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- So it is super fun to produce a podcast,
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but there are a seemingly unlimited number of options
when it comes to determining your workflow.
My name is Tom, this is the Enthusiasm Project,
and today I wanna share with you my workflow
for recording and distributing my podcasts,
using the RODECaster pro and Anchor.
There are an unlimited number of workflows out there.
Mine is based on speed and simplicity.
So that is what I'm going for,
and if you don't already know
why I love the RODECaster pro so much,
I have a feeling you'll definitely understand
after this video.
So to make this simple,
I'm gonna walk you through the entire process
from setting up the RODECaster
all the way to clicking the upload button on Anchor
and obviously setting up the RODECaster is the first step.
So whenever I'm ready to record a podcast,
I just use this space.
I don't have everything permanently set up.
I just set up the RODECaster,
plug in the power,
turn it on.
And then I use the Rode PodMic, as you probably know.
I've talked about these stands before,
but since I get a lot of questions about them,
I use these tabletop stands that I found on Amazon
and I have two varieties.
I have a shorter stand from Samson,
I'll put links to all this stuff down below.
And I also have a taller stand from Onstage
and this one can telescope up,
which is actually really cool.
So this is great, the shorter stand.
If you're trying to talk to someone,
you don't want a microphone blocking your view.
This stand is better,
if you wanna be able to position the mic
closer to your mouth, exactly where you need it.
Usually it's just me doing my podcast,
so I only need one mic,
but every once in a while, I'll have a guest.
So that means I would set up two mics
connect my XLR cables.
We'll pretend I'm gonna have a friend today,
but I don't have a friend today.
So that we have to mix, yay.
And really this is all that I need,
so what I've done is in the RODECaster,
when I got it ages ago
is I preloaded my podcast intro and outro song.
So I can play that straight from the sound pads.
I have all the mic settings in here that I need,
and this is really
all that's required to record the podcast.
I do usually have my computer as part of the process
because I like to have my notes here if I need them.
So that way I can refer to them.
I also connect it to the RODECaster,
this is the actual RODE TRRS cable, which works really well
for connecting phones and computers.
And the reason I use my computer is because I have my notes
up here, so I do keep a running
document in the notes app on my Mac book.
And I just might make any bullet points that I wanna hit
or outline anything that I need before starting an episode.
And then also this is where I will sometimes play interview
clips from if I haven't already preloaded
them into the RODECaster beforehand,
but sometimes I might reference like a video
or an interview or something real quick,
and it's easy to just sort of pull it up here and play it
and just run that through this TRRS channel
right here on the RODECaster.
And then also at the end of my show,
I have a segment called "Gear of The Week"
where I talk about a piece of equipment
that I've been really liking that week
or getting a lot of value and use out of.
And I like to play music during that segment
just to differentiate it from the rest of the show.
And so to do that,
I actually just have Epidemic Sound app on the computer
and I just play those songs in the background.
So that way it's almost like a running playlist right here,
and I can just have it going the entire time.
And then I should mention, I do usually have headphones
cause it's a good idea to monitor your podcast.
These are kind of my newer ish headphones.
They're the Sony something or other, the Sony WHCH 700.
I got them during like the Christmas season last year
cause they were on sale for like $90.
They're awesome, they're Bluetooth headphones,
but they also have the option to use a cable.
So I plugged those in.
If I have a guest, of course,
I always give them the option to connect headphones
to the RODECaster as well
so that we can all hear each other.
And I should mention my settings real quick.
So I'm not doing anything too crazy when it comes to the
settings for my microphones.
Using the pod mix, I just go into each channel
and I do use the pod mic default setting,
but I make a few adjustments.
This is the 2.1 firmware.
So I go into audio processing.
I do like to use the big bottom,
which makes me laugh every time I say it,
just to add in a little bit of base,
I keep the level at about 34, 35, the gain level
and that sounds pretty good.
And of course the pod mic itself works better
if you talk closer to it.
So the, if you kinda put it to the side of your mouth,
it'll miss the breath
and you won't get those sounds, explosive sounds.
This is everything I do to prepare for my podcasts.
I usually mute my microphone first and then literally
all I do when I'm ready to record is I sit down,
I press record, I play my intro song.
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And while this is playing, my mic is muted.
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And then I wait,
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unmute my mic.
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Hello and welcome to the Enthusiasm Project.
My name is Tom, and this is not a real episode
because it is a test episode that I'm doing
for a video that I'm making.
And look at me talking as I'm also,
fading out the intro song,
see all that drum practice really paid off
for that limb independence taking place.
And now I'm jumping straight into the podcast,
if I had a guest here, which I don't (chuckles),
I would put them on channel two and talk to them.
If I need to play something from the computer,
that's when I can bring up the TRRS channel,
the smartphone channel.
And then when it's time for me
to play some background music, I just
play it off my computer.
You can hear it on this channel and I can kinda
keep it in the background as a music bed as I talk.
So you can mix in all kinds of different sounds.
Of course you could load in more songs
to your sound effects pads.
I just have all my dumb like jokey sounds.
For example, do you know where audio equipment
likes to go to socialize and network and meet each other,
to the mixer.
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But obviously you could add in more useful things
than that if you want it to your RODECaster.
And then I just have the music playing in the background
(soft music)
when I'm ready to end my show,
I just fade that out and that's usually when I say,
"okay, cool, I've been talking
"and you've been listening and it's just been terrific."
And then I play the outro song and slowly faded it in
and go like, "cool what an amazing episode, I love you.
"It's great, thank you so much."
And then I turn off my mic,
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and wait for the song to stop.
And as soon as that song ends,
all I do is press record.
I should mention though, while I am recording,
if I need to take a break,
I just hold down the record button for a second or two
and it puts it in record pause mode,
and then I can take a drink of water
and then press record
and jump right back into where I left off.
And it's a seamless
cut that you don't even notice in the final version.
So I sometimes I will do that
once or twice throughout an episode,
and that's it.
So now I have a fully finished podcast episode in here
and I just need to put it here,
so I can upload it to there.
And now with RODE's new firmware update,
the easiest way to do that
is just to connect the RODECaster to the computer,
using a USBC cable.
And then all I need to do is open up the RODE Companion app,
click on podcasts,
and I can just enter a podcast transfer mode,
which if you saw my firmware update video,
you kinda know all this.
But I can select the podcast I just recorded right now,
I can give it a name.
Always important to give you your podcast and actual title.
So this is, this is a test Yay.
I'm gonna do my export options for Anchor
cause that is where I upload my podcast.
And I save it as an MP3 to my desktop.
Now how long this takes will depend on
how long your podcast is.
It's usually relatively quick,
but remember you're not only transferring it
from here to your computer,
the computer's, and also converting it to an MP3
and then saving it to your desktop.
So if it does take a minute or two,
just let it do its thing.
And now I've got a two minute 37 second podcast.
I don't delete the podcast from the RODECaster until it's
uploaded to Anchor and saved to my backup drive.
So just pro tip, keep it on the SD card.
From there It is just jump over to Anchor,
click on new episode,
and this is where I can just drag my file over
while it's uploading,
this is where I go back into my notes app
and I update my description.
This is a description for the podcast.
I'll add in any relevant links.
I'll add in the gear of the week.
I have all of the contact info down at the bottom.
It's sort of just a template and then I just
copy and paste it
Once I'm all done uploading,
I just click on save episode,
paste that description,
Anchor does a weird thing
where it always adds in a lot of extra spaces.
So I do go down to like the signature part of the show notes
and get rid of all those spaces and then give it a title,
"This is a test"
I usually do put the episode number there.
I don't know people like that, or if you need to do that,
but it helps me to keep things organized.
And that's really important cause as you start getting
into different seasons and lots of episodes,
keeping things organized,
gets a little trickier than you'd expect.
I always schedule my podcasts.
So I just schedule them for Mondays at midnight,
confirm, and then I add the episode,
the season number, season two for me and episode 20.
And then I click on schedule and that's it.
The beauty of it and you saw this basically in real time,
from the time I press this button to stop recording
to the time the podcast is uploaded
and scheduled and ready to go on Anchor
is about five to 10 minutes.
So really if I'm doing an hour long podcast,
you saw it only takes me about five minutes,
maybe to set up for the podcast,
an hour to record the podcast
five or 10 minutes to transfer and upload it.
And that's it and I am done.
I have my full time job, my YouTube channel and my podcast.
And I'd love to spend all the hours in the day
on all of those things.
I just don't have that much time.
So the podcast something I really wanna do,
but just don't have the time for
needs to fit in, with taking up as little time as possible.
I can usually find an hour and 10 minutes throughout the
week to get an episode out and ready to go.
And that makes it a really stress-free really fun project,
and making it stress-free and fun also makes it sustainable.
If you make anything to go online,
you know the importance of sustainability,
sometimes it's tied very closely to consistency.
You don't wanna just make one or two episodes
and then drop off for a few months
and then come back for a few.
You want it to be a regular consistent thing.
And if you miss one or two here or there,
it's not the end of the world,
but you want your audience to know they're gonna get
another installment of the thing that you create
when they expect to get that.
That was a weird sentence.
And that is pretty much my entire workflow.
It's really simple. It's really fast.
It's really effective.
It's allowed me to do upwards of now 40 something episodes
of my podcast over the past year and a half.
And I'm sure now you understand one of the reasons why I
really love the RODECaster Pro so, so much
and why I think it works so well,
definitely worth the price.
I know I sound like an ad every time I say this stuff,
but it's pretty terrific.
I've got all kinds of videos and reviews
about the RODECaster, and microphones,
and podcasting gear ,and firmware updates
and all that really exciting stuff.
But remember, the best thing to do
is just start your podcast.
Don't wait, get started with what you have,
upgrade as your needs become apparent
and just go make the thing,
The best advice I can give and just make the thing.
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