[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/sellingthecouch/5-Matt_Mazack.mp3″ title=”Session 5: Great Audio Made Easy Featuring Matt Maszczak” artist=”Melvin Varghese with Matt Maszczak” ]
Hi! Welcome to Session 5 of the Selling the Couch Podcast.
My guest today is Matt Maszczak. Matt’s been a sound engineer for over 20 years and has worked with some of the top musicians in the world.
Matt and I discuss how therapists can get great audio, whether it’s on on introductory video or a recording of any kind and how to do this without breaking the bank!
In this episode, you’ll learn about:
- The ingredients to great audio
- Why good audio matters on your private practice website
- What good sound communicates to potential customers
- Simple tricks to get better sound on a shoestring budget
LINKS AND RESOURCE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Matt’s article: Why My $75 Mic Beats Your $400 Mic
- Melvin’s Current Audio Gear (Amazon Affiliate Links):
- Audiotechnica ATR2100 USB Microphone: my main recording mic
- Auphonix Pop Filter to reduce “pfft” sounds when speaking into a mic
- Neewer Mic Arm to reduce vibration noise and angle mic.
- Audacity (FREE sound editing software for Mac and PC)
- Book: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk
- Selling the Couch Resource Page
Matt's Main Website: http://mattmaszczak.com
Matt's Podcast Website: http://balanceisbunk.com
Connect with Matt on Twitter: @rocknrollriter
Connect with Matt on Facebook: Matt Maszczak
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HERE'S THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THIS SESSION
Melvin: You are listening to session five of the Selling the Couch podcast. Five is totally my favorite number.
Intro: Welcome to the Selling the Couch podcast where our goal is to help you achieve your counseling private practice dreams. And now the man who once slept overlooking an active volcano, psychologist, and podcaster Melvin Varghese.
Melvin: Hey everyone, thank you so much for joining me for another session of the Selling the Couch podcast. You know before I get started I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. It’s just unbelievable how much reception and how much positivity the podcast has received. You know I rehearsed this thinking I was not going to get emotional, but you know you put out something like this into the world and you never realize how it’s going to be taken and just all the comments and the podcast you know– it hit the front page of iTunes and that is just something it’s unheard of especially for a new podcast and I just thank you so much.
You know all I do is merely facilitate these conversations and I just came up with this idea for this podcast literally in the shower a couple of months ago, thinking of some way to help private practitioners and it's just amazing how it's taken off. And it wouldn’t be nowhere where it is were it not for you, and so I thank you so much for just tuning in. My guest today is Matt Maszczak. Matt and I are podcasting friends, and Matt’s kind of been the person that I’ve gone to when I’ve struggled with sound, and how to get better sound on the microphone. Matt has over 25 years of sound engineer experience.
He was initially doing a lot of sound stuff in college and then travelled with a few big name bands across the country. Now he has a lot of valuable– just a lot of valuable lessons for us to learn. One of the reasons that I wanted to bring Matt on is you often I think we don’t think about the quality of our sound and especially on like a website, right? Like whether you have a video or making any kind of a recording. Often we don’t think about how having good sound is going to make the difference for someone to whether to consider your services or not consider. And so after this episode I think you are going to be a lot better at thinking about sound, and also how to get really great sound.
Matt’s got a lot of great resources and at the end of our episode I’ll link to some of the equipment that I use for the podcast. Thank you again everyone for your support. Here is my conversation with Matt Maszczak, Matt welcome to the show.
Matt: Hey thanks so much for having me Melvin, it’s good to be here.
Melvin: Yeah thanks again for doing this. Tell us a little bit about you and your experience with sound and how you got to where you are.
Matt: Okay well yeah. You know I started in high school; I played in a band, picked up a guitar when I was a kid and that just kind of became my thing. So I started doing the whole band thing in high school, but that quickly moved into me doing sound for all of my other friends’ bands because I was the one that was such a nerd with it that I had all the gear.
So that kind of continued on into college, and I did that on the side in college that was my job instead of working you know in the cafeteria whatever I was the sound engineer for all of the stuff that went on at the school, from all the concerts, all that stuff that led to me going into the radio and doing a radio show at the college. And then I got picked up to go out and tour the country as a sound engineer for a couple of bands. Did that for a couple of years and then went back to New Jersey which is my original home stay, and got into sales; selling pro audio equipment and working with some really A-list clients helping them get their studios up and stuff and going.
And then that led me around the country again because that job took me to California where I worked for churches and theaters and stuff out in California doing production, and eventually led me back to New Jersey after 15, 16 years. And I worked for a large retailer here that does music, instrument sales, and then that kind of started to go away and I started to do my own thing. And now I’m on my own.
Melvin: You know it’s amazing how when you feel passionate about something right, it’s just– that makes it so much easier to actually learn this stuff and do it. That’s cool to hear your story.
Matt: Yeah you know it’s been a fun journey and you know the stories from the road as it were, it was a real adventure. You know not everything you hear is true but a lot of it, it is. And it was definitely a wild ride. So I’m glad I went on it.
Melvin: That’s awesome! So you know like I said one of the things that I wanted for us to kind of talk about was just some of those things that you’ve learnt from you know all this experience that you have with regard to sound. You know I think a lot of times therapists in private practice, if you look on websites and stuff that– anything that has any kind of audio, it’s not always the best quality. And I think it’s just such a small but powerful way having good audio. That’s just a great way to really stand out.
Matt: Yeah, I agree with you and you know this is the YouTube age. This is the content marketing age, where if you are in business for yourself you have to have content out in the world and you know audio is a big part of that. And I’d like to speak to what good audio is, I think we need to define good audio. In my mind good audio is you don’t realize it’s audio. You know if I’m talking to you and it sounds like I’m sitting across a table from you talking to you, that’s the perfect audio in my mind because it gets out of the way. And what a lot of people try and do is they try to overdo it. And they try to overdo everything and spend a ton of money to process and process and do everything to their audio, and ends up sounding wacky and it doesn’t work well.
Melvin: Yeah so I guess what I hear you say is that it really should just feel like a conversation and it should be natural. So simply trying to go in and trying to edit things, that’s not going to produce as much of a good result as if you get good audio right at the start?
Matt: Absolutely yeah, getting– you know when you are recording audio for like a podcast or for a YouTube video if you can get great audio into the microphone and into that initial recording, that’s way better than having t o go back and fix a ton audio later. People should– in my mind should approach audio editing as fixing small issues that happened during a good recording rather than fixing the recording.
Melvin: Yeah.
Matt: You know what I mean?
Melvin: Yeah absolutely, like you can always go back and fix the small things, but you shouldn’t be trying to fix that big thing.
Matt: Exactly, exactly.
Melvin: So what are some of the things that you’ve learned actually? What creates that good audio right at the onset?
Matt: Okay, well first of all I mean I think that the big thing is you want to be cognizance of speaking into the microphone well. You know a lot of people approach a microphone and are scared to death of it, or you know what we in the recording world call Red Light Syndrome where as soon as we press our record button, people freak out and they [inaudible] [0:07:47]. You know I always say ignore the mic, act like it’s not there and talk to the person on the other side that’s listening to you. You know just have the mic in front of you.
So some of the things that you can do and this is kind of dependent on what your outlet is. But for instance like on a podcast right now, you know have the right microphone and that could be a little bit of a challenge, and there are some ways that we can you know help you guys find the right microphone. I’m sure Melvin you can link to one of the posts that I did on that that will help you kind of find that really good solution, really inexpensively. But get close to the microphone is important. Make sure that you are speaking across it not directly into it. And that’s in a good position where you are sitting up straight and you are allowing your voice to do the work.
Now on video it’s a little bit different, unless you are off screen. If you are off screen in a video it’s like a slideshare or something like that, the same rules apply. I would use the same exact microphone I’m using right now for a slideshare presentation. But if I was going to do a video where I’m actually on screen speaking I would use what’s called the lavaliere [ph] microphone which you’ve probably seen, it's one that clips on your tie or your lapel or something like that. And the reason is again you don’t want your audio to be distracting.
If you’ve got a big mic stuck in your face for a video, it’s not going to project as well. You are not going to come across, your messages it’s going to be lost there. But with that little tiny mic clipped on your tie nobody is going to notice it, they are going to be looking in your eyes in the video and getting what the message that you are trying to portray.
Melvin: Yeah now that’s such a great point, right. And the other thing is it’s just not as visually appealing, right? Like having this big mic right there right in front of your face, if you are trying to do any kind of a video?
Matt: Exactly, get rid of every distraction because I mean as a small business owner, as a practitioner you have a message that you want to portray. And that message is not, “Hey look at my microphone.” It’s, “Hey here is how I can help you or how we can help each other.”
Melvin: Yeah.
Matt: So get rid of all of the distractions that have nothing to do with that message in audios no different.
Melvin: In terms of some real practical things like you know I think for like for example a lot of private practitioners, they’ll have some kind of an Introduction video like on their About page right? Or even it could be just an audio.
Matt: I think first of all get your message. Get your message really locked down to what you want to say. And when you get there, don’t plan on recording it in one tick. You know get the microphone out and be ready to do 10 or 12 takes of it because that red light syndrome is going to kick in. I don’t care how many times you’ve done it, it’s going to kick in sometimes and you are going to mess up a word, you are going to stumble, there is going to be you know your kids are going to be knocking on the door, a truck is going to roll by. Something is going to happen in one of those recordings, especially the one that you think is perfect.
So give yourself sometime. Give yourself several chances to do it and even when you think you’ve got the perfect one, do it twice more. That’s what I always tell people. Second thing is make sure that you can– again just like getting rid of distractions you want to try and get rid of all potential for problems. So you know like I have kids and I do podcasts. I need to tell my kids about half an hour before the podcast, “Hey listen in 30 minutes the TV is off and there is nobody running up and down the hall screaming.” You know and I put my little red sign that I made it says recording in progress on my door, so they know not to knock on my door.
You know just little things like that, anything that you can do to help avoid those distractions is best. You know and also pick the right place. You probably don’t want to record your video in a huge cathedral. Okay, you also probably don’t want to record it in a closet. So consider how you want the sound to come across, and record in a place that’s quiet but not enormous because– yeah.
Melvin: Yeah, no absolutely and I think one of the things that I had heard and correct me if I’m wrong, just to try to be in a room that’s carpeted as opposed to just hardwood floors.
Matt: Yeah now that is definitely something that comes up to– I can really go over your head with completely audio nerdery, but I won't. Essentially yeah, hard surfaces and right angles are kind of your enemy in recording, okay?
Melvin: Okay.
Matt: So one of the things I tell people is if you are in it, it’s better to record in a living room with couch and carpet than it is to record in an empty room. You know a little bit of furniture in the room is a good thing; too many hard surfaces are a bad thing. The one probably big thing that you can do is make sure that behind your microphone like you know inches behind it is not a hard surface and that a few feet behind you is not hard surface. So in other words don’t sit up against the door and sit up against the wall. You know give yourself a little bit of space because those two things together can really kind of play havoc with microphones.
Melvin: Yeah now those are such great tips. And there is actually my reference said earlier, you wrote this awesome article on and it was titled…
Matt: It was Why My $75 mic like beats your $400 mic.
Melvin: Yeah, it was like it was such a great title and I read that thing and I now use it as a reference as I’m recording this podcast, because you know like this whole audio sound, it's all such a new territory for me, and that article which I’ll link to in the show notes has been so helpful. So especially if you are thinking about creating any kind of audio or video for your private practice website, it’s just such a great tool. And the thing to remember is that it doesn’t have to be expensive. You know it’s something that you can get really good audio with inexpensive equipment. You just have to known kind of how it works and how sound…
Matt: Yeah, and that’s definitely a big takeaway. You know sound is one of those places where money can buy you a lot of stuff. But the more money you spend, the more problems you can create for yourself unless you know what you are doing. And I wrote that article because I mean you know like I said I’m a podcaster, I do a lot of podcasting. That’s my media outlet and in doing that I run up against lot of other podcasters that have thousands and thousands of dollars into their audio system, and they sound like garbage.
You know I mean or not– I don’t want to say they are selling garbage that’s mean. They don’t sound as good as they could with the right way of approaching the microphone, the right set-up. For $75 you know your sound can blow them away if you know what you are doing.
Melvin: Yeah, now Matt you know I’ve referenced that article and we’ve chatted a little bit too and just I feel like even the small things that you’ve taught me through both just talking and through that article, it’s helped my sound especially on this podcast just take it to a whole other level.
Matt: Well, I’m glad to hear that and you do, you sound phenomenal Melvin, so that worked. I’m glad to be of help.
Melvin: Hey, so you know one of the other things I was thinking– so how does actually having good audio, how does that make it a difference for a small business owner? How does it make them stand out?
Matt: That’s a great question. Okay just like anything else in the marketing world, in the business world your first impression is your biggest impression. And when someone drops onto your website, whether they got there from the business card or a friend referred them or they hit a link or Facebook ad, they get into your website and that intro video is there. If that intro video stinks, they are going to bounce off your site faster than trampling, right? So the first thing is you have to have good content, okay? And that’s key. I think you can sacrifice the audio department a little bit if your content is killer, okay?
But if your content is killer and your audio is killer, they are going to stick around longer because they have choices. People in this world today they have a million choices for everything. There is nowhere on earth where one person is the only person doing something anymore. And so your quality speaks very loudly about how serious you are, and how much you care about your business. Good audio, good video, good content is a winning combination.
Melvin: Yeah now that’s a great point because I think so many times, like this podcast is really geared toward new private practitioners, and I think that process of trying to jump in and start a private practice when you know that there are already so many practitioners in your area, I think that idea of creating good content and doing these little things to stand out is just so…
Matt: Yeah, and I think too you know especially in your industry, you know in these private practices, it’s a very intimate connection with your clients. And you know when we speak to each other over the phone; it’s a much different experience when we speak to each other in person. And if your audio can emulate speaking in person, it’s going to be a much more intimate experience for the client in that initial meeting. And I think that that’s going to translate really well and get them more interested in taking that to a more personal level.
Melvin: To use some of the psychology language, it’s just such a great way to build rapport right through your website even before they’ve actually met you in person.
Matt: Absolutely, I completely agree.
Melvin: You said something about content which I thought was great earlier. What are kind of the ingredients or what would you say are good components to you know having just great content?
Matt: That’s a big question because it depends I think on your practice. You know I think in my mind I want to give my entire purpose for my business in the first minute and half here on my website. I want you to know the second you get on my website right at the top of the page, why you are there, why I’m there and how I can help you because I would rather have ten clients that are right for my business than 100 that are wrong for my business. And so I want them to know who I am and where I’m coming from.
So I think that that’s the biggest part for me in content in that regard. Now that being said, further down the page and deeper in the content stream in my business and everything else, I want to add value. My content should give you something. Every single thing I post I should be giving you something for free. And you know it’s a whole– if you haven’t read it Gary Vaynerchuk Jab, Jab, Jab Left Hook you know what I mean or Right Hook excuse me.
Melvin: Great, great book.
Matt: Great book you know and he really hits the nail on the head in the social media world. The best thing you can do is give, give, give, give, give, then ask. You know and if you can do that not only are you going to help people out, which is great but you are going to give people that can’t afford your service a reason to come back to you when they can.
Melvin: At the end of the day you are offering value. And I think that giving value communicates a lot about who you are. And I think in a way it helps build trust.
Matt: Yeah absolutely and I mean and that’s you know people can smell the person that is the shark and just wants us to come in and take their money. But for the person that really wants to make a difference in someone’s life, that comes through by how you give in your content.
Melvin: Yeah.
Matt: And it makes a big difference when you do make an ask because now they want to go back to you because you’ve given them so much already.
Melvin: Yeah, now I love that point because I think you know a lot of times and this I think is so hard for small business owners. When you are starting out in your early private practice, your first question and the biggest thing that you struggle with is how do I get my first clients, right? And so already our mind is already kind of geared toward okay I got to ask, ask, ask. And so what you are arguing and what Gary Vaynerchuk also argues is that it’s the exact opposite. You have to give, give, give, and by giving you actually over time get more quality clients.
Matt: You know I fully believe that, you know a lot of people will it Karma, a lot of people will call it you know whatever manifestation, but it is. Like what you put out there ripples back to you.
Melvin: Absolutely, cool. Well we are just about out of time. Was there any other kind of final tips for improving audio quality that you know that folks can take away from our show?
Matt: I think the biggest thing to take away from audio is less is always more. So if you can get away without adding like river or echo to your voice do it. If you can get away without having to edit your audio, do it. Less is always more with audio. You know and also if you don’t mind I’d like to put a little plug in there. If you need help with your audio, if you really are struggling, you need editing help, I do offer services on my website at MattMaszczak.com. Feel free to stop by there.
You can see the article that Melvin will link to you there and you know I’m starting to write more and more articles for that website. It’s pretty new so there is not a ton of content there, but I’m adding some everyday. So you’ll see some more stuff there. And drop by and check out you know what I can help you with and feel free to drop me an email. You know all the social media profiles and stuff I’ll give all those links to Melvin you can link to those. You know hit me up on Twitter, Facebook say, “Hey Matt, how do I fix this problem?” I’m always willing to help someone out.
Melvin: Yeah and I can speak from experience. I mean Matt's been just so helpful, just willing to just spend time to just give any sort of silly question I’ve heard about you know just getting to this podcast up and launch, he’s been so helpful. So thanks again Matt for coming on man, I really enjoyed it.
Matt: Anytime, it’s been a blast. Have a good one.
Melvin: Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed that conversation with Matt Maszczak. I like bringing folks like Matt on that are outside of our niche, our mental health field because I think it’s just some of the things that he talks about, specifically with sound, they're such important and valuable lessons. Especially at this day and age where in the land of YouTube and videos and podcasting, you have so many opportunities to get your voice out, but as Matt reminds us that a lot of times your first impression is the best impression. And so my hope in bringing Matt was to teach you some things about getting better audio quality.
Matt mentioned a lot of resources including his article. I’ll link to that here in the show notes. And the other thing I’ll also link to is some of the equipment that I use. I literally have spent less than $100 on my microphone equipments, so I think you can tell the quality of the sound. So it’s not something I’m doing that’s exceptional. I think it’s just I’ve taken some of the stuff that Matt has taught me, and then a lot of kind of practicing and trying to see what works. I’ll include all of this information on the show notes page at Sellingthecouch.com/session5.
And if you do decide to buy any of this equipment especially if you are thinking about any kind of audio, video, if you could consider buying it through the links on the show notes page that just helps me to offset some of the costs of running the website and also the podcast. Thank you everyone and have a great week.
Outro: Thanks for listening to the Selling the Couch podcast. For more great content and to stay up to date visit www.sellingthecouch.com.
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