1 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:10,155 Welcome to help me podcast. A show designed to help 2 00:00:10,155 --> 00:00:13,914 you launch and grow your podcast. I am your host Gino. And 3 00:00:13,914 --> 00:00:17,570 twice a week, I will release a new episode with different tips and 4 00:00:17,570 --> 00:00:21,270 tricks for launching and growing your podcast. From audio engineering 5 00:00:21,410 --> 00:00:25,090 to planning intentionally to growth tactics, each episode will be a 6 00:00:25,090 --> 00:00:27,225 bite sized tip to help you podcast. 7 00:00:31,365 --> 00:00:35,180 Hey. Welcome back to Help Me Podcast. In today's episode, I 8 00:00:35,180 --> 00:00:38,940 wanna talk about podcasting gear, but I wanna talk about 9 00:00:38,940 --> 00:00:42,780 podcasting gear from the lens of being able to use your 10 00:00:42,780 --> 00:00:46,395 gear. And the idea of this episode came from an 11 00:00:46,395 --> 00:00:50,075 experience that I had with a client, and I think it's worth talking 12 00:00:50,075 --> 00:00:53,830 about and worth mentioning you know, if you're out there and you're trying to purchase 13 00:00:53,830 --> 00:00:57,270 the gear to record your podcast, and maybe you're reading 14 00:00:57,270 --> 00:01:00,985 articles saying, like, this is the best microphone, and this is, you 15 00:01:00,985 --> 00:01:03,785 know, the best piece of gear, and this is how you should be recording your 16 00:01:03,785 --> 00:01:07,625 podcast. I think one thing that really gets overlooked a lot 17 00:01:07,625 --> 00:01:11,470 of the times is just It is the ease of use 18 00:01:11,530 --> 00:01:14,990 of the gear. And can I use this gear repeatedly 19 00:01:15,210 --> 00:01:18,890 to record my podcast, or am I gonna be struggling with 20 00:01:18,890 --> 00:01:22,635 it and having to constantly Google how to fix this or 21 00:01:22,635 --> 00:01:26,395 how to fix that. And maybe you're just not a tech person, and you're 22 00:01:26,395 --> 00:01:30,100 not good with computers. And That's totally okay. And I 23 00:01:30,100 --> 00:01:33,860 think that should help you make the decision on which gear that 24 00:01:33,860 --> 00:01:37,395 you should be purchasing to record your podcast. the story with the 25 00:01:37,395 --> 00:01:40,995 client is I had this person kinda reach out to me after I did 26 00:01:40,995 --> 00:01:44,435 a score event, which is kinda just a free seminar about 27 00:01:44,435 --> 00:01:47,890 podcasting. and podcast gear and that sort of thing. 28 00:01:48,110 --> 00:01:51,870 And this person kinda found me through that and set up a call with 29 00:01:51,870 --> 00:01:54,975 me. And kinda told me their situation 30 00:01:55,354 --> 00:01:58,715 and where they were at. Basically, they had a bunch of 31 00:01:58,715 --> 00:02:02,450 gear that they spent money on, and they didn't know how to use 32 00:02:02,610 --> 00:02:05,969 So they were recording their podcast just through 33 00:02:05,969 --> 00:02:09,810 the microphone on their laptop because they didn't know 34 00:02:09,810 --> 00:02:13,505 how to use the equipment. So they wanted me to help them 35 00:02:13,505 --> 00:02:17,185 try to set up the gear, get it working, so that way they 36 00:02:17,185 --> 00:02:21,000 could record their podcast, with, you know, better quality and and use the 37 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,840 gear that they actually spent money on. So I went into this thing kinda 38 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,225 thinking, like, you know, maybe it was gonna be a few hour 39 00:02:28,225 --> 00:02:31,825 consultation. I'll set up their gear. I'll show them how to use it, and I'll 40 00:02:31,825 --> 00:02:35,520 give them a, like, a PDF of, you know, here's the step to get 41 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,280 this thing working. And I I guess what happened was somebody 42 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,960 had told him to, you know, oh, you have a podcast. You should go buy 43 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,665 this gear. And it it was an XLR microphone. It 44 00:02:46,665 --> 00:02:50,425 was an interface that he had and a laptop that he was 45 00:02:50,425 --> 00:02:53,910 trying to hook everything up with. He had the boom arm. and the pop filters 46 00:02:53,910 --> 00:02:57,110 and those sort of things. But it just it wasn't set up, and he didn't 47 00:02:57,110 --> 00:02:59,990 know how to use it. So I went in there, and I and I set 48 00:02:59,990 --> 00:03:03,575 everything up for him. And, you know, it wasn't front from my perspective, 49 00:03:03,635 --> 00:03:07,395 and, you know, I'm pretty comfortable and familiar with audio 50 00:03:07,395 --> 00:03:10,960 gear. And, you know, I've been using it for a long time. And I 51 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,400 basically hooked everything up on his computer. I downloaded some of the 52 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,460 drivers for the audio interface. 53 00:03:17,915 --> 00:03:21,275 and then I got him hooked up in Reaper because he said he wanted to 54 00:03:21,275 --> 00:03:25,070 be recording 2 channels at once with 2 microphones. So 55 00:03:25,070 --> 00:03:28,610 I downloaded Reaper. I I made a tutorial of how to use it, 56 00:03:28,670 --> 00:03:32,510 and, you know, we got everything working. And I made like 57 00:03:32,510 --> 00:03:36,095 I said, I a document for him, kind of a how to use it, how 58 00:03:36,095 --> 00:03:39,395 to open it up, how to record, how to render, and that sort of thing. 59 00:03:39,535 --> 00:03:42,800 And then I was on my merry way, I thought that that was kinda gonna 60 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,480 be the the last of the interaction. And then a few weeks 61 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,295 later, he called me with something else. And, you know, now Reaper 62 00:03:50,295 --> 00:03:53,755 wasn't working, and something was wrong with Reaper. And 63 00:03:54,055 --> 00:03:57,570 then he called me again, and something else wasn't working. And It kinda be it 64 00:03:57,570 --> 00:04:01,330 turned into this thing where, like, I've now fixed and problem 65 00:04:01,330 --> 00:04:04,930 solved multiple things for this person. And I'm kinda 66 00:04:04,930 --> 00:04:08,605 sitting here thinking, like, This gear was not 67 00:04:08,905 --> 00:04:12,745 the correct move for this person. And, you know, it's it's 68 00:04:12,745 --> 00:04:16,460 no I'm I'm not saying anything bad about this person. I mean, some people just 69 00:04:16,460 --> 00:04:20,240 aren't tech people, and that's fine. But, like, whoever told him 70 00:04:20,300 --> 00:04:23,680 to buy this gear, it wasn't the right choice because 71 00:04:24,075 --> 00:04:27,675 it is more technically involved using an Excel or microphone and, you know, 72 00:04:27,675 --> 00:04:31,515 recording on Reaper and doing a 2 mic setup. It's a little bit more 73 00:04:31,515 --> 00:04:35,350 involved than being able to just plug in a USB microphone 74 00:04:35,490 --> 00:04:39,190 and turning it on, and that's it. So I I think 75 00:04:39,250 --> 00:04:42,665 the point of this story is it's not to bash on anybody's tech 76 00:04:42,665 --> 00:04:46,265 expertise or not. But the point that I'm trying to make is that if if 77 00:04:46,265 --> 00:04:49,865 you were to come to me first and I kinda, you know, asked him 78 00:04:49,865 --> 00:04:53,400 about his familiarity with recording equipment and 79 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,840 computers and that sort of thing. And if I sensed that he didn't really 80 00:04:56,840 --> 00:05:00,380 have that much experience in it, I probably would have suggested 81 00:05:00,865 --> 00:05:04,545 a simpler recording setup. Because now every time he goes to 82 00:05:04,545 --> 00:05:08,145 record his podcast and something doesn't work, now he's spending so 83 00:05:08,145 --> 00:05:11,770 much time trying to fix the issue just to get recording. 84 00:05:11,910 --> 00:05:15,130 And that can be super frustrating from his perspective. 85 00:05:15,670 --> 00:05:19,405 And, you know, I can relate to when I started recording, and and the first 86 00:05:19,405 --> 00:05:23,025 days of me even using any sort of audio recording program, 87 00:05:23,245 --> 00:05:27,010 just being frustrated with setting it up and having to spend 88 00:05:27,010 --> 00:05:30,770 so much time just getting to be able to record, and it 89 00:05:30,770 --> 00:05:34,395 kinda just you know, it it takes the life out of the experience. And And, 90 00:05:34,395 --> 00:05:37,755 again, maybe I'm rambling here, but the the point being, like, if you have to 91 00:05:37,755 --> 00:05:41,455 constantly spend so much time and effort to just set up your recording 92 00:05:41,595 --> 00:05:45,370 gear, then maybe it's not worth it. 93 00:05:45,370 --> 00:05:49,050 Right? Maybe the audio quality is not worth it. Maybe if you have to record 94 00:05:49,050 --> 00:05:52,725 2 people, Just get a blue yeti USB mic and 95 00:05:52,945 --> 00:05:56,625 turn on the omnidirectional cardio a pattern so you can 96 00:05:56,625 --> 00:06:00,380 record two people with one microphone. It's not gonna sound as good as 2 individual 97 00:06:00,380 --> 00:06:03,980 isolated microphones, but if it means you can record your 98 00:06:03,980 --> 00:06:07,595 podcast repeatedly without issue or struggle, then to 99 00:06:07,595 --> 00:06:11,435 me, that's worth more than the little bit of audio quality that you're 100 00:06:11,435 --> 00:06:15,090 gonna get. So just some food for thought. as far 101 00:06:15,090 --> 00:06:18,850 as, you know, being able to pick the right gear for the right 102 00:06:18,850 --> 00:06:22,575 person. I think it and I've said it before that, I think, picking 103 00:06:22,575 --> 00:06:26,415 the right gear is dependent on your your situation and 104 00:06:26,415 --> 00:06:30,015 and what you're trying to record and how many people who try and record and, 105 00:06:30,015 --> 00:06:33,760 you know, what kind of environment you're in. But this experience also got me 106 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,360 thinking on, like, yeah, you wanna think about all of those things, but you also 107 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,125 wanna think about what's your experience with recording gear. and 108 00:06:41,125 --> 00:06:44,565 the ease of use of being able to record. Because I think as a 109 00:06:44,565 --> 00:06:48,245 podcaster, you have so many other things going on that you need to be 110 00:06:48,245 --> 00:06:51,970 able to record easily. And I think that sometimes 111 00:06:52,190 --> 00:06:55,950 it, you know, audio quality falls short to 112 00:06:55,950 --> 00:06:59,650 just ease of use in being able to use the gear that you have. 113 00:06:59,935 --> 00:07:03,535 So that's my thought for today. That's my rant for today. Maybe it helps 114 00:07:03,535 --> 00:07:07,370 somebody out there who is maybe being peer pressured in 115 00:07:07,370 --> 00:07:11,150 to buying a $400 s m 7 b, which 116 00:07:11,530 --> 00:07:15,295 I've talked about before will lead you to all sorts of tech 117 00:07:15,295 --> 00:07:18,515 problems, and it's not just gonna be a plug and play thing. 118 00:07:18,895 --> 00:07:22,735 They're they're a little bit of a challenge to get working properly. They do sound 119 00:07:22,735 --> 00:07:25,780 great, but they're a little bit of a challenge to get working properly. 120 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:29,760 And if you're not somebody who's familiar with audio gear, that 121 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,595 mic's probably not the right microphone for you to start your podcast. with. 122 00:07:33,655 --> 00:07:37,195 So I I I think there's more to think about than just the technical 123 00:07:37,335 --> 00:07:40,955 ability of the gear and, you know, technically, this microphone's 124 00:07:41,015 --> 00:07:44,560 better than this one. But can you use that microphone? And can you 125 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,400 repeatably record a podcast with that microphone? I think that's a piece 126 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,115 of the conversation that sometimes could get overlooked. So I hope 127 00:07:52,115 --> 00:07:55,875 this was helpful. I hope that you have found the right recording set up 128 00:07:55,875 --> 00:07:59,700 for you, that you don't have to think about, and you can just turn on 129 00:07:59,700 --> 00:08:03,380 and start recording and get your podcast out there. So thank you for 130 00:08:03,380 --> 00:08:07,015 listening, and I will see you next time. We've 131 00:08:07,015 --> 00:08:10,775 reached the end of the episode. And if you enjoyed this podcast or 132 00:08:10,775 --> 00:08:14,535 you got something from it, you might be interested in my weekly 133 00:08:14,535 --> 00:08:17,980 newsletter that I send out every Monday morning full of podcasting 134 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,200 tips, tricks, and news. So if you like this show, you might 135 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,855 like this newsletter. To sign up, just go to the show notes and click 136 00:08:25,855 --> 00:08:28,755 the link. Thanks for listening and happy podcasting.