Introduction

A few of us makerspace directors thought it would be fun to start a podcast where we discuss the challenges we’ve faced managing a non-profit makerspace. We also wanted to share our experiences and opinions on maker news topics and maker culture.

In August 2018 we started the Makers on Tap podcast!

We all record remotely and sync up the audio in post processing which takes out any round trip latency.

I had to learn how to use the Reaper Digital Audio Workstation (they have a linux version!) in order to edit the shows each week. It was daunting at first, having never done audio editing in the past, but I’ve learned a lot from recording and editing our shows.

Self Hosted Show

One of the biggest issues I have with popular content platforms is that you give up all control to the platform when you upload your content. I wanted to avoid that by completely self hosting the podcast on our own servers. I accomplished this by setting up an Ubuntu virtual machine on Digital Ocean, installing and configuring Wordpress, and setting up an open source podcasting plugin called Seriously Simple Podcasting.

This generates an RSS feed for each episode that we can then submit to every podcast application. We also allow streaming in your web browser, direct download, and direct subscription to the RSS feed for complete independence from major platforms if we needed it.

DIY Recording Studio

I also built a small recording studio in my basement which helps dampen any external sounds and helps reduce the reverberations of my own voice from going into my microphone. It’s made out of 2x4’s and pocket screws, and covered in professional-grade acoustic blankets!

I’m currently using a AKG P420 condenser mic on a boom, with a Focusrite Scarlet Solo USB Audio Interface that connects to my linux laptop. This has been a super solid setup that sounds fantastic.

Sage Peterson

My name is Sage. I make things and share them with others. You should too.