The Podcast Engineering Show

My guest is Michelle Levitt - Creative Marketing Director at Heil Sound and podcast producer. She has performed many roles in podcasting over the years including being CEO of her own podcast studio in Buffalo, NY.

NOTE: Post-production on this episode was done by PES graduate Jesse McCune! Great job, Jesse!

NOTE-2: On next week's Daily Goody episode, I’ll be demonstrating and comparing the Heil PR30 and PR40!

• In-ear monitors: “Ultimate Ears” Capital Studio Reference
• Allen and Heath ZED-10 mixer (uses no EQ, effects or pre-processing when recording)
• iMac computer
• Adobe Audition
• Various Heil microphones including the PR30 and PR40
• Pop filter: BSW Re-pop (fits the PR40 and PR30 nicely)
• When demoing microphones at shows or online she doesn't use any EQ or compression because she wants people to hear each microphones individual character.
• Check out the presentation Michelle did titled Microphone Technology: Understanding Your Sound
• Her advice to hosts who move around too much demonstrating bad mic technique: Put your chin or nose on the windscreen to always keep close to the mic. Also wear headphones so you can hear your volume change if/when you drift off-mic which will remind you to get back on mic.
• Recently launched PR37 microphone -- a dynamic mic for Live sound
• Bob Heil doing Live sound for the Grateful Dead, The Who, early ZZ Top, etc. even though he came from a broadcast background.
• Heil Sound started in the 60s as a music store -- Ye Olde Music Shoppe (sp?)
• Sony HD camera and running her local audio through Cam Link 4k thru HDMI cable

NOTE: In this episode I’m using a Sennheiser e835 microphone into my Portico 2 channel strip and using these plugins in post: KIT BB N105, Shadow Hills Class A Mastering Compressor, Saturn 2, and Aquamarine 4.

• Record all raw tracks at a healthy level (not too low or too hot)
• Set all raw tracks to the same LUFS before bringing them into your DAW. (I do this at the end of my cleanup phase after I remove background noise, plosives, hums, and other blemishes)
• Use Compression and/or MaxxVolume/Vocal Rider to compress/tame the loud parts as well as boost the lower volume parts. (NOTE: This step will effectively amplify any background noise, so be sure to absolutely minimize the background noise before pressing record!)
• Adjust the overall level of each participant so they all sound good compared to each other. (as part of your mixing phase, where you can also use other processing like EQ, saturation, etc.)
• After rendering the final episode audio, process this file so it adheres to the “unofficial” loudness standards of podcasting: -19 LUFS for mono episodes, or -16 LUFS for stereo episodes.

• If you ever have questions please reach out!
• You can sign up to receive Daily Goody’s in your email a few times per week or a weekly roundup. Sign up here.
• The start date for the next PES semester is January 10, 2023! (fyi, the course is delivered once per quarter)
• If you’d like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, “Btw, here’s a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful” with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/)

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything, ~Chris

Returning all-star guest Max Flight helps me cover 17 ways to re-evaluate your podcast this summer, and we also discuss Max's latest podcast production workflow, equipment, software and more.

Max has been producing aviation podcasts since 2008:

• Airplane Geeks (now over 700 episodes!)
• The UAV Digest (looking at unmanned aircraft or drones)
• Check out his main site — http://thirtythousandfeet.com/
• He was previously on episodes 20 and 39 of this show
• Check out his equipment, software, services and more below...

1. Update your goals
2. Change the format
3. Start using chapters
4. Personal focus on eliminating verbal crutches. (A short duration of intense focus will provide years of good results)
5. Change and/or add equipment
6. Sell old equipment
7. Treat yourself to that mic you've always wanted
8. Sound absorption and diffusers
9. Add a new segment
10. Cover new yet pertinent subject matter topics
11. Publish in video format as well
12. Publish better shownotes
13. Revamp your marketing
14. Evaluate the shows overall effectiveness
15. Hire a VA
16. Bring on a cohost
17. Decide to end your show???
18. Perhaps decide you want to become a professional podcast engineer/producer and earn a great living producing podcasts for clients - from home?!

Big changes since PES 20 and PES 39 mostly involve a simplification of the signal path:

• Skype and cohost multi-enders replaced by Riverside.fm
• Behringer mixer (still going strong since 2009!) replaced with MixPre
• The MixPre handles all mic pre-amplification
• Sound clips and pre-recorded segments played through Riverside, replacing an iOS soundboard
• Backup recording is handled by the MixPre

Current equipment:

• Sound Devices MixPre-6
• Also use a MixPre-3 Gen 2 for field recordings
• Zoom H5 for field recordings, too
• Heil PR40
• Sennheiser MD46 interview mic
• Dell XPS 16 and MacBook Pro 15-inch, 2018 model, 2.9GHz i9 32 GB laptops
• Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones
• Yamaha HS5 monitors

Software:

• Riverside.fm (was Skype then Squadcast)
• Hindenburg Journalist Pro
• Audacity (yep!)
• iZotope RX 8 Advanced
• ID3 Editor for tagging

Services:

• Media hosting: Blubrry and Libsyn
• Website hosting: Bluehost and SiteGround

Notes from Max:

• I'm retired and traveling more which makes weekly podcast production a bit more difficult.
• Biggest current problem: At the home studio I mix/master with my Yamaha monitors, which I love. I can't master properly with the Audio Technica headphones when traveling.

• If you ever have questions please reach out!
• You can sign up to receive Daily Goody’s in your email a few times per week or a weekly roundup. Sign up here.
• The start date for the next PES semester is Sep. 13, 2022! (fyi, the course is delivered once per quarter)
• If you’d like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, “Btw, here’s a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful” with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/)

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything, ~Chris

Returning guest Barry Gary shares so many excellent tips for producing podcasts for companies and organizations. Barry is the host of The Louisville Cycling Podcast. He also produces other podcasts including Medchat and Parenting With You. Also, here is Barry’s first appearance on this show.

Barry and I discussed many things including:

• Equipment: Shure SM7b, Cloudlifter, dbx 286s, Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, Yamaha monitors
• Apps: Adobe Audition, Riverside
• Processing: Compression, EQ
• Show development for clients
• Internal podcasts for clients
• Workflow changes: Stopped going on-site to record, and now does most of his editing in Adobe Audition now.

NEWS: In case you missed it, I'm now publishing a YouTube video everyday here on the PES channel. Please consider subscribing.

• If you ever have questions please reach out!
• You can sign up to receive Daily Goody’s in your email a few times per week or a weekly roundup. Sign up here.
• The start date for the next PES semester is January 10, 2023! (fyi, the course is delivered once per quarter)
• If you’d like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, “Btw, here’s a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful” with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/)

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything, ~Chris

I overview 9 podcast production tips and techniques from recent Daily Goody posts Jan. 19 thru Feb. 11, 2022 (see list below). You can sign up to receive Daily Goody’s in your email every day or a weekly roundup. Sign up here.

• Expecting a Plugin Preset to Do What the Name Says
• My Experience Opening and Operating a Brick and Mortar Podcast Studio for 3 Years – PES 230
• When Editing Out Silence To Increase Pacing, Be Sure To...
• Loudness Range of Final Episodes – What’s Good and What’s Bad?
• The “White Glove” Service: Engineering Client Recording Sessions Remotely
• Using Cable Labels to Reduce “Spaghetti” Confusion in Your Studio
• Best Sounding Microphone Emulation *For My Voice* Using My Sphere L22 Microphone
• Gain Rider Plugin: DynaRide2
• Should You Ask Remote Guests to Record Their Own Audio Locally?
• Best Recording Tip for Someone Who Speaks at a Soft, Low Volume
• [VIDEO] MaxxVolume Plugin for Podcast Production (Handy as Heck!)
• As I mentioned, here’s episode 225 where I used the Sphere L22 with the U47 emulation.

• If you ever have questions please reach out!
• The start date for the next PES semester is January 10, 2023! (fyi, the course is delivered once per quarter)
• If you’d like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, “Btw, here’s a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful” with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/
• My smaller course for editors/producers who want more good clients: Getting New Clients at Higher Rates

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything, ~Chris