2. Target audience
   1.3. The choice of genre
   1.4. Format
2. Technical basis
   2.1. What is a podcast from a technical point of view
   2.2. Audio format
   2.3. About speakers, headphones and tube sound
   2.4. About a quiet room
3. We make purchases
   3.1. We buy a microphone
   3.2. Select Audio Editor
   3.3. Select a program to record sound
   3.4. Choosing a Podcast Hosting
   3.5. Business Card Site
4. We record and release
   4.1. Record of release
   4.2. Editing the release
   4.3. About jingles and sound schemes
   4.4. About background noise
   4.5. About filters
   4.6. About Show Notes, as well as why listening to your podcast
   4.7. Publishing a Podcast
   4.8. Monetization
   4.9. Topics that are, but which we did not talk about

Each section of the article contains three blocks

• The essence of the section is the main idea stated abstractly
• Detailed description of “what, why, and why.” Usually there are a lot of letters that explain the main idea, and they are in the hidden section “Additional Information”
• The answer we found

Interesting - read everything. No time - read the first and last paragraph.

1. General philosophy

1.1. Why make a podcast?

The answer can be any, but not “then we'll see”, “I haven’t thought yet” or “I don’t know”. If there is no answer, it is very likely thatvery soon you will not find in yourself the motivation to continue this remarkable work.

Our answer: we learn rhetoric and improve the standards of our own speech. For us it is a value. And also (and this is the main thing) we are pleased with the process of our dialogue, its recording, as well as the subsequent discussion with our listeners. It's just humanly nice, the soul, you know, warms.

1.2. The target audience

You have to “get” into the audience. If you are a port loader, it’s foolish to review Nietzsche for the literary elite. But to review Nietzsche for other port movers - and why not? If you submit it (Nietzsche) in the correct vocabulary, there will be a bomb. Shura Karetny will confirm (who he is - see Wikipedia ).

Not only should you understand what you are talking about, but your audience should understand you. You must speak the same language.

Take fifteen minutes and introduce your listener

Our answer: we will not adapt to different audience of listeners, but we will focus on people like us. Yes, this greatly reduces the potential audience (and this is bad), but “our” listeners will be on the same wavelength with us (and this is good).

We will not adjust, not because we do not want, but because it is difficult and often does not bring pleasure, and this is a key value for us, and we do not want to lose it. Therefore, our main listener is an educated Russian-speaking person who is genuinely interested in this world in all its manifestations. Our podcast is closest to colleagues from the IT industry, engineers and other techies - simply because this topic is close to us, and we often talk about it

1.3. Genre selection

It is important to remember that the genre defines the entire podcast and imposes various restrictions on it.

For example:

• The “Invited Guests Interview” genre - there will always be something new in releases, and this is great but requires a lot of organizational work. Guests will have to search, coordinate topics, organize a recording (often via the Internet), etc.
• The “One author’s blog” genre is as simple as 3 kopecks, you alone talk about whatever you like. But something tells you that all issues will be similar - you need to be a very extraordinary person to avoid this

Our answer: We chose the “two dudes talk” genre - two interlocutors talk to each other on topics of interest to them. Specifically, we have a bias in IT, but this does not limit us much - for example, we recently discussed the Dunno Trilogy and impressions of our recent travels.

We chose this genre because we often talk in this format. All we need to record a podcast is simply turn on the microphone and monitor the language a little more carefully.

1.4. Format

Audio or Video? Of course, audio! This article is only about audio podcasts. But, in general, the pros and cons - see the section "Additional Information".

Short, medium or long? There is no general answer. Everyone is good at something and bad at something. You will find a bit of philosophy in the “More Information” section.

Our answer: We try to do issues of 60-70 minutes, because:

• our usual conversations on an interesting topic take 90 - 100 minutes, which minus “scraps” and gives a little more than an hour of pure time
• during this time we do not get tired so much that our speech falls noticeably in quality

2. Technical basis

2.1. What is a technical podcast?

A podcast is an audio file and its text description posted on the Internet according to certain technical rules .

A podcast audio file distributed on the Internet makes a set of technical arrangements that allow applications, sites and people to find and listen to your file. A simplified podcast scheme is shown in the figure.

Our solution: we strictly follow all technical (and other) rules. We publish wherever possible, using both a podcast server and stand-alone sites.

2.2. Audio format

The following audio formats should be used:

• for recording and editing - perfect WAV (48 kHz 24bit), normal WAV (44 kHz 16bit)
• for uploading to the Internet - perfectly MP3 (48 kHz 164 kbps), normal MP3 (44 kHz 128 kbps)
• Stereo / Mono - for the conversational genre to taste, if the podcast is musical - only stereo

WAV - format for recording and editing. Files take up a lot of disk space, but recording goes without quality loss.

MP3 is the format for publication. The bitrate for the conversational podcast is 164 kbit / s, for the music - 256 kbit / s. It does not make sense to make a bitrate, less is possible, but not by much.

Stereo / Mono - depends on what kind of microphone you have for recording. If you recorded stereo tracks from a mono microphone, stereo sound will not appear - just the same thing will be recorded on both audio tracks. Since most microphones are mono, you can record in mono. But if you record in stereo - there are no problems, just the file will be slightly larger.

There is a parameter “sampling rate” - the larger it is, the better the recording quality. For a podcast more than 48 kHz, it makes no sense, it will also be normal at 44 kHz. Less than 44 kHz is not desirable (especially for music).

“Bit” - 16 bit is enough for a conversational podcast, but 24 bit is better. Everything above 24 bit is for music.

To confuse - here's a picture for you, and the details, as usual, are below.

Our solution: We record, edit and store in the highest possible quality for our microphones - WAV (48 kHz 24bit) Stereo, and publish releases in MP3 (48 kHz 164 kbps) Stereo.

We have Mono microphones, but we write in stereo, because for WAV we do not mind the disk space, and this does not affect the size of the MP3 file.

2.3. About speakers, headphones and tube sound

The main task of this section is to show the production cycle of the podcast and explain why you need to focus on the listener with high-quality headphones (and a player).

Production chain:

I - Record

1. Microphone . They say it, and he sends the received signal to the computer. Recording sound better than your microphone can not work

   
   

2. Digitization (optional) If you have an analog microphone ( XLR or with a jack-connector ), the sound card of the computer should digitize the signal. Professional devices do it well, purchased sound cards are average, and integrated sound cards are bad. If you have a USB microphone, then this stage is skipped, because it outputs an already digitized signal

   
   

3. Record source. A program running on a computer records the sound received from the microphone into an audio file. In general, programs do not spoil the sound, but you can mess up in the settings, and the output is not what you wanted

   
   

II - Production

1. Editing a release. This is the only stage at which sound can be improved by applying filters. But all the problems that went through this stage will remain forever

   
   

2. Convert to MP3 for sharing on the Internet. MP3 spoils the sound . On poor and medium-sized speakers this is not noticeable, but on good speakers it’s already quite

   
   

3. Server upload

   
   

III - Listening.

1. Player . A listener launches your podcast on some device. The quality of this device can be very different, ranging from a cheap phone to a hi-end audio player. If the device delivers low-quality sound to the connector, no headphones will fix the situation

   
   

2. Headphones . People most often listen to a podcast through headphones. Their quality will be different, and you can not influence it in any way. The sound that flows from the studio headphones and from the “plugs” bought in Auchan are two very different sounds

   
   

It must be remembered that you have absolutely no power over points 7 and 8. Someone will listen on high-quality equipment, someone on cheap “rattles”. You cannot ban the use of studio headphones (as, for example, I do) and you cannot persuade people to abandon bad consumer goods (as, for example, my friend and co-host of the podcast does).

Our solution: We record sound at the maximum quality for our microphones (48 kHz 24bit). During editing, we apply sound filters. Before laying it, we turn it into MP3 in good quality. In general, we try to do it as qualitatively as possible, but if a jamb happened somewhere and the sound quality fell, then we are not very worried. If the result does not cause strong rejection, we post the release.

2.4. About a quiet room

It is very important where to write. There are two aspects:

• sound insulation (extraneous noise)
• sound absorption (lack of echo)

All extraneous noise will be heard on the recording. If neighbors make repairs, they drive motorbikes under the windows or neighbors swear at the stairwell, your listeners will hear it, and it is not a fact that you will notice these noises during the recording process of the issue - you will be carried away by the conversation. You will definitely hear these noises when you edit or listen to the resulting recording.

Echo effects - is that fly in the ointment that will spoil the whole barrel of honey, is everyone familiar with the term “sound like from a barrel”? There is an echo effect in the bath, toilet and gym, but it turns out that your living room is far from ideal if it is large enough and there is no upholstered furniture in it. In your ear it will seem that everything is fine, but on the record you will hear that this is not so.

Both noise and echo must be disposed of, and a recording studio is not required for this. If the pocket allows, then this is the best option, because there will be ideal conditions, but just a quiet room in which there is no echo.

Tips for choosing a room can be found in the “Additional Information” section.

Our solution: We experimentally selected a room where the echo effect is small and is not picked up by our microphone. We did not deal with sound insulation, we record releases on weekends at work when there is no one in the premises. Cars do not bother us - the road is relatively far away.

3. We make purchases

3.1. We buy a microphone

Many articles have been written on this subject , so I will not do a full review. But briefly:

1. You do not need a good microphone, you need a normal microphone. In my understanding, a normal microphone refers to a cheap studio or expensive office segment. Those. a microphone for 30,000 rubles is a waste of money, and for 1,000 - disrespect for listeners
2. I highly recommend USB microphones, because in the “normal microphone” segment they are not inferior to analog ones, and you don’t have to think about an audio card, which makes it easier to use
3. The microphone should have a stand or a tripod, otherwise it will have to be held or somehow fixed with improvised means, which is inconvenient
4. You have two options:
   a) Do not bother with your head and buy a microphone from our list (it is lower), choosing the “reasonable price” criterion
   b) Start studying the issue and choose a microphone that is optimal for your personal conditions

Lists of microphones and areas of knowledge that need to be studied, if you undertake to study the subject area, are given in the "Additional Information" section.

Our solution: We use Audio-Technica AT2020USB +. Not that we recommend it, but we have no complaints about it.

3.2. Select an audio editor

The topic “which audio editor to choose” is also covered in sufficient detail on the Internet. You can be convinced of this by going through the links No. 1 , No. 2 and No. 3 , however, it is hardly possible to figure out this topic “without a half liter”. I will not review audio editors as This is a separate industry, but rather I’ll tell you exactly what you should pay attention to.

The first thing to do is put up with the fact that at first you will suffer from illogical user interfaces. Absolutely all programs look like they come from the 90s (however, the way it is), and until you get used to it, it will be hard for you. This applies to all programs, so you can forget about the selection by the “looks beautiful” criterion.

Second, you need to find out - to edit the release you need very few “tools” from those that audio editors offer (for a specific list, see the “Additional Information” section). This “gentlemanly set” is present in almost all normal editors, so if you are not going to record music or be a professional sound engineer, you can forget about the choice according to the “more options” criterion.

Third - you need to decide whether you will use free (opensource) or paid editors. From the point of view of functionality for the podcast, in general, it makes no difference, however, we recommend choosing paid ones because they are less buggy. Also, in paid editors, there is guaranteed to be a complete “gentleman's set” of editing tools that is needed for a podcast, while there may not be any functions in free ones. On the other hand, if you have ever worked with sound, the choice of opensource audio editors may be justified - they are free.

So, the selection algorithm:

1. Decide if you are willing to pay money
2. If you are willing to pay, then:
   a) We take the editor’s name from the list below and google
   b) We look at the price and interface pictures
   c) Next, there are two options:
   
   • Do not steam. If you are not dumbfounded by the price and appearance of a particular audio editor - we buy it
   • To steam. We begin to google reviews and video tutorials. They are full for each of the software
3. If you are not ready to pay, then:
   a) We take the name of the free editor from the list below and google
   b) We are soaring. Getting google reviews and video tutorials

Please note that for free editors there is no “no steam” option.

Our solution : We use the paid editor Cubase Elements:

• paid - because there are fewer glitches in paid ones
• Cubase - because once upon a time I came across it and it was easier for me to master it
• Elements - because it's the cheapest, and there are more than enough tools for the podcast

3.3. Choose a program to record sound

What a twist.
But what, the program for audio editing is not able to record? Able, and does it well. But difficult.

If you plan to become Pro in the audio editor that you have chosen for yourself (have you already chosen?), Boldly flip through this chapter. But we, having edited and released already more than 20 issues, did not become Pro in editing (yet?).

We need a program that would simply record the sound from the microphone in the quality that is available to him, and would do this with the simplicity and reliability of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. And the easier it is, the better, ideally, it should only have the “Start” and “Stop” buttons

In the section “Additional Information” a list of programs.

Our solution : To record the issue itself, we use Voicemeeter Banana . This is not the easiest program, it’s easier, but it can record two microphones in one recording, and sometimes we need it.

3.4. Choosing a Podcast Hosting

This is also a well-lit topic, so I’m axiomatic.

Hosting Functionality:

• keep releases and release descriptions
• send RSS podcast to all players
• register yourself on Youtube and on other platforms
• provision of the “download podcast” service (usually the number of downloads is not limited)
• provide a minimal podcast website (usually wretched)
• backend for authors - statistics, profiling, monetization, etc.

All normal hosting services are paid. Choosing between them is about how to choose washing powder: there is a difference (or rather should be), but no one really understands what it is.

Pricing plans usually start at $ 15 per month. A more expensive tariff plan involves more airtime per month, advanced statistics and monetization programs. There are free tariffs, but they either remove the issue every 3 months, or there is a limit on the number of downloads, or some other significant limitation. In short, free of charge - this is inconvenient. I would recommend taking a paid option right away, but at a minimum rate, as all useful buns begin to work on large audiences. Here are some comparisons of tariff plans: Libsyn , PodBean , Transitor , SimpleCast, and Castos .

Here in this article dozens (!!!) of podcast hosting services are listed - choose to taste. The list is duplicated in the “Additional Information” section. There's also a free podcast host.

Our solution : We store our podcast in Libsyn. It’s not that it is the best or the cheapest - it just happened historically, and we don’t see any reasons for changing the host yet.

3.5. Business Card Site

All podcast hosts provide a minimal business card site. I will not speak for all the hosting services, but 100% of what I personally saw is squalor. So that you understand the degree of wretchedness - here is our site on the page of the podcast host (for which we scored and left it in the “default” mode), but here is the site of the mega-popular English-language podcast that makes money by podcasting. Yes, there is a difference, but is it significant?

Therefore, if you want a business card site, make a stand-alone site and post links to releases on it.

Our solution : We thought for a long time and yet decided to make our own business card site separate from the podcast hosting. But we are not completely sure that this should have been done.

4. We record and release

So, we chose both the editor and the microphone. We figured out the hosting, the recording room, and even the business card site. Let's record?

4.1. Release Record

The following options may be available:

1. You are in the same room and record on 1 microphone . You will have to sit next to each other and turn towards the microphone, and turn the microphone on the directional pattern at you. At the output, you get one audio file, which will need to be edited. The only subtlety is that the microphone should be directed so that everyone can record at the same volume

The approach works for 1-2 people. If there are more than two of you, someone will sit closer to the center of the microphone’s radiation pattern, and on the recording it will seem that he speaks louder than others.

1. You are in the same room and everyone has a microphone . Classic studio story. Perfect option. But it’s better not to record it into several audio tracks (when each microphone writes its own audio file), because there will be an echo effect - each speaker will be recorded to all microphones, and not just the one to which he speaks

To record in one audio track, you need software that can mix sound. For example, VoiceMeeter Banana or several others, but remember that you have to deal with the software settings.

1. You are in different rooms . You speak, for example, on Skype, and at the same time everyone writes separately himself. This works when you have headphones on your head and the sound of the interlocutor’s voice does not get into your microphone. If you are two recording a release, then you will have three audio files:
   
   • Sound from a good microphone №1
   • Sound from a good microphone №2
   • Skype conversation (when they both talk)

Why do I need three files, I will explain a little later in the “Release Edition” block.

An important point - do not try to take a conversation record for Skype for publication, as instant messengers are specifically geared towards compressing sound to work on poor communication channels. Sound compression is a loss of quality, and we already talked about it.

Our solution : We record in one room on one microphone.

1. In the same room - because it’s emotionally easier to release
2. One microphone - because
   a) with two microphones you have to fool around with software
   b) our microphone is good enough to ensure good recording quality alone

4.2. Edition editing

Something will definitely have to be cut off from the original recording. Coughing, stumbling, coffee breaks - all this will be in your original audio recordings, and it should not get into production.

The following options may be available:

1. You have one source file (or several consecutive files) . Everything is corny here - open the editor, create a project, download the file, edit it (cutting off the excess and gluing so that it seems that there are no seams), add filters, export to MP3. Everything
2. You have several parallel files . Here everything becomes more interesting. A specific example is Skype recording, 2 people are podcasting. One of them rang the phone - a delivery service. Need to cut off a piece of dialogue with the courier

We must do the same as in paragraph 1, but there are nuances:

• We cannot use skype recording to release a podcast (because it is bad)
• We need to combine different microphones
• When you cut a piece of recording from one microphone, the recordings are out of sync.
• You can always sync with skype reference

In the section “Additional Information” - an explanation with pictures.

Our solution : We have one source file

4.3. About jingles and sound schemes

Jingle is a unique soundtrack for every podcast. This is your “calling card." Be sure to get confused and find yourself some unique trick-saver.

In general, a classic edited podcast looks like this:

Our solution : We use a musical jingle (screensaver). Our sound scheme is described in the “Additional Information” section.

4.4. About background noise

A microphone that records silence still picks up some background sound. This is not noticeable with the ears, until perfect silence is heard, and you can get it by deleting the recording section. And this alternation greatly spoils the feeling of listening.

The solution options are in the “Additional Information” section.

Our solution : We copy background noise into cut pieces, we do not use background melody.

4.5. About filters

Filters are like perfumes for a podcast: if everything is bad, then flavoring will not help; if it just smelled a little bit, it sprinkled and everything was fine.

We cannot give specific recommendations, as the set of available filters varies for each audio editor, but we know for sure that they should be used.

A couple of recommendations in the “Additional Information” section.

Our solution: Yes, we always use filters. I don’t even know what to add ...

4.6. About Show Notes, and why listening to your podcast

Show Notes is the English name for the text accompanying the release of the podcast. In Russian, you can say “release notes”. Typically, these notes indicate links to topics discussed. For example, you discussed chinchillas in a podcast, but if your listener has never seen them, it will be difficult for him to understand how they look. Like a rat - no, like a rabbit - no, like a guinea pig - no. In Show Notes, you can simply give a reference to how the chinchilla looks , and the question is closed.

If your podcast has several hosts, it would be nice to have all the participants listen to it before publishing the podcast. This is necessary for two things:

1. Fill Show Notes
2. Find the bloopers and chunks of audio that you forgot to cut

Our solution: We edit the issues in turn. One is editing, the other is listening to the file before laying out. Show Notes compose together.

4.7. Publish a Podcast

Release recorded and edited, Show Notes compiled. Further publication. I skip the process of laying out hosting podcasts because it is quite simple and highly dependent on the hosting you choose. Then the fun begins. The process looks like this:

1. Immediately after the publication of the podcast, your host sends your release to Youtube, SoundCloud and other (pre-configured) places. He does it automatically, but it’s better to check after him
2. Your podcast hosting business card site is automatically updated with the publication, but if you also made your business card site, you need to publish the news yourself
3. Publish in any Telegram, VK, Facebook and other places that are important to you, but where your host does not know how to automatically
4. Now the updated RSS is available to all podcast players for download, and all those players who know about the existence of your podcast can download it.

But what about those podcast players who don’t know about you? Right! They need to register your podcast. This is a one-time procedure, but it will have to be done for almost all players. Details in the section “Additional Information”.

Our solution : We registered in large players, we scored some small (or not popular in Russia) players, but a little bit we add new platforms.

4.8. Monetization

There are 4 methods for making a profit:

1. Monetization from hosting a podcast . This is a feature built into the hosting, and if you enable it, then advertising will be added to your release. For the number of plays you get a penny
2. Advertising broadcast personally by you . You have found an advertiser, he pays you money, and you read out eulogies about his product
3. Sale of souvenirs . A mug with your logo doesn’t cost 100 rubles, but 1,000. A mug is bought from you not because it is very good, but because in this way they say to you “Thank you for the podcast!”
4. Target user donation . For example, through Patreon or other platforms. Purely voluntary business

If you want money, choose something from points 1-4 in accordance with your conscience. Details, as usual, in the section “Additional Information”.

Our solution : For us, a podcast is a hobby, and we do not plan to make money on it yet. Therefore, we have no advertising, no online store. We have a souvenir, but it is a gift. We occasionally play and give it at competitions. Here, for example, is the chiliec habrowser in our T-shirt .

4.9. Topics that are, but which we did not talk about

When there are a lot of these topics, and if I still have a fuse, perhaps I will write the fifth chapter of this article (but this is not accurate). Now I’ll just list the topics so I don’t forget myself, and you hint that the topic of podcasts is much wider. So:

• Work with the audience - you need to engage in dialogue with students.

  
  

• Your voice disgusts you - at first it will be so.

  
  

• Russian language - it is important to be able to properly and effectively once w ovarivat.

  
  

• Whether to make a list of topics for releases (or “burn from the sheet”) - no comment.

  
  

• What to do if conversation topics run dry - and how to avoid this.

  
  

• Statistics - where what and how to download.

  
  

• PR is another job.

  
  

Thank you for mastering this fundamental work. Let’s hear on the waves “ To Infinity and Beyond ”!