Comments on: 15: Call-ins and recaps

15: Call-ins and recaps

mathowie — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:37:14 -0800

Show #15 of the podcast includes call-in questions from a handful of members and recaps from the last two weeks of MeFi and Ask MeFi. It was recorded on August 30, 2007 and runs about 50 minutes long.

helpful links Podcast Feed RSS (Subscribe to the MeFi Podcast in iTunes) Direct mp3 download (47Mb) Q & A learning to swim the crawl Larry Craig "bathroom incident" Let's learn something together MeFi Redesign Contest "Why is a mouse when it spins?" non-traditional joke ( Yahoo Answers, Google Answers) AnonyMe had an affair with a celebrity. Rick Astley, not dead! Official site aware of Rick Rolling, no comment from Rick. MeFi threads How to draw a head The I-75 project Two stunning minutes of MTV Radical Honesty A discovered underground city Old Sears Catalogs scanned in Ask MeFi threads Cooking threads: stews and cookies How can I be more frugal? Building math skills as an adult Mystery Stone found and identified Building a clock that builds in daylight savings ("atomic" clock photo) Polite responses to "what's it like being a female _____?" Handgun recommendations for women [older question and meta thread] How to identify music played on NPR Music played (all from the August "bridge" Music Challenge) Sheepshead Bay by emelenjr Burn This Bridge by TwoWordReview from the bridge by nicolin

By: BeerFilter

BeerFilter — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:38:23 -0800

Christ, what an asshole.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:51:00 -0800

Am I missing something?

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:10:35 -0800

Right. I had a question lined up for this one, and I thought it was a decent question. See, I love to listen to these podcasts as I'm getting ready to plunge myself into the weekend; I'll have a couple of beers, comb my hair, stuff like that. And while I'm getting ready, a few of my internet acquaintances will talk about interesting stuff and I'll listen in and time will fly. Kind of like sitting in a bar, eavesdropping.

So, my question: When you started doing these podcasts, did you ever envision a perfect time and place for people tuning in?

I suppose I could wait another three weeks (fat chance) and ask you then, but I really would like to know right now. Because, you know, it's 1 AM on a tuesday morning (here in Sweden) right now and I've cracked a beer. :)

Love these podcasts. Long may they run.

By: jonson

jonson — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:12:38 -0800

WTFOMGNOJONSONBBQ!!!

By: dersins

dersins — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:14:01 -0800

"Why is a mouse when it spins?"

A discovered underground city

Cooking threads: stews

I hit the trifecta!

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:17:38 -0800

I sounded exactly the same when we met! and thanks for a very good answer that actually articulates a lot of what I find rewarding about this place.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:23:25 -0800

btw, the "christ, what an asshole" was a new yorker cartoon joke reference I used yesterday. It's a joke and I wasn't 100% serious when I said it.

By: geoff.

geoff. — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:55:14 -0800

Oh wow, I can't believe the incredibly bad advice I gave in the anonymous celebrity thread.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:57:46 -0800

I added a few more supporting links to mathowie's original list up there.

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:58:21 -0800

Man, there's gotta be some way to normalize the volume on the voicemail questions.

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:04:18 -0800

"We're gonna call you 'Founder' when we change your password."

Ha!

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:16:10 -0800

Yeah I was going to ask that you work on the levels of the callins, it's really hard to hear at times.

By: zsazsa

zsazsa — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:20:20 -0800

You can adjust the time on the atomic clocks because if you can't get the signal, you need some sort of way to set the time. The signal only goes so far.

By: davejay

davejay — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:28:53 -0800

Man, there's gotta be some way to normalize the volume on the voicemail questions.

There is; get a proper phone patch, and run it through a compressor/expander such that you can boost soft calls while loud calls are compressed below a threshold.

By: davejay

davejay — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:32:08 -0800

here is a phone patch, although I don't recommend/not recommend this particular one (it's what came up when I went looking for an example) and here is a compressor/limiter (same caveat applies.)

By: mathowie

mathowie — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:51:16 -0800

I tried to normalize the calls. The calls come in as separate wav files, but I maxed out the boost on almost all of them to try and get them to sound similar, but garageband only gives so much leeway.

By: Riverine

Riverine — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:56:22 -0800

I really enjoyed the gagging noises from both over the event calendar idea. Maybe someone could make a loop of these as the exit jingle?

Totally serious.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:57:28 -0800

Maybe someone could make a loop of these as the exit jingle?

mathowie actually edited out about five minutes of me telling him to do that. I bet the outtakes reel from this one is fairly amusing.

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 18:02:06 -0800

Yeah, the guy with that event calendar idea is a nutball.

By: item

item — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:05:49 -0800

Hmm. Seems you left my music challenge song out. I'll forgive you for the convenient oversight.

By: kindall

kindall — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:20:03 -0800

Are you not using the Levelator on the podcasts? It's supposed to even out this stuff.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:48:13 -0800

It was funny that I got so many favorites for the "draw a face" post just after being "favorite bombed" by Tennyson D'San. I thought I was getting pranked.

Regarding the music picks: it's kind of a given that there will be great AskMe and FPPs, and now, great phone-ins, but the fact that there is no shortage of great music is astounding. Kudos and cheers to all!

By: mathowie

mathowie — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:13:16 -0800

Seems you left my music challenge song out.

There were actually 5 or 6 great songs I wanted to insert, but I put them in at the end and I only had space for three. I had no idea you played with Jad Fair (a friend did his website and I think I attended a party once with Jad years ago).

By: peacay

peacay — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:23:29 -0800

Hey jessamyn, your voice is so clear and strong it makes the iffy wav files of callers even harder to hear if you talk when they do. Please to be holding the reins of your interjecting enthusiasm (and you seemed particularly up and hyperchirpy this podcast!)

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:28:03 -0800

I tried to normalize the calls. The calls come in as separate wav files, but I maxed out the boost on almost all of them to try and get them to sound similar, but garageband only gives so much leeway.

Sounds like you'll want to use e a compressor. I've never used GarageBand, but google indicates that there's a compression plugin.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:49:34 -0800

I spend literally hours a day here (I know, it's a bit sad, but my employer doesn't mind), and it's like you two (by which I mean Matt and Jessamyn) are looking at a whole different website.

In general, I've actually seen and remembered like 10% of the things you point to in these podcasts, usually. Weird.

By: lonefrontranger

lonefrontranger — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:22:11 -0800

fuck do i really sound like that on the phone...? o.O

crap and here i figured youall would've binned that lot for the sheer babbling inanity of it. thanks for somehow making sense of that, matt.

By: Effigy2000

Effigy2000 — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 03:30:53 -0800

lonefrontranger: "fuck do i really sound like that on the phone...? o.O"

Yeah, I can't believe I sounded the way I did either, but then I have always hated the way my voice sounds whenever I've heard it on tape. It was one of the reasons I tried to keep my call short. That and the fact I was calling internationally on my mobile phone.

Despite the fact I hate the way my voice sounds, thanks for including my question, and great podcast as always guys. However, I'm not sure whether it makes me feel better or worse that mathowie said my accent was "cute".

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:37:05 -0800

Phones mangle voices. Heavy filtering and compression to keep the signal small. I've gotten utterly used to hearing my voice on tape from recording projects, and I thought the same thing when I was listening. Freakin' phones.

Also, E2K's accent is totaly cute.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:02:52 -0800

Matt's actually got the strongest accent of the bunch.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:13:54 -0800

Could you mention who the caller was and sum up the question, like they do at Q&A sessions at film festivals and whatever? For those of us who can't hear the fucking thing? (Assuming it's going to take the usual long while to normalize the volume.)

Jess: It's cappa-DOE-shuh.

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:33:26 -0800

Great to hear such good tunes... the bridge challenge was good.

By: COBRA!

COBRA! — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:32:13 -0800

Man, I haven't even gotten to listen to the last one yet. I can't keep up with the torrent of podcasts flowing out!

By: drezdn

drezdn — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 09:24:59 -0800

I was glad I listened, otherwise I would have missed that awesome catalog post.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:03:10 -0800

Needs more cowbell.

By: Pronoiac

Pronoiac — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:56:57 -0800

I second the suggestion of Levelator to keep the volume even. Double-check its output for distortion, though.

By: Pronoiac

Pronoiac — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:02:33 -0800

Oh yeah, about the phone quality: Has anyone suggested that Matt check his net connection to make sure the tubes aren't clogged?

By: Argyle

Argyle — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:44:21 -0800

What does it take for a damn tag line?

How much do I have to pay to sponsor Matt saying "This podcast is now closed."?

By: deborah

deborah — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:01:05 -0800

At least there was a sign-off this time, Argyle.

I'm really liking the change-up in different podcasts (questions, no questions, interviews, etc.). Nice job, folks!

And damn, I have *counts* eight tabs open to check out stuff I've missed.

By: davejay

davejay — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:27:59 -0800

I tried to normalize the calls. The calls come in as separate wav files, but I maxed out the boost on almost all of them to try and get them to sound similar, but garageband only gives so much leeway.

Yeah, that's why you need to go with a hardware solution, or play with compressor/limiter plugins in your audio software of choice; normalizing does nothing but increase the overall volume so that the loudest part is as loud as possible. What you really want to do is boost it so that the quietest words are loud enough, and the loudest sounds are compressed down to a similar -- albeit still louder -- level. That evens out the volume of the clip throughout, giving you the results you desire.

By: davejay

davejay — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:34:28 -0800

That "Levelator" thing appears to be a compressor/limiter app, so there ya go. Ideally use it on the wav clips separately first, to get 'em boosted appropriately, then drop the wavs into your podcast and do it again for the whole thing.

You know, or not. Who wants to put that kind of time in?

By: sparkletone

sparkletone — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:14:16 -0800

You know, or not. Who wants to put that kind of time in?

Unnecessary. GarageBand has a compressor adequate for Matt's needs.

By: Pronoiac

Pronoiac — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:36:25 -0800

From a quick search: GarageBand's compressor looks useful but scarily complex.

Levelator would take less time. It looks a lot simpler but no less useful here.

I'd suggest using it on the clips separately, not both on clips & the whole thing.

By: desjardins

desjardins — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:03:36 -0800

Please, please sum up the question until you get the audio straightened out. If the non-hearing impaired people are having trouble, you know I'm completely lost. Also, you've previously linked the askers' names in the thread, which was really useful when I can't hear them say their own name, or understand them.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:15:10 -0800

desjardins (and others) we promise we will. Even if you're not hard of hearing the modcast was muddy in places with callers. It will be fixed or at least remedied by next time.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:40:10 -0800

modcast

Yow. Huh.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:48:18 -0800

Yow. Huh.

Huh. Weird typo.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:56:42 -0800

Oh. Damn. I'm not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:59:16 -0800

I could pretend I meant it. Is that better?

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:42:09 -0800

No, it's ruined now. I need a drink.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:10:07 -0800

modcast - Oh no! Commodore Amiga Retro Sounds.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:06:27 -0800

Did jess snicker at Effigy2000 when he just started speaking? :)

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:04:28 -0800

No, I probably gasped. I love Australian accents.

By: mmascolino

mmascolino — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:20:08 -0800

Cincinnati resident here and the Cincinnati Subway does exist.

By: haunted by Leonard Cohen

haunted by Leonard Cohen — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:32:50 -0800

I broke down and used my headphones and could actually understand Matt and the callers. But fixing the audio would be helpful.

By: Riverine

Riverine — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:04:50 -0800

New podcast ever? Maybe? Please?