I was asked to create a podcast intro for a popular Polish YouTubers new podcast entitled 'Bez Sensu'. Thousands of people listen to this new podcast weekly and I wanted to give them something that sticks in their heads, and that they enjoy hearing every time the intro rolls out!
Check out the intro here!
Planning
In order to begin planning for this project, I needed to know the scope. That means talking to the client (here Marysia was my contact) and figuring out two key details:
- What is the intended length of the intro?, and
- What are you looking for? Or what can be used as a reference?
These questions are important as together they determine the complexity of the project, and therefore the amount of time required.
Logistics were an issue in this case, as Marysia and Maja live in Poland. So I decided to use FaceTime as a means of communication. I organised a date and time for us to talk, and with some suggestions from me we were able to answer both questions. They wanted a simple and catchy 7 - 10 second intro, inspired by their favourite podcast intro 'Views' by David Dobrik and Jason Nash.
Check out the views podcast intro here.
Timeline
Now I could really scope out the project, to project how long it would take me. So what's involved?
Composition - Approximately 2 - 3 hours in the studio (Including recording live handpan)
Editing - 1 Hour
Mixing - 1- 2 Hours
Mastering - 1 Hour
At this point, I figured that the entire project would take me around a day to have the final product that can be placed on Spotify.
Practice
Studio
I started with 8 hours in the studio, with a goal to finish all the sound design, composition, recording and even have a rough mix done.
So I went ahead and used ProTools and it's VST's to begin producing the beat with reference to 'Views'. I used the same tempo, that I found by using the tap tempo function in PT, and wanted to use a similar structure to the views intro as well. Therefore I began by finding a synth sound that I liked, and wrote the chord structure with it.
I was determined to write this intro in the key of C#minor, as I wanted to use the handpan (which has a single key) as part of the composition. Therefore the chord structure I arrived at was also in this key. This synth progression was followed by my handpan recording, where I used two Rode NT5's as a spaced AB pair to capture my playing. I then programmed the kick and snare layers into the track from Native Instruments drum kits, and also recorded a vocal with an AKG C414, that ended up being used for the robotic 'Bez Sensu' sound you hear at the beginning. I even used this vocal mic to record the vocal riser you hear at the beginning!
I ended this session with a quick mix entailing some basic EQ, compression and levelling, and even some effects like reverbs and delays.
Edit and Mix
After taking the session home, I had some feedback from a few people that the first handpan phrase was slightly off time. So I used grid mode, and a combination of the time stretcher tool and quick edits to adjust the handpan track slightly so that it was back on the grid. After that I was free to begin the mix in earnest!
I'll take you through my processing on the Pads and the on the robot voice!
You can tell I've got a lot going on, but trust me, it's simpler than it looks! Plenty of parallel processing here. I've got two different synth sounds, one more bassy, one more high end organ sound. These each feed into the first 'PADs' bus, which applies an EQ, compressor, and also SoundToys 'Devil-Loc', which is a compressor with some grunt and character. This bus also feeds another auxiliary which separately EQ's and compresses, but also pitches it up by an active and adds some effects using 'Little Alter Boy', and 'EchoBoy'. This higher pitch with echo gives the synth that crisp high end.
These two Auxes then feed these 'PADs ALL' auxiliaries. Which simply apply the filter from 'FilterFreak2' onto the high end and not the low end (below 500Hz), which gives the low end more consistency so it doesn't jump around with the filter!
finally I'll mention that the kick is side chained to the synth, using a technique called ducking that dips the synth in volume so that the kick can jump to the front of the mix without getting muddied by the synths low end. This is why you can not only hear with clarity that nice low end of the kick, but also the attack.
This 'Bez Sensu' robot voice is a really cool effect, yet it's actually quite simple.
It starts with a normal voice recording that I pushed through Melodyne. I used Melodyne to not only pitch correct the recording harshly into the key of the song, but also to remove any pitch drift at all, and to also adjust the formant of the words. This is why it sounds robotic, because the notes are very stable and they immediately jump from one note to the next without drifting down. Melodyne is a wickedly powerful tool!
I've duplicated this Melodyned track twice, leaving me with three identical sounding tracks. I then used 'Little Alter Boy' to pitch the two duplicates up and down one octave respectively. The high and low tracks are then panned slightly left and right to give more image, then add some reverb and we're done!
Review with Marysia:
After finalising the first mix, I tee'd up another time to talk with Marysia. I provided her with a google drive link to the work in progress mix, and she gave me some feedback.
She absolutely loved it, except for the ending that I'd supplied originally, it was a reversal of the handpan with a 'Crystallizer' effect to make it a bit trippy for the 'nonsense' podcast.
So instead I proposed that she record herself and her sister saying the name of the podcast while laughing and we can close out the intro on that.
Two days later, I received the file and added it into the mix! It did have a few plosive problems in there which I fixed by using an EQ to roll off 300Hz and below on the problematic areas. I applied the EQ using AudioSuite, which commits the change to highlighted audio only, a very handy feature, as I didn't need to do any automation, just a few crossfades.
Master
I won't go into the nitty gritty of my mastering here, but what I will mention is that Spotify has a specific audio loudness output of -14 LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale). This means that no matter how loud your upload is, Spotify will always convert it to -14. Therefore in order to avoid ruining the dynamics of the track, I mastered it to -14, ensuring that it sounds great at this loudness, dynamic range and all!
In Retrospect - Communications and planning
Surprisingly, the distance and time zone differences between Australia and Poland played little roll in getting this project finished. I was able to effectively use FaceTime and Facebook to communicate effectively with Marysia, in organising times to talk, or even just in messaging about the smaller aspects of the project.
I really like how I handled this project, I was able to semi-accurately estimate how long each part of this process would take, and plan times to work on it with ease. Even in execution I was able to complete everything I aimed to do in a given session, from the studio booking to mixing and mastering.
One thing I'd have liked to have done differently is to be clearer from the beginning about what the intro would look like, for example establishing that it could start with the robotic voice and finish with the natural voices of the podcast owners. Establishing this before the creative aspect began, could have reduced or eliminated the need to make alterations to the ending later on.
Creatively, I knew that my composition skills needed some polishing, which is why I chose to allow for 8 hours in the studio recording and composing. I also knew that my mixing skills were going to suit this task easily, therefore it was not going to be a sticky point for me.
this self knowledge about where I'm at creatively really helped me plan the correct times for each aspect. Next time I'd like to be able to shorten the amount of time it takes me to compose and sound design by a few hours to streamline the process!
There you have it! Check out the finished intro in action on the Bez Sensu Podcast on Spotify! The intro is introduced on episode 5, on the 18th June 2019. Maja said the day after I delivered the final file, that it was stuck in her head! Exactly what I was after ;P.
Thanks for reading!
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