The first thing you will want to do is install the SWS extensions. These are community-based add-ons to Reaper which extend the functionality significantly. They can be downloaded from the official SWS Extensions site.

Coloured waveforms using spectral peaks

Spectral peaks are a way to add colour to your waveforms – something which is more than an aesthetic choice. By colour-coding your frequencies, you can edit much better. This does come with a bit of a learning curve, but the different colours represent different sounds that are made with the mouth. For example, a high-frequency blue area of the audio is likely to be a hissing sound, perhaps an “sss” or “sh”.

You can also identify problem pops and bumps by looking for low-frequency (red) spikes in the audio which may indicate the microphone has been bumped.

These colour-coded waveforms make editing and finding problems a lot easier. To get the feature, you can open up the actions menu and toggle the Peaks: Toggle spectral peaks action. To edit the colours and view, you can select the action View: Show peaks display settings.

Split and ripple delete – Rapid actions to help you

When editing a podcast, you are likely to need to split and chop audio rapidly. There will be plenty of unwanted pauses, coughs, and other irrelevant content that can be chopped down to reduce the playtime and tidy the audio up.

While this can be done manually with the mouse and keyboard shortcuts, you can further refine the workflow to massively increase the speed of editing, thus, saving time.

The two custom actions I want to show you are refined ripple delete actions. Ripple deleting is a useful editing technique where you split the audio around an unwanted part, then delete it, shifting everything after it back to close the gap.

If you are unfamiliar with Reaper’s Custom Actions, I highly recommend you read this more in-depth guide.

In the instance of a cough, you would make a cut before and after the cough, delete it, then the audio that follows it would snap backwards and connect as if the cough was never there.

The first custom action requires you to split the audio manually (I use keyboard shortcut S to split at the cursor). IT is a custom action with two actions chained together:

Custom: Ripple Delete

• Script: X-Raym_Delete selected items and ripple edit adjacent items.lua
• Item Navigation: Move cursor left to edge of item.

This simple custom item will delete the unwanted audio, snap the next bit of audio back to join the gap, then move the cursor to the edit point.

The second edit is even more streamlined. It allows you to skip the audio splitting by dragging the mouse and making a selection over the audio you want rid of, then following the same action. It has these component actions:

Custom: Ripple Delete at time selection

• Item: Split items at selection
• Custom: Ripple delete [where this action is the one outlined above]
• Time Selection: Remove time selection and loop points

This example is a good one to demonstrate Reaper’s ability to add custom actions within other custom actions as part of a larger chain. You could add additional actions within it depending on where you want the cursor to go too, as outlined below.

Auto-remove silence

Another really useful custom action is to automatically remove silence. This is a great one if you have long pauses that you need rid of. The way it works is it tells Reaper to select any parts quieter than a defined threshold and delete them. This can be tweaked to allow brief pauses – something natural in conversation – and only remove silences longer than a defined time.

Custom: Remove silence and snap together

• Item: Auto Trim/Split items (remove silence)
• Script: mpl_Snap selected items to each other.lua

When you run this action, it will bring up a menu that allows you to define the volume, below which is silence. It will also ask you what length of silence to ignore. I tend to set it to ignore silences shorter than 5000ms (5 seconds).

Save chain FX

When you have finished editing and mixing an episode, it is very likely that the next episode will have the same presenter using the same microphone. There is no point going to all the trouble to set up you mixing FX and sound adjustments from scratch each time, so you can save your FX chains for later use.

Once you have made an FX chain you like, you can save it via File > Save FX Chain. By bringing up the FX menu and selecting File > Add FX Chain, you can bring up previous FX chains that you have saved.

The post How to speed up podcast editing in Reaper appeared first on Audio Ordeal.

There are many people searching for the “best DAW for podcast editing” and while pretty much any audio editing software will do, REAPER has several advantages.

For starters, it is ultra-customisable, meaning you can essentially configure it however you like. Compare that to a DAW such as Ableton Live, where you have a simple (but very efficient) single workflow available, REAPER gives users a lot to work with.

This video shows a really simple way to set up a podcast editing template that bypasses a lot of Reaper’s more complex menus. It is a good starting point for editors who only need basic changes and don’t want to fiddle.

One of the key things that this video shows is the simplified setup you can achieve, because let’s face it, podcast editors aren’t normally music producers.

SEE ALSO: The Ultimate Guide to ReaEQ – Reaper’s Stock EQ Plugin

Since REAPER is so fit for all purposes, it has a huge amount of features that the average podcast editor doesn’t need so following the steps in this video will give you a template to work with that doesn’t bog you down in all the surplus features.

The post How to make a super easy podcast editing template in REAPER appeared first on Audio Ordeal.

This article is originally published on descript.com.

Remote interviews are a fact of life for every podcaster, and in today’s era of social distancing, more so than ever. Since you rarely get the chance at an interview do-over, nailing down your remote recording workflow is essential. We’ll show you how to prepare for and record a remote interview, so you get it right the first time — with some additional tips along the way to make sure all your bases are covered. 

Choose the right remote recording setup for your podcast

The first step is to determine the remote recording setup that best suits the format and content of your podcast and your production and editing workflow.

In most cases, your best solution will involve recording remote interviews on Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, or a similar online conferencing service. This low-friction setup makes it easy for guests or co-hosts to contribute, but you’ll need to make sure you have the right software to record these interviews.

It’s also wise to make sure you can record phone calls. Phone interviews don’t offer great audio fidelity, but they make a great backup option in case of technical problems or schedule changes. Phone interviews probably won’t be your first choice, but it’s a good idea to be able to record a phone call just in case you need to. 

If you’re recording with the same remote co-host on each episode of your podcast, consider a double-ender setup, in which you and your co-host record your own audio tracks locally and combine them in post-production. For most podcasters, this isn’t the most convenient solution, but it does translate into the highest audio fidelity for you and your co-host.

The best way to record an interview is to prepare for it

When it comes to interviewing — especially remote interviewing — a little preparation goes a long way.

Do some research into your guest’s background, expertise, and projects. Who are they? Why is their work notable? What do you (and in turn, your audience) hope to learn from them?

Putting together a rough outline of the questions you’d like to ask will come in very handy. Write down a handful of specific questions and key points, but keep your outline broad and high-level. That’ll allow you to more easily adapt to the flow of conversation.

SEE ALSO: Best Home Gear for Podcasting in 2020

Maintaining that conversational flow remotely can be substantially trickier than doing so person-to-person. Prime yourself to listen more than you speak — in particular, try not to interrupt your guest. Editing out awkward silences between speakers is much easier than dealing with too much crosstalk!

When it’s time to record the interview, take a couple final preparatory steps to ensure a clean recording. Close all unnecessary software and set your computer to “Do Not Disturb” mode to make sure unwanted distractions don’t pop up (or worse: end up in the recording).

How to record a Skype call, Zoom interview, or Google Hangout

For most remote recording situations, Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts are your platforms of choice. All three are easy to set up, simple for guests to use, and feature audio fidelity good enough for most podcasts. 

Both Zoom and Skype offer built-in call recording functionality, but Google Hangouts currently limits this offering to enterprise users. There’s an additional caveat: the file format (.MP4 or .M4A) that each platform outputs may not be what you want, depending on your podcast production and editing workflow.

For maximum control over your final product, you’re better off using third-party apps to record computer system audio directly into the recording software of your choice rather than relying on their recording functionality.

If you’re on a Mac, BlackHole is a great open-source tool that allows you to route audio between apps, which means you can record the audio output from Zoom (or Skype, or Google Hangouts) directly into your preferred recording software. On Windows, Virtual Audio Cable offers similar functionality. 

If you’re already using Descript to record, you won’t need to use additional audio routing software. When recording audio into Descript, open the Record panel, choose Add a Track, select your input, and choose “Computer audio.” Click the Record button whenever you’re ready, and audio from Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts will be piped into Descript. 

No matter which remote recording setup you use, make sure you test it — and test it again — with a friend or colleague before you’re actually recording your podcast. Troubleshooting when you should be interviewing ranks near the top of everyone’s Least Favorite Things To Deal With, so make sure everything is in order before your guest is on the line.

How to record a phone interview with Google Voice

Social distancing means nearly everyone has gotten used to handling calls and meetings on Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts. But maybe your podcast guest is really old-school, or their computer is on the fritz, or maybe they’re simply only able to access a phone during your scheduled call time. It’s likely phone interviews will never be your first choice, but being able to record an old-fashioned phone call will come in handy.

Recording phone calls can be tricky, but using Google Voice to make an outgoing phone call from your computer means you can use the same remote recording setup detailed above to record the call.

Follow Google’s instructions to set up Google Voice and then learn how to make an outgoing call. Once everything’s set up, you’ll be able to record phone calls with Google Voice just like you’d record an interview on Zoom or Skype. 

Again, make sure to test with a friend and then test again before your interview. 

If lossless audio quality is a must, record a “double-ender”

For most remote recording situations, Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts are your platforms of choice. All three are easy to set up, simple for guests to use, and feature audio fidelity good enough for most podcasts. 

But if you have a remote co-host that regularly appears on your podcast, and you want to maximize the quality of your audio, a “double-ender” is the way to go: Each host or guest records themselves locally, and audio tracks are combined in post-production. For an additional cost, you can use third-party recording platforms that simulate double-enders without each speaker managing their own recording software.

A traditional double-ender sees each speaker recording their own audio track using their recording software of choice (Descript, Audacity, Quicktime, etc.), and then the host or editor combines each speaker’s recording into a finished product. Each speaker should have a decent microphone — if they’re using a laptop microphone to record, you probably won’t hear a substantial advantage with a double-ender over a Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts recording.

Alternatively, you can simulate a double-ender by using a platform like SquadCast, Zencastr, or Cleanfeed. These services record lossless audio from each speaker, upload each track to the cloud, and combine them automatically. These platforms cost money, but they’re a great alternative to a double-ender when guests or co-hosts don’t have the time or wherewithal to fiddle with recording themselves locally. Again, make sure each speaker has a decent microphone — otherwise you won’t reap the full benefits of lossless audio.

Make remote recording hassles a thing of the past

Recording your podcast remotely isn’t painless, but once you get the hang of it — and nail down your workflow — it’ll become second nature.

The post How to record a podcast remotely and get it right the first time appeared first on Audio Ordeal.

What do you need to run a podcast? What is the best equipment for recording your voice? Today I’m going to show you a selection of things which you’ll need to get started with podcasting. 

Podcasting can be quite expensive to start out with if you want to jump into the pro gear, but it doesn’t have to be. I will cover four tiers of budget so you can see exactly what you need in your range. 

This project assumes that you have a PC or Mac but if not, you can grab a Raspberry Pi 3 for cheap and run a lightweight audio editing software on it. If you are really dedicated to getting started why not check our list of the best books for podcasters.

1. Cheapest Tier [FREE]

This is a genuine option, at least for getting started. Phone microphones are getting increasingly good. Journalists in many places have replaced big heavy Tascams and audio recording devices in favour of their iPhone mics and the sound quality isn’t bad at all. 

This setup is ideal for you to get started in podcasting as all you need is your phone to start recording your voice and an audio editing software to edit it. 

In this case I recommend Audacity as the audio editing software of choice. 

Pros:

• Basically free if you already have a phone and computer. 
• Phone microphones are actually better than some of the budget microphones out there
• Interviews are handy as you can have the phone on the table

Cons:

• The microphone, while good, is not professional
• You may have to edit the audio more to get it clean
• It won’t sound as good as most podcasts out there. 
• Audio has to be transferred to computer while recording. 

Budget Podcast Setup [£47]

Budget Podcast Shopping List

This setup is good to get started if you are a one or two person show. USB mics are really good because they plug into your computer directly without the need for an audio interface and are great for recording straight into the audio editing program. 

If you have multiple presenters, it is worth giving everyone a pair of headphones (a headphone splitter is super handy here). You might also want to consider some good quality headphones for editing. 

At this stage, Audacity will still suffice for most editing needs. 

Pros:

• Records directly into computer software
• Good headphones mean better editing
• Headphone splitter allows multiple presenters

Cons:

• Cheap USB microphones aren’t the best
• Presenters need to be sitting side by side
• Vulnerable to noise

Medium price podcast setup [<£180]

Medium Price Podcast Shopping List

At this stage you are looking at semi-pro USB microphones with much more features. I recommend the Blue Yeti mics because they have a lot of features. They can offer omni, stereo, bi-directional, and cardioid patterns meaning you can have a single presenter, interview setup, or people all round the table. 

The stereo feature on it has also meant it is a popular microphone for ASMR. If you want to hear it in action, why not check out Audio Ordeal’s podcast episode on stereo microphone recording which actually used the Blue Yeti itself. 

Another option for a microphone in the same price range is the Rode NT-USB. 

While it offers fewer options to the Blue Yeti, it offers much higher quality. 

This is another favourite for podcasters and YouTubers who see it as a good balance of quality and price. 

Choose this microphone if you want the highest quality audio in the price range, and are presenting by yourself.

Here, we are getting more serious, so an investment in slightly better headphones is recommended for the main producer/editor. Guests can just use their cheap earbuds for live monitoring, but for editing you want the best audio. 

If you want to keep the software end free, I recommend that you stick with Audacity. But other options are out there such as Reaper ($60 or uncrippled trial period) and Adobe Audition.

 

Pros:

• This is the best all-round setup which offers a good quality sound balanced with price
• A Blue Yeti microphone is great for a living room “panel” discussion and the stereo features are excellent
• A Rode NT-USB is great bang for your buck if you don’t plan on having guests. 
• If recorded right, your audio quality will be on par with most other podcasts and even some commercial radio stations.

Cons: 

• USB mics are not the best option if you want to individually mic everyone up.
• Mics are sensitive enough to pick up noise – needs a quiet recording environment

Professional-level podcast setup [~£1000]

Professional Podcast Shopping List

This is for serious podcasters who have multiple presenters or podcasts. This is where sound quality is crucial, especially for the main presenter. There is a RODECaster Pro which allows you to control multiple channels as well as have jingle pads. It is the centrepiece of the studio. 

On top of the deep control, it allows you to either mix the sound and record on a micro SD card, or you can use USB to your computer and record multitrack into your editing software. This is good because you can edit really precisely after the show, if need be. 

In addition to the RODECaster Pro, there are several other upgrades. You will want at least one good quality condenser mic with a pop filter and stand. 

Additional mics can either be the same, for maximum quality, or you can get a few cheaper dynamic mics if the guests don’t talk as much. 

You will see that now, instead of a headphone splitter, there is a dedicated headphone amp with individual volume controls. You will find that some presenters like their voice to be loud in their headphones and some don’t. This means everyone on the show can have it how they like it.

 

Finally, we must look at the room treatment panels. Not only do they make a studio room look professional, they are critical to a high quality sound. If the room has lots of echoes and reflections it sounds bad on the mic. No exceptions. 

Think about when you are on the phone to someone, even though the phone call quality is bad, you can always tell if they are in a bathroom or a tiled room because the echoes are so prominent. Treating your room is so important that you are actually better off with a cheap mic in a treated room than an expensive mic in a room with bad acoustics. 

Pros:

• Ultimate quality 
• A great and simple setup for a professional studio 
• You will sound better than a lot of podcasts and on par with most pro broadcasts.
• Expandable – you can use this for many different recording options

Cons:

• Very expensive
• Requires a lot of cables and peripherals
• Sound treatment pricing scales with room size – the bigger the room the more you might need. 
• You can’t cheap out on mic stands, the cheap ones break or won’t hold the weight of a good microphone.
• Requires a moderate knowledge of audio equipment and software setup.

The bottom line

There is no cheap workaround for high-quality audio. While a lot of problems can be smoothed out in post-production, you still can’t polish a turd. 

Any option you take will sound bad if you have bad recording practices. Don’t go into the red. Don’t record with loud background noise. Try and record in a “soft” room to stop echoes.

Finally, be aware of “podcast kits” and bundles. Some of them will cheap out on components like the mic stand. You are better doing a little bit of extra research and making your own bespoke bundle.

The post Best Home Gear for Podcasting in 2020 appeared first on Audio Ordeal.

The post CLOUDS “Undiscovered Artist Series” – Interview appeared first on Audio Ordeal.

These can be hard to remove, especially if you think the way to go is compression, which is what I initially tried, when figuring out how to remove them.

The trick is not compression, it is way easier than that!

For those that don’t know, a plosive is the rough popping sound that often comes with the letters “p” and “b”.

Try putting your hand in front of your mouth and saying “perhaps people prefer Postman Pat”, you can feel the air hit your hand as a pressure wave on the “p” sounds.

The start of this video sums it up quite nicely.

Overly loud plosives usually sound like loud, often distorted pops. It can be seen below as the big spike in volume in the middle of the recording.

­ I’m going to use a method, derived from ADSR volume envelope theory. On a synth, if you increase the attack, it doesn’t hit as hard.

­ If you lower the attack to zero, the note kicks in harder at full volume. 

­ If you try to remove plosives using stupidly complex EQ curves, compression and noise reduction, you’ll realise it doesn’t work well. It also can come with a downside of ruining the rest of the audio.

­ By using fades and volume curves – as you would have on a synth – you can remove the problems that occur right at the start.

The Steps

­ The first thing to do is remove all the, low-frequency noise. The human voice tends not to drop below a few hundred Hz so all the sub-frequencies and much of the bass can be high-passed out.

Seen below is the sort of cut I used, just below 200Hz. Remember female voices tend to be higher pitched so more of the low end can be cut out. 

­ After that, we want to start editing out the actual pop. This requires fine work and plenty of zooming in on audio so I recommend disabling the Snap feature in Reaper so that you can move the cursor exactly where you want it. 

­ Next, we want to zoom in on the audio and set the cursor to the very beginning.

You can see below that the audio is jagged and inconsistent compared to the note it develops into.

Some of this will have been cut out with the EQ, but on playback, there is still a definitive distorted plosive. 

What we want to do to this plosive is fade it in gently. Reaper’s fade-in function occurs at the start of an audio clip and so we will split the audio clip at the cursor, right at the start of the plosive so that it becomes the start of a new clip. (Top Tip: The “S” key splits the selected item at the cursor)

­ So now we have the rogue plosive as the start of a new audio clip, if you hit play, it will still play seamlessly over the split (unless you have splits set to have tiny fades in and out as shown above. These fades tend not to be enough to fix the provblem though).

We want to adjust the Fade-In of the clip now. If you look above, there is a red line going roughly vertical at the start and end of the clip.

This is the volume fade in. By hovering the mouse over the top of the Fade in, the cursor changes and you can drag the fade along the track to adjust the length of the fade in. 

What I did was to adjust the fade-in a little bit past the plosive as above. Now, this fade in curve is very steep before levelling off.

We want a slower start with a rapid end so the note kicks in immediately after the plosive. 

­ Give it a listen and you will hear the distorted pop has gone.

It is a good time to fine adjust the Fade-In time now so you get maintain the “p” without the distorted pop appearing again.

Finally, all that is needed to be done is glue that split together by selecting both audio clips and right-clicking to select “Glue Items” 

Now repeat process for every distorted pop and enjoy the fixed recording.

The post How To Quickly Remove Plosives in Reaper appeared first on Audio Ordeal.

This book is essential for all hard journalism podcasters, radio producers, and even TV producers. While aimed more towards the professional industry, it provides detailed insight into how the best broadcasters do it, and so it is certainly worth reading.

This book contains guides to making radio packages, as well as important broadcast considerations – did you know that the tense used in a radio script must be present tense, while print news and articles should be in past tense?

It will show you all the words you are mixing up (affect/effect) so you don’t sound like a fool in people’s ears, and also give you insight into saying the most in the fewest words. All of this is essential for a podcaster especially considering the time limits your podcast follows.

Essential Radio Skills. Peter Stewart

If you know anyone interested in radio or podcasting, there is a good chance you have seen this book on their desk. Filled to the brim with useful tips and tricks, from industry standards, to learning what each role in a studio does.

It guides you through all the essentials and describes each show type, as well as providing insight into interviewing, how to present as a team, and the laws of laughter for those who want humour in their podcast.

Audio Ordeal: Production and DJ related Tips and Tricks

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