People have different views on this so bear with us, location is the area where you have your equipment set-up including your recording equipment, mic, stand and any other equipment you may have. The best spot for the professional podcast is of course a sound stage/room, unfortunately you have to settle for something rather basic for that can be expensive and impossible in a small apartment or in your room. Tip, it sounds crazy but your closet would be a nice spot to do a podcast, no background noise, no distraction and you only have your clothes as audience so no stage fright (just let everybody know what you’re doing or you can get into trouble, and bring a light or install one for very obvious reasons). Background noise tends to not only be annoying but quite distracting, making your podcast noisy and unwieldy, but hold on a minute, you can use your background for special effects. This is called sound seeing (as if we don;t have video podcasts?!?) and it integrates your background into the podcast as effects giving it more impact. Take care of anything you know makes noise, a noisy fan that blows your voice away, the AC that hums and bursts to life as the motor starts/stops, the squeaky door or chair. Best inform the rest of the household that you will be doing a podcast and ask politely if they can minimize noise for a few minutes. To check for errant noise sources, do a test recording to check, then a search and destroy operation is in order (search and silence). Moving podcasts give the impression of your living your life as if nothing was happening, be careful with that laptop should you use it, trip and you’ll be jumpin’ like that bloke on Mr. Bean! With that in mind, you have the makings of an elementary podcast, or at least you tried… Better luck next time and practice makes perfect.

Originally posted on April 6, 2009 @ 10:30 am