The Podcast Engineering Show

Latest Episodes:

PES 223: Vic Tiscareno and Mike Henein, VZR Model One Aug 23, 2021

Show notes

My guests are Vic Tiscareno and Mike Henein from VZR, makers of the VZR Model One - an innovative headset designed for audiophiles, gamers, podcasters, livestreamers, etc.

We discussed Vic and Mike's impressive audio backgrounds (read their bio's below), their Model One headset, why they designed it like they did, as well as Spatial, "3D" and Ambisonic audio, and much more!

Hear various audio examples here:

Vic "The Dude" Tiscareno

Apple's former lead audio engineer
Tiscareno's body of work across more than 30 years includes Mark Levinson Audio and work on many projects at Apple, where he was hired directly by Steve Jobs. Vic holds more than 20 patents on audio and acoustic design, including ones for the
VZR Model One
Loves music and audio, designed amps, mics and vacuum tube gear

Mike Henein

VZR co-founder who worked as a sound designer and supervisor for some of the biggest video games.
Game audio — spacial sound
Music editor in Hans Zimmer's production studio
Cohost of the Audiophile Gamer Podcast, with Sir Mixalot

Thanks for sharing so much with us, Vic and Mike!

PES 222: Back Into the Goody Bag Aug 05, 2021

Show notes

I overview 8 recent Daily Goody's from Feb. 5 through Feb. 24 (see list below). You can sign up to receive Daily Goody's in your email every day or a weekly roundup. Sign up here.

Be sure to check out the Focusrite Scarlett series of audio interfaces, the world's best-selling USB interface range with over 3 million units sold worldwide. Choose from 6 different interfaces with 1, 2, 4, or 8 microphone inputs. Works with the recording software you're already using and works with any type of XLR microphone. New unique Air feature adds brightness and presence to your voice. Thanks to Focusrite for sponsoring this episode!

Daily Goody posts that I discussed in this episode:

Other Notes:

If you ever have questions please reach out!
The start date for the next PES semester is September 14, 2021
If you'd like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, "Btw, here's a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful" with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/)

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything,
~Chris

PES 221: Martín Gonzalez, Audio Engineer at Pushkin Industries Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

Enjoy my magnificent conversation with Martín Gonzalez, audio engineer at Pushkin Industries! He, of course, does a lot of podcast recording and mixing, and also scoring and sound design. He works on various shows including Broken Record, The Last Archive and Into the Zone.

We discussed SO MUCH in this episode including:

Neumann U87
Martín's background: Berklee College of Music, played in bands, engineered Live sound, and much more.
Home setup: HP monitor with thunderbolt cable (like a docking station)
ElectroVoice RE20
Grace preamps
Dante network
Pro Tools
AKG 701 headphones
iZotope RX -- voice de-noise, etc.
Fabfilter plugins
Ableton Live
Soundtoys plugins
Audio Thing - spring reverb, and one called Wires
Audio Ease - Altiverb (convolution reverb), speakerphone,
Descript
Oeksound soothe2
Modular synths

Thanks for sharing so much with us, Martín!

PES 220: Chris's Goody Bag Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

I overview 9 recent Daily Goody's from Jan. 15 through Feb. 3 (see list below). You can sign up to receive Daily Goody's in your email every day or a weekly roundup. Sign up here.

Daily Goody posts that I discussed in this episode:

Other Notes:

If you ever have questions please reach out!
The start date for the next PES semester is September 14, 2021
If you'd like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, "Btw, here's a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful" with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/
Check out our Podcast Production Community on Locals! Join free ;)

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything,
~Chris

PES 219: Jason Gambrell, Technical Director for Pushkin Industries (Revisionist History, Against the Rules, Broken Record and more) Jun 17, 2021

Show notes

I had a top-notch chat with Jason Gambrell, Technical Director for Pushkin Industries. Jason works on several/many Pushkin shows. We covered his podcast audio production in great depth. You'll learn a lot in this episode.

We discussed SO MUCH in this episode including:

RE20
SM7b
Austrian Audio OC18
MixPre-3, NoiseAssist
Pro Tools Carbon Interface
AVS technology
MacBook Pro 2.6GHz i7
ICON Platform M+ Controller (USB, 8 channels, can control faders, arm tracks, transport, zoom in and out, and MOSTLY Jason uses it for writing automation on the score track, sound fx and voices, etc.
AKG 701 Headphones (open back)
JBL monitors
Malcolm's studio setup in Hudson, NY - 3 hours North of NYC (8 channel Grace preamps, 5 RE20's, U87 for voiceovers, and wired with Dante - an "audio over IP language" using ethernet cables)
iZotope RX8 and Ozone
FabFilter Pro L-2 — *there's a setting called "podcasting" under "safe"
Fabfilter Pro Q-3
TC Electronic Clarity M Loudness Meter — standalone screen and plugin with timed graph, circular graph, etc.
Gain vs volume
Master fader: Pro L-2, Clarity M
Neutron 3 — give a shape to a hosts voice, dynamic compression, sculptor - automated dynamic compression?
Uses level automation all the time for mumbles, etc. Gain which goes into the plugins instead of adjusting fader levels.
Pro Tools 2021
RX Voice De-noise
Stereo mixes - open up mixes with a bit of panning
Publishes MP3's in Stereo at 192kbps
Uncompressed mixes in stereo at 24 bit 48 kHz
Megaphone for hosting, dynamic ad insertion, etc.
Playing in Punk rock bands
Next purchase? Hardware compressor!

Thanks for sharing so much with us, Jason!

PES 218: Into the Goody Bag May 27, 2021

Show notes

I overview 9 recent Daily Goody's from Dec. 25 - Jan. 13 (see list below). You can sign up to receive Daily Goody's in your email every day or a weekly roundup. Sign up here.

Daily Goody posts that I discussed in this episode:

Other Notes:

If you ever have questions please reach out!
The start date for the next PES semester is June 29, 2021
If you'd like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, "Btw, here's a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful" with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/
Check out our Podcast Production Community on Locals! Join free ;)

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything,
~Chris

PES 217: Dallas Taylor, Host and Creator of Twenty Thousand Hertz May 13, 2021

Show notes

My guest is Dallas Taylor, host and creator of Twenty Thousand Hertz - an exceptional podcast about sound. He is also the Creative Director of Defacto Sound where he has led thousands of high-profile projects ranging from blockbuster trailers and advertising campaigns to Sundance award-winning films and major television series. Follow on Twitter: Dallas Taylor, Twenty Thousand Hertz, Defacto Sound.

FYI, I really enjoyed the episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz titled Silence where Dallas experiences pure silence for himself thanks to a special room called an anechoic chamber!

We discussed SO MUCH in this episode including:

His studio has acoustic panels and lots of foam, etc.
Shure SM7b microphone
Yellowtec boom arm
Argosy console desk
Sound Devices MixPre-6
He has writers on staff
Uses Rev.com for transcription
Sound design starts with the script
Table reads with his team
He's very cognizant of emotional dynamics of episodes
Start episodes with a small thing that arouses curiosity
Every 15-30 seconds he tries to have some kind of sonic change to keep the listeners attention
Early in his career he worked on foley for films
Tweak sounds during editing? Yes! Tons.
His sound designer Soren uses Pro Tools with lots of plugins, etc.
iZotope software
Has many sound FX libraries and music beds, etc
Sound Toys plugins
Limiters
Compressors
EQ's
Final MP3 files are between 160-320 kbps!
Megaphone for hosting - dynamic ad insertion, etc.
He sells his own ads

Thanks for sharing so much with us, Dallas!

PES 216: Goody Bag, plus RE20 Vintage vs New Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

I overview 9 recent Daily Goody's from Dec. 4 - Dec. 23 (see list below). You can sign up to receive Daily Goody's in your email every day or a weekly roundup. Sign up here.

*AND you'll hear my first ever comparison between my vintage RE20 vs my new RE20. They sound ALMOST identical ;)

Daily Goody posts that I discussed in this episode:

Other Notes:

If you ever have questions please reach out!
The start date for the next PES semester is June 29, 2021
If you'd like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, "Btw, here's a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful" with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything,
~Chris

PES 215: Matt Powell, Senior Audio Engineer for Mission.org Apr 15, 2021

Show notes

My guest is Matt Powell, Senior Audio Engineer for Mission.org (Website, Twitter @missionhq, LinkedIn)

We discussed SO MUCH, including:

Editing philosophy
Shure SM58
PreSonus Eureka Channel Strip
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Macbook Pro
Adobe Audition (parametric EQ, notch filters, )
iZotope RX7 (de-noise, EQ, compression, )
Waves Platinum bundle and SSL G Channel strip plugin
SM7b > Cloudlifter > Compressor > Ableton
Blue Yeti
Hosts recording locally with Quicktime
Sennheiser e835
Using Zoom for every interview
Remove noise first before EQ, compression, etc.

Thanks for being a great guest, Matt!

PES 214: Big News, Plus RE320 vs. RE20 Apr 08, 2021

Show notes

Note: In this episode I switch back and forth between using the Electro-Voice RE320 and the Electro-Voice RE20 microphones.

And the big announcement is that I've decided to put lots of energy into the Podcast Production Community that I recently started on Locals, so come join the party. I'll be posting daily content on gear, software, production workflow, recording, editing, plugins, and whatever else applies to production. The community members are posting good stuff as well. FYI, the quality of the expertise in this group is extremely high - we'd love for you to be part of it.

How the community works: You are able to join free and view all the content (videos, audio, text posts) BUT only by becoming a "Supporter" are you able to comment on posts and post things yourself. On occasion I post exclusive content for Supporters only. NOTE: It's only $5 per month to become a Supporter.

If you aren't able to become a "Supporter" of the group, definitely join the group (free) and watch/view all the content in the group.

And there's a bunch of podcasters on there already including Eric Hunley, Bryan Entzminger, Darrell Darnell, Bandrew Scott, Ross Brand, Roy Stegman, Heather Welch, Daniel Abendroth, the mighty Ed Sullivan, Leslie Martin, Paul you know who, Jason Sheesley, Jason Bryant, Carrie Caulfield Arick, John Bukenas etc etc etc.

Here's the Podcast Production Community ---> https://podcastproduction.locals.com

And here's a link/code for one free month of Supporter status over there: https://podcastproduction.locals.com/support/promo/PODCAST

Other Notes:

If you ever have questions please reach out!
The start date for the next PES semester is April 20, 2021
If you'd like to share this show with any of your podcaster friends, feel free to send them a message saying, "Btw, here's a show about podcast audio production you may find helpful" with this link: https://podcastengineeringschool.com/subscribe/

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with anything,
~Chris