Record and edit

Recording setup

The best recording setup is whatever you can already access. High-end equipment and a fancy studio are not necessary to create a professional-sounding podcast.

Even with lower-grade hardware and simple software, you can increase your audio quality with a bit of thought and planning.

For a hassle-free recording experience, experiment with your equipment and settings beforehand, choose and set up your location carefully, and then refer to your storyboard while you record to ensure you capture all the content you need to.

Always test your equipment before recording to check your audio quality. Clear audio is essential for your viewers to understand you. If your assessors cannot clearly hear the audio, they will not be able to mark your work.
If possible, you should use an external microphone, as it can drastically improve audio quality.
If you only have an inbuilt microphone, consider whether you have a choice between devices. For example, the microphone on your phone may produce clearer audio than the microphone on your laptop. Test them both to check.
Tips for optimal microphone setup:
- Place the microphone as close to you and your guests as possible, to record a clear signal.
- If you are using an external microphone, experiment with the angle to find the best setup for capturing your voice.
- Place a pop filter in front of your microphone to reduce plosive sounds (p, b) and breath noises. Even a makeshift pop filter made from a sheet of paper can help minimise unwanted noises.
- Experiment with the microphone settings in your recording software.

Recording location

You do not need complicated software to record the audio for your podcast assessment, and there are many options available, so consider your podcast setup and what you would find easiest to use.
Here are some considerations which may influence your decision:
- If you are recording using one single microphone, any simple voice recording software should meet your needs.
- If you are recording using multiple microphones, you may like to record each voice as a separate track to give you more possibilities during editing. In this case, an audio editing software such as Audacity or Garageband may be the best option. See more about editing software in the next section of this resource.
- If you are recording with multiple people and you cannot meet in person, you can use video conferencing software such as Zoom to record the audio for your podcast.
Your choice of software may depend on the hardware you are using. If you are using an inbuilt microphone on your mobile device or laptop, the voice recording software that comes preinstalled on your device may be the easiest option for you to use.

Note

Test recordings

When selecting your hardware and software, make a test recording to familiarise yourself with the hardware settings, and the functionality of the software. Ensure that you know how to stop, start, and pause the recording easily, and that you know where the audio file is saved and how to access it.
Before you start recording your podcast make another short test recording and listen back to it, to ensure everything is working properly.

Editing your podcast

Podcast assessments for university do not typically require extensive editing. Most disciplines do not have detailed requirements regarding creative editing or production design. Therefore, it is better to keep things as simple as possible, because editing can be very time consuming.

However, even basic editing techniques can vastly improve the clarity of your delivery, so leave as much time as possible for editing before your assessment deadline and use your time wisely by making editing decisions based on what will make the most impact towards meeting your assessment requirements.

Basic editing techniques include:

trimming content to tidy up the start and end of the recording, improve transitions, and remove pauses, coughing, or retakes, etc
joining different video clips together to combine multiple recording files
integrating music files to add background or transition music if required in your assessment instructions (or desired by you).

Before getting to the specific techniques that you use to edit your files, the key strategies to planning your edits are to:
- refer back to your storyboard after you have finished recording, to plan:
  - which segments of audio you will use
  - how you will need to edit them
  - where you will insert background or transition music (if relevant).
You can make comments in the storyboard and add time codes for the audio files to help you keep track of your ideas.
- refer back to your assessment instructions to remind yourself of the key requirements and plan your edits accordingly. Many podcast assessments have a strict time limit, so if you need to reduce the amount of audio, keep content which directly addresses the requirements, and edit out any unnecessary content which does not contribute to meeting the requirements.
- ask yourself if the original order you recorded the content is still the most logical order. Now that you can listen back to the audio, it may make more sense to change the order around.
- consider editing and rearranging the audio for each segment slightly if that would improve the podcast.
Software that includes basic editing tools like trimming, cutting, and inserting additional content should meet your needs for creating a podcast assessment.
Unless you have been asked to use specific software, the best option is one that you are already familiar with, or one which is free and has a lot of help documentation and online tutorials available.
A recommended option for all Monash students is the free open-source software program Audacity, which is available on computers in Monash University Libraries and computer labs. You can also install on your own device for free from the Audacity website, or access it online through the Monash MoVE software portal.
Other free programs, particularly those which are already installed on your device, can also be excellent options, so long as you test them out to make sure they are suitable and easy to use.
If you are using your mobile device to record your podcast, you can also search the app store for free audio editing apps or specialist podcast creation software.
Basic functions to ensure the software has:
At a minimum, make sure the audio software you select has the function to:
- record audio directly into the software so that you can use it for both recording and editing
- import audio files such as music, or voice tracks recorded on your teammates’ devices
- trim audio to make your edits neater, and remove unwanted sounds
- splice and rearrange audio to cut a single audio track into multiple sequences so that you can arrange them into a different order or intersperse them with music.
- export the final audio! This is vital, because if you cannot export the file, you will not be able to submit it for your assessment.
Be careful to check the software description for all these functions before you spend a lot of time testing it out. In particular, some free mobile apps may have restrictions around exporting the final audio without paying money, so check the description and then test each of these functions briefly before you settle on a software.
Additional functions to consider:
You can also consider any other functions you may need based on your podcast assessment requirements and your personal preferences. Additional functions which can help you produce a professional-sounding podcast include:
- multiple tracks - to have more than one overlapping audio file such as voice and background music, or to be able to edit voice tracks separately.
- noise reduction or filtering - to reduce or filter out background noise.
- normalisation or levelling - to balance the volume of multiple different audio files.
- inbuilt music archive - to add background or transition music from preselected tracks within the software. This functionality is available on some online platforms and apps and can make the selection and addition of music easier.
Whether you are new to editing, or have some experience, there are a lot of online resources for improving your general editing skills, or for learning a specific tool.
- LinkedIn Learning is an excellent source of online self-paced courses for a wide variety of skills. To access it for free through Monash University and see what is available, log in using your Monash email address, then search for the term ‘podcast’ or search for the name of the software/platform that you are using to make your podcast.
- YouTube is a treasure trove of online demonstrations and walk-throughs for many skills and digital tools. It is often easy to find short video demonstrations of specific functions and techniques. Search for the name of the tool, as well as what you are trying to do with the tool. For example, searching for ‘Audacity splice’ will return results of videos that show you how to split one track into multiple segments.
- Official support websites by the software publishers of a given tool typically include step-by-step instructions of various functions. Even in the case of a computer program that has inbuilt ‘help’ documentation, it is often worth visiting their website as well, because websites sometimes include videos and more in-depth instructions.

Preparing your podcast notes

Professional podcasts are often accompanied by podcast notes, which may include content such as a short summary of the content, credits, music attribution information, links to related sources, and references. Some podcasts also include a full transcript of the audio content.

Check your assessment instructions to see if you are required to provide podcast notes and if so, what content you must include and the required format.

A list of references is one of the most common requirements for assessments. If needed, ensure that you follow the correct citing and referencing style as outlined in your assessment instructions.

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Student Academic Success

Student Academic Success

Record and edit

Recording setup

Tips for optimal microphone setup:

Tip

Note

Editing your podcast

Basic functions to ensure the software has:

Additional functions to consider:

Preparing your podcast notes