Transcript:
Introduction
Hey Misbah, and I wanted to share a quick tool if you have been wondering, Hey, what’s the kit that I need if I’m gonna be doing a podcast while I’m traveling? This is something that I thought about when I was kind of on the moon doing an internship in San Diego.
Traveled to Australia and wanted to book a couple interviews while I
was there, and I needed everything to fit in my backpack and not take up all the room in my backpack, cuz I, everything else need to fit in there too. This is particularly useful if you are doing an audio only show, which I am a big fan of.
Smartphones
But if you are doing video, the best thing that I can recommend is using your mobile phones or having the most up-to-date mobile phone that you can have.
I mean, I have an iPhone 12 mini right now, and I’m sure the iPhone 15 is coming out this year. This works perfectly. This is what I’m using to record this. Even right now, it’s the most accessible when you’re on the go, so having a tripod of some sort, a desk stand tripod if you need, can be helpful. I like to use the Gorilla Pod.
I’ll link that thingy in the description, but basically, That is a pretty good table stand. I have another tripod recommendation, which is UV size. That’s a very nice stable one that can go up pretty high if you need, and it can fit in a backpack. It comes down pretty short as well. So tripod is pretty useful if you’re gonna have a camera or added element in that way.
But again, I think adding the camera, of course, there’s just a little bit more barrier to recording when you’re doing it that way. The next thing that you’re gonna need is your audio, right? This is the main. Meat of it. You need your audio to be good and we can tolerate bad video, but audio, we need to be as strong as possible.
2. Microphone
So you’re gonna need a microphone, right? So whether you have the nicest Shure SM7B, or you have, you know, handheld nice, Shure SM48 that’s like a $40 microphone. Easy to hold in your hands. You can buy multiple of them if you need. Let’s say you’re gonna be doing guest episodes, right? Or mostly.
Solo if you want, and you need something to record into. So most cases you would be able to do this into your laptop, right recording into Riverside, into Adobe Audition if you wanted recording into a script. But because you are doing an in-person show, let’s say you’re on the go, you’re gonna need.
3. Portable Recorder
The Zoom H6 or a version, some type of a recorder.
You’ve probably seen the big boxy things with a bunch of knobs on it. You could definitely have that as well. I think this is pretty efficient. I honestly bought this seven, eight years ago when I first started podcasting and needed this for the first time, and I spent like, I think it’s 350 bucks and it’s still working perfectly to this day, and I use it now.
The thing that you’re gonna need with your microphone is A X L R cable, which is just like this thingy right here. It’s gonna plug right in there, and then for your guest, if you have one, you can have up to four that plug right in there and everybody gets their own individual track. So I found that to be the most accessible because all you need is one or two microphones you need.
This Zoom H6 recorder, which is like, you know, fits in the palm of your hand, and then you need a tripod. And your mobile phone, if you wanna have like a backup recording, maybe you wanna make some clips out of it, you want it just in case to document the experience. That’s really the simple version of what I would take with you on the go.
The Zoom H6 is pretty, pretty simple to maneuver, where if you really didn’t have a microphone on hand and you want it, you know it comes with its own little microphone. It’s not amazing, but you could put it in the center and you could speak directly into it. I’ve actually done that at like, You know, live shows and things like that where you put it in the audience and it picks up audience sound.
So it’s pretty cool for that. But really you can control the gain with these knobs here and get it pretty precise when you turn it on. Cuz I’ll, it’s kind of dusty, so I haven’t done at traveling or in-person show in a little while. But basically, you know, when you’ve got everything plugged in, you can see each individual tracks, you know, meters going up or down.
And the thing that I like with this over, I use a task cam, Dr 10 L, which is a loud mic and it records directly into its own little recorder. The only downside with that is that you can’t play back and really hear it unless you have the wired headphones. So with this, the thing that I like is there’s somewhat of a speaker here where if I really quickly wanted to play back and hear it, I can do that.
So this is kind of the main tool that I would use. Again, I think that if you were doing remote, Shows, of course, while you’re traveling, you know, you can pull that off. Lighting is really huge as well. That’s gonna affect the quality if you are doing video, but in that case, Use natural light where possible and that should help you out.
Importance of video podcasting
Again, video is nice as a backup, but I encourage you to really think about audio only podcasting. My most successful shows that I’ve done have been audio only that I’ve even gotten to work on, and the video has added a different element to it for sure. It adds layers of production. Right. So if you want to look like the Joe Rogan studio and you want the lighting, and you want the cool desk and you wanna rent the studio at time and you know, or buy it yourself, like that’s a lot, right?
But what I like is if you do an audio only show, people feel less resistant to it as well, where it’s like, oh, I don’t have to like, Get beautiful for this recording where I feel a little like, oh, I’m being observed. It’s a little more like, Hey, don’t worry about the video. Like cuz I’ve done that too.
People are a little different, especially if they’re not used to it. You know, when you get them and there’s a camera in front of them versus like, Hey, don’t worry about it. There’s nothing except just talking into this. It can feel a little bit more like a natural conversation for whatever reason.
So I hope this was useful inidentifying the top tools and kind of the mindset behind putting it all in your backpack when it comes to being able to take your podcasting equipment with you on the go so you can keep recording, avoid interruption even in your busiest seasons.
So I hope this was useful inidentifying the top tools and kind of the mindset behind putting it all in your backpack when it comes to being able to take your podcasting equipment with you on the go so you can keep recording, avoid interruption even in your busiest seasons.
The same way when I was coaching dozens and dozens of fitness clients and they were like CFOs and stuff like that, they would bring bands and, you know, TRX things that they could actually do inside of their hotel room. Even during, you know, all this crazy, hectic travel. Right? We figured out a way to. Fit it in.
So the same thing with podcasting. I find it encouraging. It’s a good reminder for myself even sometimes where, hey, you know, wherever you’re going, bring it with you. You know, it’s like a book on vacation. You might not read that book, but it’s kind of nice to have access to it and know that, hey, if I feel inspired, I have an idea.
All I need are these three things that take up half of the room in my backpack. So I found this useful. Check out more tools and free stuff in the description below. But thanks for hanging out. I appreciate you and I’ll see you next time.
