So you have a great idea, you've bought all the gear and you are ready to record your first podcast. Easy hey? Well in case you get stuck with what to do with your raw recorded podcast after you are finished, here is everything you need to know to get it edited and on all the popular streaming platforms.
STEP #1 - EDITING
The first step once you have finished recording your content is to export the files from whatever you recorded them on and into an audio editor. In my podcast studio in Melbourne, I record all my podcasts on the Rodecaster Pro and it is an amazing piece of hardware. It not only multi-tracks all 4 x mic inputs but also has the ability to receive phone calls in for interviews and play music stings. It records everything onto a micro SD card and so I simply take this card and drop a single multitrack audio file onto my computer. From there I import the file into my audio editor, Logic Pro X. Logic is an advanced version of Garage Band and is a very easy and effective DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) that allows you to edit and mix your podcast. If you don't want to spend the $300 for Logic Pro, Garage Band is free to all Mac users. If you are on PC then check out Ableton Live or FL Studio .
Once imported the first thing you want to do is broad editing. That means taking out all the large sections you don't want and bringing the story together into a format that people will enjoy. Try and keep the length to around 30 minutes and make sure it's has a natural flow that sounds like it was recorded all in one take.
Next you should remove all the 'um' and 'ahhh' that make you sound like you didn't know what you were going to say and then move the gap together so it sounds like you never hesitated. Also listen for awkward mouth sounds and large breaths.
Now you should level out the dialogue volume so it all hits your audio meter at the same level. This is done with clip gain or volume automation.
Once the flow is working then we want to mix the dialogue to sound nice. We do this by adding EQ, compression, noise reduction and de-essers. Here is a video to help you with this.
Then we want to think about music for the into, outro and also during the podcast if it needs some atmosphere to enhance the story. There are many sites you can go to and pay a small fee to use their music stings suck as Pixabay or Youtube Audio Library . Keep the intro and outro music nice and short and record a vocal intro to the podcast over the intro music. If you ever get a sponsor this is a great place to add it as well. For the sound beds you want them to sound similar to the theme music. This is where getting a composer to write you an original theme set of music. It might cost more but if your podcast has music beds throughout the episodes, it will make a big difference.
The last stage of the process is called MASTERING. This is to set the output loudness level to a specific level so that the streaming services will accept your podcast. So what you need here is a Loudness Meter. This measures the loudness in LUFS and for a podcast you want your final level to be -16.0LUFS to -18.0LUFS. There are a few free including Youlean Loudness Meter 2 . The idea here is to play the podcast and aim to have the dialogue and music hitting around -16.0LUFS on the long term meter. You will also want a peak limiter on the master channel to stop peaks shooting trough. Compression and limiting is quite advance so don't stress if this all seems like another language. Here is a useful video.
Once you have all this set, you want to bounce the episode down to a stereo MP3 in 128kbps to 160 kbps. This will mean the file is not to large and still sound good.
UPLOADING YOUR PODCAST TO STREAMING SERVICES
The final step for you to endure before you can share you podcast with the world is to find a podcast hosting provider. There are several that offer free services out there but they will generally take the podcasts down after a while and limit the number of upload hours per month. Here is a list of the best hosting services at the moment.
I personally use Buzzsprout and find their platform not only competitive in price, but amazing with feature and ease of use. They also have a very detailed description of how to get your podcast on all the popular streaming services. You can even use their 'Magic Mastering Tool' if you found the tech too difficult in the step before.
Well that's it, your podcast is streaming from all the poplar streaming services and you know how to edit and mix the episode yourself! Now it's all down to marketing the podcast and growing your audience. Good Luck!!!
At Beat Tank Recording Studios in Melbourne we record podcasts in an acoustically treated room with the latest gear to make you sound great. We have a producer on hand to take care of all the technical things so you can concentrate on your content and delivery. We offer editing, mixing and mastering services and also can take care of all the uploading for you for one easy fee. Check out pictures of out Melbourne podcast studio here.
Contact us any time to discuss your next podcast.