The beauty of the podcasting is that anyone can do it. It is a rare medium which is almost as easy to do as consume. And as such, there are not two people in exactly the same way. There are a multitude of hardware and software solutions open to potential podcasters, so the configurations perform the range of NPR studios with Skype USB platforms (the latter that has become a kind of defect during the pandemic).
This week, we talked to Jody Avirgan, who co-host “Summer album / Winter album” With the singer of the American independent rock group The Hold Stable Craig Finn. Each episode finds Divirgan and Finn to struggle if a classic disc must be classified as a “summer album” or a “winter album”.
Avirgan – which previously hosted programs for radiotopia, Ted, Fivethirtyeight and ESPN – told us about its configuration of choice of podcasting. Here he is in his own words:
“Even when I worked at ESPN / Fivethirtyeight, I have always had a home recording configuration. Since his departure – which coincides with the start of the pandemic – I made my recording studio from the basement my main house. It is actually the kitchen of a basement studio, so just the decor, behind certain curtains, is a refrigerator (disconnected), a sink and many cabinets.
“But I suspended tons of curtains, dispersed soft things and putting sound amortization panels. I think it’s now both comfortable and quite hot. My microphone is a Re27N / D electro-revalcy, a $ 500 studio microphone.
“To be clear: I do not earn money Re27. We bought this microphone when I was hosting 30 for 30. I left ESPN three weeks before the pandemic blow, and somewhere in there, I wrote an email asking if they wanted me to return the microphone. I never had an answer and I certainly did not write a follow -up. So I kept it. This is probably why Disney shares have been down 20% in the past five years. It is a very hot microphone, but it is a giant.
“When I am on the road, I carry an AT2020 -USB +, which plugs directly into my computer and I can eliminate the follow -up everywhere – usually under a blanket in a hotel closet, which is natural habitat of a podcaster.
“I pass my microphone in the Focus Scarlett 2i2, a simple but powerful interface which allows me to control my micro levels and to complete directly on my computer, where I often join people on zoom or riverside. I always record a local backup file using Hindenburg, which I then record on Dropbox. All roads finally lead to Dropbox.
“The only place I dismember the typical Podcaster 101 kit is in my earphones. Everyone has the Sony MDR-7506, and I ran through my just part of them, but I really like the Rode NTH-100 headphones. They are just a little more comfortable, look a little smoother, and so far, the padding has not been broken down in the way the padding on the sony inevitably does it, leading to find small spots black in their ears after recording.
“Like many podcasters, I have been doing more and more video things lately. I have used descriptions for years, but as the worlds of audio and video have merged, I do almost all my editing there. I make social videos of our conversations for “This day” And “Summer album / Winter albumBut also original things with which I played on Instagram.
“I have a series every week when I Try to guess the title This week’s New York cover, and I record it directly in the description and I return it in 20 minutes using a model that I built. Description – I am a big fan. It is very versatile, and it is pleasant to work with a program that seems to give shit on what the podcasters want, as opposed to the protools.
“I guess I also had to think of my visual configuration a good amount. I bought the webcam that the Wirecutr recommended, but honestly, I prefer the appearance of the MacBook camera, so I generally use it. In my history, I put books to prove that I can read; A photo signed by George Mikan, about whom there was a piece of race in “Death at the Wing” – and $ 28 of ikea false plants.
“I block the view so that I don’t think people can even see that plants are there; But I like to know that they are there and will always be there, because of plastics forever. »»
We previously asked other of our hosts and podcast producers to highlight their workflows – the equipment and software they use to do the work. The list so far includes:
