Best budget laptop for podcasting

It is better not to record on the built-in microphone from your best budget laptop for podcasting, they pick up echoes and noises. The recording will turn out to be of poor quality, it will be difficult for you to mount it.

It is important that you and your interlocutor wear headphones and hear each other's voices in them. Then only you will be heard on the recording of your microphone, and the interlocutor will also be able to hear it. The recording will turn out better, and it will be more convenient to mount.

What recording software to use

I recommend using Audacity, a free audio editor available for Windows and Mac.

Checklist for high quality recording

turn off all sound notifications on your phone and laptop,

arrange with your family so that they do not make noise,

ask dogs and cats to sit in the next room,

close the windows, turn off the refrigerator if you are recording in the kitchen,

remove bracelets, long earrings, collect hair in a ponytail - remove everything that can rustle and creak on the recording,

try to refrain from sweets before and during recording, otherwise you will "click" when recording.

Creating a podcast using your laptop

I will describe the process of creating a podcast for both myself and a business. I will analyze the main technical points: equipment selection, recording, editing. I'll tell you how to choose a hosting, publish a show on the main podcast sites, interpret statistics, promote a podcast and make money on it.

I consider a podcast to be any content in which audio plays a major role. It is important that such materials can be listened to at any time. This is how they differ from the radio: you can choose an interesting show and turn it on when it's convenient.

Podcasts are different. From conversations with animals and objects ("Everything is alive"), to narrowly focused podcasts. There are entertainment, news, narrative, educational, investigative podcasts.

Podcasts are listened to in public transport, while driving, while walking the dog or washing dishes. This is called parallel consumption - listening to a podcast can be combined with another task. In this they differ, for example, from video blogs, which are difficult to watch at the same time as some other activity.

How to edit a podcast

During editing, you connect the resulting tracks, remove all unnecessary, add musical interruptions, make semantic editing. During editing, you can fix a lot and make it better to reveal the idea.

In narrative podcasts, editing is a dramatic tool. With it, you can better tell a story, focus on emotions, add atmospheric sounds. This will help the listener to immerse themselves in the story.

You can also improve the sound and make your podcast a pleasure to listen to. But remember that 80% of good sound is a quality recording.

Basic editing assumes that you remove the silence from those tracks where no one is talking at a particular moment in time. That is, only one voice should sound at a time. In places where two or more people speak, for example, someone laughs, or someone interrupts someone, all tracks remain.

In what program to create podcast

Editors differ in interface, price and sometimes features. But this is usually true for writing and mixing music; anyone can do it for editing a regular podcast. Try different ones and decide what you like best.

Here are a few programs to look out for:

Audacity. Windows, Mac, free

Installation in this program is not the most convenient.

Pros: free, available on all platforms, has cool built-in plugins, such as noise reduction.

Cons: outdated design and poorly thought out interface.

Garage band. Mac, free

Native Apple app, free to install through the AppStore.

Pros: convenient editor, there are many built-in plugins. Nice interface.

Cons: the program is designed for writing music, so working with speech in it is inconvenient.

Adobe Audition Mac Win. 1352₽ per month by subscription

A good program for working with sound from Adobe.

Pros: there are many tools for work, a convenient interface for working with markers and notes, there is everything you need.

Cons: paid.

Reaper. Windows, Mac. Conditionally free. Lifetime license $60.

This editor has everything, and everything can be customized.

Pros: convenient work with speech, you can set up hotkeys so that it is convenient to edit podcasts, a lot of plugins.

Cons: not the most pleasant design, excessive overload of settings.

Ableton Live. Windows, Mac. From $100, there's a 90-day free trial.

Initially, this is a program for writing music. We use it in the studio.

Pros: easy to work with speech, beautiful design and thoughtful interface.

Cons: at first glance it looks complicated, high cost, heavily tuned to the music.