Inventive Ways to Achieve Vocal Effects for Your Podcast

Podcasts have risen in popularity recently. So much so that it has now become one of the most prominent mediums in media entertainment. In fact, the once niche medium has steadily grown in popularity all over the world. This has resulted in over 1.1 billion downloads in the UK alone, cementing podcasts’ place in modern pop culture. Because of this, more and more people have been trying to get into podcasting. New podcasts have been popping up, covering a variety of different subjects and themes. This has made it increasingly hard to stand out, as the industry continues to grow and become hypercompetitive.

Luckily, there are things you can do to stand out. Other than providing interesting topics and subjects, you can also focus on the production side of your podcast. One effective way to take the next step into production is through the use of creative vocal effects. Using effects can add a whole new layer when it comes to experiencing your podcast, by helping you create an immersive piece of entertainment. To help you get the ball rolling, we’ve put together a list of inventive ways of creating vocal effects for your podcast. We’ve included a variety of different options that’ll be accessible even if you lack certain resources.

DIY

Let’s start with the most unique option on this list. There are ways to create vocal effects even without the use of any hardware or software. Through the use of household tools, you can create DIY effects that can be used for a variety of situations.

Want to make it sound like you’re in a tunnel? Grab a roll of tissue paper and start speaking through the tube. Need to record as if you’re underwater? Fill up a bowl and start recording over the water. Try to get as close to the water as possible to get the maximum effect from this. Doing things DIY may be a little difficult at first, but you’ll soon find that the only limit to it is your creativity.

Guitar Pedals

This one is a great option if you have a background in music and play the guitar. Check out your pedalboard because some of those pedals can be used on your mic as well. You’ll have an easier time doing this if you have any vocal pedals, as they can add an entirely new dimension to your voice depending on what pedal you use. Other pedals work as well as long as you can plug them into your microphone. You’ll have plenty of options from distortion, phasing, and reverb effects to harmonizers, loopers, and pitch correction that can fit a variety of situations. Now, are these pedals better than those that you can add using music creation software?

In this case, it’s not really about being better or worse. What we can assure you is that vocal effects using guitar pedals will give you a unique sound. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends solely on what kind of content you’re making.

Post-production

Digital audio workstations (DAW) have changed the way we produce audio content. It gives you access to a multitude of digital instruments, as well as an impressive number of built-in effects. What’s great about DAWs is that you can usually download tools and plugins to add on to it, if the specific sound you’re looking for doesn’t come with the default library.

One downside to this is that you’ll need to learn how to use it. It shouldn’t be that hard given the amount of information on DAWs that is available on the internet. It also helps that many of these DAWs are free, which means you can try them all out and see what feels the best for you.

For more articles on remote audio post-production check out our blog section on the site.