I have a little podcast where I interview people who use the Blackboard course management system, or some other learning management system (LMS). This is the process that I use to create and produce the final mp3 file. (This is an example of me creating instructions so I will be able to repeat this process in the future, not necessarily for other people to use. But if it helps you, go for it.)
1. I conduct the interview on Skype. I have "Skype Out" so I can call people on regular telephone lines. There is a yearly fee that I pay to have Skype Out capabilities. It wasn't much. Skype is on my Mac Mini. Skype will also run on a PC, but I like having a computer dedicated to making the recordings, so I don't run into any network issues with other programs.
2. I record the interview with Call Recorder. It cost something, I don't remember what, but not very much. It makes a great recording of both sides of the Skype conversation.
3. I separate the two sides of the conversation by running the MOV file, produced by Call Recorder, through the "Split Movie Tracks" application. This is one of the "Movie Tools" provided with Call Recorder.
4. I convert the MOV files to MP3 files by running them through the "Convert to MP3" application. This is another of the "Movie Tools" provided with Call Recorder.
At this point I have two files, one for each side of the conversation.
5. I load the files into Adobe Audition and then drag them each to a separate track. I will work with each file separately, adjusting the compression and dynamics, before combining them into one track.
6. I "Delete Ripple" the beginning and the end of the recording to cut out the extra material before the start and end of the actual interview.
7. I set fx for both channels to perform Dynamics Processing, using my "LMSPodcast" settings. This compresses the audio, raising the quiet parts and lowering the loud parts.
8. I "mixdown" the two channels in order to create a single mono file of the interview.
9. I import the music for the intro and end of the podcast and put it into track 4, positioning it and moving track 3 as needed. In some cases I need to adjust the master volume on track 3 or 4 to get things right.
10. Next I mixdown tracks 3 and 4 into a new track.
11. I export the new track as a WAV file and as an MP3 file.
12. I then use Mp3tag to add the Artist, Year, image, etc. to the file.
That does it. Ready to go.
