The beauty of podcasting is that anyone can do that. It is an unusual medium that can be made as easily as consumed. So there are no two people exactly the same. With a wealth of hardware and software solutions open to potential podcasters, the setup runs a range from NPR studios to USB Skype rigs (the latter became some sort of default during the pandemic ).
This week we spoke with Jody Abilgan. Jodie Abilgan co-hosted “Summer Album/Winter Album” with frontman of American indie rock band The Hold Steady and Craig Finn. In each episode, Avirgan and Finn discuss whether classic records should be categorized as “summer albums” or “winter albums.”
Avirgan – previously hosting shows for Radiopia, Ted, FiveThirtyEight and ESPN – spoke about his podcasting setup. Here he is in his own words:
“Even when I was working at ESPN/fivethirtyeight, I always had a home recording setup. After I left – it happened to coincide with the start of the pandemic – I made my basement recording studio We made it our main house. It’s actually a kitchen in a studio apartment in the basement so outside the frame behind some curtains there is a fridge (unplugged), sink and plenty of cabinets.
“But I hang a lot of curtains, scatter soft stuff, and put up some panels that were dampened with some sounds. I think it’s both cozy and quite warm. My own. The microphone is an Electro Voice RE27N/D, a $500 studio microphone.
“To be clear: I don’t make money for RE27. I bought this microphone while hosting at 30 at 30. I left ESPN three weeks before the pandemic hit. Where there So I wrote an email asking if I wanted the microphone back. I never got a response and certainly not wrote a follow-up. So I kept it This is probably why Disney’s stock has fallen 20% over the past five years. It’s a very warm microphone, but it’s a giant.
“When I’m on the road, I stuff the AT2020-USB+, which plugs directly into the computer and knocks out the track from anywhere. Under the blanket in the hotel closet, usually the natural habitat of podcasters. It is located in.
“I run the microphone to the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. It’s a simple but powerful interface that controls the microphone level and allows you to route it towards the computer, and joins people on top of zoom and riverside. I always do. Record local backup files using Hindenburg. Save this to Dropbox. All roads ultimately lead to Dropbox.
“One place where I’m deviating from the typical podcaster 101 kit is in my headphones. Everyone has a Sony MDR-7506, and I’ve been running through a fair share of them. But I really like the Rode Nth-100 headphones. They look a little more comfortable and a little smoother. So far, the padding hasn’t been broken as Sony padding inevitably does.
“Like many podcasters, I’ve been doing more and more videos lately. I’ve been using descriptions for years, but as the world of audio and video merges, at this point, almost all of them Edit. I’ll create social videos of conversations between “The Day” and “Summer Album/Winter Album”, but I’ve also created original ones that I play on Instagram.
“I do a series every week, where I’m trying to guess the title of the New Yorker cover for that week. I record it in a description and use the template I built in about 20 minutes. Rotate. Description – I’m a big fan. It’s very versatile and it’s great to work with programs that look like they give crap about what podcasters want, in contrast to Protoll .
“I think I had to think about a fair amount of visual setup too. I bought a webcam recommended by Wirecutter, but honestly, I prefer the look of a MacBook camera, so I usually use it. In my background, I put in some books to prove I know how to read. A signed photo of George Mikan. “Death on the Wings” is worth $28. There were plants.
“I think people can’t even see plants there because I’m blocking views. But I want to know they’re there, and forever plastic And you’ll always be there.”
We previously asked other people of our favourite podcasts and producers to highlight workflows such as equipment and software that we use to get the job done. The list so far includes: