Hitting The Ground Running

After recording the first podcast, I took a moment, sat back, and really listened to it. I listened to it not as a podcaster but as you, the listener (podcatcher).

Well, something wasn't quite right. I searched around on the internet for examples of what I heard wasn't right and I figured out that I had unknowningly recorded "polsives". These are the sounds that you make when you say p's, f's, uh's, and other sounds that end up as a loud, annoying pop noise.

The answer? A spit screen (otherwise known as a pop filter). These are come in different shapes, sizes, and costs. It could be as simple as a foam thing wrapped around the round end of a mic. Or it could be one of those lollypop-looking things that are hung in front of a mic.

Seeing that I already blew my budget way out of the water, I decided to make my own pop filter. It was so cheap, it wasn't even funny. And it was fun too. Here's what I picked up from WalMart:

1. a plastic embroidery hoop
2. a long, round, thin dowel
3. a cheap package of black pantyhose
4. a bottle of wood glue
5. a bottle of epoxy glue (in case the wood glue didn't work)
6. a can of flat black spray paint (already had one)
   

Total cost? $6.50 .

Putting it together was simple. The hardest part was attaching the dowel to the hoop. My first attempt at using wood glue failed miserably. I was proud of myself for the forethought to get epoxy glue just in case. Well, believe it or not, the epoxy glue failed as well. Know what worked? Good old superglue. Yup, superglue. Worked like a champ. Now, granted, if I knock the thing hard enough, it'll come apart. But as long as I treat it like a lady, it'll do just fine.

Now, no more "splosives". And I sound even better than I always do.