For the Record
Adapting a topic for podcasting
For this project, our objective was to take a topic and adapt it to 4 different mediums. First up, we’d be creating a podcast around our topic. For mine, I decided to go with music history. It would focus on lesser-known stories from music history that casual music fans may not know. I decided to call it For the Record as a play on the phrase and the fact that vinyl albums are called records.
Process
Preparation
To begin, I drafted a basic outline for each episode. I decided to dedicate each episode to a different story. The first episode would be the story of Elvis meeting Nixon and asking for a narcotics badge, the second would be the FBI’s investigation into “Louie Louie” by The Kingsmen, and the third would be about Robert Johnson and his alleged deal with the devil.
Once I had decided on my episode topics I began researching the details and background of each story. I read 5–10 articles about each one, then wrote up some scripts and started recording.
Recording
I don’t have any fancy audio equipment like mics or acoustic panels, so I turned my closet into a makeshift recording studio. With a blanket over my head to further reduce echo, I used the voice memos app on my iPhone to record the audio. My pre-breakfast recording session ended up taking twice as long as I had anticipated, though, because my stomach kept growling loudly enough that my phone’s mic was picking it up loud and clear, so I had to keep going back and re-recording sections. I definitely don’t recommend recording on an empty stomach!
Editing
When I was finished, I threw my recordings into Garageband. Luckily, the quality was high enough that I only had to do some minor noise reduction to get things sounding crisp. I added a simple drum loop as an intro and outro buffer, as well as some song and interview clips to add context and variety.
Something that took me forever to figure out was how to use automations to lower the volume of music tracks so that I could use them to introduce sections and then fade into a background track. After watching a few YouTube tutorials, though, I found the hidden setting and it was smooth sailing from there.
Publishing
When I was all finished I uploaded everything to Anchor. It was super easy and quick. I simply copied and pasted my metadata, like episode names & descriptions, from my outline, chose a category (music history, of course), and uploaded my cover art.
Iterations
A lot of my iteration happened as I was getting ready to publish the podcast. After uploading my cover art to Anchor, I decided that my initial design was kind of bland, so I redesigned it to make it pop a bit more.
I used a bolder typeface and chose colors that had much more contrast and punch. I also wanted to capture more of a 50's/60's record shop aesthetic, and I think my second iteration did that much better than the first.
In addition to the visuals, I also made some adjustments to my audio after uploading them to Anchor. I fixed some inconsistencies and pacing issues. I also experimented with adding some more instruments to my intro and outro, but I didn’t really like how they sounded, so I ended up sticking with the simple minimalism of the drum loop.
Conclusion
This project was a great learning opportunity. I always love expanding my horizons into other areas of digital media, and this was an awesome way to dip my toes into audio. It was also really cool to apply the design process to a medium that I’m not very familiar with, and to think about adapting a topic in a way that I don’t usually think about. Overall, I really enjoyed it! This probably won’t be the last time I dabble in audio!
Click here to listen to For the Record.
