So far I have recorded two podcast episodes, both interviewing guests, though recorded differently – one in person and one over the phone. Here is what I have learned from both types of interviews.
My goal going into podcasting was to keep things as cheap as possible, at least initially. My fear was that I would spend a bunch of money on equipment and then only do a few episodes before giving up on podcasting altogether. I figure that if it takes off and I continue to do regular podcasts for the forseeable future, and know that I can justify the expense, I can upgrade to nicer equipment. So far I have invested in the following:
- A Mixer. On the advice of my pastor, Pastor Bob DeWaay, whom you now know as my first guest, I bought a Behringer XENYX 802. It's an 8-channel general-use mixer I bought mine at Guitar Center for around $60. The most important advice I can give is that you need to understand that this is a Professional-grade piece of electronics, as opposed to consumer-grade. You can't just get a 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch adapter and plug in your cheapo Sound Blaster computer microphone, it won't work.
- Two Microphones. I bought two cheapy microphones from Radio Shack. This
one is similar to what I got, but the ones I bought were $20 each. I got them because they were not only cheap, but they also had cords attached, so I wouldn't need to buy separate cords, which would cost as much, if not more, than the microphones themselves. One thing I also like, though didn't consider when I bought them, is that since they have a 1/4 inch connector rather than XLR, they can be plugged into channels 3 or 5 of the mixer if I ever buy nicer microphones and thus accommodate a third or fourth person on a show. - Microphone Stands. A very small but important purchase. I got two, also from Radio Shack. I didn't want the sounds of bumps and thumps that come with a mic held in the hand of a guest and moving around throughout the recording.
- Miscellaneous Cables and Adapters. Several 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch adapters, 1/4 inch to RCA adapters, and various cables.
What I do right now is adapt the headphone jack to accommodate a standard set of consumer-level headphones like you'd use with an iPod. Since interviewing Bob, I also bought a spitter to allow both me and my guest to hear what comes out of the mic port.
I use the 1/4-RCA adapters on the Main outs and a cable with RCA on one end and 1/8th inch on the other to line the mixer into a laptop for recording. As an aside, I use Audacity to record and edit.
The mixer is set up nicely to allow me to hook up an iPod with sound clips if I wish to incorporate them into the interview. A simple cord with RCA on one end and 1/8 inch on the other will work if lined in to the CD in port of the mixer, though that will require me to press the “CD/TAPE TO CTRL” and “CD/TAPE TO MIX” buttons when playing the iPod in order for the guest and the laptop (doing the recording) to hear it. The other option is to us 1/4 to RCA adapters and plug the iPod into the channel 3/4 ports and
not worry about the “CD/TAPE TO …” buttons.
As I mentioned, I also have a laptop that I use to do the recording. Besides the laptop, I have about $200 invested in equipment and cables, which I think is very reasonable for an amateur podcast.
The above, while describing what I bought, should make things pretty obvious how I conduct in-person interviews. The one lesson I learned in the first interview, which I will incorporate into future interviews, is to take advantage of both audio channels (left and right). Because the final product was intended to be in mono sound, I recorded it that way and it caused more trouble than it was worth. In the future, I will put one person on the left channel and the other on the right. The reason for this is that editing is easier in two channels. If one person coughs or a sound is made that you don't want in the final edit, it can easily be taken out without affecting what's being recorded by the other person (so long as the noise isn't picked up by both mics.) When you're all done editing, you can mix it down to a single channel mono for publishing.
For the phone interview I did with Mark Huffman, I did things differently than I would in the future. For a couple years now, I have been running Asterisk on my home phone system, which is served on a Linux machine. One nice thing about Asterisk is that it makes things very easy to record calls, recording is just written into the call handling script and can be easily commented out when not in use. With Mark, I called him via Gizmo, a Skype-like program for Voice-over-IP. (Mark is set up with a system that allows him to make and receive calls via Gizmo to and from normal phones – but can also be used with a computer interface.) Asterisk did all of the recording, and after the previous experience with Bob, I allowed Asterisk to kick out seperate files for each channel, which is the default, rather than having it mix them down to one file. This made editing much easier, especially with the delay between us.
In the future, I plan to try something a bit different. I will actually use two computers to do the interview. The first computer will handle the phone call and the second will handle the recording, with the mixer between them. The way to do this is to hook the hosts microphone up to channel one, and adjust the balance to the left channel. Then hook the speaker line-out from the computer into channel two, adjusting the balance to the right channel. Then connect the left channel only of the Control-Room out on the mixer to the mic/line in on the computer. It is important to only use the channel that the host is on, in this case left. The reason for this is that if you use both channels, you will be lining out of the first computer to record your guest and then lining his voice right back into the mic/line in port, causing a feedback loop. By isolating your voice, you avoid the loop. Be sure to turn on the “Phantom Power” on the mixer, as that is needed to get the signal to a level that the computer can use for the call. Connect both channels to the second computer mic/line in the same as you would with an in-person interview. This effectively makes phone and in-person interviews turn out the same way, with one person on each channel in the final recording, and allows me to adjust the levels on both channels in case one is too high or too low. In addition, it gives me the chance to use the
mixer I bought for podcasting.
For the call itself, I can use the same system, using Asterisk, that I used with my interview with Mark. This would give me the advantage of having two recording devices going for the interview, in case the recording quality on one of them is inadequate. Another option is to use Skype. Skype has the advantage of being a higher quality system than standard VoIP, which could give a much better sounding interview. Depending on your sound card, you may be able to record Skype calls using Audacity. If your sound card doesn't allow this, there are Skype add-ons that allow you to record calls, but they are typically commercial (for profit) programs so, having the free Audacity alternative, I have never used them. My system with Asterisk also gives me the option of being able to push normal phone-system calls through a software phone on the computer, which would give the sound quality of a POTS line but the ability to record of a VoIP system. The key to using Asterisk with the POTS phone system is a POTS-VoIP converter box or PCI card. I have the Sipura SPA-3000. The SPA-3000 will allow me to connect to both a standard phone handset (mine is connected to the whole house – giving me all the handsets) and the phone company's connection. You can also get another adapter that is cheaper but only allows you to connect to a phone handset. Mark has the Linksys SPA2002/Sipura SPA2002 (Linksys bought Sipura – his is the Linksys). He registers his phone with Gizmo, which – like Skype – allows him a call-in number and credit for calling out to normal phones. BTW, this is a great system for overseas missionaries. It is much cheaper than Vonage, which is another option, as Gizmo charges $35/year for a phone number (Mark's is in a Twin Cities area code), and about 2 cents a minute for outbound calls (inbound calls are free once you've paid for the phone number). Calls to Gizmo numbers/accounts are always free. Compare this to Vonage that charges $30/month regardless of usage.
Obviously this is all a work in progress. I am taking the lessons learned from each episode to hopefully improve the quality of sound in future episodes.
Thanks for putting up with things so far!
