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Music Technology
Week 1: Podcasts
Day 5: Practice Recording & Choose Your Topic

Day 5: Practice Recording & Choose Your Topic

Friday, March 20th, 2026

Read the entire objective, warmup, work session, and closing sections before you start working. This will help you understand the big picture of what we’re doing today.

Objectives

  • I can record a podcast intro using proper microphone technique.
  • I can use basic editing tools in GarageBand to trim and clean up a recording.
  • I can choose my final podcast topic based on how each intro sounds.

Warmup: Review Your Intros

Open the two intros you wrote yesterday in Microsoft Word. Reread them out loud quietly to yourself.

Before we start recording, make sure:

  • Each intro is 4–6 sentences and includes all five parameters (hook, name, podcast name, topic, preview).
  • You know how to pronounce every word in your intros.
  • You’ve practiced reading each one at least once.
If you haven’t finished writing both intros, take a few minutes to do that now. You won’t be able to record until you have two complete intros ready.

Checkpoint: Warmup

  • I have reread both of my intros.
  • I have practiced reading each one out loud.

Work Session: Part 1 - Record Both Intros

Time to put your voice behind your words. You’ll record both intros so you can hear how each one sounds.

You will take turns with your neighbor to record your intros. Only ONE microphone may be at each table. This helps to keep the noise down.
You must be silent if you are not recording.

Setup

  1. Connect the microphone to the audio interface using the XLR cable.
  2. Connect the audio interface to the computer using the USB cable.
  3. Turn the gain knob to an appropriate level (remember your sound check from Wednesday).
  4. Position the microphone about 6 inches from your mouth.
  5. Open GarageBand and create a new empty project with an audio track.

Recording

  1. Record Intro A — Read your first intro clearly and confidently.
  2. Stop recording. Create a new audio track for the second intro.
  3. Record Intro B — Read your second intro the same way.
  4. Listen back to both recordings. Which one sounds better? Which topic are you more excited about?

Recording Tips

  • If you make a mistake, don’t stop recording. Be silent for 3 seconds, then re-read the line. We’ll cut out the mistake when we edit.
  • Speak clearly and at a steady pace. Avoid rushing through your lines.
  • Stay close to the microphone and try not to move around while recording.

Checkpoint: Record Both Intros

  • I have recorded Intro A.
  • I have recorded Intro B.
  • I have listened back to both recordings.

Work Session: Part 2 - Practice Editing

Now let’s practice some basic editing in GarageBand. Use your intro recordings to try the following:

  1. Trim — Click and drag the edges of a recording region to cut off any silence at the beginning or end.
  2. Split — Place the playhead where you want to cut, then use Edit → Split Regions at Playhead (or press ⌘T) to split a recording into two pieces. Delete the part you don’t want.
  3. Delete — Select a region and press the Delete key to remove it.

Use these tools to clean up your recordings. Cut out any long pauses, mistakes, or dead air.

Checkpoint: Practice Editing

  • I have trimmed silence from the beginning and end of at least one recording.
  • I have used Split to cut out a mistake or unwanted section.
  • My edited intros sound cleaner than the originals.

Closing: Choose Your Topic

Before you leave today, make your final decision. Which topic are you going with?

Think about:

  • Which intro sounded better when you listened back?
  • Which topic are you more excited to talk about for 2–3 minutes?
  • Which one do you have more to say about?

Save your GarageBand project as: IntroTest_YourName and make sure it’s saved to OneDrive.

Next week, you’ll start writing your full podcast script and recording your episode.

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Day 4: Podcast Brainstorm