Akio Dāku

19 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Compared with some of the Podcasts I've had to endure over the last few months that is pretty slick. It helps that both the host and his choice of guests are both eloquent and have plenty of interesting things to say. From what I've seen on YouTube for equipment reviews and general bass lessons, I'm not so sure that the average bass player is anywhere near as interesting or articulate. It also helps that the conversation has been well recorded. There's nothing more distracting than poor quality audio where you're struggling to make out what the podcasters are saying or dreading next sentence full of "P"s or "S"s...

Ah fair enough, I think I'm just defining slickness with a different threshold but I totally agree with that. 

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

IME working with just speech requires a whole different set of skills and techniques to working with vocals for a song. 

With spoken work the most important thing to aim for is clarity and comprehensibility. Not necessarily something that most music producers are going to be worried about when they are capturing a "performance". And all those extraneous noises on the vocal track that disappear in the mix will be out there in all their unwanted glory for all to hear and get very irritated by if they occur with any great regularity.

I'm a freelance audio engineer on-top of my part-time day job, I'm not just a hobbyist, the last job I did was for the "The  8th Asian Awards" and I've done a tone of audio restoration work and production on different podcasts.  Plus I'm a fairly eloquent and charismatic fellow too on the sly, 😜🤣 so i'm up for putting a pilot together if folk are cool with that?   

Personally I think https://appear.in/ is the way to go for the first punt, it's like Skype or google hangouts but with less delay and better audio. That's if everyone's cool with me capturing all the audio at my end to minimize fuss for this first pop at it. If we want to go for better audio after then; we could use something like http://www.pamela.biz/ and everyone capture  audio at their ends and  we comp it afterwords but that means we'd have to use Skype. If no one objects to me kinda taking the rains for the pilot would you @SpondonBassed be up for co-hosting? We could do a few segments and then interview @Chownybass? Providing your still up for it Chowny?   

Then once its all recorded I'll do a rough edit and possibly pass it to you @project_c  to do a QC listen through to catch anything I've missed? Then if you'd pass it back to me I'll master the audio and bosh;  post it up here and see what folk reckon, get some feedback on if we should/how to proceed with it? If it get's "green lit" then figure out who's going to run the Libsyn and the admin side of things. 

What do folk think? I by no means wish to dictate what should happen to everyone, I want it to be BC's podcast not mine.     

7 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

I don't use Skype.

Why would you willingly introduce digital lag into a conversation?  I don't have distant relatives that I keep in touch with nor has it been a necessity anywhere that I have worked so it's a non-starter for me.

One of the reasons for not using mobile telephony as much as my service provider likes is lag.  I can not have a relaxed telephone conversation on a mobile the same way that I can on a landline to landline connection.  Even when the sound quality is less than crystal clear the timing of statement and response is more natural than so called "clean" digital audio.

I hate laggy audio and I absolutely will not buy into it.  Where it is provided for free it is difficult to tolerate too.

I have a pocket Zoom recorder.  Remote interviewing is not something I'd want to do.  I'd prefer a day out to visit with anyone who has interesting experiences to impart to the listeners.  I'm not up for the role of international correspondent as a consequence.

You just posted this after I'd typed up my previous gambit so for the record I'm up for traveling too if in-person would be a preference but it's definitely less doable if we'd like to make it regular. I'm in Manchester not sure where everyone else is?

1 hour ago, Sibob said:

Just as a fyi, as someone who purchases advertising in the media, i’d be thinking twice about doing so with an outlet that actively encourages skimmimg over it (which a time stamp does).

Si

To be fair that's a very good point, what would be your specifications if you were hypothetically to run an add? Just out of interest, I mean really I think me might be getting ahead of our selves just a bit first we need to figure out who's willing to contribute and what roles people will fill. My be we should do a "pilot" episode to test the theory before committing to anything to grandiose.   

36 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

[Devil's advocate mode ON]

I also think we need to ask what the purpose of it is. I doubt it will attract new members, or extend BC's reach.. especially if it's not on FB or YouTube, and audio-only (and therefore linear).

Would the content be better served in posts instead, where they'd get a wider audience and more interaction?

Or... is it literally just a nice thing to have? Not that that's a bad thing, but it'll be a decent amount of effort, for what...?

 

I think it could attract new members, it's like anything that has a community component, people like to be involved and I think folk underestimate the popularity of audio only podcasts. People don't really listen to podcast on FB or YouTube, you listen on RSS Apps or iTunes, that kind of thing. I just think that with the resource of people and the wealth knowledge on BC bringing that to a wider audience would be a really cool thing and a bit of a missed opportunity if it didn't happen. Honestly I can just say that it's something that I'd consume and I know there's a hole  in the market because it's something I've been looking for. Really though at this point I think the main motivation should be that it's a fun communal exercise. If it's not fun to make in the first place, why do it?  

20 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I see the point about the artificialness of a script, but depending on the format some podcasts could most definitely do with one. Especially this with just a single person. If you really don't want to have a script then be prepared to be ruthless at the edit stage. You'll need to lose all the hesitations and other irritating vocal ticks. Keep the dialogue or discussion fast moving and relevant.

If you are going to have sponsorship and/or advertising then IMO the content needs to be super-slick, otherwise as an advertiser I would wondering where my money went, and as a listener I would want to know why my favourite manufacturer is wasting their money on this rubbish instead of making their products cheaper.

I get exposed to lots of podcasts via my girlfriend who has a thing for supernatural and unexplained phenomenon, and therefore I get to hear the full range good bad and ugly. In this genre the standout podcast is "Lore". It's well researched, properly scripted and eloquently presented, and as a result the presenter/producer Aaron Mahnke now has his own video series on Amazon Prime.

What I don't want to hear in a podcast are the words: "I don't know". This has almost become a catch phrase of the podcast/vlog community. It's not a live broadcast and you have the whole of the internet at your fingertip to find out. So there is absolutely zero excuse for not knowing.

I'm still not 100% that it needs to be "Super-Slick", the most listened to and highest grossing podcast world wide is "The Joe Rogan Experience" and that's literally one guy speaking to a new interesting person each episode with no script, totally off the cuff with nothing edited, all awkward silences and all "Ums" and "Ers" kept in. It's real conversations with real people who are really interested in what they're discussing that's the key factor for me personally.      

I'm not sure on how to run this though, because... I mean; I'm happy being fairly heavily involved but I'm properly new round here and feel someone in a BC position of authority needs to make some kind of definitive call on whats to be before anything can be done really. @ped what are you thinking about all this so far?  

12 minutes ago, LegateNaarifin said:

As a yoof myself, I'd much prefer an audio only podcast, something to listen to while getting uni work done, without a video to distract from said work.

I think overall this is a really exciting idea 😀

I'm only 28 and I concur. 

34 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

A few things that every podcast/youtube producer should be aware of:

1. Use a script. And if the format is that of an informal discussion have someone who is in charge of the direction the discussion should be taking, and can get things back on track when it veers too far off topic. They should at least have a set of notes of all the main points that need to be covered during the podcast. And if it is just discussion, have guests who are reasonably eloquent. It doesn't matter how knowledgable you are on your subject if you can't convey that knowledge in a way that is interesting for others to listen to.

 

 

Personally I hate scripted stuff but I agree with talking points and having someone steering the ship.

36 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

2. Edit. Get rid of all of those ums and errs and awkward silences, and make sure the podcast moves along at an entertaining and informative rate. Lose the mumbling and rambling, and keep it snappy and to the point.

I agree with editing to a point but I think there's a fine line between a good edit and over editing, it still needs to be a natural conversation. Part of the charm of long form podcasts is the human aspect in my eyes and being too gung-ho with the editing just make it sound like over produced radio rather than a friendly podcast.

41 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

3. Get some decent mics for everyone so that they can be heard properly. Learn how to EQ for the spoken voice and consider recording each contributor to their own channel on a multi-track recorder so that each can be individually processed to make them as legible as possible without affecting the others.

I agree with good EQing and doing a multi track comp but I don't think you need to worry too much. Some of the most popular podcasts in the world consist of Skype interviews, where only the host has a half decent Mic and the individual being interviewed is speaking through the hands free Mic on their ear buds. 

46 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

4. If there is going to be video make sure that the people and their surroundings look presentable. Anything that distracts from the main content of the podcast/video is diluting the message or subject.

I think we're coming to a consensus audio only would be the way to go.  

47 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

5. Keep all the non-talky bits as short as possible unless they are an essential/integral part of the podcast. Intro music/titles? No more than 10 seconds max, 5 seconds would be better. If you can't say what you need in under 10 seconds you are saying too much. Especially stuff that is going to be repeated in every podcast. If you must have loads of credits etc. put them at the end. People will skip over them, but if it's all at the beginning listeners may not even bother listening.

I agree intro "stings" and what not should be kept short and sweet, and credits at the end, but I'd advice having any advertising/sponsorship up front. As a regular listener of podcasts (I listen to a good 5 hours of them a day, Monday to Friday, while at my day job.) that's the standard format and personally I prefer that then I'm aware of any affiliation before going in, plus you can just give a time stamp in the show notes so people can choose to skip over it if they wish. 

2 hour plus podcasts aren't for people with short attention spans from the offset, so attempting to cater for that audience will just alienate people who'd be dedicated listeners. long from podcasts are a group of "friends" you check in with once a week to have a one sided conversation with. The more polished the end product, the more formal you make the relationship between the creators and the audience and that really takes away from the charm of a podcast in my opinion.   

1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said:

I'd favour an audio version too but I think we have to consider the yoof.  An audio only podcast might not be engaging enough for younger minds.

Akio, I don't know if you had an AV presentation in mind or audio only.

Personally I think audio only is the way forward, Libsyn distributes podcasts to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Deezer and the like, and most podcasts are consumed on commutes or at work. I think the point with podcasts is as @ped says; 

29 minutes ago, ped said:

 it’s good to have on in the background. 

So in my eyes adding the extra layer of production time and effort that video would mean is totally unnecessary.

31 minutes ago, Sibob said:

My personal take on the format is thus:

A few, perhaps 4, different members each episode, who engage in conversation. Perhaps about some popular threads, or their story getting into bass, their gear etc. It obviously evolves from those basic points as it’s a conversation. 

I feel that format, perhaps over one hour, would be infinitely more interesting than just one person talking for x amount of time without answer.

Si

Agreed, I think it's the conversational component that makes podcasts engaging as a passive listener.

31 minutes ago, Chownybass said:

I'd happily come and talk about making basses

I'm not wild on the sound of my own voice... but I LOOOOVE my own opinions

See this is what I'm taking about, we have a wealth of knowledgeable people I'd love to listen too discussing everything from Luthiery, technique, theory, recording, composition, industry news, gear reviews and stuff. 

Sonicstate (a Synth/Pro-Audio web site/youtube channel) have a podcast I'm a fan of called "Sonic Talk"; https://sonicstate.com/sonictalk they stream it as a video too but I've explained my stance on that above, I just listen to it on my podcast app on my phone at work. Personally I love it and a Bass centric version of this is pretty much what I'm imagining.  

8 hours ago, ped said:

Interesting idea. Do we have any podcasters who would be willing to do a round up of the news and top arguments of the week?

19 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

For free?  I'd have to have an incentive.  Also, I've got a face made for radio so cam would not be something I'd do willingly.

I do support the notion however and would be happy to get involved in a BC team effort.

PS:  Previous experience was on BlogTV before it went worldwide and became commercial.

I like the team effort idea. I've done my own podcast on and off for a few years but it's more just an excuse to be self indulgent and catch up with friends abroad, but I guess I've got a skill set I could contribute. Even that's a lot of work for one person though. I think maybe coming up with a set format and having "section heads" if you will. So maybe 6 people who each record a 20min section or 4 people who do a half hour slot each... Or maybe 3 people running it, two people doing half hour editorial sections and one doing an hour interview? Then compile that into a 2hour cast, it could be fortnightly or monthly to take the pressure off? Just spit balling. 

5 hours ago, project_c said:

I like this idea, you could interview members, showcase their music, talk about the most interesting basses in the For Sale section, pick out the month’s most popular ‘off topic’ thread (like that one about the disposable butt-wipes for example) and chat about it. Doesn’t have to be too serious.

I like these as segment ideas, I think it could be pretty cool if we had a team on it. I'd be happy to conduct an interview or do a "members music" section and do the final comp of everything. We'd also need someone to do the administration side of things; type up shown notes, upload the thing and just generally run the libsyn.

Just wanted to float the idea because I think BassChat should have an affiliate podcast. The name is perfect for it and I'm missing a good bass podcast for when I'm at work. So I'm just going to share this link; https://www.libsyn.com and try to summon the people I think could make my dreams come true; @ped @Kiwi @Hamster @charic @Skol303 @Dad3353

Seriously though; I think it could be a pretty good income stream for the forum if set up properly, you know, with sponsorship and what not. I'd listen if you put one out a week.  

I quit a hardcore punk band I'd founded in my teens because it wasn't going anywhere, I just felt like people weren't pulling their weight etc... Now they're signed... Maybe I was the problem! 😂

Thunderbolt... 🤢... 🤮 BRING BACK FIREWIRE! SAFFIRE FOR LIFE!!! 😜

Not sure I follow, what's your rationale? Personally I feel there's something very American about them. 

34 minutes ago, bakerster135 said:

This is my recent attempt at a definitely Hooky-influenced bassline! 

I'm digging this man, very nice. 🙌

2 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

The layered vocals work a treat. Not sure if its a harmonizer or double tracking kind of thing but sounds good. 

Thanks @dmccombe7 😊 I have the harmony vocals coming off the backing tracks with the drums. Long story short I recorded my album then just used the drum and harmony vocal tracks for the live tracks. 

Thanks @BreadBin that's very lovely of you to say. 😊

I'm beaming now chaps, you've all made my day. 😁

Cheers for the feedback @SpondonBassed and thanks for taking the time to check it out. 😊 I'm glad my crude advertising methods worked haha. 😂

Just a friendly nudge in the direction of my latest performance video;

I play as a solo bassist with drums on backing tracks, so I get away with a lot of dusty end stuff. 

£138.93 https://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_pj_74ow_vintage.htm?o=8&search=1528554347

Just thought Veorra are amazing if you've not heard of them, they're kinda future bass/chill trap;

 Well worth a listen. 

I regularly use both and I think it's hard to argue a mechanical advantage is gained with either speed wise. Plus both are reliant on the the individuals technical facility; so I think the optimal position to be in, IMO, is to be able to execute any musical idea you have with any technique. Then you choose the techniques you implement based on the timbre they provide and not because of a limitation you have as a player.

Alright homes, good composition, sounds very old school roadrunner records to my ears, I dig it. Obviously it's a demo production wise but it's still mixed well and all the playing's nice and tight. I reckon once you've got an albums worth of material, it'd be well worth tracking it all with real drums and mic'd cabs in a good live room because the writings strong enough to warrant it. Overall very nicely done. 👏

Ready yourselves chaps for these are my jams;

In my opinion 3 of the best IDM albums ever produced. 

Couldn't of done it without you Dad 😋

Right here we go;

1 minute ago, Dad3353 said:

If it helps... 

My saviour! 🤣 

Man this is boss, very nicely done. I'm proper digging the grungy folk vibes. 👏 

Let me know what you reckon folks, I think this is better than my last one but It's still irks me that my vocals are pitchy in places. I suppose I'm making progress though so I should chuffed about that. 😊 

Oh FFS, just realised the renders missing hats... Give me a min. 

Oh I like this one! It's already given me some cool lyric Ideas; "I've got 9 lives, 9 chances to die, 8 to waste and 1 to say goodbye." that might have to be the chorus hook but I'm not sure... I also quite like;  "Look out in the blackout, chaos is order when mapped out, full bore call it flat out, so breath deep before you lash out." not sure though, I'll get on it this weekend and see what happens.