03 Assembling Podcast Elements

Assembling Podcast Elements

At this point you will gather and organize all the elements of the show.

Episode Elements with a polished interview inside it is called 3Interview.

To begin this process, you will need all other elements of the podcast ready for publishing. For example: In the School of Greatness, Lewis Howes says a hello, “This is Episode 1 with Robert Greene.” That is the first element. There are 3 other elements like this. They’re to be titled Hello, Intro & Close.

1st you must polish them.

Let’s go:

1. Find all the elements
2. Copy them into Episode Folder > Raw Audio Files
   1. Don’t move them from shared folders, it’s important to copy and paste them (CMD + C > CMD + V)
3. Open an Audacity workbench
   1. This is just a workbench, from your workbench you will import and export files without saving what is on the workbench
4. Edit one element at a time onto your Audacity workbench:
   1. Hello File
      1. Identify/Source the Hello File
      2. Click and Drag the hello file into Audacity
      3. Select the Read Files Directly from the Original (faster) button
      4. Click OK
      5. Select the drop down menu with the file name on it (this is at the top left of the track)
      6. Click Split Stereo Track
      7. Delete the track with no noise on it
      8. Select the drop down menu with the file name on it
      9. Click Mono
      10. Export the file to Episode folder > Raw Audio Files: File > Export > Format = AIFF > Save As = 1Hello > Save
      11. Click OK (no need to enter metadata for this file)
      12. Check the file to make sure it was exported properly
          1. Click the file icon and press the Space Bar to quick listen to it
             1. If the recording was exported improperly, go back to step 10
             2. If the recording was exported properly, go to the next step
      13. Delete the track to clear your Audacity work bench
   2. Introduction File
      1. Identify/Source the Intro File
         1. If there are more than one introduction file, make sure they all play together coherently.
            1. It’s helpful to listen to them by single clicking the file icon and pressing space bar. This way you can listen to them quickly without opening them in iTunes
         2. Once you are sure you have all the introduction files, run one file through the following process at a time. Then start again with the next file until you have them all exported as single file, mono, AIFF files
      2. Click and Drag the Intro File into your Audacity workbench
      3. Select the Read Files Directly from the Original (faster) button
      4. Click OK
      5. Select the drop down menu with the file name on it (this is at the top left of the track)
      6. Click Split Stereo Track
      7. Delete the track with no visible waves on it (the silent track)
      8. Select the drop down menu with the file name on it
      9. Click Mono
      10. Export the file to the main episode folder: File > Export > Format = AIFF > Save As = 2Intro > Save
          1. If you have more than one intro file, Name the first of the set 1Intro then continuously 2Intro2, 2Intro3, 2Intro4
      11. Click OK (no need to enter metadata for this file)
      12. Check the file to make sure it was exported properly
          1. Click the file icon and press the Space Bar to quick listen to it
             1. If the recording was exported improperly, go back to step 10
                1. Improperly means there was a screw up in the file. You’ll know if it was exported improperly
             2. If the recording was exported properly, go to the next step
      13. Delete the track to clear your Audacity work bench
   3. Close File
      1. Identify/Source the Close File
         1. If there are more than one close file, make sure they all piece together in a coherent manner. Don’t listen to them in iTunes  just single click the file icon and press space bar so you can quick listen
         2. Once you are sure you have all the close files and that they fit together coherently; run each file through the following process individually. Start with the beginning file, and finish with the closing file.
      2. Click and Drag the Close fileinto Audacity
      3. Select the Read Files Directly from the Original (faster) Button
      4. Click OK
      5. Select the drop down menu with the file name on it (this is at the top left of the track)
      6. Click Split Stereo Track
      7. Delete the track with no noise on it
      8. Select the drop down menu with the file name on it
      9. Click Mono
      10. Export the file to the main episode folder: File > Export > Format = AIFF > Save As: 4Close > Save
          1. If you have more than one intro file, Name the first of the set 4Close then continuously 4Close2, 4Close3, 4Close4…
      11. Click OK (no need to enter metadata for this file)
      12. Check the file to make sure it was exported properly
          1. Click the file icon and press the Space Bar to quick listen to it
             1. If the recording was exported improperly, go back to step 10
             2. If the recording was exported properly, go to the next step
      13. Delete the track to clear your Audacity work bench
5. Close Audacity
6. Click No There’s no need to save changes because you’ve already saved all the elements you need
7. Open Levelator Program
   1. This is a free program that you can find at www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator
8. Highlight your files and Drag all your polished elements into the Levelator window
   1. These Files will be named: 1Hello, 2Intro & 4Close:
      1. Single click the top file
      2. Hold Shift Key
      3. Single click the bottom file
      4. Release Shift Key
      5. All the files you have will be highlighted
      6. Click and Drag the group into Levelator
   2. This set of files should all be in line with each other in the Episode Folder for easy highlighting. Feel free to drag them all in
   3. If you have more than the 3 (e.g. 1Hello, 2Intro, 2Intro2, 4Close, 4Close2) simply drag all of them into the Levelator
9. Chill Out for a minute. This will take 1-3 minutes.
   1. When you get back you will have files titled: 1Hello.output.aiff | 2Intro.output.aiff | 4Close.output.aiff
   2. These files will be listed below your files. If there were any errors, simply delete the error and run the individual file through the Levelator again
10. Click and Drag the .output files into the Episode Elements folder.
    1. 1Hello.output, 2Intro.output & 4Close.output
11. Click and Drag an mp3 version of some fresh music to be mixed into the show and put it in the Episode Elements folder
    1. Name the file: Song Title – Artist Name (eg. I Will Survive – Aretha Franklin)
12. Huzzah! Congratulations, you’ve done it. All the pieces of the podcast are prepared and ordered in the Episode Elements folder
13. Move on to Building Podcast with GarageBand