Hobbled Together: The First Podcast Studio I Ever Knew

Words by Alex Markinovich-Josey (he/him)

When I got my start podcasting, I mounted my dad’s microphone on top of a chest of draws that just about reached my desk height. My desk was too cluttered with my gaming PC, because podcasting just wouldn’t be enough. I was already a super cool teenager. 

We moved houses shortly after I started making podcasts, and our new place had a strange room that sat between my bedroom and a staircase. I decided to turn this into my studio, which you can see pictured here. 

Despite growing up in the Minecraft-over-Skype generation, I found recording online very difficult. I still do. I hate the way a little bit of lag can totally throw off the flow of a conversation, or a dropped call can ruin the vibe for the rest of the recording. 

Using my dad’s old computer, my co-host Luke and I set up our studio to optimise recording for two people. There were two microphones set up opposing each other, plenty of space for laptops for notes, and two moderately-comfortable office chairs. We thought we were ready. We recorded our first in-person episode the next weekend.

It was an unbearable mess of echoes. We went right back to the drawing board and realised our issue—the room’s ceiling was at an odd, slanted angle, and needed to be dampened. Professional sound-proofing is expensive, so a DIY solution would have to do.

We took a spare duvet inner and attached it to the roof with velcro tape. The quality of the audio improved noticeably, and the sheet only fell on us a few times. The studio worked. We recorded there for over a year. I adapted it to work for solo recording, and even for up to four people. 

Eventually, as Luke approached the end of his high school years and his coursework took over, the room stopped being used for podcasting. It eventually became a space to run my Dungeons and Dragons games. 

I’m not the only podcaster at Salient Podcasts who started at home. One of our newest shows, the politics podcast ^How to Lose a Girl in 10 Days^, made their start at home before hopping into the ^Salient studio. 

“We had a PreSonus AudioBox and Shure microphone that we borrowed from my flatmate (she’s a musician). We sat in my bedroom and closed all the curtains and doors to absorb as much sound as possible, and we pulled up chairs really close to the mic to record. Because there was one mic and two people, it was very hard to get the audio balance right! We never quite figured it out unfortunately, and just relied on Hollie’s minimal audio editing skills. That was the main issue we ran into, but it could have been way worse!” - Hollie, Co-host

If you want to start your own podcast at home, there's a few things you should consider. 

You’re going to have to find a way to record. It can be as simple as a headset microphone and a laptop, but if you want to get that crispy clean audio, it's gonna have to go a bit beyond that.

To closet or not to closet? There's a long-upheld belief that all the best audio recording takes place in a podcaster’s closet. I’m gonna burst that particular bubble. They’re cramped, cluttered, and not conducive to something I feel makes podcasting work best: comfort! The best podcasters are prepared and good presenters, but they’ve also got to be relaxed. No one is relaxing if they’re stuck between mouldy coats.

Instead, put up a blanket! You don’t have to attach it to your ceiling, but trying to position one on walls where your voice might bounce into the microphone will have a huge effect in a particularly rough room.

You’re going to need headphones to monitor your voice. Scary, I know! One of the hardest parts of starting a podcast is getting used to the sound of your own voice. However, having headphones to monitor how the microphone catches your voice is key to maintaining good audio quality throughout the recording process. 

Finally, a good microphone means everything. But having a good microphone is less important than actually giving it a go! You’re not going to need the most expensive equipment. Once you’re sure you want to give it a go, you can do some shopping around. For now, even just the good old standard Apple headphones would make for a good start. 

If you want to avoid all the admin, cost, and being smothered by falling blankets mid-recording, the easiest way to start your own podcast is to send a pitch to Salient Podcasts. We’ve got a full studio here, complete with four microphones, soundproofing, and audio mixers. Recording a pilot episode with us is the best way to get that crispy, clean audio editors froth. 

Don’t record at home. Send your podcast pitches into podcasts@salient.org.nz!