I didn’t forget, exactly…

I remember back when I started with the idea of Loose and Conversational, and everything I read said that all good podcasts need a blog. “Fine,” I thought. I like writing. I shall start a blog.

I had to build a website to support the podcast, and it seemed natural to put a blog onto it. I quickly wrote two terrible blogs and posted them. Then I moved on.

Now it is sometime later. Two months later, to be exact. I built the website and launched the podcast. As of this writing, we have posted five episodes and have had 381 listeners. I am proud of what we have done so far and very excited about what is to come.

I am going to take a bit of time to make some blog posts to catch everyone up. Today, let’s talk about the technical aspect; the things that we use to make the podcast.

I started getting equipment before I looked into what kind of technology was out there. As such, I don’t use a lot of what I have seen recommended for new podcasts. That’s OK. I like what I have and it works.

I am currently using mostly my equipment, although I do borrow some from the hotel I work at if needed. If I do need to borrow something, I try to get my own when I can. I use two beautiful Shure 55SH microphones along with Shure SM58’s when we need more.

We always need a third microphone as I ended up with a co-host. Jenn Northcoast was on my first podcast, and she just stayed. She adds a lot because she is smart and funny and helps balance out my age and gender bias.

The microphones sit on Atlas mic stands with booms attached. I am not overly happy with this setup. The stands need to be weighted, but they work. We don’t get additional noise, and the mics stay where we want them. It would be a dream to have something like Rode PSA1 mounted on a mic stand. It would be great to be able to move the mics during the podcast. We sit in comfy chairs, but it’s nice to change your sitting position sometimes.

I bought the “Elvis mics” cheap off of Facebook. I was lucky to find a great mixer too. I found a used Mackie 802-VLZ3 for under $100. That runs straight into a laptop through an XLR to USB cable. We record and edit using Audacity.

I use Castos as my host, which syncs up with Seriously Simple Podcasting, a WordPress plugin that is, indeed, seriously simple. We are available on this website as well as Apple, Google, Spotify and Stitcher.

That’s it. The set-up is nice and simple. We have good control over our audio, although capturing clean vocals is not that easy. We are learning, but that is another blog.

We do have a wish list. A compressor would be great. With three or more people and lots of laughing, we could use the control. Better mic stands, better mics (although I love the 55SH’s), and a better interface would all be good additions.

I think we have a great start. If you have any thoughts, please feel free to share them. I would love any suggestions. Next blog, I’ll talk about our recording process.

Stay safe in these crazy times everyone!

J. David