Dap Dip founder Guy Kilty reveals the hardware and software听he uses to produce 鈥楾he Price of Football鈥櫶齛nd other podcasts
One of the by-products of听COVID-19听has been that almost听all of听the podcasts Dap Dip produces听are听now recorded remotely.听听
The quality of technology online听has made听the听transition听pretty听smooth.听So听what do you need to make a successful podcast听recorded听from听home?听
Concept
The importance of deciding what your podcast is about, why you’re making it and听鈥撎齧ost听importantly听鈥撎齱ho听you’re trying to talk to听before you start recording cannot be overstated.听听
Once you have those things in place, everything else听鈥撎齮he听name, logo, style, tone and episode length听鈥撎齱ill flow from听there.听
Guy is hosting an online workshop – ‘Start your own podcast’ – on Tuesday 6th October.
On the following day, 老九品茶Cloud is hosting an event to discuss the tech you need to create a top podcast – register below
/events/using-tech-to-create-a-top-podcast/
Room
The simple rule is to听record in a room听with the fewest hard, reflective surfaces听possible.听If听you听set听up your mic in your kitchen or in front of a window, you will sound too echoey.听听
You ideally want to be in a bedroom or a living room with carpet or a rug and lots of soft furnishing to deaden the sound of the room.听If you听are forced to听place your mic close to a wall, just put a pillow or cushion between it and your microphone.听
Microphones听
Once you’ve got your room sorted, getting a decent USB mic will hugely improve the quality of your recording.听听
The good news is that you can get one for under 拢100:听I use the Rode NT-USB, which costs around 拢95.听Another good option is the Blue Snowball, which costs around 拢70.听
Recording听
You can record a podcast remotely using the built-in recording function of apps like Zoom or Skype, but听there鈥檚 a big problem with this:听every glitch on the connection will end up on your finished podcast.听听
It’s听worth听looking at a service that records the audio at each end then uploads it to a shared folder.听I use听Zencastr, which costs 拢15 a month and has some听good听post-production tools which make editing each episode more straightforward.听听
Crucially, too, it’s incredibly听easy for you and everyone听else听on your podcast to use.听
Editing听
There are a couple of big (and听fairly expensive) players, like Pro Tools and Adobe Audition, in the world of audio editing;听but to be honest, for most podcasters Audacity is the way to go.听It’s free-to-download, open-source software that does everything you need to enable you to edit each of your podcast episodes simply and efficiently.听
Hosting听
Finally, you’ll need somewhere to host your podcast and then push it out to all the major platforms.听听
Sorting the hosting is simple听鈥撎齮here听are plenty of cost-effective options out there听鈥撎齜ut听pushing it out to the likes of Apple Podcasts and Spotify can be fiddly, so it can be a good idea to get someone to help you set that up.听