Audio Manual for Podcasts: Learn Digital Audio Basics and Improve the Sound of your Podcasts: Stefano Tumiati, #4

By Stefano Tumiati

Are you a Podcaster? Do you have a business, an institution and want to give your brand a voice through a Podcast? Don't know how to record your voice and get a professional sound?

This is the book for you:

Audio Handbook for Podcasts: Learn the Basics of Digital Audio and Improve the Sound of Your Podcasts. Microphones, Headphones, Recording, Editing, Mixing, Sound Design and more. Ideal for Podcasters, Podcasting, Branded Podcasts, giving a voice to your Brand.

by Stefano Tumiati, Sound Engineer and Sound Designer
with a preface by Rossella Pivanti, the Podcast Producer and Trainer

Maybe you've happened to do searches like: Doing Podcasting, Podcast from the Ground Up, Podcast for Dummies, Podcast Production, Podcast Marketing, Branded Podcast. This has happened to me a lot. I've always found a lot of material that covers the topic of Podcasts in general but nothing that dwells on the technical part of Podcasting (and the one that scares you the most): Audio.

Having the mastery of Microphones, USB Microphones, Sound Cards, Software and having the right basics to do Editing, Mix and Sound Design is a fundamental requirement to create a quality Podcast (at least at a technical level).

The care of the Audio, Sound usually comes after the part of Ideation, Research, how to develop the Storytelling, how to develop the Content to be heard and finalize all the work done before to bring it to the stage of upload and publication of the podcast.

Audio is a powerful language that manages to be very vertical and survives even without the presence of video. Not having a visual component the Sound is perceived and subject to one's imagination. This means that each listener is free to visualize what they feel through their own experiences or fantasies becoming something personal; for this reason, the Sound Design helps the Podcast to be a much more incisive and performing media.

If you're setting up a Content Strategy or Podcast Marketing plan for your business. you can't underestimate the quality of Sound. It's kind of like a Youtuber who doesn't use a good camera, proper lighting or an unkempt background and is just content with "the video being recorded".

Specifically, in this manual we will address:

• The basics of audio theory
• How to create a home studio
• Microphones: how they work, which one to choose and in which situation
• USB Microphones
• The sound card
• The computer and the sequence
• Editing
• Mix
• Master
• Loudness

and more!

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stefano Tumiati
• Release date: Mar 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201116415

Book preview

Audio Manual

for Podcasts

Learn Digital Audio Basics

and Improve the Sound of your Podcasts

Stefano Tumiati

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Please note that the copy of the book you have purchased is strictly personal and that Stefano Tumiati is the exclusive owner of the intellectual property of the material made available in this book.

It is forbidden the total or partial reproduction, also in form of reworking, of any of the elements constituting the text as protected by the law.

Names and trademarks cited in the text are generally deposited or registered by their respective manufacturers and are cited solely for educational purposes.

It is forbidden to use the texts for educational courses without prior notice by email to [e-mail] and subsequent approval.

Any violation will be punished according to the regulations in the field of Copyright.

www.stefanotumiati.it

Learn about Audio and use it for quality communication

Table of Contents

Preface by Rossella Pivanti

Introduction

1 - Let's start with the basics

How audio recording has changed

The Audio Chain

Unbalanced and balanced audio signals

Signal balancing process

Analog audio connectors

Data connectors and cables

Frequency, Period, Wavelength

Voice frequencies

Volume reference values

2 - How to Create a Home Studio

The Computer

The sound card

The Sequencer

The Headphones

The speakers

How to connect everything

3 - The  Microphones

The technical characteristics of microphones

Dynamic Microphones

Condenser Microphones

Shotgun Microphones

USB Microphones

Microphone accessories

Summary with Pros and Cons

Usage situations and tips

4 - Studio or indoor recording

Getting started

Proper recording procedure with a traditional microphone

Proper recording procedure with a USB microphone

Useful tips for recording

What to do after recording

How to correct room acoustics

5 - Recording outdoors

Portable recorders

Shotgun microphones and live accessories

Lavalier Microphones

The radio transmitter/wireless systems

Recording

Tips for a good recording

6 - Remote recording

Connection methods

Tips for a good remote recording

7 - Editing and Post Production

Preliminary operations

Create the session

Session folders

Setting Buffer Size and Playback Engine

The main windows: Edit and Mix

The Tracks

Importing audio

Editing Functions

The 4 working modes of the Edit window

Fade and Crossfade

Automation

Clip Gain

Clip groups and Strip Silence

Managing Zoom Levels

Backup Sessions

Editing Tips

Sample work sessions

8  Music and Sound Design

Sound libraries

Original Composition

Recording sounds and environments outdoors

Stereophonic sound recordings

Binaural and ambisonic soundscapes

Using audio effects

Use of edited music in podcasts

Sound tips

9 - The Mix

Introduction to plugins

The Equalizer

Voice frequencies

The Compressor

The De Esser

The Bus

THE Submix

The Solo Safe

Managing effect with a Bus

Audio effects

Volume and Pan

My chain of plugins on the voice

Reading meters

Export Parameters

Mixing tips

Handling edit requests

10 - Loudness

The Loudness War

Normalizing loudness with meters and mixes

Loudness normalization with correctors

Last step

11 - Interviews with technicians, production houses and podcasters

Guido Bertolotti

Luca Micheli

Antonio Mezzadra

Emanuele Campagnolo

Mirko Lagonegro

Marcello Pozza

Matteo Ranzi

Carlo Annese

Alessandra Scaglioni

Rossella Pivanti

Cecilia Belluzzo

Preface by Rossella Pivanti

At the beginning of the games in 2015 to 2018, when the world of podcasting started to develop also in Italy, the narrative that was going around was making podcasts is easy, you just need to attach a microphone. 

Surely at the time, it could have made sense: the goal was to bring as many creators and as many listeners to this new medium, which otherwise would never have exploded.

The downside, however, was that it left a sense of humor and presupposed that podcasting has been getting rid of lately.

With the increase in content and the interest of production companies and large publishing groups, now it's not just about making podcasts: it's about making them well!

Quality is the element that can help anyone, from the independent creator to the production agency, stand out from the crowd.

Well, you might think, easy!

The world is full of sound engineers, audio technicians and sound engineers! Of course, it's a shame that sound is such a vast and heterogeneous subject. So it's not just a matter of learning how to manage the instrumentation or the various stages of production, it's about knowing and speaking a new sound language.

Just as metal, jazz and pop have their distinctive sound, so does the podcast! It's essential to understand what a listener needs, the technical characteristics of that audio file and how and in what context it will be enjoyed.

As well as obviously listening to avalanches of productions before understanding what a podcast might sound like.

just as we do for every genre of music or we approach every audio product. 

That's why the statement that it's enough to attach a microphone is reductive as well as harmful.

No one had yet dealt with the technical side of podcast production in Italy in such an exhaustive way, (indeed let's say it was a big gap until now) and that's why this book is essential. It comes in a period of great ferment in which even independent creators are starting to earn and some have already made a full-time profession out of it.

The quality search, knowledge of the medium and techniques should be a mantra for anyone who wants to produce podcasts seriously, with the humility of those who are approaching a new language.

In this case, Stefano Tumiati has been a pioneer, immediately showing great sensitivity and interest in this field and demonstrating, with this book, to understand the needs and requirements of those who approach this subject.

An essential handbook, complete and straight to the point, that will help the Italian scene, from independent creators to professionals, to make the quality leap it deserves.

Rossella Pivanti

Podcast Producer and Trainer

Introduction

If you have chosen to buy this book surely you are interested in the world of podcasting.

My name is Stefano Tumiati, I am a sound engineer and deal with audio. Among the various branches of the audio industry, I also work with podcasts both at the level of recording and sound, post-production and mix. This text is not the classic book on podcasts, which deals with the subject in general. You won't find chapters about idea development, writing, organization, client management, uploading, distribution, promotion, marketing, etc. We will deal exclusively with the technical side: microphones, recording, post production, sound design, mix and finalization.

I decided to write this manual try answer the doubts and technical questions that are often asked to me by customers, podcasters or enthusiasts.

I hope that with the knowledge you will find in the next pages you can improve the sound of your podcasts and be more aware of the audio processes.

Are you ready? Let's start with the basics!

1 - Let's start with the basics

A solid theoretical foundation is essential for a good understanding of all audio processes. In this chapter, we'll discuss some initial topics that will help you get a general overview.

How audio recording has changed

The technology used to record audio has changed a great deal since the days of magnetic tape recording. The biggest revolution has been that of digital audio, or the ability to record a guitar, a sound, a voice on software and then on a computer!

The machinery used for analog, tape recording was expensive and only real recording studios could afford such equipment. Analog recorders were produced from 2, 4, 8, 16 up to 24 tracks.

With the development of technology, it was necessary to translate the analog audio signal, a variation of electrical voltage, into a language understandable by the computer: the binary code. The translation process is called analog to digital (A/D) conversion and it performed by a signal converter or sound card.

This involves the use of some equipment that we will see in a few pages. But let's focus on the differences that digital has brought to the world of audio.

Analog Recording

Pros: maximum fidelity between recorded sound and recorded sound

Cons: very expensive recorders, bulky physical recording media, little possibility of editing (physical cutting of the tape), duplication of the recorded sound not 100% identical.

Digital Recording

Pros: low cost, practical recording media (hard disk), many editing possibilities, identical copies.

Cons: digital sound will never be identical to analog recorded sound. 

Let's see why digital sound will never be like analog sound. Let's start with the definition.

Sound is a mechanical perturbation, produced by a source, which propagates in a medium and gives auditory sensations.

It is a continuous compression and decompression of air, the medium, which propagates three-dimensionally in space. If we take for example the graphic representation of a pure sound, which contains only one frequency, we would have a sine wave:

This graph shows positive portions, above the horizontal axis, and negative portions, below the horizontal axis, indicating the passage of time. The vertical axis indicates the sound pressure value, usually measured in Pascal. The graphical result represents the actual compression and decompression of the medium in which the sound propagates.

The continuous trend means that the two events are repeated cyclically until the sound intensity is exhausted.

As long as we remain in the analog field, we can say that this sinusoid is described by infinite points that follow one another. Things change, however, if we move into the digital domain. The digital conversion does not accept infinite points but must have a minimum sample beyond which it is not possible to go down: the sound must be quantized.

The two corresponding values of sound pressure and time in digital are the Bit Depth and the Sample Rate.

The Bit Depth describes how many possible values can be described on the vertical axis for each sample. The possible values are:

8 bit, the sound of video games from the late nineties

16 bit, audio CD quality

24 bit, video quality

32 bit floating point, which is the last possibility introduced but does not introduce more information than 24 bit.

The Sample is rate describes how many times in one second of the sound. Possible values are given below:

44,100 Hz, audio CD quality

48,000 Hz, video quality

88,200 Hz

96,000 Hz

176,400 Hz

192,000 Hz

The higher Bit Depth and Sample Rate values, higher the fidelity and definition of the digital sound will be compared to the analog sound. The resulting sine wave graphic from before would look like this:

However detailed and defined the digital sine wave may be it will never be identical to the analog one. To summarize, the audio conversion quality for material only to be listened to is 44100 Hz 16 bit (even 24 bit can go), while for audio related to video p is 48000 Hz 24 bit. Digital audio quality is still very good and A/D conversion provides many advantages over analog recording. By now, all music productions are developed via computer. The equipment that converts sound to digital is the sound card; it is present in every PC but you can choose to use an external one to increase the number of inputs and outputs.

The software that takes care of receiving, modifying and mixing the converted audio material is called a sequencer.

The Audio Chain

The audio chain is the set of all the processes done to the sound from when it is picked up by a microphone to when it is reproduced by speakers or headphones. Knowing it can help us design a home studio and in case of problems, identify where the signal is interrupted.

Let's look at the main points.

1)  Sound is emitted from a source and generates a sound pressure that can be measured in Pascal (Pa).

2)  A microphone also known as phono-electric transducer, picks up this pressure and transforms it into an electrical voltage in the order of mV (milliVolt)

3)  The signal must be enlarged to be recorded and processed properly by a sequencer. The electrical voltage is then increased until it is in the order of Volts (V), more precisely the reference value is 1.228 V (on software generally corresponds to -14 dB). This phase is very important and is called pre-amplification. Generally, it can be done with a knob called gain that can be found on mixers, sound cards, portable recorders or a preamplifier (a machine that does just that).

4)  The signal is processed. At this stage are the A/D conversion, recording, editing, adding effects, mixing, mastering, D/A conversion (to bring the signal from the computer to any speakers or headphones).

5) After D/A conversion the signal is magnified even more until the electrical voltage can generate measurable watts (W) of electrical