Editor’s note: Casting Gear is a series about podcasting and the tools used in the process. In this series, we hope to demystify the podcasting process and show the wide range of tools and methods that different podcasters use to produce a show. In addition to listing the software and hardware used, a brief rundown of the work-flow for the given podcast will be provided. Delving into technical minutiae isn’t the goal here, it is to provide a window into the different approaches that are in practice.
The following text, unless otherwise noted, is written in-full by Mike Cruz of 1UP and the at1UP Podcast. -Jonathan
Hey folks, Mike Cruz from 1UP.com here, Jonathan was kind enough to ask me to contribute a story to the Casting Gear column, so I’ll be talking a little about the equipment we use in the 1UP studio and what goes into putting together the at1UP podcast.
Software
- Garageband
- M-Audio Firewire 1814 driver
- Levelator
- iTunes
Hardware
- Shure SM 78 Microphone – $349 (x4)
- Mackie Onyx 1620i Recording Mixer – $999
- M-Audio Firewire 1814 Computer Recording Interface
- dbx 166xl Dual Compressor – $190 (x2)
- ART HeadAmp 6 Pro 6-channel headphone amp – $199
- Furman M-8Dx Power Conditioner – $125
- JK Audio Brodcast Host Digital Hybrid – $419 (for call-in guests)
- Apple MacBook Pro
Workflow
The studio is home to five different 1UP podcasts and was setup with help from a couple of guys from the tech team who happened to have their own home studio setups. When I get ready to record at1UP, or set up the studio for one of the other shows, the first thing I do is power up the equipment and connect the laptop to the M-Audio interface via firewire cable. Next, I launch the M-Audio software and then our podcast template file in Garageband.
Before I start recording, I’ll check mic levels for myself and co-hosts: Travis and Jade, and do a couple of quick test recordings to make sure everyone sounds fine. Then it’s on with the show. As we tape, I keep an eye on our levels in Garageband and tweak indvidual volumes on the mixer if necessary.
When the taping is done, I do all my editing on the laptop. I’m basically looking to clean up the audio and then add the intro and outro music. When the editing is done, I’ll send the file to iTunes. After that, I’ll take the iTunes .aif file and run it through Levelator. Then I take that file, launch it in iTunes and convert the show to .mp3.
After adding the show logo, I’ll hand the .mp3 file over to Jade, who works on the production team, and she’ll upload the podcast to our server and update the .xml feed.
I know this column is more geared towards the gear and tech process, but here’s a little of how we put together at1UP’s content. I usually start the process by sending out an email where we can brainstorm topics–these usually come from what games we’ve been playing, or what movies, shows, books we’ve checked out, and we also talk about what’s going on at the site or around the office. From there, I’ll type up a show rundown and then we’ll get to it.
So there you have it. Much thanks to Jonathan and the CastMedium crew for giving me the chance to do this.
