Adron Buske – PES 042

My guest is Adron Buske, host and co-producer of the Nerd for a Living podcast, and co-founder and creative director at Armadian Creative.

We had a riveting conversation about his equipment and workflow, which he was nice enough to outline for us here:

GEAR

1. Mixer – Alesis Multi-Mix 8 – USB
2. Pyle 4 channel headphone amplifier
3. Backup – M-Audio MobilePre Amp (2 channel)
4. Mics
   • MXL 990 – main interview mic (large diaphragm condenser)
   • AudioTechnica AT875R condenser mic – narration mic
   • Sterling S50 condenser mic – secondary interview mic
   • MXL 2006 condenser mic – new interview mic in testing
   • Sennheiser boom mic – location recording with Rycote Softie windscreen
5. Zoom H4n recorder – on location recording
6. Monoprice Acoustic Isolation Shield – narration station
7. Boom Arms – NEEWER Microphone Suspension Boom Scissor Arm Stand
8. Pop Guards – Sterling Audio mesh filters, plus a cheap on-mic windscreen

COMPUTER & SOFTWARE

1. iMac – 27-inch, Late 2012 – 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 – 32 GB ram
2. Adobe Audition (Creative Cloud)
3. Tagr / ID3 Editor

PROCESS

1. Record interview via Skype with ECAMM Recorder plug-in
2. Make sure to get 15 seconds of room-tone before we start
3. Use ECAMM Movie Tools to split track and process into WAV
4. Modular editing process
5. Capture Noise Print from raw WAV file, and run Noise Reduction Process
   • Have to be careful with this, because it can cause some tinny, odd sounds if over-processed
6. Edit the episode, and export a “RAW INTERVIEW” without additional processing
7. Import the raw edit, and re-export to WAV with processing:
   • Hard limiter
   • Multiband compressor
   • DeHummer (if necessary after noise printer or to alter sound)
   • Automatic click remover
   • DeEsser (rarely necessary)
8. Record my intro/outro narration directly into Audition, using my “narration station” (AudioTechnica mic and isolation shield)
9. Edit narration and export to WAV with processing:
   • Noise Print Capture / Reduction Process
   • Hard limiter
   • Multiband compressor
   • DeHummer (if necessary after noise printer or to alter sound)
10. Import Interview and Narration WAVs into MASTER EDIT template
11. In Master Edit:
    • Piece together narration over music beds
    • Insert sponsor messages
    • Layer in “Theme Song”
    • Insert interview edit
    • Add Outro and music beds
    • Adjust audio levels
    • Usually 6 tracks, plus Master track
    • Occasionally use an FFT Filter to adjust tone on interview – frequency adjustment
12. Export Master to:
    • MP3 – 96K – CBR – MONO
    • OGG – VBR Quality 40%
13. Edit MP3 with ID3 Editor or Tagr to add info and graphic

Thanks for sharing so much with us, Adron!