Science Journal’s Guide to Producing a Podcast Episode
Upon the completion of the pre-production stage, which we covered in our previous blog post, the host of the episode has to ensure and supervise the completion of the production process of the episode.
This is usually done in three steps:
Reserving the equipment and the studio if the recording is to be conducted in-person/ setting up the Zoom meeting if the episode is to be recorded virtually.
Recording the episode.
Putting together the files and preparing them for post-production.
Reserving equipment:
For in-person recordings, the host must book a soundproof room and recorder before the recording date. The Science Journal team records episodes in a foley room, which is a purpose-built, soundproof room dedicated to creating sound effects for movies. We make sure to reserve equipment beforehand including a sound recording device and microphones. In general, we use the Zoom recording device or the Mix Pre6 to ensure smooth audio quality.
Setting up the Zoom meeting:
In case the recording is to be conducted virtually, we schedule a zoom meeting and the host sends calendar invitations via email to all the participating speakers. When it is time to record, the host must start the meeting a few minutes earlier to test the sound quality and the internet connection.
The recording:
In-person:
During a live recording, the host prepares the soundproof room for all participating speakers, tests the equipment, and ensures all essentials are in place. In addition, it is important to make sure each microphone is recording separately for each speaker and that the sound quality is clear and free of echo, noise, and other distortions.
Remotely:
Once the other team members and guest speakers join the meeting and greet each other, the host presses the Zoom record button and the auto-transcription button to make sure that Zoom is recording the meeting and transcribing what is being said. It is more advisable to record the audio of each speaker separately in case a glitch occurs. Doing so allows us to isolate the audio tracks and edit them independently. It is worth noting that the Zoom recording feature is by no means flawless, and complications can arise. Due to connectivity issues and computer storage issues, the host is unable to retrieve the file of the recording at times. This is why it’s helpful to have a backup recording using a different platform: We use Quicktime player for instance. To improve the quality of audio of the virtual recording, the team also uses the premium Studio Sound feature of the software Descript.
Uploading the files
In-person:
After recording the episode, the host has to extract the SD card from the recording device connected to the microphones and upload the file onto a computer. The files are later uploaded to Google Drive to ensure that all team members can listen to the episode and begin the editing process.
Remotely:
After the host ends the zoom meeting, they have to retrieve the audio file, preferably a separate file for each speaker. Following this, in a similar fashion to the process described in the previous paragraph, the host uploads the files to Google Drive and shares them with the rest of the team.
This concludes the production process, after which the team will begin the post-production process. Keep an eye out for the next step in the production process of our episodes!
