#67 Part 1: The Foundation of Sound Quality & First Impressions

the beginning of the show, like first have some of the show and then have the musical
introduction.
It might be five or 10 seconds or maybe even one minute of the show. Something catchy,
something that engages your audience, something that's interesting. And then have the
introduction.
In fact, Roy, that's what's done on most TV shows these days. So if you go back like 30, 40
years ago, and a lot of shows on TV had long introductions, full theme songs, jingles. You
could sing along with the jingles.
They were like, they were mini songs. And I still remember a bunch of those things. Every
once in a while, I walk around the house singing, something pops in my head from like 30
years ago.
But people don't have time for that anymore. And over the years, the introductions on TV
shows have gotten shorter and shorter and shorter. And then going back as much as maybe
five or 10 years ago, I started seeing TV shows not have the jingle upfront.
Instead, they would have a bit of the show that catches your attention. One scene of the TV
show that's really grabbing and then you're hooked. And then they have the show the little
jingle and then it's like 10 seconds long.
Think about your listeners. Have music that is good. Have it EQ'd well.
Have it at the right time. Have it at the right level. Sometimes the music is so loud, it's too
loud compared to the voices.
Sometimes it's so low, you can barely hear it. Some people keep the music playing in the
background, but it becomes very distracting after a while. Think about this stuff from the
listener's perspective.
Also, if you fade music up or down around voices, around people speaking, make it a
smooth fade up and a smooth fade down. I hear podcasts where the music just like
suddenly drops like 20 decibels or 30 decibels. It sounds terrible.
It sounds unprofessional. And the public may not be able to know what sounds bad, but
they know something sounds bad. Just like the low quality TV ad I talked about earlier.
I think if you ask most people to watch a low quality ad on TV, if you say to them, what is
off, why do you know it's low quality? I'm not sure if they can necessarily pinpoint it. They'll
say, yeah, something's just not right. People know.
We're used to hearing good quality because there is good quality out there. We can
compare it. So if you don't have good quality, people know it consciously or subconsciously.
So if you mix in music, give a smooth fade up and a smooth fade down, do it right. Yeah, I've
evolved over the years with music. I started to watch all the analytics and I was like, you see
people are skipping and I made the mistake at one stage.
I had a guy that done a beatbox from a Polish one and I just thought it was cool. Like, you
know, he was 16. He was on the speaking podcast and I just thought, yeah, this is good.
And eventually I thought, nah, I don't really like this. And that was that for a few years. And I
took it out.
There was about 20 people wrote to me. Thanks for removing that. You know.
Wow. Yeah. So, and what I've noticed is what you've mentioned there is very important.
It's people are taking a snippet and putting it at the start and then they might have the jig or
then they just go into their usual kind of routine. But the people that I've had on that do
that, they've said that they've got an improvement in their listeners and everything. Because
it is, because obviously when you've got followers that are coming back, but when you've
new people, you were judged, like you said it earlier, a few seconds and you're judged.
And it's like, so if someone comes in and you just talk about something, grabs their
attention, and then that could be enough that they'll listen and then become a fan. So with
the, you know, the studio, like I listen to, well, not as much now, but Joe Rogan and Patrick,
but David is one that I think is very good. I listen to him a lot.
They all wear the earphones and the thing, but Diary of the CEO doesn't. And the one that, if
I'm not sure if you're a fan of Patrick Bidet, but he done one, I think it's in Italy, he was
talking to two mafia guys and they didn't have the, and you could hear the difference in the
sound quality. It was like, dropped a lot.
With, you know, you mentioned you can have up to 20 people. Do people wear the
earphones? And what's the difference? Yeah, we, well, it depends. Some people like
headphones, some don't.
Some people like to wear headphones, like you have on with one ear on and one ear off, so
they can hear their own voice. It depends on the person. I'm not wearing headphones right
now.
I've spent a long time making sure that there's no feedback where I am. My microphone is
smack centered between my speakers that are right in front of me. It's like we are, sorry, I
hit the mic.
I hope that wasn't loud. There's like a, this triangular shape from my mic to the speaker. So I
don't have any phasing issues, but that took a while to figure out.
If you, if you don't wear headphones, you can get that sound coming back onto the
microphone. And that sometimes works against you. Yeah, I just, you have to figure this
stuff out on your own.
It depends on listening preferences. A lot of people, oh, a lot of people like earbuds now.
Like it's, they're in your ear.
And so no one sees them. And it looks like you're more free and you're not clumped up on
headphones. But headphones have a certain prestige about them.
Like your headphones, like it looks official because you have headphones on. So there's a
good look to the headphones, but some people, oh, it depends on the length of the podcast.
Also, if you can wear headphones all day long or for an hour at a time, it's a personal
preference.
It really is. But figure out what works best for you or work with someone like a coach, like
myself or you, right? Work with someone who knows and can guide you. It makes a big
difference.
If you are going to invest in a podcast and try to promote yourself, if you're not 100% sure
you're doing it right, get like quality judgment. That's super important. Like you mentioned
the duration for wearing.
I know there's some things we've done lives that lasted over two hours and then you could
be chatting to like eight hearts after a while and you'd even see some gamers, they've been
intent in their head because they're wearing things for like, you know, probably 10 hours a
day. Regarding the earbuds, there's two things on that. One, I've seen situations where they
didn't charge them, which isn't great because you're halfway through and there's like, oh,
it's not working.
I have to change. And it kind of is the more editing and everything. But the other thing is
they're not healthy either because the frequency, it goes from one ear to the other.
So maybe if you wear one, it might be all right, but people aren't aware of that as well. So
you have to kind of look at your health as well with this, hence why I always have a lead.
And even if I'm at the gym or whatever, I always have a lead with the things that I don't use
the buds.
And I did buy them, but when I found out about the dangers of them, I didn't, I stopped
using them. Yep. And if you wear the buds, don't use the microphone that is built into them.
It doesn't sound as good. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Get a real microphone, everyone. Like I said earlier, they're so inexpensive and easy.
And the USB is great. You know, USB doesn't sound as good as a non-USB microphone. They
really don't.
I feel like this is 90 or 95% as good. It's not 100% the same quality, but it's so close that it
totally works for me. It's like, you don't have to drive a Ferrari everywhere you go.
You could be okay in a Honda or a Toyota. You don't always need that ultimate quality. If we
are recording a national commercial, yeah, we won't necessarily use this microphone, but
for podcasts and for tutorials on video and things like that, this is great.
Absolutely great. Like my son's on audiobooks, I mentioned earlier. Totally fine.
I've done one video with a guy that we used to show us together. So he done one on the
mixer in explaining how to use the mixer and the connections and everything. But even
when I'm kind of talking to people starting everything, it's like, if they're not technical, it's an
easy way of just plugging this in.
Because I've had a few cases where people had all the bells and whistles and something
goes wrong and they're just like, I don't know. It's like, you know, it's an extra lead and an
extra connection and there's some digits. And sometimes the child might just come in and
start playing, turning the digits and they haven't a clue, because if they don't understand
how to use it.
So there's times that... So like with the mixers then, because obviously it's like mics, there's
a lot of them. Is there a way that for those that are considering getting a mixer, how they
could actually decide which is a better one rather than getting caught? Because sometimes
people are buying on stuff on Timu or Alibaba, AliExpress kind of thing. And then they get
something and it's complete crap.
So how do they navigate that? Yeah, well, so when you talk about a mixer, do you mean a
physical mixer or software? Software. You know, yeah, the box for liquid. Okay.
I would try them out. You try to download a free version and maybe you get a free week or
something and test them out. This is what I've told people over the years.
They all, for the most part, they all do the same thing. But just sometimes one feels more
comfortable. It is like driving a car.
You could test drive 10 cars and they all do the same thing, but one just feels better. I mean,
certainly some cars go faster and some get better mileage, but the way they feel inside,
sometimes the car just feels good to you. And sometimes it's like that with a mixer.
It just, it's intuitive for you. The way things are set up. There are, I don't know, these days
there are so many programs out there for recording podcasts.
If you purchase a software, if you download something, get something that is popular
because then there are probably user groups out there who can answer questions and there
are probably YouTube videos on how to figure it out. If I record at home for my sons, their
audio books, I use Audacity. Okay.
Now in our studios, we're all Pro Tools. Actually, one room is Logic, four rooms are Pro
Tools. At home, I use Audacity.
It's a free program. It's great for my kids. It's great for at home.
And it's super popular. Every once in a while, someone asks me a question like, can I do
something on Audacity? I don't know everything about Audacity. I mean, I certainly know a
lot, but I'll just look it up and there's a YouTube video on it, a thousand YouTube videos on
it.
So when you go with something that's popular, it's easy to figure out what you don't know.
It's easy to... Someone out there probably has recorded and talks about it on YouTube. So
go with something popular.
That's, I think, the most important thing. And with hardware again, and even, you know,
when you've got the ones with all the buttons, because sometimes people, whether they're
doing it live or recording and they've got the clapping sound and just all bells and whistles
kind of thing. Does that work or is it actually hard? You know, sometimes people, they're
pressing all these different buttons, but if you're listening on good quality mics, how does
that affect your listeners? I didn't understand the question asked again.
And it also reminded me to talk about mouth clicks, which I want to talk about. You know,
the way sometimes people, they've got the device and they press all the different buttons
and, you know, sometimes like the clapping sound or the cheering sound and all this. And
sometimes they're doing live and I just curious, like, because sometimes they'll do it live, but
then later they'll upload it to their podcasting platform.
And I'm just wondering, like, does that actually help? Are you talking about sound effects,
like adding sound effects? Yeah, yeah. I think it depends on your demographic. Certainly, I
think there's a place for them.
I think if they're overused, they probably become annoying to your listeners. You know,
there's, yeah, the clapping is a big one. There's a horn sound that's used very often.
It goes like a, it's kind of, I hear a lot of podcasters use that. I don't think I'm doing a good
job imitating it, but it's very popular. And yeah, I don't know.
It adds, what I would say is this, for a moment, it alerts the listener. It wakes them up. It's
something different.
So it may be from an energy standpoint, it's good. But if you overuse something, it probably
is too much for the listener. But like I said, ultimately, it depends on the demographic.
I think it depends on your energy also. You know, what works for you? What works for one
person doesn't necessarily work for the next person. And I do want to talk about mouth
clicks also.
Mouth noise in general, if you don't know what I'm talking about. I mean, clicks you get
from your mouth that you probably aren't aware of, but you probably have them. Almost
everyone has mouth clicks when they speak, just from their mouth opening.
You and I are talking through Zoom, and Zoom does a good job of eliminating the mouth
clicks. So I can try to demonstrate it, but you may not hear it, but they sound like a click
sound. Can you hear that? I heard the first one, but then it obviously... It cut it out, yeah.
So then it looks funny with my mouth going like that, and you don't hear any noise. The
mouth clicks can be really annoying. And Zoom gets rid of them, but the recording programs
don't, unless you turn on the processor that gets rid of them.
Some people have really clicky mouths, from dentures, from dry mouth, from wet mouth, all
different kinds of things. And the clicks, you may not be aware of, you may not notice them
because they're part of your voice, you're used to hearing them. But when you have a very
clicky mouth, it is disgusting to the listener.
Because you have these clicks from your mouth being too wet, for example, and then
someone has their headphones on, you are two inches from their mouth, it's like you're
clicking in their ears. It's nasty. So there are programs that get rid of clicks.
They're called declickers, and it's software you can get. It's not expensive, and the software
works pretty well. However, I would first try to eliminate the clicks on your own, because
you can't always rely on the software.
More on that in a moment. Try to get rid of the clicks on your own, meaning go to your local
pharmacy and buy a product that gets rid of clicks. There are products sold typically in the
same aisle that sells dentures and things.
There are different kinds of sprays you can purchase. Some sprays are there to lubricate
your mouth, because some people have a very dry mouth, so they get clicks. And then some
people have very wet mouths, extra saliva.
It gets nasty, but it's the truth. So there are these products you can buy that help dry out the
mouth. I've heard over the years, all different kinds of people talk about all different
remedies for getting rid of clicks.
Some people say eat bread before recording, because bread soaks up all the extra saliva in
your mouth. I've heard people say eat green apples. Evidently, there's some type of acid in
green apples that helps dry out the mouth.
If you have dry mouth, there's a product called bottled spit, which is really disgusting
sounding. It's sold for people with dentures who need extra lubrication in their mouth.
Whatever it is, you should listen very carefully to your recording on headphones, on good
quality headphones, with noise cancellation off.
So you hear the raw audio and see if you have mouth clicks, lots of mouth clicks. And if you
do, do something about it. So sometimes people have like a very dry throat and their throat
hurts.
So they take a cough drop before they go onto a podcast. A really good cough drop does a
very good job of coating your throat. And that sounds like it'd be a good thing.
But then when it coats your throat, you get more clicks because your throat is all clammy.
So if you need a cough drop before recording, sometimes a cheap cough drop that doesn't
work as well is the better remedy. You should experiment with all of this stuff and listen
back very carefully to your track and see if you have mouth clicks or not.
If you still have mouth clicks, I mentioned there is software that you can get. You can't rely
on the software because it doesn't always work. It usually works pretty well.
Sometimes it works amazingly well. Sometimes it turns off or remove sounds that you want
to keep. So for example, a word that has a T in it, the letter T, the T can be seen as a click
from the... Or a CK sound can be seen as a click from the de-clicking software.
So when you apply the de-clicking software, sometimes it gets rid of sounds you want. So
listen back carefully, make sure that it's okay before you run with it. With the Zoom again,
all the enhancements that stop a lot of these different things, because I'm in a business
group and the guy has created a soundtrack and then he was trying to play it and it was
blocking it out and everything.
What are the disadvantages of having something like that? What are you losing out on when
Zoom is using their technology to so-called improve the sound? Yeah, well, I'm on a
version... There's a... There's a... Let me think of the word. A setting in Zoom in everyone's
Zoom software that is for... It's called for musicians and I have that turned on. That means
that it lets audio come through without the cancellation... Without the cancellation of noise.
I will hear your noise. It doesn't stop it from going your direction, but it stops. But rather, it
allows me to hear your noise.
So I hear your raw audio and I like to hear raw audio. I don't want anything to be canceled
out from what I hear. So what's the problems? Yeah, like you said, it stops noise or sound
from coming through.
It's good sometimes because I might be Zooming with someone and there's a fire truck
outside and I hear it going down the street and it's really loud. And I want to say to people,
oh, let me... Should I stop while that siren is going by? You know, it's really loud and they say
they don't hear it. And I think it's amazing.
Like it's so loud where I am, yet they don't hear it. It's amazing. Zoom does a really good job
of being able to cut out the noise.
So that's a good thing. So it gives a cleaner recording. At the same time, yeah, if you're in a
group and they want to play music, it may not work.
So that's when the person should use the Zoom setting to share audio. You can share
screens in Zoom. You can share sound on Zoom.
You can share both on Zoom and you get to pick which, you know, if you want both or just
one. So let that person know that he or she can go to Zoom settings and share sound. And
then the sound that they play will come through.
If it's from their computer, it will come through. If it's not from their computer, then
everyone needs to turn on that music, that music setting. Let me see what it's called.
While we're speaking, I can look it up. It's in your audio controls. I've just gone to audio
settings.
It's in audio profile. There's a button called original sound for musicians. Now, Zoom
changes the name of these things sometimes.
So by next month, maybe it's called something else. But it's in a section of your Zoom
settings called audio profile. And I have selected original sound for musicians.
And when you click that, you have three separate options. I have the one set for high
fidelity. It's high fidelity music mode.
So it's letting everything come through. Oh, there's a description here. It says, optimize
Zoom audio for highest quality music.
It can, oh, it can increase your CPU utilization for, and consume, see, this is where I need my
glasses. Hang on, now you get the glare. It can increase CPU utilization and consume greater
network bandwidth for best results.
An Ethernet connection, not Wi-Fi is strongly recommended. So it's the best audio, but it
uses more bandwidth. But that's fine for where I am.
I have good, I have good, very good bandwidth. So that's part of your audio profile. Yeah,
I've a fire station near me.
And what happens is they have like for people that are volunteers, they have a siren. And it
sounds like something you'd hear during the war and all war kind. And I was always,
because you just never know when it's going on.
And one day prior to recording, I go, oh, that's going on. And they were like, I can't hear it.
And I was like, I was convinced that they hear.
And then I was like, I just left it in one day. And like, not when I listened back, because I
knew where it was, nothing. It's incredible that I can do that.
Yeah, yeah, it really is. It's remarkable. The software is, all the technology is fascinating.
It really is. I started when I began recording music. We didn't even have a button that said
undo.
Like that's the best thing in technology ever. The undo button. We used to work.
OK, so I'd be working on major bands, like I mentioned, top bands, things I still hear on the
radio, on the radio and bands. We'd spend six months, eight months on on a recording. And
it'd be on these massive tapes.
There were these like 20 pound reels of tape. They're like two inches thick and they're really
big. And and all that work went into this one reel of tape.
And I used to carry it from one like one song to another song and which which song we were
working on. And I would think, my goodness, if I drop this tape. Six months of work is gone.
It's not only six months of work. It's six months of work from a whole group of people who
would be really, really mad. Like if I ruined it.
And it was nerve wracking. It was it was so scary changing reels of tape that it made me
more nervous. And I shook more because I was even more nervous, which made me more
likely to drop it, honestly.
And I never did. However, the day that digital recording came out and we had the undo
button, it was like the best thing ever. Oh, my goodness.
I should have had a heart attack back then. Now I will never have a heart attack. It's it's
great.
The technology is really outstanding. To be able to make backups and try things. And if it
doesn't work, you try it again and try it differently.
And now it's really fun. We could take a voice and turn it inside out, make a man sound like
a woman, whatever. I mean, it's amazing how we can manipulate audio.
What Zoom does is fascinating by getting rid of background noise. It's all cool stuff. And
there's a lot of different platforms that people are using.
You know, some people are using the Google Meet for podcasting. Then the streamer does.
There's so many different rates on this.
What have you noticed? Kind of sound ways, which ones kind of aren't great or have you
seen pros and cons with different ones? Yeah, I have my own personal feelings on some of
them. I don't know if I want to share them publicly because some of them are my clients.
But there are certain platforms that for me were great.
And there's a couple of programs that I just I hate working on. I won't say hate. It's not a
nice word to say, but I just if I'm called into a podcast or a Zoom meeting or something, but
it was not a Zoom meeting, but it's like another platform.
There are a couple that I think. There's one program that I've learned that if I have been on
a Zoom call and then I switch over to this other platform, I have to go back into Zoom a
second time and sign out. I have to sign out twice.
For my microphone to work on the other platform, I don't understand it. I don't know if I
ever will understand it. But after so many times, I realized that common denominator, like I
have to like double sign out.
It's like something happens the second time I sign out of Zoom that really disconnects my
microphone and then I can use the microphone. Then my microphone is free for the other
application. I don't know.
I say we can't. I've had that with cameras unless your camera is in use. And I'm like, yeah,
but it's not.
Exactly. Then I'm thinking, is there someone scamming me that they have to tap it into my
thing and you're doing all the software checks and security and everything. But yeah, I think
it's, yeah.
But it's frustrating actually when you have to make all these different things and some of
them you have to kind of upload them. You know, it's currently uploading and when they're
doing that, then like you could freeze. And then I don't know how you're reacting because
there's times that somebody might just be inquisitive looking or something and, you know,
you just have to clarify it or something.
And you don't see it because it's blur. And other times people say, don't close it now when
we're finished because it has to upload it. Sometimes it's straight away.
There's other times it's like an hour and it's still uploading. You're going, what's going on
here? So I don't like software like that. And I know a lot of people are saying, oh, this way,
you know, it has so many bells and whistles and it does all the like similar to Opus Clips and
things like that included in it.
But what I have found is that the Zoom has never let me down. StreamYard has let me down
a few times and other things, but this hasn't. So that's why I tend to stick with that one.
Yeah. Yeah, we in our office, we use Zoom a lot. We even have a cool business thing of
Zoom.
The Zoom, I guess to say it this way, Zoom has like at least two different applications. They
have the Zoom that everyone uses in the world, I feel like, for connecting through a meeting
like we are. And they also have this, I think they call it the workplace or the workspace kind
of business meeting or business.
It's like a, how do I explain it? It simulates an office, really. It's all of our phones are through
Zoom. We have inner or texting our inner office, inter-office texting is through Zoom.
It's like a separate Zoom platform that we use in our office that I think I found out that lots
of companies use. And it's great for us. So and it can connect into our regular meeting Zoom
like that you and I are on right now.
So yeah, Zoom has been good for us. And I know people knock Zoom all the time because
they update their software sometimes. And sometimes I go to hit a button that used to be
there, but now it's over there and stuff.
You know, I have to find things, but you know, I don't know. Hopefully it always gets better.
All this stuff.
I think most platforms do that. They just, you know, the developer has to justify his job. So
sometimes they do things like that.
Yeah, I've been on calls sometimes like where I'm on Zoom at one meeting and then I switch
over to another meeting. And all of a sudden the controls are in different places. And I
realized, oh, I guess there was just an update or something.
Like while I was on Zoom, there was an update is funny. The key thing I just want to
reiterate for people. If you are out there and you are putting out your podcasts or for that
matter, YouTube videos, social media videos, tutorials, seminars, anything you're doing with
sound or audio, a sound or a video, make sure you do it really well.
Don't do a lousy job. It is not worth it. It's so inexpensive and so easy to do a good job these
days.
There's no, I truly believe there's no excuse to not do it right. And studies prove that people
don't follow you if you don't do it right. So do it right or don't do it.
No, excellent, no. Listen, David, thoroughly enjoyed this. You might let, and we're, this is
one of five that we're going to do.
We might do some more later on. So you might let the listeners know where they can find
you. Oh yeah, you could, I'll give you my email address.
And I did not mean to close up the conversation there, by the way. I realized we came
across that way. It just, it's just, I wanted to reiterate.
It's so important because we're talking about all of the software and it's fun to experiment
with different software, but make sure whatever you stick with, you know it inside and out
and make sure it works for you, for your application. My email address is David at
EdgeStudio.com. Again, David at EdgeStudio.com. And I am super responsive on email. So if
you email me, reference this, and I'll get right back to you.
As well as the website in the show notes below. I look forward to our next conversation,
David, thank you very much. Yeah, my pleasure.
So our conversations upcoming are on, one is on speaking for podcasts, like different ways
to use your voice on podcasts. We have one on setting up, how to set up your guests for
podcasts, like how to coach, one of the topics I want to talk about, I think is how to set up
your, how to make sure your guests will support your show in the best way possible. Like
how to basically train your guests so they don't ruin your podcast.
You never want your guests to weaken your podcast. You want them to enhance it. So that's
one of the upcoming episodes.
So yeah, I look forward to them. All right, thanks. And thank you so much for having me on.
No problem, thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, so did I, thank you. Well, that's all for the
Podfather.
You'll find other episodes on the Podfather, not me. Then you'll find everything about me.
Scan the QR code, go to roycoughlan.com. If you're looking for virtual assistants, go to va.org. Until
next week, take care.