Setting Up the Podcast – Episode 1
So, you’re thinking about setting up a podcast? Where do you start, what do you need? This is the position we were in just a mere six months ago, at the start of 2021. Just a handful of ideas, a vague format and some new year’s resolution fire in our bellies.
We thought we’d share the process so far and kick off a little series that’ll follow our progression.
Drunken Chats and Formats
Truth be told, the idea had been floating around for a long time. As good friends, we always had a good belly laugh when we got together. We all listened to podcasts, we knew that given a platform we could most likely make something of it, but it needed a format. Something solid, simple and relatable.
After toying with a few ideas, the middle aisle stuck. It’s something that everyone can relate to (in the UK, at least). There’s a never-ending stream of strange and bizarre stuff you can buy from the middle aisle, and let’s face it, everyone loves a good rummage around it. If we all brought an item each, we had four talking points to carry us forward.
Mics, Mixers and Echo, Echo, Echo
So, with a plan in place for the format, we started buying equipment. Mics, mic booms, a small mixing desk, approximately a mile of cables, some wood for a small portable table and a headphone amplifier.
With all the equipment hooked up and ready to go, it was time for a soundcheck. As we were recording in a dining room, this did not go too well. Heavy reverb from solid wood floors and walls meant the mics picked up way too much echo, and a solution was needed. This came in the way of some office partitions. At around 5.5’ by 4’ they could sit behind each chair, dampening the sound and closing the room in. Perfect!
Checkout One is Now Open
At this point, we created a logo, the social channels, jingles (big thanks to Erbman) and a plan for editing. Luckily for us, we’ve got experience in audio production and some basic graphic design skill, so everything was managed in house. A test run of the equipment and format came good, and we were ready to record the first episode.
We added a launchpad to trigger the jingles so they could be used live during recording, ensuring the smooth running of the format. A quick brief of Tom and Josh and we were all off to the middle aisles to get bagging the bizarre. Getting together on a Saturday afternoon, we recorded Science Socks.
Quick, To the Internet!
Edited in Audacity, with some finalisation performed in FL Studio, our first episode was ready to hit the digital shelves. We negotiated between ourselves and decided Buzzsprout was the best option for a host. After setting up an account we uploaded the episode and went through the process of getting authorised on as many channels as possible.
