Purpose & Objectives
This audio podcast was intended as an outlet to share my thoughts and passion for the pop punk music genre. Each week, a new podcast was prepared and posted via YouTube. I spoke both alone and with a co-host about a different pop punk album. I’d review the entire record in full, highlighting lyrics, instrumentation, vocals, band members, and anything else associated with the record that we thought was interesting or likable. The main objective was to create an audible capsule of my thoughts about music that I love.
Podcast
Full Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt1KEOHKRPEpAkasVU_5wd5C8tVQJASjx&si=lgs48QnqhdxBkoEf
Challenges
In the beginning, it was an unfamiliar process to go through and edit the audio files. I used a program called Audacity and didn’t realize I had to wait for the file to completely convert before importing it into the program. Because the file wasn’t loaded properly, it would only reveal chunks of the recorded audio instead of the whole file. Once I realized my impatience was causing a longer and more tedious process for me, I was able to drop the entire file into Audacity and edit it quicker in full, rather than in small few minute clips.
Podcast Processes
Each week, I created a new episode of the podcast. I’d begin by choosing a pop punk album I was familiar with and I would listen to it from front to back at least once. During the listening process, I took notes of what I liked about each song, memories associated, and anything I wanted to remember to bring up about the album. On episodes where I talked with a co-host, I’d coordinate with him when a good time to record was and he would listen to and take notes about the album as well. Then I recorded our phone call while we went through each song on the album in order. After our thoughts where shared and the audio was recorded, I converted the file from an mp4 to an mp3 for better audio editing capabilities. Then I’d drop the file into Audacity and edit the audio, taking out any “ums,” un-needed mouth sounds, lengthy pauses, and any other content that I didn’t want in the podcast. When the audio file was ready to post, I created a visual graphic with the album artwork that we reviewed that week, converted the audio mp3 to a video file and uploaded it publicly to Youtube. The processes were practically identical for each episode other than the difference in the album being reviewed.
Experiences
My experiences in making this podcast were all positive. I really enjoyed having an outlet to speak about music that I’m passionate about and listen to every day. I received a comment from a stranger on one of my podcasts that gave nice feedback. He/she gave a request for a future band for me to review an album from and suggested I provide more information in the video description so others could find the podcasts better.
The first two episodes of the podcast I spoke solo. Talking about an album by myself was a little awkward and uncomfortable at first. I had never deliberately recorded myself talking about something so the whole experience was foreign to begin with. I also didn’t like the editing process because I didn’t like listening to my voice but I learned not to care as much later on.
Insights/Takeaways
Creating this podcast has taught me skills in audio editing and converting, as well as navigating YouTube. I’ve learned to be more comfortable speaking alone with myself and with another person about topics I have an affinity for. Recording my voice and hearing it back was something I had to get used to but once I did, I really enjoyed the whole podcasting process. I could see myself continuing to create audio or even video podcast’s in the future as a hobby. It was really enjoyable and I experienced new communication qualities that I was previously uncomfortable with.