BassChat Podcast Feedback & Discussion

[SpondonBassed]

2 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

IME working with just speech requires a whole different set of skills and techniques to working with vocals for a song. 

With spoken work the most important thing to aim for is clarity and comprehensibility. Not necessarily something that most music producers are going to be worried about when they are capturing a "performance". And all those extraneous noises on the vocal track that disappear in the mix will be out there in all their unwanted glory for all to hear and get very irritated by if they occur with any great regularity.

I've already sucked those eggs as I am sure others have too.

As I say, your advice is sound.  We do have a significant number of novices who can learn from it.

[Chownybass]

9 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

IME working with just speech requires a whole different set of skills and techniques to working with vocals for a song. 

With spoken work the most important thing to aim for is clarity and comprehensibility. Not necessarily something that most music producers are going to be worried about when they are capturing a "performance". And all those extraneous noises on the vocal track that disappear in the mix will be out there in all their unwanted glory for all to hear and get very irritated by if they occur with any great regularity.

You have two practical challenges too.

You can record via Skype (a good way to do this is log the skype call - and also have each person record their own audio using something like a Zoom H1). You then take all the individual audio streams and edit them together using the Skype recording as a master guide. However - working via Skype you need to be careful not to talk over one another as you don't have body language to guide you. It takes a bit of practice to get right.

Or... you all crowd into the same room and record one master set of audio. This gives you the logistical challenge of getting everybody in the same place at the same time - and I predict will be a dealbreaker. Co-ordinating people is a pain in the derrière.

Just FYI. The audio for this was recorded with the Zoom H1 placed on the floor between us on a teeny-tripod (to give you an idea of how well it works for not very much money)

 

Edited June 13, 2018 by Chownybass

[BigRedX]

Skype comes with it's own separate set of problems, not the least of which is that audio quality can be very variable depending both on the available bandwidth at both ends of the connection and the fact that you are reliant on the person at the other end of the connection being able to make the best of the audio/recording equipment that they have, which will most likely end up being the built-in microphone of whatever device they are using to make their end of the Skype call.

Earlier this year I endured a podcast interview conducted via Skype of one of my favourite web comics artists. The  general sound quality of the interviewee ranged from poor to almost incomprehensible and was littered with plosives and sibilance. The interviewer by contrast sounded great although in his effort not to talk over his subject there were great pregnant pauses at the end of each answer that hadn't been edited out and consequently completely ruined the flow of the conversation. I stuck with it because the person being interviewed was someone whose work I admire and who also has plenty of interesting things to say. For pretty much anyone else I doubt I would have lasted even 5 minutes.

[Chownybass]

3 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Skype comes with it's own separate set of problems, not the least of which is that audio quality can be very variable depending both on the available bandwidth at both ends of the connection and the fact that you are reliant on the person at the other end of the connection being able to make the best of the audio/recording equipment that they have, which will most likely end up being the built-in microphone of whatever device they are using to make their end of the Skype call.

 Earlier this year I endured a podcast interview conducted via Skype of one of my favourite web comics artists. The  general sound quality of the interviewee ranged from poor to almost incomprehensible and was littered with plosives and sibilance. The interviewer by contrast sounded great although in his effort not to talk over his subject there were great pregnant pauses at the end of each answer that hadn't been edited out and consequently completely ruined the flow of the conversation. I stuck with it because the person being interviewed was someone whose work I admire and who also has plenty of interesting things to say. For pretty much anyone else I doubt I would have lasted even 5 minutes.

Which is why I suggested that each person records their own audio too. You could get a few Zoom H1s and post them out to interviewees. Then all the skype recording is used for is a guide for syncing up the mix. And you can edit out the worse of those pauses.. Just a suggestion of course. 

 

Edited June 13, 2018 by Chownybass

[ped]

I hate using Skype. There's always a small delay which makes it extremely difficult to talk.

[Chownybass]

3 minutes ago, ped said:

I hate using Skype. There's always a small delay which makes it extremely difficult to talk.

I hate trying to get multiple people in the same place at the same time**. 😉 It's all about compromise.

** since I film videos I actually have to do this. 

 

[BigRedX]

10 minutes ago, Chownybass said:

Which is why I suggested that each person records their own audio too. You could get a few Zoom H1s and post them out to interviewees. Then all the skype recording is used for is a guide for syncing up the mix. And you can edit out the worse of those pauses.. Just a suggestion of course. 

Have you done something like this before? If so how successful was it in terms of audio quality?

I think the fact that you are rely on each individual member of the discussion being responsible for their own audio recording is likely to be a concern. How does mixing the final conversation work with each contributor being in their own individual acoustic space? There is a possibility for it to sound rather weird especially for people listening on headphones.

I realise that I am coming across rather negatively, but IME good podcasts need to have compelling subject matter, interesting and eloquent people taking part, and be technically well produced. Otherwise it's a lot of effort for very few listeners. The podcasts that are being mentioned as being examples of something simple and easy to produce are probably anything but. It's making it sound simple and easy that is the trick.

[SpondonBassed]

18 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Skype comes with it's own separate set of problems, not the least of which is that audio quality can be very variable depending both on the available bandwidth at both ends of the connection and the fact that you are reliant on the person at the other end of the connection being able to make the best of the audio/recording equipment that they have, which will most likely end up being the built-in microphone of whatever device they are using to make their end of the Skype call.

Earlier this year I endured a podcast interview conducted via Skype of one of my favourite web comics artists. The  general sound quality of the interviewee ranged from poor to almost incomprehensible and was littered with plosives and sibilance. The interviewer by contrast sounded great although in his effort not to talk over his subject there were great pregnant pauses at the end of each answer that hadn't been edited out and consequently completely ruined the flow of the conversation. I stuck with it because the person being interviewed was someone whose work I admire and who also has plenty of interesting things to say. For pretty much anyone else I doubt I would have lasted even 5 minutes.

I don't use Skype.

Why would you willingly introduce digital lag into a conversation?  I don't have distant relatives that I keep in touch with nor has it been a necessity anywhere that I have worked so it's a non-starter for me.

One of the reasons for not using mobile telephony as much as my service provider likes is lag.  I can not have a relaxed telephone conversation on a mobile the same way that I can on a landline to landline connection.  Even when the sound quality is less than crystal clear the timing of statement and response is more natural than so called "clean" digital audio.

I hate laggy audio and I absolutely will not buy into it.  Where it is provided for free it is difficult to tolerate too.

I have a pocket Zoom recorder.  Remote interviewing is not something I'd want to do.  I'd prefer a day out to visit with anyone who has interesting experiences to impart to the listeners.  I'm not up for the role of international correspondent as a consequence.

[ped]

3 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

I don't use Skype.

Why would you willingly introduce digital lag into a conversation?  I don't have distant relatives that I keep in touch with nor has it been a necessity anywhere that I have worked so it's a non-starter for me.

One of the reasons for not using mobile telephony as much as my service provider likes is lag.  I can not have a relaxed telephone conversation on a mobile the same way that I can on a landline to landline connection.  Even when the sound quality is less than crystal clear the timing of statement and response is more natural than so called "clean" digital audio.

I hate laggy audio and I absolutely will not buy into it.  Where it is provided for free it is difficult to tolerate too.

I have a pocket Zoom recorder.  Remote interviewing is not something I'd want to do.  I'd prefer a day out to visit with anyone who has interesting experiences to impart to the listeners.  I'm not up for the role of international correspondent as a consequence.

You should update your above-avatar job description to full time!!

[Akio Dāku]

19 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Compared with some of the Podcasts I've had to endure over the last few months that is pretty slick. It helps that both the host and his choice of guests are both eloquent and have plenty of interesting things to say. From what I've seen on YouTube for equipment reviews and general bass lessons, I'm not so sure that the average bass player is anywhere near as interesting or articulate. It also helps that the conversation has been well recorded. There's nothing more distracting than poor quality audio where you're struggling to make out what the podcasters are saying or dreading next sentence full of "P"s or "S"s...

Ah fair enough, I think I'm just defining slickness with a different threshold but I totally agree with that. 

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

IME working with just speech requires a whole different set of skills and techniques to working with vocals for a song. 

With spoken work the most important thing to aim for is clarity and comprehensibility. Not necessarily something that most music producers are going to be worried about when they are capturing a "performance". And all those extraneous noises on the vocal track that disappear in the mix will be out there in all their unwanted glory for all to hear and get very irritated by if they occur with any great regularity.

I'm a freelance audio engineer on-top of my part-time day job, I'm not just a hobbyist, the last job I did was for the "The  8th Asian Awards" and I've done a tone of audio restoration work and production on different podcasts.  Plus I'm a fairly eloquent and charismatic fellow too on the sly, 😜🤣 so i'm up for putting a pilot together if folk are cool with that?   

Personally I think https://appear.in/ is the way to go for the first punt, it's like Skype or google hangouts but with less delay and better audio. That's if everyone's cool with me capturing all the audio at my end to minimize fuss for this first pop at it. If we want to go for better audio after then; we could use something like http://www.pamela.biz/ and everyone capture  audio at their ends and  we comp it afterwords but that means we'd have to use Skype. If no one objects to me kinda taking the rains for the pilot would you @SpondonBassed be up for co-hosting? We could do a few segments and then interview @Chownybass? Providing your still up for it Chowny?   

Then once its all recorded I'll do a rough edit and possibly pass it to you @project_c  to do a QC listen through to catch anything I've missed? Then if you'd pass it back to me I'll master the audio and bosh;  post it up here and see what folk reckon, get some feedback on if we should/how to proceed with it? If it get's "green lit" then figure out who's going to run the Libsyn and the admin side of things. 

What do folk think? I by no means wish to dictate what should happen to everyone, I want it to be BC's podcast not mine.     

7 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

I don't use Skype.

Why would you willingly introduce digital lag into a conversation?  I don't have distant relatives that I keep in touch with nor has it been a necessity anywhere that I have worked so it's a non-starter for me.

One of the reasons for not using mobile telephony as much as my service provider likes is lag.  I can not have a relaxed telephone conversation on a mobile the same way that I can on a landline to landline connection.  Even when the sound quality is less than crystal clear the timing of statement and response is more natural than so called "clean" digital audio.

I hate laggy audio and I absolutely will not buy into it.  Where it is provided for free it is difficult to tolerate too.

I have a pocket Zoom recorder.  Remote interviewing is not something I'd want to do.  I'd prefer a day out to visit with anyone who has interesting experiences to impart to the listeners.  I'm not up for the role of international correspondent as a consequence.

You just posted this after I'd typed up my previous gambit so for the record I'm up for traveling too if in-person would be a preference but it's definitely less doable if we'd like to make it regular. I'm in Manchester not sure where everyone else is?

Edited June 13, 2018 by Akio Dāku
typo

[SpondonBassed]

4 minutes ago, ped said:

You should update your above-avatar job description to full time!!

Practice practice practice.  It always pays off.  Heeheehee

[Sibob]

With this potential project, there’s obviously an element of ‘walk before you can run’, professional quality audio etc etc probably isn’t an absolute prerequisite at this stage. As long as things aren’t too messy, and everyone is audible and understandable, it’s more about interesting content, everything else is learned along the way. I’m always happy to edit audio, that’s easy enough.

Skype is just an easy way of getting started, means you’re not restricted to people who are able...and willing...to record audio via a mic into a DAW themselves.....but maybe that’s a good thing at this point?! Don’t know.

Si

 

Edited June 13, 2018 by Sibob

[BigRedX]

14 minutes ago, Akio Dāku said:

I'm a freelance audio engineer on-top of my part-time day job, I'm not just a hobbyist, the last job I did was for the "The  8th Asian Awards" and I've done a tone of audio restoration work and production on different podcasts.  Plus I'm a fairly eloquent and charismatic fellow too on the sly, 😜🤣 so i'm up for putting a pilot together if folk are cool with that?

IMO that puts a whole different perspective on the feasibility and attractiveness of the Basschat Podcast. Someone with your abilities at the helm makes the finished product far more likely to be of a quality that will appeal.

5 minutes ago, Sibob said:

With this potential project, there’s obviously an element of ‘walk before you can run’, professional quality audio etc etc probably isn’t an absolute prerequisite at this stage. As long as things aren’t too messy, and everyone is audible and understandable, it’s more about interesting content, everything else is learned along the way. I’m always happy to edit audio, that’s easy enough.

Skype is just an easy way of getting started, means you’re not restricted to people who are able to...and willing...to record audio via a mic into a DAW themselves.....but maybe that’s a good thing at this point?! Don’t know.

Si

IME of listening to podcasts, poor audio quality overshadows interesting content every time. Make your podcast sound professional and you you'll have far more success persuading people who have interesting things to say to take part. 

[SpondonBassed]

10 minutes ago, Akio Dāku said:

If no one objects to me kinda taking the rains for the pilot would you @SpondonBassed be up for co-hosting? We could do a few segments and then interview @Chownybass@project_c? Providing your still up for it Chowny?

 

I have no objection in principle.  PM'd.

 

11 minutes ago, Akio Dāku said:

You just posted this after I'd typed up my previous gambit so for the record I'm up for traveling too if in-person would be a preference but it's definitely less doable if we'd like to make it regular. I'm in Manchester not sure where everyone else is?

Derby.  I'd be happy to cover the East Midlands.  Further if I got reasonable expenses paid.

[Sibob]

25 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

IMO that puts a whole different perspective on the feasibility and attractiveness of the Basschat Podcast. Someone with your abilities at the helm makes the finished product far more likely to be of a quality that will appeal.

IME of listening to podcasts, poor audio quality overshadows interesting content every time. Make your podcast sound professional and you you'll have far more success persuading people who have interesting things to say to take part. 

The SBL podcast is often poorer audio (in comparison to professional productions) due to the interviewee’s technology restrictions, and that doesn’t effect the fact I want to hear want someone has to say about bass etc.

Obviously I’m not talking about unlistenable audio, but there is clearly a difference between a free/volunteer podcast (which this would have to be really, when you consider that SBL & Groove is free) vs an audio-book, which is the level of audio I consider ‘professional’. 

Bear in mind this is going to be a volunteer venture to start with, unless Ped says otherwise, I doubt there will be any expenses....that would require a sponsor, which requires significant listeners

Labour of love.

Si

Edited June 13, 2018 by Sibob

[Dad3353]

4 hours ago, ead said:

I'd listen to this!  Can you do something on the benefits of HO vs N gauge model railways too?

Oh, what a shame. It was my elder brother the expert on these matters, but I'm afraid he left us just over a year ago.  He had some remarkable pieces of rolling stock and specialised in sub-miniature mining shunter locomotives, similar to this ...

Twenty minutes wouldn't have been long enough, of course, except for the briefest of overviews. There's still time to get the lowdown on armchairs, though (but don't delay too long; I'm not getting any younger  ...).

[ped]

1 minute ago, Dad3353 said:

Oh, what a shame. It was my elder brother the expert on these matters, but I'm afraid he left us just over a year ago.  He had some remarkable pieces of rolling stock and specialised in sub-miniature mining shunter locomotives, similar to this ...

Twenty minutes wouldn't have been long enough, of course, except for the briefest of overviews. There's still time to get the lowdown on armchairs, though (but don't delay too long; I'm not getting any younger  ...).

Looks  bit like the York->London training but with better seats. And more seats.

[Dad3353]

3 minutes ago, ped said:

Looks  bit like the York->London training but with better seats. And more seats.

Your name is Jeremy Corbyn and I claim my £5..! 

[ped]

20 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Your name is Jeremy Corbyn and I claim my £5..! 

To be honest I have only used that train twice and it was fine. I'm just seeking attention.

[Dad3353]

52 minutes ago, ped said:

To be honest I have only used that train twice and it was fine. I'm just seeking attention.

Aha..! So your name really is Jeremy Corbyn; I still claim my £5..! 

[Sibob]

Not sure what the thread is about anymore lol

Si

[skankdelvar]

RE: getting sponsorship. Don't approach any potential sponsors until after all the snags have been ironed out, the podcasts have been running successfully for a while, there's some firm audience stats, a planned 'broadcast' schedule for the next 3-6 months and some quality material available to be cut down for inclusion in a sales pack. One blows one's best chance if one goes to the market too early or unprepared 

Edited June 13, 2018 by skankdelvar

[Stylon Pilson]

Another suggestion re: audio quality - while it is true that you'll get the best quality if everyone records their own voice separately, there may be times when this isn't feasible. On these occasions, I'd suggest using Discord instead of Skype. I know that it's not quite as ubiquitous, but the transmission quality is far, far better.

S.P.

[Akio Dāku]

It looks like this might be a thing folks, I'm going to try and put decent pilot together with @SpondonBassed by the end of the month, so we'll see where it goes from there. I'll PM people individually to sort out the specifics. Thanks to everyone for showing an interest in this and feel free to keep posting any ideas in the mean time, but it's not the end of the world if this thread sinks, I'll be sure to bump it once the episodes out! 😁    

[project_c]

9 hours ago, Akio Dāku said:

Then once its all recorded I'll do a rough edit and possibly pass it to you @project_c  to do a QC listen through to catch anything I've missed? Then if you'd pass it back to me I'll master the audio and bosh;  post it up here and see what folk reckon, get some feedback on if we should/how to proceed with it? If it get's "green lit" then figure out who's going to run the Libsyn and the admin side of things. 

 

Yep, no problem. I think a rough & ready pilot is a good way to go, it can be refined as it evolves.