Scoring Podcasts – My Tools

Scoring Podcasts – My Tools

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18 DECEMBER 2017

written by Mike

SCORING PODCASTS

MY TOOLS

 

As podcasts become more recognised, there is room for different styles and genres of audio storytelling. One of the big ones at the moment, at least when you look at the top charts, seems to be scripted dramas and narrated storytelling content.

With podcasts, you don’t have that many tools behind your belt – it’s all about the sound so, in reality, you have three elements to play.

Dialogues

Sound Effects

Music

Each is important and plays a different role; all depending on the project. For example, with a podcast like Casefile, we tend to go with just two of the elements – narration and music. Sure, from time to time we do include extra elements such as recorded interviews, police archive audio, and even reenactments.

However, most of the times the centre of the show is the narration of Anonymous Host and music underscore for the emotional connection. The goal is to create a complete audio experience with just two elements. The listener does not feel that it is either too much or not enough in the mix – balance is the key.

Today I wanted to talk about my tools I use for scoring Casefile podcast. I treat the work as I would with writing music for films therefore if you are looking at tools for creating songs, this post may not be the answer.

 

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Before starting in podcasting, I always recorded and wrote music. I used ‘normal’ recording with microphones, as well as plugins for computer music. I’ve tested many different sequencers and solutions, but in the end, decided to limit my tools and work with a minimalistic setup.

Just like for mixing, I prefer to work with only a handful of plugins but to know them inside out, to understand how far I can push them.

Limitation often offers more freedom than we think.

For some time I used software instruments in Logic, Native Instruments Komplete with 500GB of synths and Omnisphere on top of that. Before writing and recording, I often found myself sitting in front of the screen thinking what I should use as a cue. By having so many options, I was paralysed with choice and too many possibilities – until I decided to simplify the workflow and my system.

I moved everything to ProTools and stopped using Logic altogether, I’ve deleted Native Instruments and got rid of 500GB of synths. I was left with my favourite synth of all time – Omnisphere. From there, I’ve upgraded to Omnisphere 2 and for months just used that for scoring, nothing else.

Surprisingly it gave me freedom and unleashed more creativity than I imagined. Even during script reading I immediately knew what patch I would use for a particular scene, what kind of sound.

Unfortunately, Omnisphere wasn’t enough. It’s an excellent solution for scoring however it missed a vital element of writing music – pianos.

 

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Enter Keyscape.

When Spectrasonics released Keyscape, I watched all the videos and tutorials on it. However, it still took me a long time to purchase it. I wanted to be entirely comfortable working in just one synth – Omnisphere, before opening another one.

In the end, I got Keyscape, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. For now, these are the tools I use for scoring – Omnisphere for atmospheric sound and general cues and Keyscape for melodies, themes and building blocks for underscore.

I often start in Keyscape; I heard a long time ago that by learning the piano you learn how to play all instruments, I think that’s somewhat true.

Keyscape is often a starting point for creating cues, even if I write simple acoustic piano melody I can always use the MIDI and play it through Omnisphere crazy sounds, making the initial themes virtually unrecognisable.

Another great thing is that by using two products from Spectrasonics I have everything in one window – Omnisphere plugin window supports Keyscape libraries as well as other sounds such as Keyscape Creative.

For now, these tools are more than enough to create amazing scores and themes. The other solution that I could use would be an orchestral synth with possibilities of creating full orchestrated music that sounds as good as Keyscape pianos (I’m looking at you Spectrasonics!)

The take away from this (apart from my obvious love for Spectrasonics products) is that you don’t need much to get working and create great sounding scores. Frankly, sometimes too much choice is more limiting than having one or two solutions that you know better than anything else.

I’m not an expert in creating new patches or making sounds with Omni, but if you ask me to score something, be it a podcast, audio drama or even a film – more than likely I will be able to do it with what I got.

P.S.

I’m not affiliated with Spectrasonics and this is not paid advertising – I just love their products!

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Creating Globally Appealing Stories

Creating Globally Appealing Stories

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13 OCTOBER 2017

written by Mike

CREATING GLOBALLY

APPEALING STORIES

 

When starting a business, a blog or an internet show, the usual advice is to find a niche, explore it, become an expert in it and then go wide.
Competing on a global level is tough so starting with a narrow topic is a good idea, at least it seems like it.

But what if you want to create something that appeals to a mainstream audience?
What if you want your podcast to be at the top of the charts, listened by thousands?

After working on a show that speaks to a global audience, I can give you a few pointers, a few tips that hopefully can lead to a right direction.

 

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Who listens?

Understanding the audience is the most critical point on the list. Gather the data, study it, draw the conclusions.
What are the countries, regions, gender, the age of the listeners?
What do they expect, what do they like?

It’s difficult to create something for everyone, so aim at a niche but think how can you make it attractive for people who are not familiar with a genre.
Do I need to know the technical language before listening?
Do I need to be familiar with the subject?
Ideally, no.
The goal is to create a show that is popular within a niche but easy to start for new listeners.

Remember that familiarity will more than likely bring listeners. People tend to click on stories and topics they already know, the fear of the unknown is real.
On the other side, you don’t want to be re-hashing same old stories over and over again.
A mixture of old and new is your best bet, offer something familiar to the new audience and something different to established listeners.

 

The Structure

If you want to appeal to a global audience, you need to keep the listener engaged from the start and throughout the show.
I understand that not every episode will be the best, but the goal should be to do the best work each time.

Look at other successful podcasts, how do they structure their shows?
What makes them better than others? Why do listeners keep coming back?

There are limitless shows and content on the internet, the listener has a choice what to do with their time.
They may choose to listen to your podcast once, but you need to think how to make it attractive, so they come back.

The insight I’ve got is that the longer stories tend to do better, but it’s not always the case. We have Joe Rogan‘s 3+ hours per show as well as 30 minute Lore episodes next to each other on the top charts.

Whatever your format is, make your show easy to listen and understandable. Avoid jargon and technical knowledge and if you need to do it, explain the terms used.
Make sure that the show is easy to follow for people who are not familiar with the genre.

 

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Production

To reach a global audience, you need to complete on a global level. Yes, you can still record from a spare bedroom, but when it comes to technicalities, you will need to invest in a professional gear.
That means a microphone, recording software, reliable system.
You will also need to hire people to help, you won’t be able to do it on your own.

In my experience, the difference between an average and something special is usually just 1%, but it’s that 1% that most people cannot put the finger on.

The music band, the director, the artist, the company with a fantastic product.
It seems like the top achievers are doing the same thing as everybody else, but somehow they are different and better.

It’s usually a team effort. The team must work together towards the same goal.
Constant improvement, adjustments, learning from failure and mistakes are the crucial ingredients to success.

Most people say to avoid perfectionism, I agree to some extent, you can’t be extreme if you want to meet deadlines.
But attention to details and at least working towards a perfect product or show, in my opinion, should be a driver too.
If you want to be at the top, of course.
Elements of your show must work together as a whole, nothing stands out, nothing takes priority.
When gathering feedback and reviews, you want people to praise the whole show, the episode, the podcast.
It’s still amazing if they write that the narration or music or writing was excellent, but to be the best, the pieces must work like puzzles. All fit together to create the full picture.

For the last one, don’t take anything for granted.
Once you reach the top, you may think you found a perfect formula, that it’s the time to relax, to step back and enjoy.

Unfortunately, it’s not how it works.
Global audience means more pressure and higher standards, people will see if you start to slack off, everything you do is looked at with a magnifying glass.
The minute the audience is upset or bored, they will switch off the show or change to something else.

Stay on your toes, improve and be grateful that people tune in to your podcast. They don’t have to do that.

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Scoring Podcasts

Scoring Podcasts

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04 SEPTEMBER 2017

written by Mike

SCORING PODCASTS

 

Let’s talk about my favourite aspect of podcast production – music.

When it comes to podcasting, you only have audio to convey the message, to tell the story. No fancy graphics, no 4K video to distract the audience, no place to fool the listeners.

There are few elements of sound that you can use while crafting a story:

–a narrative, the most important aspect of podcasting

–sound effects, which add a layer of realism and drama

–music

Music has always been part of human culture. It helps to connect people, to establish an emotion, to dramatise a story. Music will play a role, albeit smaller, in interview talk shows but today I wanted to focus on drama shows, storytelling podcasts. Look at the most recent top podcasting charts; you will notice that dramas, especially true crime stories are trending.

The demand is visible, now let’s talk about supply.

Stories always draw people in; it can be music, films, books, poetry. Dry facts are helpful but often boring, and in my opinion, any topic can be taught with success if presented to the audience as an interesting story. Audio dramas are nothing new, the minute the radio was available to general public; some artists creatively used the medium. The most obvious one that comes to mind is Welles’ War of the Worlds that in 1938 scared the US nation and skyrocketed Orson’s career.

In today’s world, we have an evolution of the medium – podcasts and audiobooks.

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Audiobooks are perfect for dramatisation; however, there is often restriction when it comes to audiobook production. You will occasionally find publishing houses that allow music, sound effects and voice acting on material but more than often you will find just a dry narration read.

Podcasts are something else. The relatively new medium hasn’t got that many regulations yet and as a creator, you have a pretty much free hand in creating content.

There are many kinds of podcasts, as many as there are creative ideas but let’s look at dramas, or dramatised true stories such as Casefile.

These kinds of podcasts require a lot of work, research, scripting, narration and stellar production. Music plays a huge part in all that; it’s the emotional connection to the story, it often underlines the feelings that we have during listening, it exposes them.

Casefile is a quite different show. It’s not a drama per se, but it is produced like one. While the Host and our talented researchers focus on the story, I look at it from a different angle.

I also see it as a show and for the lack of better word, entertainment. It’s a thin line between sensationalism and making something respectful to anyone involved in the events. But the show must also be entertaining to listen, to connect with the audience and presented as a well-produced podcast.

After working on Casefile for some time, I learned a few tips that you can do with music, how you could make the episode even tenser and more real to the listeners.

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Know the story

It’s important to know the story before you start composing.

The first thing I always do is to read the script, and sometimes I will research the case before I get the script. I’m interested in the beginning, in the drama, in the final twist and conclusion.

During the read, I will note down the people involved in the events, the ‘scenes’ that take place in the timeline and musical cues where I possibly will need to add something more substantial than just an underscore.

The ambience of the episode is crucial.

All of the episodes are tragic but there is a very different character to each of them, and it will guide how I write the music. Before I sit down behind my MIDI keyboard, I compose in my head, not the melodies but the style. I will know what kind of music different parts of the story need, be it rhythmic, soft, dramatic, hopeful or dark.

Know the podcast

I don’t always know the next episode of Casefile; sometimes we change the story at the last minute, sometimes we have a break from the show. That doesn’t mean that I stop writing.

To keep my hands busy and improve my skills, every day I try to compose a cue or two, build up a music library for the next episodes. To do that effectively I need to know the show, the podcast. I need to know a general atmosphere, the overall character, the nature of what we do as a team.

When composing for the future, have in mind the characteristics such as the length of the podcast, the audience and what kind of musical impact you are looking for.

Does the drama require more an underscore or is it music-heavy?

Try to develop the style that the audience recognises immediately.

Don’t go overboard

It’s easy to get lost in composing melodies, including a multitude of different instruments and effects, creating elaborate cues. What I learned with Casefile podcast is that the story always takes the first place.

The music is there to underscore the voice, to help make seamless transitions between parts of the narrative and to bring life to the dialogue. There will be parts where I want to make an impact, a statement with the score but 90% of it will be an ambient, soft tones, almost invisible to the listener.

It’s easy to get excited, especially when you feel like you wrote something great, however, unless it is a deliberate effect, then don’t go overboard with the melodies and cues.

Use instruments that don’t clash with the voice

Another thing that you need to keep in mind is the timbre and nature of the voice. Once you know how the narration sounds on its own, you will know what kind of instruments and pads to use to compliment the voice, not the other way around.

With Casefile I try to avoid melodies with high pitch, especially when I write for string instruments, piano or guitar. These are instruments that sit in the similar spectrum to the human voice and will often clash with it.

Most of the time I will use atmospheric sounds, soft pads to underscore and melodies only where required, where a dramatic focus is needed. I’m also quite careful with rhythmic sounds.

Bass or arpeggiated synths usually work well, but drums or percussion can often be too distracting.

Rhythmic parts are great to build suspense and intense moments, but it’s easy to go overboard with them.

Listen to feedback

Even though I have pretty much a creative freedom when it comes to producing and composing for Casefile, the most important aspect of the work is communication between team members.

I’m not the only composer on the show, Andrew Joslyn sends me musical cues for each episode and often scores up to 50% of each podcast. Because the workflow is unique I often need to adjust, change or drop the cues altogether.

The voice always takes the priority, the music is there to glue all the parts together so mixing it low, or cutting elements of it are usually the best way to do that. I also look for the comments from listeners. Many people will comment on the voice or the music, but I’m interested in feedback that talks about the show as a whole.

We don’t want any elements to shine on their own; the podcast needs to work as one piece, as one story. Also, a lot of people won’t listen on a dedicated system, in the example of Casefile – headphones.

That means even though you may spend days on composing and mixing music, there will be some listeners who won’t notice it at all, listening in their cars or through laptop speakers. That’s fine too, don’t skip on the quality just because not everyone appreciates it.

In the end, it’s all about having fun, experimenting and improvement.

Even though I have enough music that I wouldn’t need to write for a few months now, I still sit down and compose new cues every day. It helps me to stay sharp and develop the craft, and of course, I like doing it too.

In the future, I will show you the technical approach to composing music for Casefile and what is my exact workflow.

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How to Spot a Trend in Podcasting?

How to Spot a Trend in Podcasting?

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23 JUNE 2017

written by Mike

HOW TO SPOT

A TREND IN PODCASTING

 

The popularity of a podcast depends on various factors. The voice of the host/hostess, the charm, the research, passion, luck, production, the team and the topic.

Today I want to focus on the last one – the topic.

It’s one thing to be passionate about a subject, and another to have other people like it too. Take Casefile for example, not only the research and production are the main ‘selling’ point of the podcast, but true crime genre has been popular as ever. People are drawn to stories based on real events, and that’s what makes the shows like Making a Murderer or Serial so well known.

That and the excellent presentation of the facts.

I’m not saying that you should jump on the latest trend and start a show, that rarely works. But it’s a good practice to know what is currently popular and if any of your interests align. Success is a result of hard work and dedication, but if you can help it with strategic planning, then it may make the venture a little bit easier.

But how can you find out what’s popular, what is trending?

There are many ways you can do it, and today we’ll have a look at a few of them.

 

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GOOGLE TRENDS

Google Trends lets you see the latest data, visualisations and information on what is trending near you. Not only you can see the insights and most popular stories, but you can also type in a keyword/subject and see how it looks over the time.

Let’s type in ‘podcast’ keyword.

 

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We know that the score now is at all time high – 100 and during last 5 years, the line was heading upwards.

It’s a good time to start a podcast!

Let’s now search ‘true crime’.

 

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There was a big spike in 2012, then the line a went down, and the trend picked up again with the current score at 73.

Google Trends will also show you the interest by region, related topics and related queries. Everything you need to test out an idea for a podcast.

ITUNES CHARTS

What is a better way to know what is trending than a podcasting charts?

There are a few ways to do it, one is to open the iTunes app and study Top Episodes and Top Podcasts, or you can visit http://www.itunescharts.net/ which plays the same function. I prefer to look at iTunes app on a desktop computer/laptop as it provides better visual experience.

At the top, we can see featured podcasts, the ones that iTunes promotes.

Below we have New & Newsworthy and collections selected by iTunes content managers.

 

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 But what is popular at the moment?

On the right sidebar, you have great charts – Top Episodes and Top Podcasts. It will show you 200 most listened, subscribed, favourite podcasts in a selected country.

At the bottom of the app, you can change the country, and it will show you different charts – adjusted to the chosen place. Look at the list, study the podcasts and try to spot the patterns.

What is popular but also seems like a fad?

There was a lot of political podcasts at the top of the charts during US presidential election – they all appear to be gone now. After a while, you will be able to spot elements that make the show to reach the top of the charts.

SOCIAL BLADE

The last one on today’s list is a website called SocialBlade.

It may not be one that targets podcasting directly, but you can learn a lot by looking at other online trends. SocialBlade offers user statistics for Youtube, Twitch, Instagram and Twitter.

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You can see what accounts have most followers, what kind of categories are most popular and what are the general trends. Once you get past the most obvious celebrity accounts, you can easily spot what kind of content is favoured by people.

Of course, not all the data from SocialBlade will automatically relay to podcasting, but it can help you to narrow the search and see if someone else is doing a similar thing but on another platform. From then you can study the content, and apply the findings podcasting.

This is not an extensive list, and there are many other ways you can test your podcasting idea. First and foremost you need to like the topic. Podcasting is a lot of hard work, and if you don’t have a passion for the subject, you will struggle. To get to the top of the charts, it takes a lot of work as well as luck.

Are you working on something that can be just a fad?

Or you planning to have a long-term show that will always find an audience?

It’s easier said than done, so always try to do at least a bit of market research before jumping in too deep.

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What is your Podcast Idea?

What is your Podcast Idea?

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16 JUNE 2017

written by Mike

WHAT IS YOUR

PODCAST IDEA?

 

Everything starts with an idea – podcasting is not an exemption from the rule. It’s important to understand the basics of recording and audio editingbut without an idea that gets you excited, even best sounding podcast won’t be enough.

But ideas are everywhere; you must have a new one ever few minutes.

How do you focus on one?

When it comes to podcasting, you can follow a simple system of elimination, selection and market research. It’s all about being prepared, being ready. The worst thing is to work on something for weeks and only after the release to realise that no one wants to listen/watch/buy your product. It happens when you think that what you like, others will enjoy too.

Don’t worry; I’ve been there many times. There were a few ventures that I got excited about, dived in without market research, worked for months and after the final release was struck with disappointment.

I thought to myself – why?

The production, the graphics, the package was so much better than other products, and yet no one was interested. Lessons were learnt, market research and planning is as much, if not even more, important as the production itself. 

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 Let’s go back to the podcasting, let’s hone on the ideas you have. Make a list and write things that you are passionate/excited about.

What topic can you talk on for hours?

What, in hindsight, is something that could never bore you?

The question should be at the core of your plan. Podcasting is hard; you will need a subject that excites you. It’s easy to jump on the latest trend, but people notice if you are not genuine, especially in podcasting. When you are done with the list, mark the topics that you are an expert in.

You want to be seen knowledgeable and insightful. You may be excited about a particular subject, but if you don’t do enough research, you can make a mistake. And once your podcast is out, it is available to criticism and any shortcomings will quickly be exposed. Best bet is to combine passion and expertise.

Another point is that podcasting (as any other content medium) will cement your expertise in the eyes/ears of others. Let’s say you are an expert in graphic designWithout marketing or broad exposure you are on the same ‘level’ as another experienced graphic designer. With a podcast, perceived expertise grows, and you get additional exposure. It doesn’t matter if your podcast gets 100 downloads if 10 of these turn into well-paying clients.

Another point to consider is the depth of the topic you choose. Podcasting is a long game, and it will take months, sometimes years to get the momentum going. It’s crucial to have enough material, to be able to produce engaging content for an extended period. Otherwise, at some point, you will start repeating yourself.

I find that with a lot of personal development or business podcasts. After a while, the topics start to repeat itself, even if the podcast is built around interviews. How many times can you listen to advice like:

Just go for it

Be different

Take massive action

Learn from failure

And so on and on.

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I don’t want to diss these kinds of pods; I admit that I listen to some and from time to time I need a motivational kick from a successful entrepreneur. But it’s easy to see that after a while the creators run short on original content. One thing I always do, before starting any content-oriented project is to sit down and write at least 50 topics as fast as I can.

If you can do that with your idea, it means that you may have something with enough depth to do a podcast about. Otherwise, at some point, you will struggle.

Podcasting is fun, but it’s not easy. Having an idea is easy – testing it is not something that many people do. Time and time again I find podcasts that had a lot of good info and then just stopped.

Did their steam run out?

Wasn’t there enough content to go on?

Imagine yourself two years from now.

Would you still want to do the podcast then? Week in and out?

Even if it doesn’t get too many downloads? Even if it doesn’t bring any monetary return?

If the answer is yes, then there is no need to wait anymore.

Time to start is now.

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