14th Mar 2023 - 4th Apr 2023 

Places on this course are limited, and in order to take part you should have an interest in recording and submitting a podcast for Technecast (the Techne student podcast). You may also be interested in attending How To Prepare An Effective Podcast alongside this one which will focus on the communication and presentation side of podcasting.

 

Have you been thinking of making a podcast of your research but are unsure of how to go about it? Or do you have an idea which you are looking to develop further?

One of the most exciting and accessible new media for PGRs wishing to promote their research to a wider audience is podcasting. For both creators and audiences, listening skills are the foundation of any good podcast. Good presentation, sound recording and editing techniques are also useful skills in any teaching and learning environment.

Sound Starter is a course for students with little or no previous experience, who wish to develop a podcast of their research. It offers an introductory level of sound recording and editing using Reaper software (free-to-download) and will provide a guide to the possibilities of sound manipulation, restoration and mixing. Through a series of practical and analytical tasks it focusses on the details of how to present one’s research clearly in a short podcast. It will cover how to record interviews, mix music and sound effects with voice; apply processing such as reverberation and compression and heighten listening awareness and dip into some of the different creative ways to experiment with processing sound.

The course will comprise of 4 x 2-hour online workshops:

Week 1: 14^th March 2-4pm.

Some sound essentials: Understanding the basic principles of the physics of sound, and their use in sound editing software

Tuning the ear: Critical listening and recording. Learn how to hear good quality recording and identify poor edits, through critical analysis of pre-recorded  radio and podcasts.
Tuning the voice: how to deliver a natural-sounding and engaging  scripted performance of a research topic.

Week 2: 21^st March 2-4pm.
Developing the ear: Editing and mixing. Learn how to focus listening to achieve the best possible edits, and how to mix together music, speech, field recordings.

Week 3: 28^th March 2-4pm. Using basic sound effects and audio processing: adding reverberation and delay, to extend the perceived environment of the narrative.

Improving sound quality tools: An introduction to de-noising, compressing and equalising the recorded sound.

Week 4: 4^th April 2-4pm. Summary, participants’ playback and discussion of a practical task.

 

Course Tutor: Dr. Jo Hutton is a radio and music BBC sound recordist and editor of twenty+ years’ experience, who completed her PhD at University of Surrey in a history of electroacoustic music technology.

 

Please register for this course on Inkpath. 

Please note that we are also planning to run a follow on course Developing Podcasts which would be suitable for students with basic knowledge of Reaper software and sound recording technology. It will focus on more detailed understanding of mixing and production facilities, and simple live music recordings. You can attend both courses. If you are unsure which course would be best for you to attend or for any other queries, please contact techne@rhul.ac.uk and we will put you in touch with Jo to give you further advice.