Podcast Editing Workflow

My wife has been recording her podcast, The Revelation Project Podcast , for 191 episodes. When she started, she hired a company to get the iTunes/Apple Music integration, assist with the music, and edit the first ten episodes for a set fee. Once she hit episode 11, the fee per episode was roughly $335 a show. Launching a podcast is hard enough, but without monetization, this is untenable during your first few years. They did one for two at a discount, but they were not great. That’s when I decided to learn how to do it.

Process

She has recorded using Skype, Zoom and a few others and now uses Riverside.fm. Regardless of the recording method, this is the process I use to produce and edit her show.

• Download all the raw WAV files
• Run them individually through Izotope RX¹ on my Mac using the repair assistant that I have tweaked to my liking. This gets all the essential noise and reverb out of the files.
• Then, I spot-check each file to see if anything else should be removed. Sometimes, mouth clicks or breath noises; other times, it’s dialogue isolation for clarity.
• When completed, I save each file with the episode number and name, i.e., 185_Monica.wav and 185_Guestname.vav
• Then both are run through Levelator ² and saved with the same name but adding -lev. wav
• With the processing finished, I drag the files to my iPad Pro12.9 inch into Ferrite, where I have a template for the show.
• The template has Intro and Outro music in it already, with chapter markers for the beginning and end
• I line up the tracks and spot-test to see that the tracks are in sync
• I then use the strip silence feature of Ferrite to remove any quiet section greater than 2 seconds.
• Then, it’s a process of editing the files using the Apple Pencil.
• We host the finished MP3 file in Fireside.fm
• As I listen and edit, I will add links to the episode in Fireside.
• Artwork is created in Canva and exported out
• When the file is done, it is exported out as a wave file with chapter markers
• I use Forecast from Marco Arment to add the art and links to the file and export it as an MP3, and upload it to fireside
• That MP3 then dropped into Descript to create a transcript³ to assist with the promotion of each new episode; I create two or three audiograms using Headliner for sharing on social media platforms.

I like to track my time on each episode to see where I spend the most time and look for opportunities to improve them. I use Timery to track my time in each process step.

• File Processing
• Editing
• Transcription (includes the social reels)
• Posting Show

On average, the editing time is 2.5-3 minutes per recorded minute. This is not an NPR edit style or just the regular recorded audio. I will remove noise, like dogs barking, really long pauses or repeated “ums” or a section that the host or guest repeats to make the listening experience pleasant and not distracting.

My favorite part is using the iPad with Ferrite to manipulate the audio tracks. I am actively touching the sounds and shaping the interview. Each episode takes a long time to assemble, averaging 6-10 hours, but it is also relaxing and almost meditative.