To give your podcast a unique identity you need to create a “rhythm of narration.” Sound Director Luca Micheli gives us advice on what it takes to do that.
A keyboard, birds, cymbals and a cricket representing some sounds and effects used in podcasts. (Photo by News Decoder/Canva)
This story and podcast were produced as part of WePod, an innovative multi-partner, cross-border project to support the growth and sustainability of the European podcasting ecosystem. WePod is powered by a consortium of journalists, podcasters, researchers, designers and educators from seven European countries, co-funded by the European Union Creative Europe Programme.
Developed in response to the changing European news media sector, WePod created a collaborative framework for the production, distribution, promotion and monetization of journalistic podcasts. For its part, News Decoder coordinated communication and dissemination activities, and developed and held training workshops for youth.
Learn more about the project at wepodproject.eu.
You’ve got a great podcast. The story is fantastic. But to set it apart from all the other great podcasts out there — to give it a unique identity — you need a great soundtrack that fits the story you tell.
Podcasts are more complex than ever. The amazing documentaries or fictions we listen to depend on the combined efforts of script writers, producers and sound designers.
To better understand how to do this and what difference a soundtrack can make, Javier Caminero, a producer at Prisa Audio in Madrid, spoke with Luca Micheli, sound director and head of music at Chora Media, a podcast company in Milan, Italy.
Micheli is a guitarist who has been working in audio production for more than 20 years. Early on, he realized that with a computer, keyboard and a software program like ProTools, he could become an entire orchestra.
Over the years, Micheli composed music for television, radio documentaries and even theater.
But podcasts are a bit different. “It’s 100% audio,” he said. “There are three elements, three layers. The first layer is the voice, the narration. The second layer is the sound, sound effects.”
If he were to put into a podcast the sound of crickets, for example, it becomes nighttime and if he puts in the sound of waves, he places listeners at the seashore.
“If I put this music: dundun, dundun, dundun, dundun, we are in a horror movie,” he said.
Listen to the podcast here:
Emotion and identity
The third layer gives a podcast emotion and the three elements, together, make the sound of a podcast, he said.
“So, it’s not just music,” he said. “These three elements move together during the narration.”
The goal is to combine music and sound effects to create a “rhythm of narration.” After an important word, he might create a pause and in it increase the music. After that, come sound effects.
Caminero wanted to know what Micheli considers when creating music to give a podcast emotion and identity. Micheli said that an important part of the process is to re-listen to what you have done to try to create consistent sound.
“It’s very important because we spend a lot of time on the timeline,” he said. “We work a lot in depth on the details, but at a certain point you have to change your position and change your mind and you have to become not a creator, you have to become a listener.”
You don’t always need to create original music for your podcast soundtrack. Micheli suggests combining original music with music you can find in a sound library, but note that it isn’t easy. “It is quite a job to find the right music, right sound in this gigantic archive and match together original music and other music,” he said. “I think it’s the best way for creating the sound for a podcast.”
Creating original music makes the most sense for podcasts that are documentaries or fiction, Micheli said. But most important is that the podcast must have a good story and script first.
Questions to consider:
1. What does Micheli mean by a “rhythm of narration”?
2. How can you add great sound to a podcast if you can’t compose music yourself?
3. If you were to create a podcast series what would it be about and what kind of sound would you use?