One of the biggest challenges that has presented itself during this pandemic age is the problem of recording hosts and guests remotely.
The question I am asked most often, during consultations is, “How do you get everyone to sound like they are together?”
If everyone were recorded in the same room, the timing of laughter, quick questions and snappy responses feels natural. However, this natural, conversational feel is impacted by the latency and distorted sound that remote recording can present.
I spend a great deal of my post production time slipping tracks back and forth to make everyone sound like they are responding in a natural way while eliminating the accidental interruptions that occur constantly throughout a remote session.
Another “trick” I employ is a cocktail of special, tested audio engineering techniques to make it sound like everyone is in the same room despite the fact that they are really attending from different points around the country.
This is not always easy because we rely on the guests to record their voices locally. So, it’s very important that I have a pre-show test session and supply guests with clear and easy instructions.
Some are very nervous about messing up the recordings. Part of my job is to put them at ease and give them simple instructions so they feel confident and not distracted by technical issues during the actual show-session.
When the session is finished, my heavy work begins; Cleaning up every track and syncing everyone so that the conversation flows and the audience doesn’t realize that everyone is basically on a zoom-call and, finally, the trick of making everyone sound like they are in the same room.
I hope you enjoy the sample shows I have posted on my Podcast! page.
