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Welcome back to the TruJuLo YouTube
channel, where we
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uplift stories that speak truth in
pursuit of justice,
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in service of love.
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In today’s video, I’m sharing all
the steps I took to turn my
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home office into a part time podcast
studio to get the very
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best sound possible.
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I host and co-produce the podcast
Sister Brunch, and we
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share the stories of black women
thriving in
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entertainment and media.
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So we are going into our fourth season
at Sister Brunch.
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We recorded our first episode from
our Co-host Anya’s House
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in June of 2019.
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Our executive producer, Christabel
Nsiah Buadi,
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associate producer Brittany, Anya
and me had our very
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first guests, Bola and Jenise, and
we now also have a new
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producer as well.
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Sonata Lee-Narcisse.
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Seasons two and three, I
recorded much of mine
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from my closet.
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Even though we’re able to get back
out into the world at
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this point, we decided to go ahead
for season four and still
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continue to record from home.
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So that meant I had to step up my
audio recording game.
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And here are the steps that
I took to do that.
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The most important thing I did to
get the best possible audio
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for my podcast
was soundproofing.
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You can have the best mic, great
equipment, but if there
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are issues in your room, that’s
going to be
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your biggest hurdle.
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So this is TruJuLo Studios
, welcome.
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It’s my office.
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It’s my wellness room, and
it’s a podcast studio.
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This room is really, really
echoey.
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There are also two really
big windows here,
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and that’s beautiful for their natural
light for my plants,
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but not so great for
noise reduction.
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So I got these top down, bottom
up blinds from Lowes.
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These are these awesome magnetic
shades from IKEA.
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Now fortunately I do have these gym
mats on most of the floor.
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So those mats help a
lot because otherwise it’s
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just hardwood floor.
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I got these on Amazon.
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I link to most of the equipment
I’ve purchased along the
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way down below.
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I also put a rug down and
a rug pad under that.
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So that has really helped with the space
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just below me.
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I have this gorgeous tapestry
behind me.
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It’s from this company called Eighth
Generation, but it’s
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also a perfect backdrop for my
Zoom calls.
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This is one of the most important
things I got.
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I read a lot of reviews.
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I did a lot of research on what I
could do on the walls, and I
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found these Bubos hexagon
acoustic panels.
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Again, the link for the ones that
I have are in
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the description box.
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I got them in white because I just
wanted to kind of keep the
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walls minimal, but they’ve got all
kinds of colors and I used
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command strips to put these
up on my wall.
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These have truly made a huge difference
in the echo.
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I was skeptical, but they really
have mattered and I
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especially concentrated on the
corner area.
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So I didn’t do the whole
ceiling, but there’s an
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attic above me in the
corner area.
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And so I made sure that at least
that attic was
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somewhat covered up.
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I keep this Pendleton jacket here
because Pendleton was a
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company that was really important
to my mom when she
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was growing up.
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And so this way I look at the Pendleton
jacket and it also
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serves as a great sound buffer for
the closet door
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in the office.
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I also placed these under
both of the doors.
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I splurged on these two sound panels
for buffering the sound
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between my desk and the
windows.
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And then this one.
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I love this panel one because it
also kind of helps me with
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the sound coming from the
walls beyond my desk.
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But also, as you can see, I put the
Adinkra symbols for truth,
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justice, love that I got from Etsy.
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I also have the link below and it
adds this nice touch of
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something that makes me
feel good.
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Next, I want to share with you the
equipment I’m using to
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try and get the best possible sound
for the podcast
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I co-host, Sista Brunch. For equipment
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I did a lot of research
into microphones.
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I really wanted to push this
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podcast audio glow
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up here.
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So I did go with the one that
everyone, no matter who I
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spoke to, did a lot of
research, asked a lot
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of podcasters, and everyone said
, if you can
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afford it, get this Shure
SM7B.
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But as I said in the first section
on soundproofing,
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you can use any microphone as long
as you’re working on noise
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reduction in your room.
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Make sure you have that first.
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You need something that goes between
the microphone and into
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your software that you’re
recording on.
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So you need an audio
interface.
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I use the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
and again do this
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little by little if you need to but
to get really great audio
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between the interface
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and the microphone,
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you also will probably want to get
a Cloudlifter and that’s
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going to just help with
your audio as well.
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It just makes a difference.
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I’m not an audio engineer, so
I don’t know.
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all of the technicals behind why
these work together, but I
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know that once I got these three
things together, plus the
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XLR cables, let’s not forget those,
because you need
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the connector between each of
these things.
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Hey there.
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I’m going to take a quick moment
to ask you to do
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a few things.
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If you’re enjoying this video, please
give us a thumbs up and
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subscribe to the channel.
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We are on our way to
1000 subscribers.
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That’s the goal so that we can get
this channel monetized and
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just by that little thumbs up or
leaving a comment or
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especially subscribing, you can help
us grow the channel and
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that will help us make it more accessible
to more people.
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All right.
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Onwards with the steps I took
to get the best possible
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sound for my podcast.
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And finally: Ambiance.
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I want to make sure that I’m surrounded
with things that
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make me feel comfortable
and comforted.
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I’ve got plants, I’ve got my
salt lamp.
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I got this light to make
sure that I’m well-lit
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for the podcast.
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So even though we’re not really a
video podcast, I just like to
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bring my very best while I’m doing
the podcast and also got
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these LEDs that change colors.
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And so I use this color which is
close to our logo color.
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So those are the steps that I’ve
taken to glow up for
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season four of the podcast Sista
Brunch. Visit our website
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at www.SistaBrunch.Com.
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Thank you so much for watching this
video, for liking it,
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for subscribing to the TruJuLo
channel.
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TAYLOR: My journey has always been about
making black women feel
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seen and likely they have
a place in entertainment.
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DARRIEN: You know, a development person’s
whole job exists
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to say no.
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Like your job is to take
every project,
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and if there’s a reason why you think
you might not make it,
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and then you operate in fear, because
if you say yes and what
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you want is you, that
might be a problem.
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Once a problem, then
that’s your job.
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So everybody says no.
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And I just said, I don’t want to
go back and be a person
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who says no.
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Like I like these people.
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I like filmmakers, I
like these creatives.
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I just want to be
someone who says yes.
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DAVINA: So I decided, I said
, You know what?
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It is better to help the many and
to widen the gate for the
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many than it is to just struggle
and go after my own
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individual selfish ideas.
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So I decided to make
a change.
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DIANA: My disability, is a part of who I
am, just one of
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my identities, I’m an aunt and
I’m a daughter.
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KELLY: I ended up getting taking
this deal.
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It’s a two year first look
deal that they offered me.