Recording Your Podcast

In addition to the podcasting kit, you will need a recording software, known as a digital audio workstation (DAW) to record your podcast. There are many different types of workstations available, and you may need to consider the following elements before choosing the right one:

Is it for a beginner or professional broadcaster?
Is it compatible with your computer?
Is it free or does it offer a good range of free options?
Does it include tools for recording, editing, mixing and composing?
Does it include a great publishing package?

Try some of the recording software listed here; and learn more about these two following recording workstations: Audacity and Descript below.

Audacity

Audacity is an open-source application that includes all the key features you’ll need to get started with podcasting. Some include conducting a live recording and playing back audio on a PC; editing a variety of audio file formats such as MP3 and WAV. and changing the pitch, tempo or speed of your recordings. Most importantly, the interface is simple to navigate and easy to understand.

To get started, download the application and ensure your headphones and microphone or the Podcasting Kit are connected to your laptop. As pictured in the diagram of the Audacity's software below, you can easily record, stop, play your recordings or tracks. You can also edit the tracks by duplicating, trimming and blending them together.

(image courtesy aquaculturepda ["http://aquaculturepda.wikispaces.com/podcast4"] - with an excellent ‘how-to’ article)

If you would like to use Audacity to record and edit your Podcast, it is highly recommended that you watch the Learning Audacity video tutorial. It is available on the LinkedIn Learning platform. On the platform, conduct search for "Learning Audacity" in the search bar. Audacity also provides the Audacity 3.2 Reference Manual for learning how to use the software.

Descript

Descript Podcast Studio is a transcription based and audio editing application, and it is suitable for beginners. In a nutshell, the application not only offers recording and editing features, it also transcribes your audio files and recording. This means you can see a transcription of your recordings and thus, making it very easy to create and edit a podcast. You can either import an existing audio file or record your podcast directly on the application. It is also a collaborative tool, so multiple podcasters can work simultaneously, and the Studio Sound feature in the application help to remove background noise.

Under the free plan, you can access one hour of recording per month, use the editing package and collaborate with others.

Watch this short video providing an overview of the Descript Podcast Studio application:

For a more in-depth overview of Descript, watch this video.

Get familiar with using Descript

In this activity, you will learn how a DAW work. You will:

create a Descript Podcast Studio Account
watch the video tutorial on Making a podcast with Descript
create a 1-minute audio recording
add an image from the Descript Media Library
add a podcast title
add your own intro music by creating it using the Google Music Lab: Song Maker.
export your recording

Create a Descript Podcast Studio Account.

To get started, create an account using an email address or using a Google account. You'll need to then open the Setup file which will be automatically downloaded to your device. This will open up the Descript application, then click Sign In to Descript button and login using your login credentials. Select the account preferences that are applicable to you and then select the Podcast and Audio preferences.

Then open up the application and insert a headphone with a microphone.

Watch the video tutorial on Making a podcast with Descript.

Create a 1 minute recording.

Step 1: Select New Project.

Step 2: Select Start recording or the recording icon on the top of the screen.

Step 3: Select Audio only, select the right microphone and click Record to script. Start recording.

Step 4: Edit the recording by correcting any errors in the transcript.

Add an image from the Descript Media Library.

Step 1: Select the Media icon, then click on Images. Choose your preferred image.

Add a podcast title.

Step 1: Select the Text icon, then click on Title.

Step 2: Type in your podcast title and use Text tools on the right to edit the text.

Add your own intro music by creating it using the Google Music Lab: Song Maker.

Step 1: Watch this Google Music Lab: Song Maker video tutorial.

Step 2: Go to Google Music Lab: Song Maker and create your own intro music.

Step 3: Once created, click Save, and choose the DOWNLOAD WAV option. The file will be automatically sent to your device.

Step 4: As shown on the left, located your music file, then drag and drop the file into Descript. Then, as shown on the right, click on the Show Layers tool in Descript to show the music segment of the podcast, and you can edit the length of the music accordingly.

Export your recording.

Step 1: To export your recording, click on Publish, select Export and chose the Video. If you want to share your podcast, choose to remove the watermark; you have one removal option under the free plan.

A podcast example

If you would like to learn more about how to use Descript for podcasting, click here.