Two Three-Week Podcast Courses

A course on key aspects of working with sound in podcasting and audio storytelling. In three 90-minute virtual sessions, we’ll work on techniques for recording and editing more compelling audio interviews. And we’ll delve into basic — but powerful — audio production moves that can help the stories in your raw audio to emerge. Open to all levels of experience.

Our class meetings will include workshop time in duos or small groups, via breakout rooms. Assignments to be done outside of class time may be used as workshop material during our second and third classes.

Week 1: Listening as a Producer

Many of the most powerful “production” techniques come into play before any software gets involved. So we’ll focus first on approaches that lead to better sounding interview recordings. Things like …

• Beyond Q & A — how to prep for an audio interview
• Basic mic techniques for full, clean “on mic” sound
• How to interact with guests — and with gear — so that your recorded conversations sound more natural, alive and compelling
• Listening for, and encouraging guests to deliver, good incues and outcues.

Week 2: Cutting the Story

Class members bring in short interviews recorded using techniques from our first class. We’ll workshop these interviews in small groups and focus on approaches to editing and structuring some of this audio effectively. Where is the story? We’ll return to the full group for live demos of powerful but basic techniques for cutting audio with production software.

Week 3: The Rhythm of Narrative

In our third session, we’ll apply techniques demonstrated in the second class to your own audio and explore ways these production techniques can be used to build and shape audio stories. We’ll work on combining this emerging audio with narrative — scripted or unscripted — seeking ways to bring listeners along on the journey that is an audio story.

For anyone who wants to explore the potential of podcasting and audio storytelling, it can be helpful (and inspiring!) to have your own recorder kit. This includes:

• A flash recorder, the right cables and recording media
• A good interview mic (sometimes a recorder’s built-in mics will work fine)
• A decent pair of headphones

Working with good kit quickly builds audio skills, enabling you to “hear” things better, from a producer’s perspective. Today the cost of quality gear seems lower than it ever has been. But it remains an investment, and having your own recording kit is not a class requirement. It’s possible to get a lot out of this class working with the recording app on a mobile phone.

Similarly, anyone who feels the pull of making audio stories will want to get across the fundamentals of audio production. There are a wide range of software tools for this; some are simpler, others more elaborate. Some modestly priced programs are surprisingly powerful, while others can be limiting and require more of your own time. Often though, it comes down to which program matches the way your mind works — what seems intuitive to one audio producer may feel awkward to another. In this class, production demos will focus on techniques that are part of the “grammar” of audio storytelling in general — techniques that apply regardless which software you may be using.

We’ll hone in on elemental yet powerful techniques of editing and mixing audio — and start working with sound design to craft stories in sound.

This course of three 90-minute virtual sessions is ideal for those with some previous experience working with sound in an audio editing program — though this is not a pre-requisite. Live demos will be done in Pro Tools, but the focus here will be on learning core techniques and “audio grammar” that applies regardless of the particular sound editing platforms you use.

Our class meetings will include workshop time in duos or small groups, via breakout rooms. Assignments to be done outside of class time will be used in class as workshop material.

Week 1: Editing Voices for What Comes Next

We’ll start with a pre-recorded interview and work on key techniques of effectively editing a recorded voice. Then we’ll refine and deepen our approach: How can we edit with an ear for what these actualities might combine with later? As we edit voices, how do we listen for and identify opportunities to mix them with music or natural sound — or with other voices?

Week 2: Working With Elements of a Sound-Rich Story

For our second session, course participants will bring in a short piece of audio they’ve recorded on location in a “real world” setting. We’ll workshop some of this audio in class, focusing on the roles that ambient sound can play. How can it help establish a sense of place? Or a sense of momentum? Or support a moment of reflection?

Week 3: Creating Scenes And Structure With Sound Design

In our third class, we’ll focus on techniques of working with music and natural sound in our productions — and the role of sound design in creating the structure and feel of our work. We’ll workshop techniques that creates scenes and structure, and ask: What should listeners hear first? How do we think about using music? How can music or field sound create a change of scene? And, in a noisy world where many are tempted to make things louder and more complex, what is the role of simplicity, and silence?

David Schulman is an internationally recognized audio producer, musician and talent coach — he loves to help people creatively tell stories in sound.

Creator and executive producer of the influential NPR series “Musicians in their Own Words,” David’s awards include the MUSE Gold Award for podcast and Special Mention at the 2021 Prix Italia — the leading international radio competition — for “Alone with J.S. Bach,” heard on Australia’s ABC RN.

David created and teaches the podcasting course at Georgetown University and has produced programs for BBC, NPR, PRX, SLATE, MSNBC and CNN.

“David helped launch our CNN Audio podcast “The Assignment.” … He mentored some of our producers in the process and established workflows that helped us deliver a supremely polished show. I am in his debt and you will love working with him.”
— Audie Cornish, CNN anchor and former host of NPR’s All Things Considered