Lately, I (Tyler) have been getting questions on how to start a podcast… and well… we realized we never actually made an episode about it. There was an episode that Reid and I have done before where we went over podcasts that we listened to and draw inspirations from, but we have never tackled the equipment we use and how we transitioned into a bigger set up when we became Bad Bunz. Disclaimer: what we go over in this episode is our unique approach to Just The Tips/Bad Bunz. We originally intended to have three hosts and an extra mic for a guest. Might we also add that we were lucky enough to have the skills to mix and edit our episodes in-house, we would suggest being prepared to either learn the skills to save money or to budget in cost to outsource the work.

Equipment

• Mics - Our mic of choice is the Audio Technica ATR-2100USB. This might be one of the hardest choice for you to make when it comes to equipment. For beginners, you will want a mic that is a good balance between budget and quality. We found that the ATR-2100 was affordable enough for us to buy multiples, sound quality is really good for the price range, and they are versatile since they have USB AND XLR outputs. Some accessories we also recommend for the mic are boom arms and pop filters/covers.

• Physical Recorder - Our recorder of choice is the Zoom H6. In the pre-COVID days, we recorded podcast episodes in person and the recorder was our work horse. If you are recording a show with 1-2 people, there are cheaper options out there, but if you are planning to record up to 4 people, the Zoom H6 can take everyone’s input and split them into individual audio files so you can mix and edit them individually.

• Digital Recorder - Since COVID, we have switched over to Zoom (I know… it’s a little confusing). Similar to the recorder, Zoom actually has a function where it will split each person’s audio into individual files for you to mix and edit. The best part about using Zoom is you can invite as many people as you like to have on your show without needing a physical space to meet. This makes finding guests to come on to your show much easier. Cost-wise, you can pay $18/month for Zoom Premium so you can hold untimed conference rooms.

• Software - Here at Bad Bunz, we use Adobe Creative Suite to handle all of our creative work. We edit all our episodes on Adobe Audition, videos with Premiere Pro, Teasers with After Effects, and images with Photoshop. Adobe Creative Suite is expensive and shouldn’t be a deal breaker. There are tons of free or more economical options to edit your podcast materials.

• Host Site - Bad Bunz is hosted by Buzzsprout. There are lots of different hosting sites, but we found Buzzsprout’s clean interface, varying functionality, and podcaster-first mentality to be really top-notch. Hosting sites like Buzzsprout makes it convenient for independent podcasters like us to put our content out to as many platforms as possible while only having to work in a single space. Buzzsprout also has tons of options and help with monetizing your podcast if that is something you want to do in the long run.

Mentality

Buying the equipment is as simple as making a check list, the hard part is making sure you follow through with your actions. They say if you can make it to your 7th week of podcasting, you are most likely going to keep up making podcasts. It can be a grind, but remember that this is something you really wanted to do - so make that dream come true!

Be sure to listen to the whole episode to get the most in-depth explanation of our