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Tag Archives: Podcast

Creating A ‘Quest for the North Pole’ Sound Library

Building a sound library was key to creating a cohesive sonic identity for the Mental Floss and iHeartMedia podcast The Quest for the North Pole, says producer and editor Dylan Fagan. In the early stages of production, his job was to figure out how to interpret host Kat Long’s vision and what she was hearing in her mind. That mix of sounds and music would become key to the podcast’s ability to recount both how and why explorers like Sir John Franklin, Fridtjof Nansen, Robert Peary and Matthew Henson made the first, sometimes fatal, expeditions to the Arctic.

“[Kat] gave me some notes and their scripts, and I just ran with that,” he says, taking her suggestions for “chilly” sounds and audio to represent sled dogs and other sounds that could be considered common for the Arctic.

The Quest for the North Pole recounts how numerous explorers, such as Robert Peary and his team in 1909 explored the arctic.
The podcast recounts how explorers, such as Robert Peary and his team seen here in 1909, took on the arctic. Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

While Fagan occasionally taps into licensed music to find the 40 to 50 tracks he’ll use in a typical season, most of the show’s audio comes from iHeartMedia’s deep in-house library. “I went through there and tried to find some ambient tracks that I thought fit the mood, and built a library out of that on my computer … to represent different moods and different shifts in storytelling.”

But instead of curating clips for the podcast’s theme, he created original music for the intro and outro clips. “I thought that was a nice way to differentiate it from using stock music for a theme song,” he says. “There’s a lot of great stock music out there, but I’ve run across podcasts that I think unknowingly end up using the same theme song [as another podcast] because they both licensed the same theme. I try to not do that on shows that I work on.”

Field Recording: Producing the ‘Overheard at National Geographic’ Podcast

Perfecting the Art of the Interview on ‘Longform’

Kat Long, host of The Quest for the North Pole
Kat Long, host of The Quest for the North Pole

Each episode begins with the narration, which Long records in a closet with the HVAC turned off, speaking into a Shure SM7B microphone that is tethered to a Zoom H6 recorder. For interviews, Long connects her smart phone to the Zoom and uses the standard phone call feature to connect. Although not an ideal audio situation, Fagan puts in the editing work to make it gel.

“I usually just try to take out any unnecessary frequencies—since they’re phone calls, [that means] any of the low or the highs, just to see if I can get rid of any hiss,” he says. “I might run a de-clicker on it and some noise reduction [from iZotope Rx], but for the most part, I just make sure that it’s matching the levels of the voiceover so that nothing sounds too jarring or too much of a dip.”

From there, Fagan creates a fully soundscaped rough cut for Long to review to make sure the editing is moving in the right direction. A given episode usually goes through a few edits before it’s finalized and prepped for publishing to various podcasting platforms.

“I always send out everything to where I think it’s as close as it can be to what I think it would sound like in the end,” he says, “and then the rest of [the edits come from] input. By the time I send out the third version, it’s good to go—and I’d say that if I start an edit on Monday, send it out on Tuesday, we usually have it wrapped up by Friday.”

The Quest for the North Pole producer/editor Dylan Fagan
The Quest for the North Pole producer/editor Dylan Fagan

Working with eight different phone calls of guest audio for the inaugural season, each one lasting from an hour to an hour and a half, Fagan says keeping everything organized can be a challenge. To break down silos and keep everyone working from the same script, so to speak, they use the cloud.

“We have a master Dropbox, an enterprise account, that has folders that sync up our shows, and so when Kat records her voiceover, she can upload it directly to that folder,” he says. “I have all the recordings in that folder, as well as the transcripts and my folder for music and sound effects, so everything’s there. I always know where everything is, and Kat knows where to go for anything.”

Creative Audio Mixing Powers ‘Switched On Pop’ Podcast

Switched On Pop co-hosts Nate Sloan (left) and Charlie Harding.
Switched On Pop co-hosts Nate Sloan (left) and Charlie Harding.

New York, NY (February 4 2021)—The Switched On Pop podcast lives by the motto “show, don’t tell” in its dissection of popular music and how the production team relates complex stories and concepts to listeners through audio.

“We wanted to have deeper conversations about music that could dive into some of the actual musical insights—things that are harder to write about on paper,” says Charlie Harding, who started the podcast with co-host Nate Sloan. “We knew that audio gave us the opportunity to evidence some of the deeper, more intriguing elements of music.”

Switched On Pop, which recently joined forces with New York magazine’s music outlet Vulture, goes deep into the making and meaning of popular music, juggling a mix of formats to reach entertaining and informative insights about anthems like Smash Mouth’s omnipresent hit “All Star,” artists Keith Urban and Carly Rae Jepsen, and the trends that drive the industry.

In the recent episode “D.O.C. (Death of the Chorus),” Harding and Sloan discuss how contemporary popular music has shifted away from the soaring choruses of songs like Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” towards a structure of continuous hooks without the sweeping buildup and release of a verse-chorus composition. Editor and engineer Brandon McFarland cues up clips of Franklin, Billie Holiday and Beyoncé like a DJ to illustrate their points.

Editor and engineer Brandon McFarland
Editor and engineer Brandon McFarland

“Nate starts telling us about A-A-B-A form, and he grabs an example of ‘Blue Moon’ with Billie Holiday singing it,” says Harding. “Immediately [when] he says, ‘A-section,’ the filter opens up [and] the highs in the music come in, along with the volume.” The A section crossfades into the B section, with a touch of plate reverb added to give the sound separation from Sloan’s speaking voice. “We really try to have a clear sense of 3D perspective of the music versus the voice.”

The production team is cognizant of maintaining fluidity within an episode, so transitions between clips fall naturally and in time, like beats of the same measure. “Nate and I are musicians and Brandon is a musician, so we make sure that you’re always going in on a beat, going out on a downbeat, or going out on the last beat of the measure, and that the clips themselves feel musical,” says Harding.

For their four-part miniseries on Beethoven’s fifth symphony, Switched On Pop recorded the New York Philharmonic Orchestra playing the iconic composition and presented particular sections in a similar manner. To eliminate dead air between sections they talk about, McFarland “creatively fade[s] those two sections together in a way that it’s fading underneath Nate talking. You don’t even notice we’ve cut out a piece of music, then the flutes come in. [McFarland] did a really good job of finding that perfect-zero crossing point in the music, cutting it, getting a nice little reverb tail, and making it sound natural.”

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‘Speed of Sound’ Explores Pop Production

When playing actual clips of popular songs doesn’t drive home the points Harding and Sloan make, their own backgrounds as musicians come into play.

“We have music executives, producers [and] all kinds of people listen to our show, but I want us to be accessible to a general audience,” he says, “and that means I’m always trying to find a way to make it as clear as possible what we’re talking about. I can’t assume that people can, in their ear, isolate the bass guitar from the main guitar, so if I don’t have the stems of a track, it’s often easier for me to recreate something to demonstrate what we’re talking about.”Switched On Pop Podcast

Harding’s comment points to a larger challenge he and the podcast team wrestle with every episode: how to draw listeners into the story and deliver information and clips without creating fatigue or disinterest.

“Our goal is to have the show sound as genuine as possible, but not meandering,” he says. “[It’s about] threading that needle of how we can take you on a journey where something is changing every 90 seconds.”

Switched On Pophttps://switchedonpop.com

Monoprice Launches Stage Right Podcasting Bundle

Monoprice Stage Right Podcasting Bundle
Monoprice Stage Right Podcasting Bundle

Brea, CA (February 4, 2021) — Monoprice has launched an expanded podcasting/streaming bundle centered around its Stage Right microphone. Augmented with an accessories package, the bundle is intended for entry-level use.

The Stage Right Complete Podcasting and Streaming Bundle includes a USB condenser mic, a pair of headphones, a mic stand, and other accessories. The headphones can be plugged into the USB microphone’s headphone jack so users can monitor without the need for additional hardware.

Review: Monoprice 600850 Multipattern LDC

The headphone volume level can be adjusted independently of the microphone output level using the headphone volume knob on the mic.

The USB condenser microphone itself features a 16-bit/48 kHz sampling rate, and comes with a broadcast-style mic boom, pop filter, mic clip, mount bracket and windscreen.

Monoprice • https://www.monoprice.com

Adorama Debuts H&A AC50 Studio Broadcast Microphone

H&A AC50 Studio Broadcast Microphone
H&A AC50 Studio Broadcast Microphone

New York, NY (February 4, 2021)—H&A has unveiled its new AC50 Studio Broadcast Microphone, primarily intended for use on podcasts, narration, or vocals.

The cardioid dynamic microphone features an internal pop filter, a low-cut filter switch, microphone clip, a standard mount adapter, and a molded ABS protective case lined with impact resistant foam for storage and transportation.

Using a cardioid pattern, the mic primarily sounds in front, eschewing off-axis noise, making it appropriate for podcasting or vocal performances. Inside the mic, along with the mesh shielding, the internal pop filter helps eliminate distortion and allows for instant control of plosives when talking close to the microphone.  The Low Cut Filter Switch allows users to reduce low frequencies by –10 dB in order to maintain an overall flat frequency response when needed. The microphone features a shielded all–aluminum construction and durable finish.

ProMedia Podcast Studio Expands with Adorama

Based around an XLR output connection, the mic doesn’t require phantom power and offers a 20 – 20,000 Hz wide frequency response.

Available exclusively at Adorama, the H&A AC50 Studio Broadcast Microphone is now available for $99.95.

Adorama • https://www.adorama.com/haac50.html

Antelope Audio Unveils Zen Go Synergy Core Audio Interface

Antelope Audio Zen Go Synergy Core Audio Interface
Antelope Audio Zen Go Synergy Core Audio Interface

Santa Monica, CA (February 3, 2021)—Antelope Audio has launched its new Zen Go Synergy Core audio interface, marking the first time the company has released a product aimed at a more budget-conscious corner of the market, making it aimed for recordists, content creators, podcasting and more.

The bus-powered, portable (4 x 8 USB-C) audio interface sports a DSP-based desktop design powered by the same Synergy Core onboard effects processing platform found in the manufacturer’s top-tier audio interfaces.

The unit sports Antelope’s AD/DA converter technology, namesake Synergy Core onboard effects processing platform, and proprietary 64-bit AFCTM (Acoustically Focused Clocking) algorithm, supporting sample rates of up to 24-bit/192 kHz.

Antelope Audio Introduces Synergy Core FX Platform

As a plug and play interface, the Zen Go Synergy Core providers users with two ultra-linear discrete transistor-based preamps; two MIC-XLR and LINE / HiZ / 1/4” JACK connections; two independent (HP1 and HP2) headphone outputs with dedicated DAC (Digital-to-Analogue- Converter); stepped analogue rotary encoder for precise gain adjustment; alternative MONITOR line out on RCA connectors directly fed from the main DAC; S/PDIF digital I/O on RCA connectors for expansion; dedicated IPS (In-Plane Switching) display for signal monitoring; direct monitoring mixers for real-time hardware-based monitoring with onboard effects; advanced software control panel for macOS and Windows; and dedicated secondary USB- C connection for external power supply and reverse charging. Zen Go Synergy Core offers monitor output boasting a 127 dB DNR (dynamic range)

The unit has onboard 80-plus analog-modelled real-time effects, usable during live tracking or post-production. Also onboard are 37 emulations of specific analogue studio gear, which the company coyly states ranges from “a rare Austrian EQ through to legendary British solid-state processing with much in-between.”  Since they are hosted by the unit itself, latency is low during their use and a DAW’s CPU is not taxed.

Zen Go Synergy Core will be shipping in Q1 2021 at $499.00.

Antelope Audio • www.antelopeaudio.com

Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit Announced

Pro Audio & Radio Tech SummitNew York, NY (February 3, 2021)—This spring may not have all the usual trade shows and conferences in-person, but professionals across the pro audio and radio industries will gather together in April, as Pro Sound News, Mix and Radio World join forces to hold the first Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit, an all-day virtual event to be held April 1.

“With the ‘return to normal’ now on the horizon, we have to start exploring how the massive changes we’ve made in pro audio over the last year will be incorporated into our ‘normal’ work going forward,” said Clive Young, editor of Pro Sound News. “The pandemic upended every aspect of how audio professionals work, but the industry rose to the challenge, changing established ways to fit the times while also creating new methods, workflows and tools to keep things moving forward. Our Summit, then, will draw insights from those trends and achievements, and look at how they can become crucial ingredients for continued success in the future.”

The free one-day event will feature an exhibition floor, panel presentations, chat rooms and a host of media presentations showcasing the latest technologies and trends in radio and pro audio. Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit will feature two individual program tracks within a single exhibition hall. In each program track, industry experts will explore how manufacturers and users are making use of both current and emerging technologies in order to keep the media coming.

The Pro Audio Track will feature sessions on Remote Production, the multipurpose House of Worship studio, the rise of Immersive Music, Audio Networking technologies, and Improved Audio for Education. Through expert panel presentations, sponsor demos and attendee networking, Pro Sound News and Mix bring manufacturers, engineers, producers, musicians, educators and industry experts together to look at the state of music production as we come out of the most disruptive year in memory.

The Radio Track will feature sessions on hybrid radio, AoIP, virtualization, streaming, business continuity and trends in transmission. These topics will be of interest to any radio broadcast manager or engineer who manages technology or uses it to advance their careers and business missions.

For registration information, CLICK HERE.

Perfecting the Art of the Interview on ‘Longform’

Jenelle Pifer
Jenelle Pifer, editor of Longform. Emily Evashevski

Brooklyn, NY (January 28, 2021)—It’s telling that Longform editor Jenelle Pifer spends more time perfecting the flow of the conversations on the podcast than obsessing over the audio quirks of an episode—and that’s not a knock on the latter. Longform, the long-running podcast that features authors and journalists talking about their craft, is simply all about the art of the interview and how to present it.

“My approach to editing is to make it as clean as I possibly can, and condensed as I possibly can, without ever letting people hear an edit,” says Pifer. “I do relatively little reordering of the conversation—sometimes it’s necessary, [but] a lot of times, I find that you can tell when the conversation is reordered. It’s more chipping away at the raw file to kind of make the arc of what seems to be the most meaningful themes pop up.”

Max Linsky
Max Linsky, co-founder and co-host

Co-founder and co-host Max Linsky, who also owns the podcast production company Pineapple Street Studios, hit up his friends who worked in audio for interview tips when Longform first launched in 2012. “They would always say, ‘You want it to feel like a casual, informal conversation’—but if you actually listen to a casual, informal conversation, it’s incredibly boring. And that’s part of what the editing process does to it.”

Pifer’s editing job doesn’t begin until Linsky and co-hosts Aaron Lammer and Evan Ratliff wrap their work. Each host books and interviews their own guests over Zoom, recording themselves through Shure SM7B microphones while guests like ESPN writer Wright Thompson and New York magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi record locally on a smart phone, which Pifer later syncs. A typical interview conversation runs 90 minutes, while the final edit clocks in around one hour.

Aaron Lammer
Aaron Lammer, co-host

“Whoever was the host that week will send me the raw tape along with some general notes about how they think the conversation went, any concerns they have, anything that I should particularly look out for while I’m editing,” says Pifer. “I’ve been doing this for about five years now, so the notes have gotten lighter as they started to trust me and know we were on the same page about how we wanted the show to sound.”

After editing the raw audio in Adobe Audition for content and pacing, as well as eliminating distracting stutters and filler words like um and uh, Pifer applies noise reduction and compression from processing built into the program.

‘Rarified Heir’ Podcast Readies for Pandemic Recording

Evan Ratliff
Evan Ratliff, co-host Jonah Green

Although Linsky says he’s proud of the work the Longform team has published since the pandemic began, there are some drawbacks to videoconferencing. “From a technical aspect, it’s hard to have it really be a back-and-forth conversation,” he says. “You do lose a lot in terms of body language, and part of that is just the rhythms of how people talk. It’s hard to know when to jump in, almost.”

One of the secrets of the podcast is the guests themselves. “Do you know who’s incredible at telling stories? Journalists. They’re great, natural talkers and storytellers, for the most part,” he says. “And one of the things that I’ve learned doing the show is that most journalists, even investigative war reporters, most people who do this work are on some level writing about themselves. The most memorable moments for me in the show are moments in which we’re able to see something, some kind of pattern or trend in someone’s work, that they haven’t totally recognized or seen themselves.”

Longformhttps://longform.org

Turtle Beach Acquires Neat Microphones

Various Neat Microphones
Various Neat Microphones

San Diego, CA (January 21, 2021)—Gaming accessory company Turtle Beach Chas acquired Neat Microphones, which produces digital USB and analog microphones.

Neat’s leadership team includes the former founders of Blue Microphones. The acquisition also enables Turtle Beach’s entry into the $2.3 billion global microphone market, which is experiencing rapid growth in the digital/USB accessories segment where Neat is focused. Through this acquisition, Turtle Beach adds nearly 40 Neat patents and nearly 70 Neat trademark registrations to its overall portfolio.

Real-World Review: Neat Mics’ King Bee, Worker Bee and Beecaster Studio Microphones

“We are entering the growing global streaming and microphone market with two significant advantages – the visionary leadership and engineering expertise behind some of the most renowned mics of the past 30-plus years, and Neat’s impressive 2021 product lineup,” said Juergen Stark, CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. “Neat is a great fit with Turtle Beach’s 45-year legacy of audio innovation and expertise, and we’re thrilled to welcome Skipper Wise, Martins Saulespurens, and the rest of the Neat Microphones team to the Turtle Beach family.”

Skipper Wise, president of Neat, added, “We are absolutely thrilled to bring our team’s 100+ combined years of expertise to Turtle Beach to create groundbreaking microphone products. The market is ready for a new, high-quality, easy-to-use portfolio of digital microphones. Neat is the digitally native microphone brand that, with Turtle Beach’s extensive retail relationships and best-in-class global distribution, can bring this innovation to more people all over the world.”

Neat Microphones • www.neatmic.com

Turtle Beach • www.turtlebeach.com

CAD Audio Debuts PodMaster Mic Bundles

CAD PodMaster Bundle

Cleveland, OH (January 21, 2021) –– CAD Audio has introduced a trio of 3 new PodMaster broadcast/podcast mic bundles for the podcast and content creation markets.

Both the PodMaster D USB and the PodMaster SuperD USB bundles are based around CAD’s plug-and-play USB microphones, while the SuperD package is centered around an XLR microphone.

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All three microphones, however, are outfitted with “broadcast-quality dynamic capsules,” with the SuperD varieties receiving an upgraded 35 mm Large Diaphragm broadcast capsule. This premium SuperD capsule supplies VOG performance while delivering a smooth and articulate profile.

The bundles are intended to be studio ready, and as such are supplied with boom mic stands, mounting clips/shock mounts, windscreen and USB cables.

Staying well within the affordability of casual content creators, the bundles have street prices of $69 for the D USB; $79 for the SuperD; and $99 for the SuperD USB.

CAD Audio • www.cadaudio.com

‘Rarified Heir’ Podcast Readies for Pandemic Recording

Shawn Kay, daughter of Steppenwolf founder John Kay (left) and Rarified Heir host Joshua Mills
Shawn Kay, daughter of Steppenwolf founder John Kay (left) and Rarified Heir host Joshua Mills

Los Angeles, CA (January 21, 2021) — Rarified Heir, a new podcast that takes listeners into the surreal lives of children of celebrities, recorded its entire seven-episode debut season before COVID-19 social distancing protocols and shutdowns went into effect in spring of 2020. While many podcasters have already tweaked their recording and production workflows during the last year, Rarified Heir’s production team is now catching up to distanced recording.

podcast producer and engineer Erik Paparozzi.
Podcast producer and engineer Erik Paparozzi.

“It worked out great to be face to face, but now obviously since the pandemic has set in, we’re reassessing how that goes,” says podcast producer and engineer Erik Paparozzi. “I’ve been really trying to make sure that we don’t lose the integrity of the sound that we’ve worked hard to achieve through the channels that are available to us now working remotely.”

On Rarified Heir, host Joshua Mills, son of actress and comedian Edie Adams, interviews other children of celebrities who grew up just out of the spotlight. Season one guests include Carnie Wilson, daughter of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson who had multi-Platinum success of her own in the ‘90s pop trio Wilson Phillips, and film producer Antonia Bogdanovich, daughter of film director Peter Bogdanovich.

Mills and Paparozzi, along with co-host Jason Klamm, recorded the entire first season at Paparozzi’s garage studio in Los Angeles. Guests sat with them in a circle in front of Shure SM7B microphones—chosen because the famed SM7 was used on Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the best-selling album of all time—while Mills led the conversations. After wrapping recording sessions in March, they got their first taste of working while distanced when it came time to edit the episodes.

On a pre-pandemic recording of Rarified Heir were (l-r): co-host Jason Klamm, guest Jason Culp, son of actor Robert Culp; and host Joshua Mills, son of comedienne Edie Adams.
On a pre-pandemic recording of Rarified Heir were (l-r): co-host Jason Klamm, guest Jason Culp, son of actor Robert Culp; and host Joshua Mills, son of comedienne Edie Adams.

Beginning later that month, they met once a week on a video conference while Paparozzi edited in Pro Tools. “Josh and I would hop on a conference call and literally go over word for word and figure out what was essential and what could be trimmed down for time purposes, or for potential future Patreon episodes that we are considering,” explains Paparozzi. Then, he would send the entire episode to Mills for another review and get back time codes for further edits. “I can just go in and chop that stuff out, and that’s been a pretty effective way of working.”

The team is working through potential setups for recording season two now. “Josh has been experimenting with what works in his home office, as far as doing Zoom calls,” notes Paparozzi. “The technology is pretty plug and play these days, but Josh, who’s not a musician or a sound dude, he’s still learning [that a] room has a certain tone to it and the microphone should maybe move a little bit, or [his] face should be closer to get the best tone.”

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Gear wise, Mills is currently planning to use the Focusrite Scarlett Solo Studio kit, which includes a USB interface with a Scarlett preamp, a condenser microphone, headphones and cables. “When it was becoming apparent that being in a 15-by-15 studio was not realistic during this time, I did a cursory search on Amazon and sent Josh a few ideas [of gear to purchase],” he says. “Just to sort of get him started, we had him open up a GarageBand session. We did all this over FaceTime and he was getting a signal.”

They’re also considering audio quality on the opposite end of the recording from future guests in season two. “I think are going to focus on people that we know can record themselves well and see how it goes,” says Mills.

Rarified Heir • https://rarifiedheirpodcast.com

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