Tom Vasel: Dice Tower Preparation

Missing two weeks of blog posting would probably get me fired by Rick, but I’m hoping that he was too busy at the Gathering of Friends to notice.  This week, I thought that I would tell you how we put together a typical podcast of the Dice Tower, so that you can tell me how to do it better, of course.  While I’m sure that I don’t put the tenth of effort that a professional radio show puts in (and I’m doing most of ours solo), this process might be interesting to those thinking about doing their own podcast - which seems to be more and more common.

First of all, I have to make sure that I schedule a time each week to actually do the main recording session.  The most important thing about our podcast is its regularity, and so if I know in advance that one of us can’t make a specific session, than I need to schedule it in such a way that we can still get it out on time.

Then, I go to my rather lengthy list of “top ten lists”, and pick one that is interesting, yet isn’t too much like either of the two weeks beforehand.  After choosing this list, I start putting our script together.  I have a basic outline of the script on my computer, and just plug in the different spots with the information. 

I make my top ten list by writing down every game that I think might be in the category chosen, and doing research online, in case I’ve forgotten a game.  Then, I go through and put them in order from # 1 to # 10.  I make sure to go online to find out the designers and publishers of the game, as well as (at least in the last couple episodes) the pronunciation, if I need it. 

I then decide what game I’m going to review, as well as what other segments we’ll run that week.  I also go through the emails, looking for questions that have been sent in, and putting them altogether in one place.  Finally, I’ll put everything together in the script, and fire a copy off to Joe and Sam so that they can add their information (reviews, top 10), etc.

While Joe puts his top ten list together, I go over the audio files that I’ve gotten, so that I know what they are talking about, to correctly gauge my responses.  I also work on prize support, making sure that I contact any companies who are donating prizes, and making sure that the contest is setup correctly.  There are a LOT of responses to contests these days, and organizing them correctly takes a bit of work.  Then, after getting the script back from Joe, I edit and finalize it, then print out three copies for Joe, Sam, and myself. 

Then I prepare for the audio portion of the show, getting all the audio cues and clips together in one place - organizing them and setting up the audio equipment.  When Joe and Sam arrive, I’m about ready to go - and we set up our recording table/desk, with mikes and script.  We usually talk about the script ahead of time, making sure that we note when we have crossovers on our top ten lists.  Finally, we start recording the actual show.

While recording, we usually keep going.  My goal is to make it through the entire episode without stopping, but that’s usually impossible.  If it isn’t my kids waking up and making noise, it’s one of us going completely brain-dead or making a boneheaded mistake on the show.  We listen to the audio clips live, rather than insert them in later on during the show, so that it sounds more natural when we respond to them.

Finally the recording is over, and Sam and Joe go home.  I export the file to an .mp3, and then usually take a break for the rest of that night.  The next day, I spend about two or more hours going through the episode and cutting out parts that are unnecessary.  This, for me, is certainly the most tedious task of the entire affair.  I cut out dead air, as many “um” comments as I can, and mistakes that we make.  After this process, which cuts out about two to five minutes of the entire episode, I do some actual audio editing - working with levels, normalizing, and general sound quality.

Finally, the episode is ready to go, and I label it and prepare it for uploading onto the internet.  I then edit the .rss file, and prepare the posting for Boardgamenews.  I also get the top ten webpage together - which does take a bit more work than you might think, and then quickly try to upload everything at the same time.  Once I finally finish posting the news that the episode is ready, I breathe a sigh of relief, and take a few more days off before thinking about the next episode, all the while catching flack for my top ten list.

Now this will change in a couple of weeks, as I get more audio input, and Sam takes over for Joe.  But the process will stay close to what I’ve just outlined.  I could probably put in another five hours per episode, and have the show sound even more professional.  But I’m fairly happy where it’s at, and do listen to all the advice that I get (which is a lot!).

So that’s the story of a Dice Tower podcast.  Boring?  Probably so.  But I enjoy doing it, and even though it can occasionally be wearing, the final product is something that I can be somewhat proud of (even though I don’t listen to it again.)

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”
www.tomvasel.com

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