Remote podcast recording.

One of those tools that I did not know I needed, but was so happy to find.

Podcasting “Career”

A couple of years, I was getting ready to launch a podcast. I bought a bunch equipment from Amazon (super thanks to my friend Junie for bringing them home from the US). Pretty high-grade too, because I wanted to come off as a pro, or at least decent, should I get to interview some top honchos!

I practiced, and practiced, and practiced, and then …

Well, 2020 happened! 🤦🏻‍♂️

The mics were still useful but the recording equipment was pretty much useless.

I ended up with, well, what everyone is used to, Zoom! Mostly because it was available 😅 but also because it had a neat feature that splits guests audio’ into multiple channels/files. Super important for podcast recording and editing.

It had a major drawback though, quality was totally dependent on the quality of our internet connection. I had no problem with my connection (Thank you, PLDT!) but, unfortunately, I can’t say the same for a lot of my guests.

Still, it is the only option. Other tools that could spit and split out better audio quality, were audio-only. I wanted to see the person I was talking to, it just felt more genuine and relaxed, so those won’t work for me.

Well, it was the only option.

Thankfully, one of the co-hosts of the new podcast I will be launching introduced me to Welder! 🎉

Easiest way to record your remote podcast in high quality

And, boy, do they live up to their tagline.

• I signed-up for a free account, no credit card needed.
• I created a session and invited my co-hosts by sending them the session link.
• They joined through the browser, no downloading needed!!!
• I started recording and that was it. I was hooked.
• After the first session, I immediately signed-up for a paid plan.

Auto-transcription

They also have this cool auto-transcription feature. It did not really work perfectly for us because, well, we decided to do a Taglish podcast. I mean, it did a great job whenever we spoke in English but just failed (miserably) otherwise.

Still, that’s a pretty neat feature and definitely helps if you want to convert your session into a blog article.

Quality

Finally, here’s the clincher. The video and audio quality is amazing.

Way, way, one more, way better than Zoom.

If you want to get technical, here’s how they are doing it… I think. They are not recording real-time. Instead, they simply transmit your video and audio online so that you can have your conversation. The video and audio will sometimes be wonky, as with anything that happens online, but that’s fine because that is not what’s being recorded.

The magic happens on the hosts’ and guests’ local machines/browsers. They are saving the full, clean recording locally and uploading them bit-by-bit throughout the session. So even if you see glitches as you are recording, the final recordings — split per participant — that you get are totally clear.

I am not sure I explained that properly but, just trust me.

Try out the free plan and you’ll thank me for it.

Now, even if I love it, there are still a couple of things that would make it even more awesome.

Hey Welder, if you are reading this, here’s my WISH list

1. Let me rename the participants so that it will be easier to track the recordings. Renaming each video and audio file is too redundant especially when I have lots of guests.
2. Speaking of files, please let us download all files in one click. Make downloading as easy as recording 😉
3. I would love it if the transcription text can be highlighted as I am watching or listening to the recording. Bonus if you give me the ability to edit the text without losing the timed highlight
4. This is probably not in the roadmap, but I see you going against Streamyard. Find a way to hook to live streaming apps, while keeping that ability to record high-quality video and audio, and you will give them a run for their money. 💸
5. And, oh, a referral/affiliate program would be nice. 😅 Just kidding! Keep doing great work. 💪🏼

Are you a podcaster?

Hopefully that was helpful.

If you are using another tool to record your podcasts and think it is better than Welder, let me know and I’ll be fair and will give it a whirl.

If you want to know more about Welder, check out their short demo video below.