The Podcast Pedant

As you’re listening to your own podcast, do your recordings sound flat to you? Do they fail to hold your interest? Another tip for recording: smile.

I’m not kidding. It changes the shape of your mouth, and therefore your tone, in a way that people naturally find more energetic and likeable. You’ll get more brightness and range. It also changes your own frame of mind, and impels you to have more fun, if you don’t fight it. You’ll enjoy yourself more; and therefore you’ll sound like you’re enjoying yourself more; and that predisposes your audience to enjoying themselves more too.

Will you feel stupid making yourself smile and talk? Yeah. You’ll feel like a complete idiot. But when you listen to your podcast a couple days later, you’ll hear the difference; and next time it’ll be a bit easier, and the time after that it’ll be easier yet.

It’s something to try.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this here yet… I’m going to be a guest at the Balticon science fiction convention this weekend, along with Mur Lafferty, Patrick McLean, and a slate of other excellent podcasters. Paul Fischer of the ADD Cast and (go figure) the Balticon Podcast is the tireless genius who’s putting all this together, and he’s just put the schedule up for panels:

Balticon 40 Podcast Panel Schedule

This puts me on six panels, and I’m also playing the title role in the podcast radio play, “Lancelot Biggs: Spaceman,” adapted from a 1950s novel by Mur Lafferty. Oh, and in case none of this is sufficient proof that I’m insane: my friend Ben has talked me into taking the train up with him.

The train. I’d forgotten that we even still had those.

In any case, it will be fun. There will be much to learn during the day and much to drink at night. If you can, join us there!

(Pedant’s Note: This is a guest essay by Chris Miller of Podiobooks.com and several other podcasts. Yes, I’m opening the Pedant up to other contributors. Have something you’d like to share? Drop me a line.)

I have a bad habit of overcommitting myself. No…wait…that’s not quite right. I have a bad habit of committing myself and then mismanaging my time. It’s a character flaw, and one that I’m working to correct. However…one of the inevitable consequences of my time mismanagement is that, sooner or later, I begin to feel as though I am being pecked to death by ducks. Everything piles up, and all I want to do it run and hide until it goes away.

I know what I should do: bear down, shoulder to the grindstone, nose to the wheel…or something like that. Still, when it all feels like the Myth of Sisyphus, I want to slink off to the local Barnes & Noble, buy a coffee, and read graphic novels.

I was starting to feel this way in February of this year. There was work to do on Podiobooks, I had my own solo podcast that was dreadfully late. I was helping Mick Bradley with his two podcasts, and was starting yet another with a friend. All of the activity had shifted from a series of welcome challenges to a collection of large, stinking seabirds hanging around my neck.

I was venting about all of this to a friend, and his question was, “Why don’t you just quit the podcasts?”

I thought about that. I could, of course. Let’s face it, few of us are getting paid to do this. It’s a colossal time-suck at times. It’s endless fiddling with settings, levels, microphones, mixing boards, all to get rid of that low-level hiss that never seems to go away. It’s the late nights, knowing you should be in bed, but you’re just not able to rest until you get the thrice-damned thing edited and posted. Damnable though it may be at 3:30 am, it’s also the coolest thing you’ve recorded to date, and you just can’t wait for people to hear it.

That’s the core of it, isn’t it? The listeners. I remember when I got the first bit of feedback about my podcast. First off, I was stunned that anyone was listening. Secondly, I was thrilled that this individual, a podcaster whom I respected, mentioned me in his show. The clincher was these words, “I’ve been listening to Chris Miller’s Unquiet Desperation. I like it. He’s got some worthwhile things to say.”

Do you recall how you felt when you were told by a fellow podcaster or a listener that they really liked your show, that it meant something to them? Inside your head, weren’t you doing your own personal Sally Field imitation? (You like me! You really like me!)

It’s like a drug, this appreciation thing, and a little goes a long way. As we continue to put out episodes, we all try to hone our craft, shape our message. We try to be a bit more profession, or we try to spice it up, keep it fresh, but still keep our audience. In some arenas, we compete with other podcasts. But at the end of the day, know that people out there like your work it enough to keep a lot of us going.

It is for me, at least. None of the podcasts that I’m on have more than two hundred listeners. I’m fine with that. I’m not the most recognizable name attached to Podiobooks.com, and I’m fine with that, too. What keeps me going is that, at this time in history, any one of us can pick up a microphone, grab a copy of Audacity, and find those like-minded folk that we would never had a chance to reach otherwise. We get meet other podcasters who have the same struggles that we do, the same self-doubting natures, the same need to speak and be heard. It’s massive, it’s global, and it’s just about the coolest thing I have ever witnessed

So, now I sit and work through my endless piles with GTD. I have my lists and my inbox, my folders and my files. I run like a not-quite finely tuned machine because this has become more than a hobby…it’s a connection to something larger than myself. To give up friends that I’ve made doing this is unthinkable. It’s worth the long hours, the days of prep, the answering of listener questions and subscriber feedback. It’s even worth the occassional argument on the email list. We’re doing something revolutionary here…never doubt it. One day, we’ll look back on all of this: we’ll see how media was changed by a bunch of “amateurs” with laptops and and a couple of microphones. We can say that we were there.

If that’s not worth it, I don’t know what is.

So I finally got a hardware compressor.¹ I was beginning to get tired of applying the same software compression in Soundtrack Pro over and over again — and also tired of the occasional clipping which software can’t solve. I wanted to move just one step closer to a “live to tape” scenario, although I know for certain I’ll never really get there.

After a few days of obsessive review-reading and wallet-shaking, I settled on the RNC 1773 from FMR Audio:

The RNC literally stands for “Really Nice Compressor.” You’ve got to respect that level of forthrightness. It’s a no-frills stereo compressor: there’s no gate, no limiter, no expander, no dual mono mode with extra knobs. What it does have are two compression modes:

1. Normal Mode, which acts exactly like a compressor should. I played around with this a little, and it sounded okay. The attack is very fast and hard, which I found a little jarring. Doubtless I could adjust it, but I never got that far, because what I really wanted to try was:
2. Super Nice Mode, which chains three compressor circuits in series for a very gentle, very transparent compression effect that still retains all its power.

If you Google on the thing you’ll find a large number of sound engineers who swear that the RNC is the best compressor you can find for less than $2,000. I got mine for $175 (plus state tax, and with some cables thrown in) at Humbucker Music, whom I will attest are a great bunch of folks. I ordered it on Wednesday, and it was at my door Thursday afternoon.

I’ve used it twice now for podcasting. I wish I could say something like, “Wow! All I had to was turn the thing on and nightingales dropped dead from envy at my feet.” Unfortunately, it didn’t work that way. New sound gear never works that way. Even on Super Nice mode, I’m still working on tweaking the settings just right. My first attempt (for last week’s Escape Pod intro) used a 6:1 ratio, -8 dB threshold, +6 dB gain. I personally think it came out sounding overpowered, way too flat and pushy. For this week’s intro I used a 4:1 ratio, and made the threshold and gain even at 8 dB (which the manual recommends). It wasn’t flat this time, but I clipped frequently. This could mean I need to make my mic gain part of the equation too.

Don’t take this as criticism of the compressor. The RNC does what it’s supposed to, and it really is beautifully transparent. There’s no change at all in the sound’s tone or noise, just its volume, and that’s rare and lovely. I’m being honest with you about my trials to make the point that there’s no magic bullet. The more gear you have, the more skill you need to develop. Once I learn to use the thing properly, then I believe it will add a volume and clarity to my podcast that will make the investment more than worth it. I can already sense parts of that. It’s just a matter of getting all the pieces into place.



1. I should probably write a post at some point about the finer points of compression and what compressors do. For now, if you didn’t already know, take this for a definition: “A compressor evens out the volume of your signal by making loud sounds quieter.” ↩

Thanks to the superior audacity of Evo Terra, the two of us will be speaking at the 2006 Podcast Expo in September. Our topic will be Podcasting the Written Word, which we’ve described as follows:

Combine the huge popularity of audiobooks and the open access of podcasting, shake well, and you get one of the most successful movements in new media today. Scores of authors are podcasting their work - alone or with talented narrators - to reach new audiences and bring their work alive. Two of the leaders in literary podcasting, Evo Terra of Podiobooks.com and Steve Eley of Escape Pod, discuss the joys and challenges of podcasting prose, specific technical considerations, and lessons from podcasts that have drawn thousands of listeners.

Fun? I think so. If there’s one Achilles heel to our presentation it’s that we’re scheduled at the same time as Paul Figgiani’s session on building a podcast production studio.

But you guys already know how to do that, right? So come and listen to us! I guarantee we’re twice as funny as anyone else on at 3:15 PM Friday, and our hair is better than anybody this side of Geoghegan.

Once, long ago, I was subscribed to a podcast. This podcast was a rather prominent member of The Sci-Fi Podcast Network.¹ So at the start of each file, it began with a TSFPN audio tag: “This is TSFPN.com. You’ve found the best podcasts in the universe.“

Which is all wonderful. Except that where the podcast itself sounded smooth and high-quality, the audio tag sounded like Alvin the Android Chipmunk. It was too fast and too high-pitched.

Half of you are nodding now: you’ve seen this happen before. There are a lot of ways to make this mistake, but one of the most common is to combine two sound files of different sample rates in the same Audacity track. It’s easily done, and easily fixed. Just put them in different tracks and then mix down.

But here’s the kicker. I listened to this podcast, and heard the exact same chipmunked tag, every week for four months. It was the very first thing you heard. It sounded terrible, and it was never caught. I eventually lost interest in the subject material and unsubscribed, but for all I know it’s still going on.

That was definitive proof to me that the guy never listened to his own podcast. If he did, he’d have noticed and fixed this easy bug. He didn’t, and he started off on the wrong foot every week, and never knew it.² And that’s today’s lesson:

First, you should always listen to your MP3 file before you upload it. If it’s a long podcast, at least skip through it to make sure all the pieces are there and sound like they should. Never skip this, or you’ll be sure to embarrass yourself with some technical gaffe sooner or later. Even if it’s 6 AM by the time I upload, I always take at least a minute or two to jump through my podcast beginning, section transitions, and ending. Those are where mistakes are likeliest to happen.

Second, you should subscribe to your own podcast feed and listen to it with all your other podcasts. This means you’ll catch any RSS screw-ups without having to have your audience tell you about them; but more than that, it gives you the opportunity to evaluate yourself as a listener and decide if there’s anything from week to week that needs improvement. Are your levels uneven when you listen on your car stereo? Great, now you know. Did you drone on too long about something unexciting? It’s easier to notice that a couple days later, and you’ll be more conscious about it next time. Continuous improvement means continually evaluating your work, and the best way to do that is to listen to yourself the same way everybody else does.

This will seem like common sense to a lot of you. Some of you will find it inconceivable not to listen to your own stuff — after all, if you didn’t like to hear your own voice, why podcast? But in practice it’s very, very common to skip these steps.

You do so at your peril. If not the peril of losing audience and reputation, at least the peril that someday some smartass like me will make a blog post about you. And who wants that?

1. Which, if you click on the link, you will see has lately dissolved into a cheerful puddle of brightly colored goo. But that’s another story. ↩
2. Should I have dropped him a friendly e-mail? Probably, and in most cases I would have. But there were some personality factors, too, and… Well, I didn’t. So. ↩

So Apple released the iBook replacement today, predictably named the MacBook. It’s a hell of a machine, actually, for the price. Dual core Intel, wireless goodness, camera and Front Row. And of course Garage Band 3. It’s actually a hell of a podcaster’s machine. They’re even hyping podcasting in their tag line:

Of course, being the perverse sort that I am, I took this as the final bit of information I needed to get a MacBook Pro instead. Why? Because the MacBook has a smallish screen and ridiculously bad integrated graphics, and all accounts are that it’s unlikely to do an acceptable job with Final Cut Studio. Simply because of the display, mind you, not the CPU power. This matters to me because Soundtrack Pro is my podcast production tool of choice, and I have several ideas on the back burner which would require getting involved with the video side of things. So I planned forward and put down the extra cash. Heck, even my wife thought the better-equipped laptop would be worth it, and she’s usually the opposing force when it comes to money flow.

But that’s just me. If your comfort level is at Garage Band, or Peak, or some other dedicated sound editor that doesn’t have higher-end graphic requirements, I can’t really say anything against the MacBook. Especially for the price.

(Unless you pay $200 more just to have it in black. If I’m at a podcast con and I see you pull out your black Apple laptop and look smug about it, I will round up a mob to taunt you.)

Unfortunately, I have to belay my earlier self-satisfaction. As MKB posted on the Yahoo! list, the Shelly the Republican site is actually a satire blog.

I’d started to develop my own suspicions anyway, when I clicked on Tristan’s link to his own blog is fan fiction based on the writings of Frank Key and the fictional pamphleteer Dobson.

Frank Key’s Hooting Yard podcast is one of my absolute favorites, and I was honored to have Mr. Key narrate a piece for Escape Pod. So I know what that’s about. And if “Tristan Shuddery” is capable of appreciating the fine aesthetic derangement of Frank Key’s work, it seems tremendously unlikely to me that he himself would actually be deranged enough to say what he said about the iPod.

(Saying what he said about Escape Pod? Well, you know. Different tastes and all that.)

In any case, it made for an entertaining few hours. I don’t regret being fooled by it. This was the trolling of a Troll Grandmaster, and I feel privileged that he took the time to troll Escape Pod.

Oh, what a frabjuous day. Not only is it my last day at my day job, but this popped up on my morning Technorati search:

Podcasts Part 2: Science Fiction or Satanic Fiction?

Tristan, a guest blogger for Shelley the Republican, is on a crusade against podcasting as the next Hot New Immoral Thing. His first article on the subject is all about the iPod and why it’s a ticking heathen time bomb:

Apple neglected to mention that every iPod ever sold included a hidden feature called “Podcasting” which they unveiled in mid 2005.

This feature allows liberal media direct access to young Americans without any of the safeguards that make TV channels like Fox News fair and balanced. A quick scan though some of America’s most popular podcasts is proof enough that a dangerous liberal minority have seized control over this influential channel.

Wow. Just wow.

But the second piece is the beautiful one to me, because he reviews my very own Escape Pod to reveal that we’re leading children down the path of perversity and occultism. He cites a few stories as examples. I don’t know what the hell the “industry standard CAPAlert scoring system” is, but EP apparently scores an 8.2 on it, which means we’re evil incarnate or something.

The blog post wraps up with a petition to the FCC to regulate podcasting, and tips for what to do if your child has become “addicted to science fiction.”

This is my favorite review ever. Now I know, for certain, that we’ve Made It.

(This began another recycled post from the Alley — but then I started elaborating, and now very few of the original words have survived.)

The home recording business is moving more and more these days towards digital interfaces on all their low- and mid-end stuff. This makes sense: almost everybody is recording into a computer now, so if putting a USB interface on your otherwise-average mixer will give it a competitive edge, why not? It simplifies life for the musician or podcaster, and sending a digital signal to your computer means you aren’t bound by the computer’s sound card. ¹

I’m of the opinion that it’s a very good idea to have a USB or Firewire interface for your audio — whether it’s built into your mixer, or a separate interface box, or even a standalone USB microphone. But if you can afford it, get Firewire.

Why?  What’s the difference between Firewire and USB? From the outside, they’re both just cables. You can chain stuff together or put them on hubs, and you can buy a lot of the same sorts of devices for each. USB 2.0 and Firewire 400 have similar speeds “on paper.” (480 megabits per seconds and 400 megabits, respectively.)

But even a casual look will show that USB audio devices tend to be cheap and Firewire devices tend to be expensive (barring the odd exception). And just about all A/V geeks will agree that Firewire is better, and even necessary for complex work. Why is that?

The difference is a fundamental one, but it’s internal to the way these things work, and pretty subtle. The following represents my best understanding based on a few hours of research and being a computer geek for several years. If I get any of it wrong, someone please correct me.

USB

USB is a hosted networking protocol — which means every device talks only to your computer and is utterly reliant on your computer to tell it what to do. You can have up to 128 devices on a USB network, and they might be chained and hubbed in all sorts of interesting ways, but they’re all just passing their bits back to the computer to decide what to do with them.

USB devices are asynchronous, which means that any device has the power to send any amount of data at any time. If two devices decide to talk at once, their data can collide with each other. If the traffic’s not highly time-sensitive, this isn’t a big deal. There are routines in place to manage it, and you’ll never notice if your mouse click happens a couple microseconds later. BUT. There are a few applications where it matters, and one of them is audio. An audio interface is sending a constant stream of sound data back to the computer. It rarely uses up the whole pipe, and so it’s still possible for other devices to talk — but the odds of collisions are higher, and if you get too much other traffic the errors can pile up beyond the computer’s ability to stay “caught up” and you lose some sound data.

The details of the protocol are typically implemented in software. That makes it very cheap and easy, as it pushes the work onto the CPU, and the devices themselves don’t have to be very smart. But it also means that USB traffic has a direct impact on system load, and vice versa. For most common applications this doesn’t matter — the traffic from your keyboard and mouse is so slight that it’s hardly going to bring your system to a crashing halt, and most of us wouldn’t notice if our external hard drives slow down for a second when our screen saver kicks in. For audio, however, it does matter. Same problem as collisions. Audio devices are pushing data out at a constant rate, and if the computer’s too busy running sound effects or switching programs or swapping out RAM to pay attention, some data can get lost. And then you get glitches and/or latency.

In case anyone’s wondering, audio glitches are bad. Latency (the delay between the creation of a signal and the final reception of it) isn’t quite as bad unless you’re trying to monitor yourself through headphones while you’re talking. If you are, a latency of a fraction of a second can be unsettling. Like you’re living in the future.

Firewire

Firewire is a peer-to-peer protocol,² meaning that every device on a Firewire network is equally capable of talking to every other device. Two video cameras on a Firewire network can share data with each other. A Firewire audio interface could save sound data directly to a Firewire hard drive. ³ Your computer is just another peer on this network, and has no inherent special status.

Firewire is always implemented in hardware, with a special controller chip on every device. So the load it puts on your CPU is much lighter than USB communications load, and you’re much less likely to lose any sound data just because you’re running fifteen things at once. Specialized hardware usually makes things faster and more reliable, and this is one of those times. (By the way, it’s also one of the things that makes Firewire more expensive. It’s also a reason Apple dropped it from the iPod Nano — there was just no room for the Firewire chip.)

But the real reason Firewire is more reliable than USB is more fundamental than that. It’s because Firewire allows two operating modes. One is asynchronous, as we described above with USB. The other is isochronous mode, and it lets a device carve out a certain dedicated amount of bandwidth that other devices can’t touch. It gets a certain number of time slices each second all its own. The advantages for audio should be obvious: that stream of data can just keep on flowing, and as long as there isn’t more bandwidth demand than the wire can handle (not very likely) nothing will interfere with it. No collisions, no glitches.

From a practical perspective, this also makes it safer to send a lot more audio via Firewire. That’s why most of the multichannel interfaces (18 channels, 24 channels, etc.) are Firewire devices, and USB devices usually just send a two-channel stereo signal.

So there you have it. For hooking up your mouse, keyboard or thumb drive, USB is plenty fast and plenty cheap. For hard drives, either one will do (although Firewire is somewhat more reliable). For audio devices, USB will do fine if no other devices are competing with it and if you have processor room to spare. But Firewire will always be able to handle more load with lower latency and no glitches, because it has resources it can set aside to make sure your audio gets where it needs to go.

…And that’s why Firewire’s more expensive and taken more seriously.

Just in case you were wondering.

1. Which is good, because most sound cards are crap for recording. And even the ones that aren’t have to worry about electrical noise from the rest of the stuff inside your computer case. ↩
2. Hello, RIAA search bots! No, I’m not talking about that kind of P2P. Go away. ↩
3. Note that it could. I’m not completely sure whether any actually do, but I’d appreciate information on this. ↩