So you’ve got your microphone hooked up to your computer, it receives sound and you have found the record button. However, when you try to record your voice it just doesn’t sound good. What’s the problem? Today I’m going to discuss some general techniques for recording through a microphone. I’ll follow up this post at a later point with a post on how to process the recording.
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During the coming weeks we will be talking a lot about various effects that we can process our audio with. If we choose to work in an entirely digital environment this will be achieved by using plug-ins. A plug-in (sometimes spelled plugin) is sort of an application that works inside your other application. Like an extension, or an add-on if you will, to your main application. When working with audio, and mixing specifically, plug-ins is a big deal. They let you do things that your application normally won’t. More →

Today we’ll discuss the EQs practical use. While it might not be as important for general podcasting purposes as it is for music, there really isn’t any reason for you to not at least try it out. If you’re unsure on the terms used in this post, then read my previous post on EQs. More →

In music production the EQ, or the equalizer, is perhaps the most important element besides the tools producing the sounds themselves. If you’re doing spoken word for podcasting you won’t have to deal with the same issues someone mixing an entire song has to however, that is, to adjust the frequencies of the separate sounds to make them all fit together in the spectrum. But it’s still a useful tool.
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I’ve talked about how to minimize noise in your podcasts by using different equipment and tweakingthe usage of these equipment. But one factor that also plays a big part in the production of noise in recordings is the environment itself.

Look around the room where you record your podcasts. Most likely you will identify things inside the room that produce noise that can be picked up by your microphone. For example, the air conditioner emits a hum that can be an annoying background noise. Turn it off when recording and just turn it back on when you’ve finished recording your take.

Refrigerators are another appliance that produce noise. Make sure that the room that you record in doesn’t have one inside. The hum of some refrigerators are not particularly loud but it can still be heard by people who have sensitive ears so give them a break and don’t record near a refrigerator.

Before you even begin an interview, you should make preparations to ensure that everything runs smoothly. A good interview is something that has been painstakingly prepared even the interview happens.

One of the things that you should do is to answer some questions yourself. How long do you plan to hold the interview? Are you going to let the interview play out or are you going to edit it? How will you edit it? You should also be ready to give your interviewee information — like who the audience will be and what are the expectations for the interview. You should also provide this information in the pitch letter that you will send your potential interviewee.

There are interviewees who may ask for some of the questions beforehand. This is a perfectly safe request for most “friendly” interviews.  A good tip is to start off the interview with a killer question — one that immediately grabs hold of the audience’s interest. After a couple of intriguing questions you can ease back and ask background questions afterwards.

An integral part of making content for your podcast is sourcing information from various sources. This often means interviewing people. An interview face to face while recording your podcast is a great way of making your podcast very interesting. But unfortunately, sometimes this is not possible. The only way to do the interview would be to do it over the phone.

You can still use the phone interview if you like by recording your phone call. Unfortunately, phone call interviews can be hard because you have to be constantly vigilant to keep your interview focused. After this you have to edit the conversation to reduce the amount of gaps.

One of the simplest ways of recording is to just record the speakerphone using your mic. It may sound crude but surprisingly, the quality can be quite good. Take note to mute the speaker of your computer in order to reduce or eliminate feedback.