Recording a podcast in person vs remotely

Thirith

After four years (!!!) of recording our podcast remotely - i.e. we talk via voice chat, everyone records their own audio track, and I put them together in the edit - this December two of us will be recording a special episode live while we're not just in the same country for a change but in the same room.

I have one of those Snowball mics that lets you switch between cardioid and omnidirectional audio, so I'm thinking that it should be up to recording the two of us. However, what I'm wondering is whether any people here who have worked on podcasts have any tips with respect to recording a live conversation. We'll have less leeway with respect to editing than we do when working with individual audio tracks, so any advice on what to do and what to avoid would be much appreciated. Obviously the episode will sound and feel different, but I'm hoping to avoid any beginner mistakes that are easily avoided if you know about them beforehand.

MichaelLC

Can the other person bring a separate mic and recorder?

I think ideally you'll want to record separate tracks and then mix together via software and/or hardware.

Just from what I've heard podcasters talk about over the years, you always want to get three separate files; person 1, 2, and the mix.

Thirith

Not sure about the separate mic and recorder, added to which we don't have all that much space at our disposal. Though if the results of two people talking into a mic set up to record omnidirectional audio are generally crap, I'll try to find a different, better solution. Though, keep in mind that I'm talking about an amateur podcast - obviously we want the result to sound nice, but it doesn't have to be professional-level.

MichaelLC

Yeah I'm just repeating what I've heard; definitely not an expert.

But general idea is you always want at least two files in case one doesn't record at all or gets screwed up.

Maybe take a to look at Zoom or even just a basic digital recorder to have going just so you have a back up option.

Thirith

Good point. Even a phone recording isn't all that bad these days, provided that the phone is reasonably well placed, e.g. on something that doesn't vibrate. The main recording device is a noiseless mini PC with a Snowball mic hanging from a mic arm; it's what I use to record myself when we do it remotely. The sound is pretty good, but I don't know what it's like when set to omnidirectional.