The craze of Podcast is increasing day by day. As a business owner, Podcast is something you should consider to reach out to your target audience and grow your organization. Now, you guys ask a question-“ for learning podcast should we spend a lot of money?
“Well, to learn podcast we need to spend money initially, but we don’t need any training to learn podcast. Even a non-technical person can also do a Podcast. However, it’s not so easy to create a professional Podcast.
One thing you have to remember while using Podcast is Commit. To develop any listener base, we have to be ready to release episodes. Advertisement and sponsorship are two things necessary to generate income from Podcasting. We can start the Podcast with proper equipment as well.
Table of Contents
To start a podcast, we need the following things:
Microphone
You can use any Microphone to record our podcast. But usually, there is a difference between high and low-quality microphones. The top best microphone available in the market is Audio-Technica AT2020s. However, it depends on you what type of Microphones you want, whether its analog microphone or USB microphone.
In Analog Microphone, XLR connectors are used. You need another device for recording the audio. However, recording with a USB microphone is quite easy due to analog to digital converter.
That’s why USB microphone connects with any computer. Instead of that if you want to use any basic microphone or gaming microphone, you can use that as well without any hesitation.
Computer
In order to record, upload and edit your podcast, you can use any Mac or Windows computer. Ports are also playing an important role whether it’s a window or apple computers. USB microphones are necessary for the USB port. For analog microphones, USB port and 3.5 mm audio in jack is necessary.
Audio Editing Software
For recording, producing and editing of audio, we can use DAW which stands for Digital Audio Workstation. Licensed tools (pro or reason tool) under DAW can cost between $300$ to $900.
There are other apps also available in the market. Audio editing software by Hindenburg costs $100. Auction CC is Adobe’s audio editing software costs $19.99. However, in the initial stage, you can also use Audacity which is a free open source
program.
Audio Interface
In Audio Interface, We can start recording via Analog Microphones. We can plug in one or more than one analog Microphone on our computer. Audio Interface will convert an analog audio signal to digital signal. Audio Interface can cost in-between $30 to $300.
XLR Recorder
XLR Recorder helps us to mute and adjust the sound level. They can capture multiple microphone channels. We can easily store audio files on a memory card. These are fantastic tools, but they can be expensive. The cost of the XLR Recorder starts from $100 to $500.
Well, I know very well you people are thinking isn’t an expensive process? The answer is yes. Initially, you have to spend money to start a podcast, but that is just
in the beginning, after that, you are all set.
Steps to start a podcast:
1. Narrow your topic
Just like blogs, there are a large number of podcasts available. We can find a podcast about anything. We have to find things to convert old ideas into new ideas. For example, if you want to make a podcast for music, there’ll be an audience for that podcast.
Once you select a topic for a podcast, narrow that topic, and this will result from adding a spin to it. You have to find an article that is personally interesting and would be like and appreciate by the audience.
2. Download and install Audacity
Audacity is a free and open source Digital Audio Workstation. It is the best DAW for Podcasting beginners. We can use Audacity in Windows, Linux, and OS X.
Remember a few things while we download and install audacity.
- We can download Audacity from audacityteam.org. The latest version of Audacity
is 2.3.0. - After installation of Audacity, You can connect your Microphones.
- With the help of the drop-down menu, we can check whether our Microphone is
recognized by Audacity or not. - In the top left corner, we’ll see the play, pause, forward, backward, stop and
record buttons. Talk with your microphone to make sure it’s working properly. - In order to export your audio in MP3 format, we have to install Lame MP3
the encoder for Mac or Window. - Close and reopen Audacity after the installation of Lame MP3. Record your voice
and select MP3 files in ‘Save as type’ drop-down menu. - Find the MP3 file on your desktop and try to play it with the MP3 player.
- If the audio of MP3 test file sounds okay, you can ready to start recording.
3. Edit and Record your podcast
The recording is very easy in Audacity. But, there are a few points you should remember while we are recording our podcast.
- Connect your Microphone and make a recording to check your audio levels.
- You can adjust the sound with the slider right above the drop-down menu.
- When you have a good sound quality, remove your recording text by clicking on x sign which is apparently at the top left of the track.
- Ensure that your recording space is silent and record approximately 5 seconds of“ silence.” This type of recording is called room tone. Room tone is used to remove the background noise. You can mute this track by clicking on the mute toggle button on the left side of the track.
- Go to the file, save your file with a name. This doesn’t export any audio. Although, it just keep your work.
- Click on the record button and Audacity will start capturing your audio. Once the recording will be done click on the stop button.
Now, the steps to add music and make any necessary edits are as follows:
- Click on file then choose import and Audio. Locate the music and click on open. Music will get dropped into Audacity will result from a separate track.
- Choose the selection tool in Audacity Toolbar.
- Drag the selection tool over the music section you would like to use for the intro music.
- With the section of music which you selected, find the Trim Audio Button on Audacity toolbar.
- During the selection of music which you’ll select, at the same time select the copy button on the toolbar.
- Click anywhere to the ride side of the music section. Click on paste button appear on the toolbar. Now, you get your outro and intro music.
- Select one of the music copies then select Fade Out. Now, your intro and outro music is good to go.
If you want to cut anything out of Podcast, then you have to take these steps.
- Select that part of audio which you want to cut out.
- Using Selection Tool, We can select the part which we want to remove from the audio.
- Click on Silence or cut button to close the Selection Tool.
After all the recording and editing steps on particular audio, you can arrange all the things sequentially with the help of Time Shift Tool. You can slide a video according to their track.
To get a better sound quality in the audio track, we can use Equalizer and compression settings. We can use Equalizer and Compression in multiple articles. When you get everything like better sound quality after that, we can save our work.
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4. Recording with multiple Microphones
Recording with multiple Microphones is costly. Multiple Microphones helps us to fix other’s people audio easily by adjusting the Microphone sound level. With multiple USB Microphones, Audacity can record one audio input at a time.
While using Multiple Analog Microphones, we have to remember these things.
- Use a mixer or Audio Interface Device that connects with your computer.
- Record each item on an XLR recorder
- Upload the files into the computer.
If your co-host is far away, it can be the toughest job for you to use Google Hangouts, Skype and other calling services. We can also use additional software Pamela or MP3 Skype Recorder and import the call audio into Audacity.
We can adjust the Sound level as well. The best part of Audacity is that it’s free. We don’t need to
spend any money.
5. Export and Tag MP3 file in Audacity
With the help of MP3 Exporting, it’s quite easy to export your Podcast as an MP3 file. However, you have to remember these things while exporting your MP3 file.
- If the file is uploaded somewhere, we need to edit the Metadata of a file. The metadata contains the track number, title, name of the artist and album.
- Click on the file and choose export audio.
- Select MP3 files in the ‘Save as type’ then type the name of the file and click on save.
- A Metadata window will open where we can enter all the important information.
- Save the template for future by click on Template section.
- Click on ok. Now your MP3 is ready for uploading.
6. Add Podcast Chapters
Podcast Chapter is an effective approach to provide users more control on the basis of their listening experience. A podcast can cover a variety of things such as we can give ease of access to our listeners.
Podcast chapters act like chapters in a book. We can skip the introduction as well. We can add images in podcast chapter as well.
- Windows: The Verse and Freeware app chapter are used to add a Podcast.
Chapters. We can add 5 chapter marketers to our podcast using App Podreel
having cost $24.45 - OS X: We can make additional chapters on MAC using ‘Chapters on the Mac.’
7. Find some theme music
It’s difficult for us to recording and writing theme if we don’t have any knowledge about what we are doing? We can find free tunes on the Free Music Archive and Vimeo’s Music Store.
- Browse music by the search.
- Find a track you want to download.
Conclusion
A podcast is one of the most influential media to get connected with the top business. A survey has proved that lots of people in business love to listen to a podcast while they are traveling.
That’s why the value of the podcast very high. So start your Podcast by following these steps. If you are a startup and looking for digital marketing services, then you can contact us at any time. We are the best digital marketing company in India.