Recording Your Double-Ender


For the purposes of our explanation, we'll say that you are producing the podcast that's going to include the double-ender. Both you and the person you'll be interviewing need to get ready to record individually. That means that each of you must have the following items available and ready to use:

  • A computer

  • Recording software

  • A microphone

In addition, you'll both need to have a telephone available.

As the podcast producer, you should be using recording software that can accommodate multiple track recording. That's not necessary for the person you're interviewing, though.

In fact, if the person you're interviewing doesn't use audio recording regularly then he or she can probably get away with using the microphone that's built into the computer. Of course, a separate micor at least a headset with a built-in microphonewill always produce a better-quality recording.

With those basic items under control, you and your recording partner can follow these steps to complete this part of the process.

Eliminate As Much Ambient Noise As Possible

Try to make sure the rooms in which you're both recording are as quiet as possible. Not only will this yield raw recordings with better quality, but it will also give you much more flexibility later on when it's time to mix and edit.

Pay particular attention to ambient noise, the "white noise" that's part of every environment. Fans or air conditioners are common culprits when it comes to generating this sort of noise.

Check Your Recording Levels

By now, you're familiar with the whole process of making sure you're recording at appropriate levels. It's possible, however, that the person you'll be talking to doesn't share your expertise. If that's the case then take a few moments to step them through the process. (It will be helpful if you're familiar with the recording software they're using.)

Your recording partner's level needs to be adequate but not to the point of over modulating. (It's easier to increase their volume level later on, if necessary, but you can't remove the distortion that over modulating will cause.) If possible, have the other person do a short test recording to make sure that everything's working properly and levels are set appropriately.

Get Connected on the Phone

This is just as straightforward as it sounds. One of you will call the other one up and you'll get ready to conduct a simple conversation over the phone.

Make sure that you can hear each other clearly. Also, make certain that you can both talk on the phone comfortably without anyone bumping his or her phone into the microphone!

Hit the Record Button and Start Talking

At this point, when you and your recording partner are ready to begin your conversation, each of you can hit the Record button and you can get started. It's not even necessary to count down in order to synchronize your recordings. (As the podcast's producer, you'll take care of synchronizing the recordings shortly.)

Now, all you have to do is finish your conversation and stop recording when you're done. You'll wind up with a recording of just your end of the conversation, as shown in Figure 12.1.

Figure 12.1. You now have a recording of your half of the conversation. Notice the gaps where your partner was doing the talking.


Save Your Partner's Recording in an Appropriate Format

The specific steps for this part of the process will vary, depending on the recording software your partner is using. If he or she can export audio to an MP3 file, that would be ideal. If that's not possible then any standard file format (.wav, aiff, and so on) will generally do. MP3 is preferable only because it produces smaller files.

Don't sacrifice audio quality by trying to reduce the size of your MP3 file with a lower sample rate. An MP3 file with a high sample rate will still produce a file that's considerably smaller than any of the uncompressed formats, but it will yield much better results in the final mix.



Absolute Beginner's Guide to Podcasting
Absolute Beginners Guide to Podcasting.
ISBN: B001U8C03Q
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 167

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