Podcasts-Recording and Producing: Podcasts-Overview

On this page we are going talk about different ways to structure your podcast and provide an overview of the different steps in making a podcast. 

One of the first things to consider when you begin to think about starting a podcast is to choose the format for the podcast. Before recording it might be helpful to map out everything that you are going to need.  

• Solo- You might want to do a podcast on your own. The structure might look something like:
  1. Introduction- Introduce yourself and the podcast (what it is about etc.)
  2. Topics- If you are doing a podcast on your own it important to plan ahead and have prepared content so you do not ramble or get off topic.
  3. Conclusion- Wrap up your podcast.
• Panel- You want to have yourself and a few others discuss a variety of topics in conversational style.
  1. Introduction
  2. Topic A
  3. Topic B- You might cover a few different topics. Think about how you want to transition between the different topics. Do you want it to be natural and conversational or do you want formal transitions?
  4. Conclusion
• Interview- It is often common to have a host or group of hosts interview a guest.
  1. Introduction- Introduce yourself and the podcast.
  2. Introduce the guest- You should introduce the guest after introducing the host and the podcast.
  3. Interview
  4. Conclusion
• Narrative- Your podcast might take the form of a narrative or a story. Here you have much more room to play around and be creative with the structure of the podcast. It might be a mix of narration, multiple interviews, or other elements. 

To start let's take a big picture look at the different steps involved in making a podcast. 

1. Planning- Map out what your podcast is going to look like, pay attention to noting all the different parts you will need to record
2. Recording- Actually recording the podcast, probably the most time intensive part of the process
3. Importing- Once you are done with recording all of your material for podcast you'll need to import it into the software that you are using to edit your audio
4. Editing- This can involve cutting out portions of the recordings that are irrelevant or clutter up the recording, also combine and arrange different recordings together and adding your music.
5. Mixing (polishing)- Once you have all of your recordings arranged in way that works for you you can begin polishing up the audio quality using tools such as EQ, compression and reverb. 
6. Mixing (adjusting levels)-  Once you have all the individual parts sounding the way you want bring them back together and adjusts their volumes so everything matches
7. Exporting- Finally, export your track and make sure everything is set for playback

• Bass- The low-end or deeper set of audio frequencies, low pitches.
• Cardiod- A microphone that picks up sound in a heart shaped area in front of it, good for isolating individual sounds, most common form of microphone.
• Clip- When gain is too high a track can clip. It will become noisy, fuzzy, and harsh sounding.
• Compressor- A tool or effect used to standardize volume.
• DAW- A digital audio workstation, or the software that is used to edit and import audio.
• Equalizer- A tool used to adjust by either lowering or raising specific parts of the audio spectrum.
• Gain- The volume level that is being input into a device (different from the output volume).
• Mix- The combination of all the individual recorded tracks.
• Monitor- Listening to a recording as it is being recorded.
• Omni-directional- A microphone that picks up sounds in all directions.
• Pan- Allows you to adjust the balance between the left and right speaker for an individual track.
• Playhead- A cursor that shows your progress in an audio track, or the point at which you are about to make an edit.
• Plosives- Quick bursts of air caused by saying certain syllables (such as 'p's) that can cause a mic to clip and distort.
• Track- A single channel or part of a recording. Most recordings, podcasts, songs, etc. are made up of multiple individual tracks.