This week I took my recording outside. Mainly because my children were still awake and inside.

But the sun was shining so it definitely improved the lighting.

And I brought back the PodTrak P4 along with the superior XLR microphone so the sound is much improved on this one.

Since episode 8 I seem to be launching into these with little-to-no preparation so they are definitely a bit more ‘rambly’. I suspect this is good for my overall performance skills in the long term, but perhaps not so great for the current batch of episodes.

Then again this was always intended to be a bit of a training ground for other projects so in that sense the output is more than living up to expectations.

Weirdly though, the lack of preparation seems to be resulting in longer episodes.

I might need to have a think about that.

But, aside from the fact that being outside means the microphone is picking up a bit more in the way of ambient noise, I definitely think the sound and lighting are much better this week.

Another downside of filming outside is that the PodTrak is reliant on batteries, due to the absence of anywhere to plug in. It does tend to burn through the batteries.

So not the best move from an environmental perspective.

Not that being an ‘eco-friendly’ podcast is necessarily top of my priorities, but I wouldn’t want to be an unnecessarily ‘eco-unfriendly’ podcast.

To be honest the weather is getting increasingly grim so I can’t imagine there’ll be too many more outdoor recording opportunities in the foreseeable future.