I don't know anything. I'm like a mushroom, totally in the dark. Trust me. Would I lie?

ZMeny I was noticing that your latest episode of The Pinball Show is not appearing on Spotify. Did Zen shut ya down!? Kidding but I thought I would let you know if this was not a planned action.

The latest TPN show I can see on there is Just Another Pinball Podcast #20 with Danesi.

Just curious..

Have you had any complaints with issues streaming TPS on Apple Podcasts? All of my other shows stream flawlessly except for yours which stops/starts often.

It's the file size and poor data connection causing extra buffering.

If I had two suggestions: optimize your filesizes (someone gave some tips earlier in reducing audio quality - you don't need super duper high fidelity for two mics) - you choose the option for fidelity/bitrate when you export to mp3), and slice off extra dead air from the end of your files. In some cases there are 2-5 minutes, which add to filesize without benefit.

I PMd you because it totally depends on your audio editing software.

You just change the export settings in Audacity if you use that.

no pinball show?

Zach and Dennis are taking a month break to recharge. They should be back in March! Don't worry, there will be other TPN content this month.

Super Awesome Mid Week! Keep it up Mr. Bobbie! Also, its always cool hearing Matt Morrison's charming accent swagger!

...Craig could tone down the use of the word "fucking" and find another word for variety.

Add the constant use of GD to that list.

Personally cannot stand Craig Bobby's voice.

I missed the pinball show, however. Started thinking my podcast browsers were messing up.

WHAT ARE WE PAYING GOOD MONEY FOR?!

Oh, wait...

So Zach, did you guys just stop making the pinball show episodes?

Taking a break I believe.

Boo. Thanks Chad.

Wasn’t it Kriessel who once said, when a podcaster takes a break, this often results in the show being discontinued? The reason stated was once unshackled from demands from a regular podcasting schedule, more often than not, the podcaster decides it isn’t worth their time to continue. They decide they don’t like hosting anymore and life without it is too much fun. Wish you guys had taken a polygraph and posted the results. Keep feeding your pet goats and I call first dibs on their sale.

Correct. Always watch for the warning signs. Always.

Best... photo shop........ ever.

That was it, watch for the warning signs!

huuurgh...that picture of Zach as Dr. Phil is incredibly disturbing, and I love it!

There’s a reason why they call TV episodes pilots, because they’re not supposed to see the light of day. Which should have been the case for this episode. When someone thinks they’re funny or trying to be funny, they’re usually not funny, which was the case here for Martin. Sally was obviously reading from a script throughout the entire episode which also made it a hard listen for me. So in this case, we should have Saved The Drama For Your Mama. But I love what your doing Zach, along with the folks at TPN and giving people an opportunity to bring more content to the hobby. Do I want to give pinball podcasting a chance, no, because I know I would be horrible and other people should have enough self-awareness to know the same.

Nice. What a douchebag. Congrats on being my first ignore.

I cry in joy and 'cause I miss my Johnny Mnemonic, when I read this name.

Would sound so much better and make it easier listening if the volume levels of the host and the interviewee were matched. The host volume is too low or Tom's is too high.

+1

This is my #1 technical issue with various podcasts.

I only have this issue on the TPN podcasts. That Jessy and Ryan podcast always have awful sound levels, for example, Ryan is way too low and has vocal fry.

The other (non-pinball) podcasts I listen to are professional sounding. This seems like a waste of an interesting interview because of the audio levels.

I definitely battled the volume levels in the edit. Tom only had a headset. Not a actual mic. I recorded my audio on zencaster and audacity. My audacity cut is much better, but overpowered Tom's audio.I lost connection with him 3 times and each time he would fade in and out for several minutes after. I ran his entire cut through a seperate mp3 software and boosted his volume as much as I could. His headset clipped alot so I reduced those areas. When I would boost my audio it got grainy and fuzzy. I went back to my audacity cut, but when I reduced Tom's volume at all he lost all subtle nuances. the sweet spot was for tom to sound good and mine to sound distant and boomy lol. It annoyed me as well, but I wanted Tom as my guest to be represented well. I toyed around with boosting my volume in the zencaster cut, but that boomy sound was amplified and more annoying than the volume cut. I'm sure someone with more experience could dial it in. My next interview I hope to find a better balance and utilize a few more tricks I learned from my first outing. Thanks to everyone that listened and please keep the feedback coming. It's the only way any of us can improve.

If you're already in Audacity, you can amplify your track, without editing your guests'. Editing interviews takes forever, so I feel your pain.

Once you have the levels relatively ok, you can normalize and compress your audio to make it more consistent (and generally "louder" feeling). Make sure you do this once any intro/outro are added. Not sure if you get the intro audio from TPN, but that needs to be part of the normalization or there will be a huge drop in volume when you start talking.

There are a few options, but aside from using a higher number to make the amplification louder and smaller to go quiet, you're good with the defaults for an interview podcast.

You can also amplify or reduce one small section, auto process to remove silence, etc.

If you record on separate audio tracks, that's the most powerful.

Just make sure that you do a final mix to -either- mono or stereo with both parties in both channels.

Hope that helps.

Another thing to note - the secret weapon in my interview toolbox for many years has been a Skype plugin called Amolto Call Recorder. It has a freeware component that requires a click every 20 minutes, or a one-time fee. Worth it. Then I subscribe to Skype-out and make phone calls to the people being interviewed. If they have a good connection (most do), then you're home free. Amolto splits audio -and- provides a combined track.

Skype out is $3/month and can be cancelled whenever.

Many of the people I interview don't have or aren't comfortable with computers, generally. Some are, but they've been the exception over the years.

All that is great I info. I'm a newbie for sure. I'll look into the amplification settings and those Skype options as well. I'll probably go back and revise the interview see if I can even those audio levels out some more. I may have had my head in the sand just cutting and snipping. Didn't research the volume fixes enough

Not to worry - the interview format is very hard because you can only control what you can control. That's why I advocate using the phones. You have a pretty much guaranteed bit rate and sound quality. While it's not the best sounding, it is nowhere near as variable as many of the chat apps out there. Makes editing easier too and you never have to ask the other party to record for safety (that's usually what happens when hosts lose their first interview audio).

Minimize hassle for your guests and they will be much better guests as a result.

I haven't yet heard this episode, but I'm very much looking forward to it (and future content, obviously!). Feel free to PM if I can be of any assistance.

Thanks so much man. Need all the help I can get lol

Audio levels aside, I did listen to the interview...just had to wait until I was back at home instead of in the truck. I learned lots that I didn't know about pinball on the creative and manufacturing side, along with Cactus Canyon info, etc. So good job on the interview and certainly keep them coming if you can.

I vote myself for new Deeproot correspondant!