Want to start a podcast? First, you need a why. “Pick your mastermind subject, and go for that,” says Rachelle Abbott, producer of Evening Standard podcast The Leader.
“Think of a good podcast as the length of a latte, or the duration you’d enjoy a drink for.”
Your first port of call is a USB mic. The Sontronics Aria is the mother of all mics, a 27mm capsule that will make your hot takes sound scorching (£1,049, sontronics.com). At the other end of the spectrum, the canny iRig Mic Cast is an external plug-in that will turn your iPhone or Android into a recording titan (£37.83, Amazon).
You’ll need XLR cables to connect your recorder or your mixer; a USB mini cable to transfer files from your recorder to a laptop; and a Y RCA to mini-jack for connecting laptops with the mixer or the recorder. Audio-Quest Red River copper cables cut distortion and have XLR and RCA connections, (£85, audioquest.com).
For a studio, a little can go a long way. Abbott says recording beneath the duvet is a surprisingly effective soundproofing (she’s recorded voiceovers for Radio 1 that way).
This American Life host Ira Glass adds: “My bedroom closet works well as an ad hoc studio.”
Seek out good headphones. Sony’s wireless noise-cancelling WH-1000XM3 (£329, sony.co.uk) are the best of the bunch. An Aston Halo, which looks like a purple tropical plant, is a reflection filter that allows you to record monologues with no echo.
Editing will, once you master it, take about half an hour: try Adobe Audition, for £19.97 a month (it removes the hiss on the audio).
And should you take out the umms and ahhs? “ “If you take too many out you lose the rhythm,” laughs Abbott.
