Go Listen to the Podcast.
The first five episodes are now available everywhere.
Sorry, sorry, I’ve been quiet over here on my newsletter.
If you’re still paying, you simply do not have to. In fact, in a way, at this stage I’d rather you didn’t, at least for a bit, until I dip my toe back in the murky MW waters. More on that later.
So, first up. Go and listen to Second Press podcast, then leave a comment. I’m not going to pester my newsletter subscribers with notifications for every episode. I might send a note around every couple of months.
The first 5 episodes are here:
Or listen on Apple Podcasts like 65% of all other listeners.
Or wherever you listen to podcasts.
We’ve had over 1500 downloads already and the feedback so far has be really nice.
And for a newsletter:
The podcast has been taking up way more time than I expected, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.
Back when I used to be in a band1, we wrote and recorded all our own stuff. I got pretty confident in a digital audio workspace with microphones and audio editing vocals and guitars. I like the technical side of it, and fiddling about with compressors and EQ.
When we started this idea of the podcast I knew immediately that I’d want to do all the editing myself. Brad, knows all the people, and started booking some of the best guests from across the industry, and I started scrolling through Sound on Sound looking at the best entry-level USB/XLR mics and reading up on the current state of digital audio software.
I’m often surprised by how many DIY podcasts have “difficult” audio, and by that I mean, the content might be brilliant, interesting, insightful, but impossible to actually listen to. Whether that means the audio is just too quiet/echoey, poorly recorded through laptop microphones or ripped from zoom recordings, or just plain distorted.
Listen to any mainstream podcast and the audio is great, listen to most DIY podcasts and it’s not. I wanted the audio from the get go to be nice. Clean, bright, alive, loud and comfortable.
“Difficult” can also mean badly mixed, with people talking over each other or volume levels all over the place. I’ve spent a good few hours on each episode snipping and tweaking the actual conversation into something that people want to listen to.
Yes, that involves a tiny bit of creative licence with a subtle reordering of the odd sentence, or shifting some cross-talk around, or shortening bit of waffle. The conversations and the structure of the chats we’ve had so far remain true to the speakers intent, and yet flow more coherently.
At it’s heart Brad is the storyteller, and I’m the enquirer, and we want the podcast to reflect that by making a 30minute episode that is worth the listeners time.
The other thing is the soundtrack music. I knew that I wanted an ear-worm. There’s a handful of silly, radio-style podcasts that I like, and the theme tune to each of them is catchy as heck. You can say what you like about the one I picked, there were a few options, but it sets the tone exactly as I want it to, as well as being frustratingly memorable.
I’m a nerd about everything. I don’t really bother with much that doesn’t REALLY interest me. Part of starting a podcast for me, is the process of doing it, well.
Part of doing the MW is the process. I’ve replaced one with the other for now, and I’m hopeful that with the calibre of people we’re chatting to on a weekly basis, and the contacts I’m making through it already, that the two should go hand-in-hand eventually.
See ya. GO LISTEN.
Dan
Apparently everyone else in the wine industry is quite musical as well. At least my band wasn’t called ‘Stroke Machine’.