simon

simon

github
HomeArchivesAbout

How to create a podcast

#podcast#人文221
AI Translation
This post is translated from Chinese into English through AI.View Original
AI-generated summary
Creating a successful podcast involves producing digital audio content, choosing a stable theme, creating a catchy title and description, designing a cover, preparing topics, recording episodes, and editing audio files. It is important to use quality equipment like microphones and sound cards, and to consider USB or Type-C connections for devices. Show notes are also important for providing additional information to users. Podcasts can be uploaded to hosting platforms and submitted to popular podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

How to Create a Podcast#

What is a Podcast?#

Untitled

The English name for podcast is Podcast, which is actually a hybrid word. Podcast = iPod + BroadCast, is a digital broadcast media that can be subscribed and listened to on digital devices. It was originally promoted by Apple, and now you can still subscribe and listen to various programs by downloading the app called Podcast on the AppStore.

So, a podcast is equivalent to recording the content of a radio program, placing it on an RSS subscription feed for users to subscribe, download, and listen to.

Why do people listen to podcasts?#

This is a common question. Attention on the internet is the scarcest asset for the public, and competition is fierce. Podcasts are generally long and only have audio without any visual stimulation. Will people listen?

In fact, podcasts have their own unique use cases and complement other types of media, unlike the zero-sum game of text and video. Podcasts are usually used when it is not easy to read content, such as commuting, resting, walking, or doing housework.

And the audience for podcasts may not be as small as we imagine. According to statistics from Edison Research, the population of people in the United States who have listened to podcasts over the age of 12 reached 51.4%. In 2020, due to the epidemic, Chinese podcasts have ushered in a second spring since 2014, known as the Chinese Podcast Year. We can understand the current audience situation of Chinese podcasts through the 2020 Chinese Podcast Listener Survey conducted by PodFest China.

Untitled 1

How to Create a Podcast#

From the definition of a podcast, it can be seen clearly that a podcast is actually divided into two steps.

  • Create digital audio content
  • Publish it on an RSS subscription feed

Topic Selection#

Untitled 2

Podcasts are subscription-based media, and a stable theme can give the audience an expectation of the future development of the program and help the audience quickly understand what the program is about.

  • Program title
  • A brief description of about 1-2 sentences
  • Cover image

Teacher, can you be more helpful?

  • Audio intro, by adding a fixed audio intro at the beginning of each episode, you can quickly bring the audience into the state of listening to the program, and it will also form a memory anchor, which can transfer the feelings of the past episodes to the new ones.

Topic Preparation#

This part varies depending on the type of program. Some parts can be shared, but others need to be added according to the type.

You need to prepare a script that includes the following:

  • The topic of the conversation
  • A list of core questions
  • Basic program flow, such as host introduction, guest introduction, and topic guidance

For talk shows, it is also necessary to send the question list to the guests for preparation. Depending on the host's ability, you can also prepare some ice-breaking topics.

Recording#

Untitled 3

This chapter mainly introduces the following:

  • Recording equipment
  • Recording software
  • Single or multiple offline recordings
  • Multiple people online

Recording equipment#

At the beginning of any interest, equipment is often the least important part. As the interest develops, gradually increasing investment is the wise choice. For podcast recording, the simplest way is to use the voice memo recording function on your phone and then export it for editing. In most cases, content is more important than sound quality. So, don't let the lack of a microphone hinder you from creating a podcast.

When you decide to improve the audio quality to provide a better experience for the audience, you need to understand the following equipment.

Microphone

A microphone is a tool for sound collection. A good microphone can provide better audio quality from the source and even solve some recording environment problems.

Types of microphones

  • Condenser microphone
    • It has advantages such as ultra-high sensitivity, fast transient response, wide frequency response, and ultra-low touch noise, but it is relatively fragile and sensitive to impact and moisture. It requires power supply.
    • Suitable for recording in a good environment and pursuing high-quality sound effects
  • Dynamic microphone - the type of microphone we usually see in KTV
    • It has low noise, does not require power supply, is easy to use, stable and reliable performance, and relatively cheap price, but its transient response and high-frequency characteristics are not as good as condenser microphones.
    • Suitable for beginners in recording environments with cross-interference

Microphone parameters:

  • Sensitivity

    • The higher the sensitivity, the smaller the sound it can pick up

  • Sound pressure

    • The maximum sound pressure that the microphone can withstand without distortion

  • Directionality, the direction from which sound can be received

    Here is an illustration of the directionality of the Blue Yeti microphone

Untitled 4

  • Sound card
    • If there is no built-in sound card, you need to connect to a device with a configured sound card when using it
    • If there is a built-in sound card, you can record and analyze at the same time, achieving the purpose of monitoring
  • Interface

    • XLR, once the mainstream, but now not recommended for personal use, the interface is difficult to adapt to universal devices

Untitled 5

- USB, recommended, can be easily connected to a phone or computer
- Type-C, the future trend, but currently supported devices are relatively few

Monitoring headphones

This is an easily overlooked device, but it is crucial for improving the recording quality of the podcast.

- The main function is monitoring, that is, listening to the sound while speaking, so that you can listen to the sound you are producing in real-time
- Because condenser microphones are very sensitive, they are prone to pick up some noise. Real-time monitoring helps you deal with these noises in a timely manner
- At the same time, you can pay attention to your own speaking situation. Many times, you will only realize the problems in your speech after recording
- There are many issues to consider when purchasing, if you are interested, you can read this article
    
    [How to Choose Monitoring Headphones](https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/27909887)

Recording software#

Software can be divided into recording software and post-production software, and some software can perform both roles.

For recording, if it is simple, you can use the voice recording function on your phone or computer. After recording, you can import it into post-production software for processing.

Post-production software is mainly used for noise reduction, editing, etc. The main ones are,

Exclusive to Mac platform

  • Garage Band, free
  • Logic Pro X, paid $199, professional level

Multi-platform

  • Audacity, free and open-source
  • Adobe Audition, paid

Recording mode#

Single-person recording and multiple-person offline recording.

  • This is simple, find a quiet room and turn on airplane mode on your phone to prevent external interference, and then you can start recording.

Multiple-person online recording

  • Open an online chat room and play the recording through the speakers. This operation is relatively simple, but the sound quality may be worse and there may be delays.
  • The current mainstream Multi-End recording mode, multiple hosts use online chat tools such as QQ or WeChat voice, wear headphones while chatting, so that the sound will not be played out, and each person uses a recording device to record a track. In the end, in post-production, you only need to overlay the tracks to complete high-quality multi-person online voice recording, simple and efficient.
  • Bowuzhi host Yu Wanying drew an illustration of the "Multi-Ender" concept

Untitled 6

Editing#

Collect audio -> Editing -> Compression -> Noise reduction

Collect audio#

  • If there are multiple tracks recorded, you can gather them together using various cloud storage services.
  • Background music

Editing#

  • Remove some meaningless sounds to maintain the rhythm of the program
    • Extreme silence before the opening, silence during recording
    • Rambling before the opening, excessive verbal expressions during recording
    • Overlapping caused by two people speaking at the same time in multi-track situations, edit as needed
    • Frequent verbal expressions, such as "then", "uh", "yes..."
  • Splicing of multiple tracks in multi-person recordings
  • Rerecord incorrect content
  • Add background music
  • Add intro and outro

Compression#

  • Compression is the dynamic change of the amplitude of the sound waveform, making loud parts quieter and quiet parts louder, avoiding "noise" in high frequencies and "muddiness" in low frequencies.
  • During the recording process of a podcast, various situations can cause the volume to suddenly increase or decrease, such as the host shouting loudly at the beginning of the show, or the guest moving away from the microphone due to unfamiliarity, affecting the pickup effect. In order to prevent the audience from constantly adjusting the volume themselves, we recommend using compression to control the fluctuation of the volume. Even if these fluctuations seem very subtle, you can see them clearly in the waveform.

Noise reduction#

  • Generally recommended to use Audacity because it is open-source
    • Adobe Audition is also available
    • The main purpose is to remove background noise, the principle is the same as that of active noise-canceling headphones, generating a sound wave that is the opposite of the noise based on a segment of noise to cancel out the noise. Remember, do not overdo the noise reduction, as it may affect the sound quality.

Export#

  • Mono
    • Stereo may seem better, but in actual listening, when the sound comes from different directions, it greatly affects the user's listening experience, so it is generally recommended to use mono.
  • Bitrate, under normal circumstances, less than 192KB
    • Too high audio quality will result in large file sizes, and beyond 192, it is generally difficult for listeners to distinguish.
  • Keep the size within 150MB, which is the upload limit for most hosting platforms

Show notes#

The main purpose of show notes is to provide additional textual information that users need, to avoid users having to repeatedly replay to collect this information. It mainly includes:

  • A brief introduction to the podcast episode
  • Introduction of guests
  • Chapter list with timestamps
    • Can be created using Podcast Chapter
  • Music used
  • Books, music, and plays mentioned in the episode

Broadcasting#

Prepare audio files -> Upload to hosting platform -> Submit to podcast platforms

Prepare audio files#

Refer to the export section of the previous chapter

Upload to hosting platform#

Since podcasts need to be downloaded and listened to by users, audio files need to be uploaded to self-built or third-party audio hosting platforms. Here, it can be divided into two categories: hosting platforms that cooperate with China and hosting platforms that do not cooperate with China. This mainly affects the process of launching podcasts in the Chinese region.

  • Hosting platforms that cooperate with China
    • Lizhi FM
    • Qingting FM
    • Tingban
    • Ximalaya
  • Hosting platforms that do not cooperate with China
    • Fireside
    • Squarespace

Podcast platforms#

  • Essentially, it maintains a large RSS subscription feed list and a usable B/C-end software for uploading and downloading
  • The mainstream platforms now are

Podcast platform review process#

Untitled 7

Recommendations#

Recommended podcast software#

  • Podcast
  • Xiaoyuzhou

Recommended podcasts#

Non-fiction

  • Page Seven - Audio documentary
  • Ez Bizarre FM - Crime storytelling

Technical

  • Go Night Chat - Go language-themed podcast
  • Snake Catcher's Talk - Python-themed podcast
  • Entreprogrammers Podcast - A podcast in English about four developers transitioning to entrepreneurship
  • Test & Code

Tech and gadgets

  • Yipai - Podcast from the minority community
  • Avocado Toast - Silicon Valley tech trends and North American life

Humanities

  • Huzuo Huzuo - A program focused on humanities
  • Zhenbianfeng - A talk show about life
  • Da Xiao Diantai - A coffee-themed podcast incubated by Da Xiao Coffee
  • Wuye Youmin - A talk show by a group of unemployed people
Loading...
Ownership of this post data is guaranteed by blockchain and smart contracts to the creator alone.