I had occasion today to have another look in detail at one of my podcast episodes and the edited version.
The episode was Island Space Tours from Season Two Volume 1
And edited for inclusion on Maker's Dawn:
I've been editing a lot recently to turn podcast episodes into ‘finished tracks’ because it seems to work for people. And I generally like how they turn out too. But I don't think of them as finished after today. The long-form episode is finished. It captures the performance and the performance comes and goes. I might play something similar another time. I might even learn bits and refine over time until it becomes something different. But the episode is the final product and that one I particularly like the progression, the mistakes, the vibe. It also reminds me a little bit of The Mentalist soundtrack - that's not on purpose by the way.
I like the edited version too, and I hope others do. But it is less immersive to me because it is shorter and progresses faster. Interestingly there are things it brings out that you don't hear in the original because it moves faster and has cuts - you hear and feel changes that happen so slowly in the original that they aren't noticeable. It brings out some distortion as well that I couldn't decide whether I like for a while. After a detailed listen, I think it's fitting. Some ‘mistakes’ are edited out, this feels like a new mistake and creates a reaction. It's also very variable depending on what you listen to it on. Variability is something I like - a little chaos can be a lovely thing.
The upshot - I like where the edits are getting to. I enjoy making them (but not as much as the full episodes) and will keep going. But the final, ‘proper’ versions are the full length episodes and I might have to find a way to make them more prominent in some way - maybe just a reminder for people? I'm really quite pleased with how the podcast came out, although I'm also looking forward to break from it for a while after the current run.
