The Enthusiasm Project
The Enthusiasm Project
No Fun Anymore
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Finding cynicism and jaded outlooks online is nothing new, but as our real and virtual lives mesh more and more, the "too cool for school" attitude can have more of a damaging impact than ever. So let's explore what that means and how to harness and protect fun at any age.
🎙This week's mic:
Shure SM58
https://geni.us/fNPEFQG (Amazon)
⚙️ Gear of the Week:
Saramonic K9
https://store.saramonic.com/products/k9
Mic Mount Video: https://youtu.be/hycjQY3fLwU?si=q5b_SrFCs7LFe2Ua
Mic Mounts: https://geni.us/shortmount (Amazon)
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——————————— CONNECT ———————————
Electronic Mail: tom@enthusiasmproject.com
Main Site: https://himynameistom.com
Social Medias: @sodarntom
——————————— PODCAST GEAR ———————————
•Rodecaster Video: https://bhpho.to/3Ub88j2 (B&H)
•Rodecaster Duo: https://geni.us/ULKDFkp (Amazon)
•Elgato Prompter: https://geni.us/elgatoprompter (Amazon)
•Mic Arm: https://geni.us/zc7hAbW (Amazon)
•Elgato Stream Deck Plus: https://geni.us/EzyY6o5 (Amazon)
•Headphones: https://bhpho.to/3JNacqg (B&H)
•XLR Cables: https://geni.us/bluexlr (Amazon)
S13E09 | Series Episode 183
Podcast Artwork by Kevin Ramirez
Original theme music written by Patrick Boberg and performed by Mike Alvarez
Thank you, hello and welcome. My name is Tom. This is the Enthusiasm Project, season 13, episode 9, feeling Fine. Fine, and that means we are second to last episode of the season. Next one will be the season finale, finally, which will actually be pretty cool because we get to do something very fun with microphones and stuff and I have to figure out, like, how to orchestrate that. So I'm a little curious, but I think that will be actually incredibly fun. So today definitely got a few things that I'm excited to share.
Speaker 2:The main topic of today's show is something I'm going to warn you up front is something that can potentially sound a little bit ranty. I don't necessarily want that to be the case, but it's something that I feel I just can't get out of my brain and it's something that I actually feel very more passionately than I realized about. And it goes. It goes back to you know my DNA as just a person. It goes back to childhood, it goes back to being a teacher and it definitely goes like runs through being an online content creator in the year 2025. When a lot of things seem absolutely insane. So that's what we are going to talk about and we're hopefully going to have a lot of fun doing it. I do not intend for it to be a rant, but I'm just warning you up front it could potentially go in that direction. My goal is to be constructive, not destructive, so I'm just going to put that up front.
Speaker 2:But before we talk about any of that stuff, let's talk about microphones and super fun things in our Mic of the Week segment. All right, you might know this one. It has been around for a while. I guess if you're listening you wouldn't know, but if you're watching this it's very obvious what I'm using. This is the Shure SM58 running through the Rodecaster Duo, and actually I'm using the SM7B preset. If I take off the preset, wow, there's actually not even like there's a difference without the preset, but it's not some microphones, it's a huge difference. Now I have the preset back on. This one doesn't have as big of a difference. The SM58, I was kind of looking through. You know the different mics because what we're doing is I'm using a different one on every episode. So 10 different microphones throughout the season and then next week, you know, I'll play clips from all of them so you can hear them all back to back to back and then vote on which one you think sounds the best. I'm just curious about it, like I don't know what it means when we figure out which one people like the most. But I'm really curious and that just seemed like a really fun idea.
Speaker 2:There are a few things that I've been trying to do as I choose the different microphones throughout the season is, I've been trying to choose a variety. I've been using dynamics, I've been using condensers, I've been trying to use different brands. You know I have a list over here, so if you see me looking off screen, that's what I'm looking at. We've used the SM7B, the Shure SM4, the Rode Broadcaster, the Earthworks Ethos, the Rode NT1, lewitt 440, shure Super 55, sc Dynacaster and now the Shure SM58. So more. I think I've used more Shure mics than any other mic and I'm not actually sure which one I'm going to use next week.
Speaker 2:But there is a reason for that. I got and some of you know my friend, doc Rock, who has his own YouTube channel and works with Ecamm Live and stuff, the software I'm using to make this podcast sent me just totally by surprise it showed up in the mail the Neat Kingbee, the original condenser Kingbee microphone, which is incredibly cool, and he was like, yeah, I have this, I don't use it, I want to give it to a good home. So he just sent it to me and that's a really fun microphone. A bunch of people are like, oh, you got to use that on the podcast. Got to use it on the podcast and I was like I want to because I want people to hear it. So I ended up actually making a video comparison. We'll talk about that maybe next week. So there will be a video. It will be featured in a thing.
Speaker 2:But I didn't really want to use it on the podcast because I feel like this is such a practical application of microphones and audio and equipment that I don't want to show something that's not available anymore and that microphone has been discontinued for a number of years and even though Neat currently makes like newer versions of those, I think Neat might not be doing so neat and they might be kind of going out of business because it seems like stock is very limited and they haven't like shared or posted anything online in like two years. So usually not a good sign when a company does something like that. So I've been trying to use microphones. They vary in price. This is actually one of the less expensive ones I've used this season.
Speaker 2:But I've been using mics that you can like go buy right now. So if you hear how it sounds especially you know, comparing my voice to your voice or your application, or however you want to use it and you're like, okay, that's the one I want, or, you know, maybe just want to add it to your collection, whatever, I want it to be something that's actually accessible to you. I don't want to show you like, look, this microphone's amazing, isn't it awesome? It sounds super cool. You can't get it, I don't know. I think there's a time to highlight stuff like that. I love looking through, you know, old stuff, retro tech, all those kinds of things where it's just sort of like look at this, isn't it neat, neat.
Speaker 2:But this specific like not necessarily every mic of the week segment ever, but this season, doing the different mics and the different comparisons I want them to be things that are accessible and the SM58, the microphone I'm using right now, very accessible. They started making these things in 1966. So this has been around for a long time. You know it's changed a little bit, actually, from what I understand, based on the Shure SM57, which was actually like the first real XLR microphone. I ever bought the one I'm holding right now. I'm not talking into it, but I'm holding it about this 20 years ago when I was in college. Yeah, I bought this in 2005. So 20 years ago it's $100 and it's still $100. So I don't know. The price has just always been the same, which is kind of nice.
Speaker 2:And the SM57, traditionally used as an instrument microphone, but I have mine. I have a windscreen on mine. They use these a lot in, you know, for vocal mics in professional settings. They're very, you know, reputable microphones. I have a knockoff version that I'm holding up to the screen. This is a Pyle PD mic 78. It's a $15 version of the SM57, which is actually not bad at all, although I haven't used it in a bit. So I'm kind of curious like, is it still? Does it still work? Well? But I just wanted to show you what it looks like without having to take the windscreen off of my, my other 57. Because the capsules aren't necessarily different, but the like, the windscreen between the 57 and the 58 are different, and so the 58, the 57 typically is geared towards instruments and especially like it has this flat front on it so you can put it right up against an amplifier. You can do, you know you can. You can position it very well for instruments, drums, that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:They decided to take a version of that and make a more broadcast, you know, vocal spoken word version and that's what the 58 is sort of like a modification of that. So very similar sounds, just sort of different purposes. And you know it has a different kind of grill on. It, has a different built-in windscreen. I was thinking of putting a windscreen on here just to prevent any plosive, potential plosives, but I wanted you to hear the microphone without it. So if there are a few, it does a pretty good job. I mean, people use these microphones on stage all the time. I keep hitting the cable. I'm sorry. People keep using. People use these microphones on stage all the time, you know, with great effect. So it comes down more mic technique than anything and it's kind of interesting.
Speaker 2:Something I didn't really know was that the 58 was originally designed as as a broadcast mic, kind of what I'm doing right now. Like you put it in a studio. It's a broadcast microphone but it's so compact and it's so durable and it sounds so good and it's easy to use. It really found its home in live performance settings. So you see these, you know, on stages, events, there's different versions of the 58. I'm using just the standard XLR version, but Shure has like the same microphone that has like built-in wireless capabilities and all kinds of stuff, but it's basically the same looking microphone. It probably is. You know, other than the super 55 which I used a couple weeks ago.
Speaker 2:This one is probably if you, if you um ask somebody who knows nothing about microphones and never thinks about microphones to like imagine a microphone, this is probably probably what they're imagining kind of looks like. It's almost like I have a Stratocaster on my wall Fender Stratocaster. Actually this is a Squire Bullet, but it's the same design. If you don't know anything about electric guitars and you just sort of think of, like what does a guitar look like, I think the majority of people are going to imagine something that kind of has the shape of a Stratocaster, maybe different colors, maybe whatever, but that's probably like the basic idea of like yeah, that's kind of what an electric guitar looks like.
Speaker 2:I think the SM58 is the same thing for a microphone. So it's a fun one. It has a 90,. It still has this $99 MSRP, same with the 57. So they're they're very accessible. You buy one, it'll last you forever. And that's what's really cool too is, like you know, my 50, 57, I bought 20 years ago. I bought this 58 maybe like two years ago, so at the time there's an 18 year difference between them. They pretty much sound exactly the same, and if I went back and bought ones that were 20 years older, so a 40 year old microphone like it would still sound the same. That's what's really kind of cool with these mics and with Shure mics. You know they've been around doing this for a long time. They're very accessible, they're very high quality and they'll just kind of last forever and you can mix and match new and old ones. So that is the mic of the week. That's what I've been using the Shure SM58. Ain't it great. It is a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:But now let's move into the topic of today's show, because I don't want to have fun anymore. No fun here. This is something that is. The idea of. Fun is something that I feel like is really misunderstood and missing in today's world period. But I'm going to focus specifically on the world of online content creation and that sort of stuff, and I've been on such a Blink-182 kick I would say recently, but just for the past 28 years. But especially recently.
Speaker 2:There's a song on Blink-182's most recent album, on the deluxe version of the album, called no Fun, and it's great because it's written by people you know in their about 50 years old at the time they wrote this, but having the career trajectory that you know, a pop punk band that saw worldwide success and everything you know from the time they were very young up until now and it really explores, like the lyrics of the song really explore fun, sort of disappearing from your life and falling into cynicism, feelings of jadedness, boredom and just sort of forgetting the fun of existing. And then like serving as a reminder that even if you're not 18, you can still like, you could still try again and, and I don't know, I that song man, that song hits different. Let me tell you I appreciate that one. So I highly recommend, if you have a couple minutes, go check out no Fun from Blink-182. It's also got like a really fun bass line that is super cool to play. So, ironically, no Fun is very fun and I want to talk about that.
Speaker 2:I want to talk about fun because, especially in the world of the internet, the idea of being jaded and cynical online. That's like day one of the internet. I don't know what like the first email ever sent was, but it was probably something jaded and cynical. Actually, I know it wasn't. I know I've read whatever the first email was, but it's, you know, like this is an email, or maybe it was spam, I don't know.
Speaker 2:But you know, I remember I hear all the time stories about like Simpsons writers back in the 90s. They had a computer with an internet connection installed in their writer's room on the Fox studio lot and they would go to like the Usenet user group, like old, old, old school message boards in the, you know, early to mid 90s, and they would see what people were saying about the episodes. And it was literally. They had to get the computer then taken out of the writer's room because it was such a frustrating thing to see Because every week an episode would come out and people would just, you know, the worst episode ever. The show's terrible, which is hilarious, because that's still what happens, you know, all these years later.
Speaker 2:And the episodes they were working on at that time, like if you're talking about the 1990s, you're talking about the absolute golden age of the Simpsons, which is some which are some of the best pieces of television, the best episodes of any television show, not to mention comedy, animated comedy, ever created by humans. Like the impact of those, the effect of those, the groundbreakingness of those, like they are objectively some of the best pieces of I don't know media that humans have made. And people are like, yeah, it sucks, show's over whatever. And it's really funny then to think about that looking back on those are, you know, that is like the golden era and the golden age and all that, and people were still like, nah, this sucks at the time. So you know that idea of things being the internet comes with, you know, the ability for people to just share whatever thoughts they happen to have.
Speaker 2:And normally, as a person, you have a thought and it can enter your brain. You can have the thought and it can leave your brain. You don't necessarily have to say it with anyone, you don't necessarily have to share it with anyone. Maybe you do blurt it out loud to a friend or something, but it can kind of end there, whereas, especially online now, things are they're put in writing, they're put on video, they're put into audio, much like I'm doing right now, and then they're there forever and that gives them a weight. That thought is not just something you had once. It's something that happens every single time. Somebody sees it, every single time somebody hears it or encounters it. And that's something new with the internet, but it is something.
Speaker 2:It is definitely something I think to be aware of, and it is what I think is very different from those Usenet message boards in the 1990s is now how like interwoven our real lives and our online lives are. I mean, even not in the grand scheme of things, not that long ago, like the internet was an activity you had to do Like I'm going to go on the internet. You'd like sit down at a computer and then go to, you know, go to your MySpace account, your Facebook account, whatever you're, you know, see the other opinions, hear the other things and then leave. And there was, there was I am on the internet, I am not on the internet, versus I'm just on the internet, basically all the time. It's very, very different and so that impact, like the things, the idea of like, just ignore it, just put it out of your mind it can be so loud and so hard to avoid that I don't think that's that advice is as practical or even possible as it used to be in the past, and so the things that we share and see online have more of effect now than ever before, which I don't think that's like a new, a new thought to have, but it really is something that can also be seriously affecting for, like the online content creator space, both as a creator and as a viewer, as an audience, because, as someone who makes stuff, you are affected by what other people share, what other people think. You're affected by what the people who consume what you make share and think about it, and then the people who consume stuff are affected by what you're making, and if you're making is affected by other people. It's all like everything is just, you know, affecting everything all the time, everywhere, and so it's.
Speaker 2:It is very, very different, and something I have noticed that this leads to which, again, not necessarily new, but what's new about this is, I think, the prevalence of it and the like I I've just never really seen so many adults, middle-aged adults, like older-ish adults, with kind of the too cool for school attitude. That's something I kind of expect from teenagers Like right, we all go through that teenage phase of like this sucks, everything sucks. Like people don't know that the world sucks, like that's just part of like your brain being boiled in hormones. As an adult, that kind of goes away and it's very strange, especially as someone whose full-time job is running a YouTube channel and making content online. The number of people I encounter in similar positions who, by all accounts, have every measure of success and privilege and opportunity and just feel like a sense of entitlement, a sense of like cynicism and also a sense of like I'm so above this. I'm way too cool for school. The I'm too cool for this attitude is by far my least favorite attitude, my least favorite character trait that someone can have, and it's not even close. I cannot stand when people have this like. I just can't stand this attitude at all. And it should be pretty obvious at this point. If you're listening to this podcast and you watch the stuff I make for any amount of time, that should be pretty obvious.
Speaker 2:But that goes back to being a kid and being excited about stuff and then other people telling me that stuff is dumb. That goes back to being a teacher and you know encountering those high school students and those teenagers who are in that, you know, boiling brain hormone phase, where they are in the, you know, like everything's dumb phase, and trying my best to overcome that, to help them kind of see through that and to discover things and to discover like a fun and a passion and a joy for the world and life and different opportunities that can pop up and different interests and different things that you can do and explore as a person and seeing the the effect that that can have, because you can. Even at that point you can overcome it. You can discover things and seeing how people could completely change and like their lives could completely change for the better because of it. You know that became incredibly important and then jumping into, you know, creating stuff online and trying to share a generally like positive, enthusiastic point of view and perspective and seeing that become less and less common over the years has been something that genuinely concerns me and that's, you know, that's kind of why we're here having this discussion right now. So, yeah, the too cool for school attitude I cannot stand it because it affects everybody. It puts yourself in a negative mental space because you're just kind of walking around thinking that everything sucks.
Speaker 2:You know, at the time I'm recording this, yesterday, nintendo announced the or they didn't really announce it, but they gave all the details on the Switch 2. So their new console, the like successor to the Nintendo Switch, which is one of the most successful video game consoles ever made I think it might it's real close to breaking the record for most consoles ever sold of like a single generation. If it's not, if it hasn't broken the record, it's like right there and it is an amazing console. It's like still pretty great. Like, eight years after its release, they announced the other one, which is like pretty sweet, it can do a lot of cool stuff. It seems like wow, you guys have actually been working on this really hard for the past number of years to, you know, have a great successor to the thing that is very successful.
Speaker 2:And, of course, the online community. The ever, ever, always reasonable online community's reaction is mostly negative it's more expensive. Oh, there's not that different, everything just sucks. And it's like I'm not saying you know, buy into all of the marketing propaganda that the company produces and think that the thing is great. I talk about that all the time Like form your own opinions and have your own experiences with things, don't? That's even why Heather and I, like Nintendo does their Nintendo Direct, where they announce stuff, instead of just like reading the websites, reading the social media posts, watching the YouTube videos, just watch the whole hour long Nintendo Direct so we can see it for ourselves and then we can decide, oh, that seems cool or yeah, that's, that part doesn't seem as great. This seems cool Like we can form our own opinions because we're seeing the source material ourselves. We're not just piling on what other people are already saying.
Speaker 2:So when you, when you have that I'm too cool for this and like everything is stupid, no one realizes it puts you in a really negative space. Just go through the world that way, like when you just think everything is dumb and everything is stupid, and it also then potentially makes other people feel bad and it can make other people feel dumb for being excited about things, and this is like this is where it might get a little ranty. So here's an example. I mean this is something, one of my like the worst feelings I have in the world that that that I can't, I don't even know that I honestly want to share specific experiences, but it's times where I am having like incredible fun, I'm very excited about something, I'm enjoying myself.
Speaker 2:And then I sort of get knocked down to earth by someone saying, like you're doing that wrong, this is dumb, like what are you doing? And then that, just like, it makes me just want to literally close up and never like speak another word to a person, again, like and that sucks, and that like, those feelings I've had those feelings from you know, second grade, elementary school up until you know now, like that happens, that happens throughout life and it really it is a really crummy way to make another person feel. And so when you, when you go through the world with this attitude of everything sucks and I it's, I'm too cool for school, you really do run the risk of making other people feel that way If you want to ruin your own day you know, if you want to like spit in your own dinner and eat it, that's fine, but don't do, don't spit in everybody else's meals, like don't ruin it for everybody else, and that's almost like.
Speaker 2:I don't wanna say it's worse because it's like a cycle, but to me that is pretty damn awful to make people feel that way. Like here's kind of the example, and I do have a specific thing. So the thing that kicked me off into wanting to actually like turn this into a podcast episode is we are in the season of NAB, which I've talked about, the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas. Actually, the day this podcast is being published is right in the midst of NAB, which is great because the gear of the week segment can be something that is announced at NAB. So cutting edge right there.
Speaker 2:Nab is cool. It's something that's been around for decades. It's something that I wanted to go to for a long, long, long, long time and was finally able to go to for the first time last year and had a pretty incredible experience there. It was awesome and I know like you could break it down and be like well, it's just a bunch of companies trying to like get customers or whatever. Yeah, but it's also a chance to sort of you get to nerd out about stuff you're excited about with other people who actually, like, speak the same language and are also excited about it, and that is really really cool.
Speaker 2:You know, if you're someone who feels like maybe you don't always get to talk to people who understand the things that you're into or you know there's not always an outlet for it, you can go to a place where there's just so much of it that it's, you know, it's. It feels really nice when you're surrounded by people who speak the same language as you, even if we're not just talking about regular language, and that's super cool. I also get, you know, if you're a vendor and you go to those things setting up your booths and being there those long days I know it's exhausting Totally get it. I also totally get if it's something that you've been going to for many, many years, you might kind of go like okay, I've seen it Like I've gone on YouTube and I've watched NAB footage from like the 80s and the early 90s, which is crazy.
Speaker 2:It's like really fun, even though the gear and everything is obviously very different. The convention itself kind of looks similar, like it's like wow, okay, this has just been happening for a long time. So I get it. You've been doing it for a long time, especially if you've been doing it in a work capacity and less of a like exploration fun capacity. Something like that could become kind of like a drag.
Speaker 2:I used to go to certain conventions and conferences every year when I was a teacher and I remember some of them, you know, like the first year or two I went, it was like, oh my God, this is cool, like I'm going to every session, I'm talking to cool people, I'm taking stuff away that I want to implement, and by like the eighth or ninth time I was going, it was like okay, what are the things I have to do? When can I squeeze a nap in the hotel room? I get that, but at least even in those cases, I was always conscious that, like when I'm at the event, I'm at the event, and that's something I even used to tell my students like I would have students sometimes, especially at the beginning of the year. Every once in a while there'd be a couple of kids that like didn't choose to be in my digital media program but their counselors or whatever, just sort of put them there because they needed to go somewhere and they would, you know, they'd usually kind of be sulking in the back and they wouldn't be that into it and they'd, you know, be very emo, teenager-y and sometimes they'd give me attitude or they'd be you know, they'd start having behavior problems or something like that. And I remember specifically something I used to say regularly.
Speaker 2:But there was one student in particular who I remember was just like it was confusing because I knew she didn't choose to be in the class. So I was like that's fine, like I empathize with you. This is an elective program. If this is not what you elected to do, I totally get why you'd be frustrated. Let's find you, let's find you somewhere else. I'm not going to be offended that you want to go to a different class or something else. Like it's your time, it's your daily. You know, like school experience, you should go to that other class. And she was like no, no, no, I don't want to go to another class, like I'll stay here. I'm like okay, and then she would have a bad attitude and not do anything. I remember saying like okay, you seem like you really don't want to be here, so you should go to your counselor and get a schedule change. And she was like no, no, no, I want to be here. And I remember the thing. I was like so frustrated but the thing that popped out of my head was if you want to be here, then be here. And I was like God, that's really effective. If you actually want to be here, then be here. Like do the things. You're going to have such a better experience and if you've had the chance to leave and you didn't take it, that means you've chosen to be here, so be here fully.
Speaker 2:And she eventually did become like one of my really good students. You know like she was involved in lots of stuff, actually had like multiple classes. So she was in my classroom like twice a day, really did cool things and like discovered, you know, awesome skills and capabilities, was part of our school's broadcast. So she was like on camera in front of everybody every day, which is very scary and a lot of like a lot of students don't want to do that. So eventually, like kind of gave herself the permission to sort of like okay, fine, I'll try. This thing Ended up having a great time, but that was sort of my. That was the thing that I took away, which I shared with many other students and myself all the time. It's like if you want to be here, then be here.
Speaker 2:And the reason I bring all that up is because this past week I was, I made the mistake of scrolling through some social media and I saw a post on a platform trying to be as vague as possible, I'll post on a platform by a very well known YouTube creator in the audio video ish niche. Someone who's great, does incredible work, super nice person. I've met them in person before. They're very, very nice, and all that they said you know apropos of nothing was something like so glad I'm not going to NAB this year, like such a relief, this is great, kind of like. I was like why would you? Why would you say that? Okay, so, that kind of annoys me.
Speaker 2:But then there's a whole thread of people just sort of bashing nab and going oh my god, yeah, oh, it's so terrible this past few years. Oh, I can't believe. Blah, blah, blah. Every once in a while there'd be a new. Like a person showing up going like oh bummer, like I was hoping to be able to see you there. Or like I've been going to nab for 20 years and it's one of my favorite things and I was like this like discussion thread sucks. This makes me feel terrible. I feel dumb now for being excited about this thing, which I know.
Speaker 2:People just have different opinions. Someone may have gone to this many mirrors, they're exhausted, they're ready to take a break, which is fine. But like why do you have to announce it to the world? Why can't you just do that? And now it creeps into my brain of like wait, I'm excited, like should I be excited? Obviously, I know. You know, know I have my own path and I can stick to my own things.
Speaker 2:But you know, if you're eating, say, you go to a restaurant and you're like I really like the food here, this food is delicious, and you tell somebody I really love the food at that restaurant, they go oh, that's my least favorite restaurant. You know that like, well, I like it and I'll keep going. I'm gonna have good food, but there's gonna be at least a little part of you for a second. That's like wait, am I, am I missing something? Am I not understanding something? Am I wrong? And obviously you're not wrong, because you're tasting the food and you like the food and everything's good, but and they just have the other person's having a different opinion and a different experience. So, like that's, that's okay, those things are fine, but their opinion can affect you to some degree. It could be very minor, where it just gets brushed off instantly, or it could be something.
Speaker 2:Now, every time you go to that restaurant, you're like so that person doesn't like it, so the thing that I'm eating now they went like that. What do they not like? Do they not like the service? Do they not like the atmosphere? Do they not like the food? Like what is? You know, it could be you could be thinking well, I thought I liked that restaurant, but maybe it isn't that good, maybe I should try different ones, maybe I should. And suddenly, like you could eventually be making decisions that are not really the decisions you would make normally, but they're influenced too much by someone else's random negative opinion.
Speaker 2:And this was kind of that like I felt. For a split second I felt dumb about being excited for NAB, because I was like, oh yeah, it is something, I guess that, like, people are over now and it's like no, and then I'm looking at sorry, I'm going to get. This is where I'm going to get a little ranty. I'm looking at, you know, the people replying, a lot of which are also well-known content creators in the space, and it's like all I'm seeing are attitudes of entitlement, attitudes of cynicism, attitudes of jadedness. They're very much too cool for school, I have to say. I'm sorry. It's almost like the more I peek behind the curtain of the content creator world, the more disappointed I am a lot of the time, and that sucks.
Speaker 2:But there's one of the best things about YouTube and the best things about you know, building relationships via the internet and, you know, potentially even then turning those into where you can, you know, meet up in real life at something like NAB or any time or whatever is, at least in my case, I feel lucky that I have been able to find just incredibly high quality people that are just awesome, and so when I meet them in person or have any kind of like, more one-on-one interaction, it's like you are the exact same person that I, that I expected you to be Like. You seem exactly like, you are exact. You have legs now, because maybe I couldn't see. You can see your legs because I only see you like medium shot on YouTube or something, but like, hey, you got legs, or people are significant. Usually people are way taller than you expect them to be. It's like the opposite of Hollywood, where celebrities are like shorter than you expect because everything is geared towards making people look bigger and taller. I think with YouTube, people are like it is so just, I'm gonna put the camera at eye level or you people just kind of working with what they got, a lot of times very tall people don't look tall and suddenly you, you go to a convention and it feels like you're in a redwood forest because everybody's just like giant, but you didn't know that. Anyway, that's usually for the most part. The biggest difference is like people are taller than I thought they would be, but otherwise, personality wise, you know, they're exactly the same. There is a subset where it is like, oh, there's a mask, and when they are not on camera, the mask comes off and you it's just not the same at all. And it makes me realize, wow, the things I thought, everything I thought is wrong and it's jarring. And it is also like it's disappointing, because I'm kind of naive and I sort of assume there's certain things that sort of connect us. Just through the basics of like you like making videos, I like making videos. That probably means maybe you like cameras, cameras, maybe like microphones, even if your videos aren't about cameras and microphones. And then you find someone else Like.
Speaker 2:I've had people say like I don't, you know, I've had people say that they do not care what they make as long as it goes viral. So they don't. You know, I've had people show me like Instagram posts that are just they're like I spent two seconds on this. This is absolute garbage. Look at that 17,000 likes. And I'm like, wow, that sucks. It's not that you have to spend a year on something for it to be good. I don't care. If you spent two seconds on something. It could be cool, you could do something very cool in two seconds, but, like, what a crummy thing to expect other people to spend their time on. It's just it's, it's lame, it's all lame.
Speaker 2:I didn't like seeing the discussion of a bunch of people who I feel appear to be in very privileged positions, acting like entitled little babies, and I think that that's gross and I think that that's. I honestly think that that's unacceptable, unprofessional, and if you don't like it that much, go somewhere else. But if you want to be here, then be here, like. If you don't like it that much, go somewhere else. But if you want to be here, then be here, like. If you want to be in the world of online content creation, be in that world. Sorry, I'm going to stop there before I kind of go off a little much, but obviously this is something that affects me, because if you go back to like, what is the title of this show that you're watching? Or the show that you're listening to, this very podcast, the Enthusiasm Project, that is my favorite quality.
Speaker 2:So the too cool for school mentality, the antidote to that is enthusiasm. The antidote to that is being excited about stuff is and that's one of the. That's one of the huge reasons, especially in high school, while why the Aquabats the band became such a hugely impactful thing to me was because I like it's fun, like it's all just fun, it's. It's visual, it's fun, it's appealing, the music is good, like I loved all that, but it's also like it's casting off every bit of like this is how I'm supposed to be cool, like this is what I'm supposed to do and I'm supposed to think that that sucks and it's like, oh no, you can just like have a lot of fun, like doing stuff that you like and following you know your interests and your genuine enthusiasms and stuff, and that is, it turns out, a way better experience than just trying to sit back with everyone like saying how they, I, I know I told this story, so I apologize if you're hearing it again, but I know it's been. It's probably been four or five years since I've told this story.
Speaker 2:When I was a kid I must have been. This was the summer before summer. Before this was the summer before seventh grade. So my school, elementary school, was kindergarten through sixth grade and my middle school was seventh and eighth and then high school was nine through 12. So in between. This was the summer in between elementary school and middle school and that's what. Sorry, sorry, I know this is very important details. This might've been between fifth and sixth grade, it was. One of those Point is I went to the same elementary school from kindergarten through fifth grade and, yeah, this was what it was. It was before sixth grade. So, sorry, I got to get my details right here. Okay, so I went to the same elementary school, kindergarten through fifth grade.
Speaker 2:When I was in third grade, our town opened up a second elementary school and a bunch of kids went there, but it was in a more affluent neighborhood, so it was kind of like the rich kids went to that school, which also tended to be the kids who, you know, were a little more successful academically. For the most part, I was at the other school, which is, yeah, and there was a group of people that were my friends, because we were just the kids who went to the school and we were in, you know, the kindergarten class together, the first grade classes together, and that was what I thought my friend group was. But as we were, you know, growing up and going, especially like getting into like fourth and fifth grade, I was like these people are kind of mean, like they seem mean, they're making me like act and say and do things that I don't really like, that don't really feel like I go home at the end of the day feeling bad. And I was always the one like you know, there's a pecking order of a social group in an elementary school or any situation, I guess but especially those, I was always the one like you know, there's a pecking order of a social group in an elementary school or any situation, I guess, but especially those, I was always at the very, very bottom. So it was always like you know, I'm trying to justify just being part of the group at all Like like everyone's looking you know everyone has like the person they look down on to make fun of the whole group. I was just down at the very bottom, so it's like that also leads to me like, oh yeah, I'll, I'll bring this thing for everybody, I'll do this, I'll take care of that, I'll do whatever, just like please, don't, please don't abandon me. And it kind of sucked and it felt really crummy and luckily, what ended up happening, what ended up happening was two days into the sixth grade school year, so it's actually sorry I'm getting my timelines weird.
Speaker 2:Two days into the sixth grade school year, the same thing started happening. It was like the same group, we're all in the same class, everybody was just being awful. And I went home that day and I was like I I told my mom, like I really can't, I can't go back. Like I can't. We're two days into a school year, I have 180 days left. I can't do this. Like I just can't.
Speaker 2:I don't know why that clicked with her, because normally that's something you should be like you go to school, I have to go to work. It is what it is. But literally the next day she enrolled me at the other elementary school, which which, like, had some kids that I knew that I had gone to my earlier years with when the schools were combined, but also had a bunch of new people that I didn't know, and it was like they weren't making the judgment of like, oh, you're the dorky kid from kindergarten or first grade. They were just like who are you now? I met one of my best friends ever in life because we were both out in dodgeball like every day, and so we would spend a lot of time just sort of being out waiting for the next round to start, and then we would just start talking and joking and that's. We both were into cameras and movies and wanting to make videos and all that kind of stuff, and we made like hundreds and hundreds of videos together, learned how to edit together, like I mean, he, he has like a master's degree in cinematography from like a really high end school. Like, yeah, and that was cool, like it was really fun to encounter people like that.
Speaker 2:All that to say that summer normally I'm not really entirely sure why normally I would just kind of be latchkey kid home alone during the summer, but for some reason I had to go to the Boys and Girls Club the local Boys and Girls Club for a couple of days a week, and I don't know, I'm not really sure why. I think it was like you need more social skills maybe. So I went there, not normally the kind of thing that I would be involved with, but it was cool, it was fine. And then, of course, for some reason which is so funny because it's like it's the Boys and Girls Club, like it's a place you go for like summer activities but a huge group of the kids from my previous school showed up. This must have been the summer right before seventh grade, because we were all going to get smushed back together in junior high and I was not looking forward to that. So I'm like 12 years old at the time and they show up and they're just little a-holes the whole time. They're just like making fun of everybody. They're you know, of course they're trying to break stuff like the Boys and Girls Club would have like you know, here's, you know, materials for later for another activity over here, here's this, and it's like, of course they'll go and like mess with everything and then just sort of like sit on the side and just be cynical jerks.
Speaker 2:I also had a friend that I had known for a long time but we never went to the same school, so anytime we ever hung out it was always like on our own, separately. We never had like day-to-day school encounters and he went to that boys and girls club and he was super cool. He was like just a super nice, like normal kid who was just very, very nice and also totally on board with like they're gonna do like a basketball tournament Awesome, let's go do that. They're gonna do a gymnastics thing Awesome, let's go do that. Like whatever they were doing. It was like, yes, I'm down for whatever the boys and girls club has planned and I like that a lot.
Speaker 2:And so the rhythm that we settled into for the first like couple weeks was he and I would get there early, at like 8am, we'll say, and for the first two hours you know just kind of be us and we'd just be having a ton of fun. And then around like 10am that other group of like jerks would show up and I felt like that's. I was like I got to go and I literally remember, I have the image in my head of like them walking in and it's even like just because the way the building was, like walking in the front glass, like door window things, and the sun is behind him, and I just remember like it's like silhouettes, like like the angels of death showing up because they were here to kill all the fun. And I remember, like even my other friend, like he would always be, like okay, I'll see you later. And then, like he knew they would show up, I would leave and then all we would do all day, like everyone would be doing all the activities and all we would do is just sit against the wall and they would just say like look at the person's stupid. That kid can, kid can't run. They're never going to make that shot. These kids are so dumb. Like it was just that all day I was like you're spending like five hours just doing this and it's so. It was just like infuriating and it's like I'm not. I just I hated it and I remember there was one day.
Speaker 2:This was, this was a great experience actually, so I'm glad I'm telling the story again. There was one day same thing happened. I got there early. My one really nice friend was there. We were playing basketball, just like I don't know, two relatively unathletic kids trying to put the basketball through the hoop. And we're having fun, we're just goofing around, talking, playing games, whatever. And then the thing happened. The angels of death emerged through the silhouetted door and I I have the image burned into my brain of him sitting there, going like okay. And you can see, like you know, a 12 year old's not great at hiding their disappointment. You can see the disappointment on his face and I remember the sadness, as he's like holding the basketball and he's like okay, I'll see you later.
Speaker 2:And those kids are walking and they're doing the like little 12 year old tough kid walk of like you know, like shoulders to the side, I think they like wallet chains and stuff, cause it's like the nineties, um. And I was like I'm going to hang out here. And he, I'd like the instant joy of like what? And I was like, yeah, I don't want to go hang out with them. And he was like, oh my God, he was just so happy. Happy because it's like we didn't know how to communicate. I don't know how to share what I was feeling to him. He didn't know how to share what he was feeling to me like why are you going over there? Why am I like your second rate friend, even though I'm clearly a better friend? Like no idea how to communicate. That it was just like it was just fun. And I remember like yeah, okay, let's just play again.
Speaker 2:And I remember it was the thing like those kids showed up and they're like they did like get over here, come over. And I was like no, I'm over here. And then I remember then they sat down and did the thing where they just spent the whole day sitting against the wall making fun of everyone really driving into me, because I had like decided to hang out with the dorky kids instead of that, the cool kids. And I remember the feeling of like, oh I, I don't care, like it actually doesn't matter at all. Like and they are so dumb for, like, spending their whole summer vacation just sitting against a wall looking at people having fun and saying that they're stupid, like, can you guys not see that this is sort of the dumbest thing in the world? The excuse that I'll give those kids is they were 12. The things I'm talking about, that I'm seeing, you know, happen online in the discourse. Now these people are like in their 40s. Maybe it's the same kids. The timeline would kind of drag. But, like, I'm a little less patient with that and I really feel the thing of if you choose to be here, be here. If you want to go to an industry convention, go. If you don't, don't go to it. But you don't have to publicly say how terrible it is, which makes other people feel dumb, potentially feel dumb for enjoying it.
Speaker 2:Like, growing up in Southern California, I live like 100 miles away from Disneyland, so throughout my life I've been lucky enough to be able to go to Disneyland probably like 100 times, had annual passes. Back in the day when they were. It was like $260 for an annual pass, which is crazy. I don't even think you get in for a day for that price now, which is why I haven't gone in a long time. Disneyland got really, really expensive and that's that. But I don't go around broadcasting that aside from this very moment, to make an example, because other people really like still going to Disneyland. I would still like to go, but it's just, it's crazy expensive and crowded. But other people really enjoy it. Some people have never gone and they get to go for the first time.
Speaker 2:So I don't want to sit here and say all the things that like it used to be better. This, this sucks. Now this isn't as good. No, I'm tired of that. Now I don't want to do that. I want to be able to, to let them have their fun, have their own experiences and enjoy it, and if anything, like I can tell you all this stuff oh yeah, I love this part, love this, love that, love that. Here's some cool memories from when I like I can share all the good things and keep the criticisms to myself, you know, unless I'm in a discussion where those are valid. Like someone from Disney is like hey, why haven't you come in a few years, we would like to know. Okay, here's some feedback, but I don't need to ruin someone else's experience for no reason and I just can't.
Speaker 2:I think I'm just running out of patience as the host of a podcast called the Enthusiasm Project. I'm running out of patience for the too cool for school attitude and project. I'm running out of patience for the too cool for school attitude, and it's not even close. So let's talk about. I don't want to just complain, I don't want to just be a complainer, I want to talk about. What can we do about this In general? What are some things to keep in mind?
Speaker 2:I have a feeling, if you're this far into this podcast episode, we're probably not too different in terms of how we feel about things and the things we think about things. So, going back to Blink 182, what? Going back to Blink-182, what's my age, again, as an adult? If your responsibilities are covered, your commitments are covered. You know you're not putting yourself in any kind of like peril who cares. Do what you want, like you're good. We're all gonna be dead at some point in the relatively near future, probably in the grand scheme of things, even if it's within the next 50 to 100 years. That's pretty, pretty soon.
Speaker 2:So do you want to spend your time sitting against the wall making fun of people having fun, or do you want to be someone that's out there actually having fun and enjoying yourself? So if you're, if you got all your boxes checked, who cares? If you want to dive into things that seem like, oh, I shouldn't be doing that as an adult anymore, no, 100%. You should Remember what it was like when you were a kid without having jerk friends influenced you. Remember how you would just like explore things. Remember how things would just sort of catch your attention, like, as a kid, microphones.
Speaker 2:I very much remember the first time I like held a microphone which was some iteration of an SM7, not an SM7B, an SM58. Actually, perfect, perfect serendipity, it was one of the wireless ones, whatever that would have been. In 1993, 1994-ish, we did a play I think I mentioned this on the podcast before I was. I think in this one I was Samuel Adams, one of the British colonists to America, and I it wasn't about the beer, it was about it was about american history, um, and I remember like getting to hold the microphone and coming out on stage and the thing that popped into my brain was one of. My line was like we are the colonists. But I remember holding the microphone and hearing what it felt like to like my voice is here but I can kind of hear it throughout the whole auditorium and there was something about like I swear I could feel the microphone like sucking in the sound which obviously the microphones don't do that but like I felt like I could feel the air getting pulled into the mic. There was something I just loved about using the microphone and the way the microphone worked and what it could do. I thought that was so cool. I didn't know why I microphone worked and what it could do. I thought that was so cool. I didn't know why, I didn't think about why, but I loved it. And from that day on I was like I'm really pretty psyched about microphones to this day right here.
Speaker 2:But remember that when you were a kid you just kind of like things. You might see something a color, a pattern, a TV show, hear a song, like anything in the world. You just find something like that's kind of cool and you just sort of like go explore it. Like how many of us have memories of weird things from like young childhood. Like maybe you're five or six years old and you're just kind of bored around your house and you're just sort of like I don't know. I remember stuff. Like I would just, you know, I'd always be playing with whatever's around. So I'd you know, we'd have like a coaster on the coffee table and I would like spin the coaster around or something. But it'd be like oh, this coaster is made out of metal. I really like the way this metal feels. This is cool. Like you're just sort of finding out like weird things about. Like I like this. I don't like that. This is really neat. And you're not thinking like what does that mean? What can I do with that? How is that going to help my career? How's that going to help my networking? You know, am I? Is to help my networking, you know, am I? Is there a proper return on investment for this? Is somebody going to pay me and compensate me appropriately for this? You're just like I think this is cool. I think this is cool. I want to try this.
Speaker 2:As you're a kid, you try new things. You fail at them all the time. You're trying to ride your bike, you fall over. You're trying to learn to roller skate or whatever. You crash, you fall over, you hurt yourself trying to play instruments. You're trying to do anything and you're really bad at it and sometimes you give up. And sometimes you keep going and then you get better and eventually you'll just sit there and just try the same thing. You'll sit there at the basketball hoop and try to make the same shot over and over and over and over again until you make it, and then you make it again and again and eventually you can learn how to do something pretty consistently and you just have fun. You don't really think beyond the fact that it sparked something in you as an adult.
Speaker 2:No matter what your age, you can still pay attention to those sparks. What are those things in the world, despite how like bleak things can feel and how mainstream media, anything, social media, all the things are designed to keep your attention and a way to do that is to make you think that everything is just terrible and the worst it's ever been and you need to keep paying attention for your own sanity and security. That's just gonna drive you insane. There's still so much cool stuff that you can just go focus on and, like anytime, you feel that spark, that childlike spark of this is neat, that's cool. What's that? Realize that and follow that. Who cares where it goes Does not need to boost your LinkedIn profile. It can just be a thing you enjoy and you find and you can have a lot of fun with it and that, yeah, I think that that's. I think that's one of the best things to do.
Speaker 2:Remember what it's like to be a kid. Find the things that speak to you personally as an individual. Be critical of stuff, because you are an adult now. You do have life experience. It doesn't mean you have to love everything. You want to be a critical thinker. You want to be able to kind of decipher things and understand like not into that.
Speaker 2:But be careful. I would just ask you to be careful with your negative opinions. You know, do you need to share that negative thought or is it something you can keep to yourself? Is it valuable to somebody else to hear that, or is it just gonna ruin their fun and just kind of ruin their day? You know that's a big reason why I don't like to do a lot of negative reviews on my channel is because I don't want to get something, even if I don't like it. Say that it sucks, and then I think of the person who just got the thing is super excited about it, looking up YouTube videos about that thing, and now they're like, oh, that sucks, I thought this was cool, but I guess it's not. It's like nothing changed, except I put a negative thought into their head. So be careful with how you share negative opinions and criticisms. If you do need to share them because there is time there, that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to walk the line here. If you do need to share that, is there a way to do it positively and constructively?
Speaker 2:Later, when I talk about the most recent video I made, I'm going to kind of share an example where I tried to do that and it really feels like we live in a world where fun is something that is missing compared to how it used to be, and I think there's a lot of reasons for that, and my main goal today is to kind of just point that out and maybe offer some reminders of, like, the importance of fun in the world, the importance of fun in our lives and the probably now more than ever importance, especially as an adult, of paying attention to those things. That sort of spark those feelings and then following them with. You know, wholeheartedly following them. Cool. Let's do a channel check in See what's happening, because I got this ties in perfectly to exactly what I was talking about stuff that I stuff that I want to share that I've been working on Most recent video. I titled it the best computer I've ever used and it's essentially a three and a half year later review of my M1 Max MacBook Pro. And this is funny because this ties in so well with the topic of today's show and actually didn't necessarily plan it that way. It's just like. This is the video I made.
Speaker 2:This is a topic I'm doing, something that happens anytime a new computer comes out, especially an Apple computer, especially because I was so vocal about how awesome the M1 series computers were when they released and I still think that they are. I'm recording this on my base model M1 Mac mini eight gigabytes of RAM, 256 gigabytes storage. Baby, these computers are amazing and if you used anything prior, especially like an Intel Mac, and you made this leap, it's like this $600 Mac mini was so much more powerful than like my $3,500 Intel MacBook Pro that I was using prior, blew my mind, thought it was absolutely amazing. Every time Apple comes out with a new computer. I get bombarded with like are you going to upgrade? You should upgrade to this. Get this on a Mac mini.
Speaker 2:I don't need to this computer right now for what I need this computer to do does everything I need it to do. My M1 Max MacBook Pro handles everything else. It is a little bit more powerful. I needed the portability and then the extra power, especially when I switched to a 4K workflow, which is something I did after I got the base model Mac mini. That computer handles it much better. It works other than Mac OS being not as polished, I feel, as it used to be. The computer works every bit as good as it did the day I got it, maybe even better, because some stuff has even been optimized in the years since, especially for the new M series processors.
Speaker 2:So this was sort of a combination of I always I don't mind the are you going to upgrade question, but what I see are lots of people who then feel that they need to upgrade their computer, whether or not they actually like need to, but they feel like they should upgrade and I always I always caution people on being careful whenever you feel like you should do something Like do you really think you should do that or are you just being shoulded? We don't want to show it all over ourselves here. And that happens, of course, every time you know new Apple computers come out. People publish these meaningless benchmark scores that are just like this got 480,000 on this one benchmark thing. The old one was 440,000 on the benchmark thing and I'm like okay, my computer does everything I need it to do. What is that extra thousands on the benchmark? What's it going to do for me? What does it change?
Speaker 2:There's no doubt that the newer computers are better than the older computers. Like I would expect a newer computer to be faster and more powerful and more efficient than the older one, but, like, especially with the M series Apples as an example, the need to upgrade is just not necessarily there. I've even seen people, like on iPhone launch release day, start posting all over social media like what do I order? Tell me what to get. I'm like you if you have to ask that question, you don't need anything. Like get a new phone. If you want a new phone, if you need a new phone and you have the means to get one, go for it. Otherwise you probably don't need. You're fine. Whatever you got, it's probably fine. You're going to put a case on it anyway. It's going to look exactly like the other phone anyway, so you're probably fine. And that's a thing where I just I when that happened this past fall, when, like, new computers came out, people were kind of losing their minds. I think the computers are great. I think if you're in the market for a new computer, it totally makes sense to get one. If you're somebody who enjoys upgrading because you like it you're a computer nerd you want to always have the newest one. That's cool too.
Speaker 2:I really feel for the people who are in the situation where what they're seeing and reading and hearing makes them feel like they need to and the thing they have isn't good enough. So I actually wanted to make a video called you Probably Don't Need a New Computer, and I was going to talk about what you probably don't need to upgrade. But I wanted to avoid that because I felt like it was a little bit too negative and it was a little bit too critical and I didn't want to. I didn't want to make people feel bad for upgrading anyone, to make people feel bad for reviewing new computers, for making video like that's not my place and that's not. I don't feel that those are bad things. I just wanted to kind of look out for this group of people over here that was sort of being shitted on. It felt like so. I liked the message in that, but I couldn't figure out a way to communicate it in a way that didn't feel like unnecessarily critical.
Speaker 2:And so just last week I was using my computer out on the just our kitchen table and I was typing and I was. I literally thought I was looking. I was like God, I love this computer, like it. You know, it's just a small little thing on the kitchen table. And I was like this is, it's crazy what I can do with this super small, powerful thing. And I like I love the design, I love the functionality. I was like that's what I do is just talk about I love my computer. It's three and a half years old. There are better computers out there now. This one's great and in that I can, even with I can more tactfully talk about upgrading and I can, even, without necessarily having to beat people over the head with a hammer to get the point across, I can still communicate that point. So that's what I tried to do with that video and I thought that was really fun and it was kind of a cool. I don't know. I hope it's kind of a cool thing. So I hope, if you watch that, I hope you enjoy that and took something away from it.
Speaker 2:I have been doing NAB prep because, believe it or not, I am excited for NAB. If you're listening to this, that's where I should be. Fingers crossed, we'll see. Uh, you know, I don't know, I can't predict the future, but, uh, I'm very much excited about N out what I need to bring, what I'm trying to make, what I want to do. I just like enjoying. I just want to explore NAB, see what's there and just have a lot of fun. I am really really, really looking forward to NAB. So I hope I can have kind of a report on that and maybe some videos for you too to share also, and something else that I I'm always a little nervous to share these kinds of things if they're not done yet, but I am in the midst of revamping.
Speaker 2:This has been a bigger project than I expected of my original podcasting course, the Podcaster Playbook. I am redoing the entire thing, so it's been out for four years now. Two years ago, I like re George Lucas remastered it and kind of like, re edited some things and added in some bonus lessons. And now, two years ago, I like re George Lucas remastered it and kind of like, re-edited some things and added in some bonus lessons. And now, two years later, I just feel like I it's funny because it's like it's not even outdated. There's a couple little things like I refer to what is now called Spotify for podcasters as anchor. That's a really big deal, the top of the main points of like production and the things that you need and the like.
Speaker 2:I really tried not to make the course tied down to a specific piece of equipment, so it's not like a Rodecaster Pro course. It's like here you could use an interface, you could use a mixer, you could use a standalone recorder, like I'm not tying it to gear so it's a little more timeless. But I've just sort of felt, like you can see, like my own presentation style has evolved, my own production quality has evolved and so I've always just felt a little bit like, oh, if somebody clicks on it, they're gonna, they're gonna see like a recent video and they're gonna go there and it's not going to match, even though it's like completely fine and I'm still proud of it. I just you know it's been. I want to make sure it's as good as it could possibly be, so I've been redoing that. So the it's a four section course, if you don't know, it's how to produce your own podcast from start to finish. You create your first episode, which also then helps you establish a workflow. So the first section is actually already done and I decided I was going to redo the whole course and then kind of like like revise everything all at once, but uploading that many videos and that much stuff, it's like it's kind of a nightmare. So instead I'm doing it section by section. So I have the first of four sections entirely done. If you, if you already have the course, you can log in and see the new lessons are all there and you know, anyone who signs up now gets those Um and they. You know the something I'm trying not to do.
Speaker 2:When I did the course originally, for some reason, continuity was really, really important to me, and so it was like I can't move the camera, I can't move anything here. I have to wear the same thing every time. So it's like everything looks exactly the same and I, you know, I guess I wanted it to be like consistent, professional. I had done it. It was like the first big project I did after I left my teaching job. So I just wanted it to be like as professional as possible, which it is. But it made it really hard to update stuff because it's like any changes, like it's feels so out of place.
Speaker 2:So, as I'm, as I'm revamping it specifically, I'm trying to have each of the four sections have a very different, like you know, because I film usually I film multiple lessons in the same day. So I'm trying to make sure each section has like a different setup. So that way, just as you go through the course, you're going to see different closes, different clothes, different setups, different everythings. But even within those sections, if I need to switch things around or move or one, I like I need to get a haircut in the middle. So it's like you go through like lesson one and two and I have like longer hair and a longer beard, and then you go to like sections three and four, lessons three and four, and I have like clean shave and short hair, and then you go five, six, seven and I have like long hair and like a beard again. So, but that's fine.
Speaker 2:I kind of wanted that to be the case, where it's like we're make this look like I made it all in one day, because I didn't. It's a very big project and then also over time it makes it way easier. If I need to change just one lesson for something, I can drop in a new one. It's not going to feel totally out of place and I have like bonus lessons and things. So it's it feels just like more to me. It feels more vibrant and rich. Overall, I'm really proud of it.
Speaker 2:So I have that first section done. The second section, I have like rough edits of every lesson done. I need to do the final edits and then film and edit the final two sections. So that's something. It's going to take a while. I had to pause that to get ready for NAB and everything. I'm hoping I could have that done in the next month or two.
Speaker 2:But it's just kind of. You know, I want it to be as good as possible. So I don't want to rush it and I don't want to get tired with it, Because I want I'm very excited about, very proud of it with how it's coming along. So that's, that's been a fun thing and that if you have the course, it's available and nothing changes. You just log in, you have different. The lessons look different now and I've also been able to bring in video podcasting.
Speaker 2:I was kind of debating. I was like video podcasting is such such a different thing, like it almost should be a separate course and this should be audio production. But the thing is, in 2025, when people talk about podcasting, a lot of people immediately go to like video podcasting. So for me to not like, for me to just outright exclude it seemed weird. I had a bonus section that was like video podcasting basics. That that's been there for a couple of years, about like here's basic workflows, basic equipment, basic setups.
Speaker 2:But now, as I'm redoing it, I'm adding in video podcast lessons. So like, for example, there's a section on recording hardware and software. It used to just be recording hardware and software and now it's two lessons. There's audio recording hardware and software, video recording hardware and software. And in the audio section I specifically say if you're doing audio, only check out this lesson. If you just want to watch the next one for fun, go for it, but you could skip it If you're not doing a video podcast. If you're doing a video podcast, watch both lessons.
Speaker 2:So that way, you know, like, without being too distracting, I'm able to weave in both workflows and both approaches and I think that that I'm really happy with how how that is coming together, because it makes me feel more confident, that the course covers all the bases that everyone would need, which just makes me more confident in it, you know, because I want people to buy it and be happy with it, not like feel like they didn't get enough. So, anyway, that's a big thing that I've been working on and will continue to be working on. And I'm scared you know that I don't like talking about that kind of stuff before it's finished, cause it's like it's like when you tell someone like I'm going to start dieting and exercising every day, and then you're like, yeah, I feel pretty good about doing that, and then you just don't do it. But I'm I am in the midst of this, like I'm roughly halfway done with it. So I'm like, okay, we're there and the course the existing courses is great, like not to toot my own horn. But you know, I, going back and watching something you made a while ago, it's like, oh no, I did a good job, I actually put a lot of effort into this and it is good, which is why, like, people have said good things about it. So it makes sense, speaking of good things, we're going to do gear spotlight, and I'm excited for this one because this is something brand new that I think is actually pretty cool.
Speaker 2:This is the it's a hilarious name to me the Saramonic K9, but it is not a dog and it doesn't sound like a dog. It is a wireless microphone system, so this is something that Saramonic is announcing at NAB. It's already. It's already. They've had it like for sale on their website for a while, but it's not officially announced until NAB, but it is something that they that they sent out to me a while ago that I've been using and I really want to share with you. I'll probably find a way to incorporate this into its own video, because this is is pretty awesome, so awesome, in fact, that actually to set up a second shot here on my RODECaster video for the video version which I'm using Ignore the crazy oversaturation, because, yeah, I have my colors set for the Canon and I'm using an OBSBOT Tiny 2 webcam and that's what I'm doing up here, which is awesome because this is one of the few webcams. I found that works with the Rodecaster video, so plug it in through USB and it works great.
Speaker 2:But I just wanted to share the Saramonic K9 with you to see what it is. It's a dual transmitter UHF system, which there's been a couple of these. Most UHF microphone systems are wireless systems are single transmitters, so you have a body, you have a receiver and a transmitter. Unless you get into, like the crazy, crazy broadcast things that they're using in like studios and sports events and stuff. Dual transmitter UHF systems are relatively new. The only other one this is really a direct competitor to the Deity Theos, which came out maybe like two years ago, a year and a half ago, and I very much prefer this, even though they're similar in a lot of ways.
Speaker 2:And the thing with Saramonic just, you know, saramonic did send this to me, you know, to check out. I don't have to do anything with it. Of course, we've talked about how that works. This is pricey, though, and that's why I want to. This is a $1,000 MSRP for ago, which is basically like a version of the DJI mic too. It's a tiny wireless system there, and it's there's new firmware.
Speaker 2:So I want to kind of revisit it a bit, but honestly, I was really not a fan of it. I thought that for the price you know, you could jump up a little bit more in price and get the DJI, or you could get something like cause it's a little less expensive than that, or you get something like cause it's a little less expensive than that. Or you get something like the Sennheiser, which wasn't I wasn't that into the build quality or the sound. There were just things that I just didn't like about it and I kind of didn't like what a direct copy of the DJI it seemed to be. And I told them, I shared that feedback with them, um, and they were like super open to it and very, very cool about it. And they, you know they then also filled in some blind spots for me about like yes, but it does, you know, I don't know here's frequency response things and it's kind of cool. Like they have been really great where I can say like, ah, I'm not confused about this or I'm not sure about this or whatever. And they will, you know, send me screen recordings and whatever, like you know, little personal video messages or whatever to like explain things more clearly, which I really like, and they have not been like mean or offended or whatever, and to defend the ultra system they have done new firmware which does seem to improve things quite a bit. So I kind of need to revisit that. But you know there's so many of those small wireless systems that's pretty low on my priority list. This. The reason I tell you that is because I was kind of critical of that system. So I'm not somebody who just like instantly loves everything Saramonic does. This is amazing, I like.
Speaker 2:The build quality of these things is awesome, you know. I mean they should be like they're. They're metal. It is intended for more pro level stuff. This is the receiver right here, and then it comes with antennas, if you're in the US. So it also does have 32-bit float recording capabilities built right in. So in the battery compartment oops of the transmitters, there's a slot for a micro SD card which the kit came with, and then you can record internally. You can record 32-bit float internally. But and this is just goofy legal things if you're in the US you can't record and transmit at the same time and that's not a capability thing of the system, that's like a whatever. It is a patent thing or copyright thing or something Trademark. I'm not sure, if you're out of the US you can transmit and record at the same time, and it comes with a bunch of different antennas, so depending on what frequency ranges you're at, uhf gets a little more complicated than 2.4 gigahertz, but it comes with different antennas for wherever you're at, whichever frequencies you need. It makes it super easy. So and it comes in this cool case. Here I won. Like I mentioned, the build quality is awesome.
Speaker 2:The transmitter has, you know, like the displays are really nice and the menus are super intuitive. Having used compact systems like I use some of the really really old Sennheiser ones which work really well in the last forever, but like trying to go through the menu on, you know, a 10 year old device was different this is super intuitive. The menus work like incredibly well. They're super high res. The receiver even has like a top LCD. So if you can't see the front of it, cause it's like mounted on a camera or something, you can at least see the levels on the top, which is awesome.
Speaker 2:Um, and you have different. You can send different outputs from it. So there's actually two outputs on the receiver and you can choose what mix you want. If you want one mic from each output. If you want, both on one, if you want, if you want one mic from each output, if you want both on one, if you want mono stereo on one, like you can totally customize your AB outputs here, which is cool. I haven't seen that before. This is also what it's like IPX forget what it is, but it's, you know, a basic level of water and dust resistant, which is kind of cool. I don't know that you would want to put them underwater or anything, but there's at least like you don't have to freak out if you use these in the rain or something. And again, build quality is awesome, super cool. They work great, they sound great.
Speaker 2:But what I also really like about this kit is they. They really they kind of took what what I've seen in other systems, and especially the Deity Theos, and they just leveled it up Like the. The interface and the way that the receivers work is significantly better. You've got everything you need in terms of XLR cables included in adapters, 3.5 millimeters. They even have these little label, colorful label tags. So like on the end of my receiver, I have a green one on one side and a blue on the other, which you can change really easily. They're not stickers, but you can label then your transmitters with those colors so you can know like, okay, blue is channel one, green is channel two. They have, you know, all the ROYGBIV colors there.
Speaker 2:And then it also came with two tiny lavalier microphones in this like really cool little purple case that I like a lot, and these are, if I can show you through the cam here, but these are like the smallest lavalier microphones. They're so tiny. So if you need to hide these under clothing, if you need to like hide these under accessories, or you just want something that's small and discreet, these are awesome and they sound great. So I haven't made a video about this or included this in anything, but I've just been doing my own little like initial preliminary testing and stuff and it has been absolutely awesome. So I'm planning some more fun stuff with this.
Speaker 2:So the Saramonic K9 dual transmitter wireless is pretty cool for UHF. That's something that we've kind of come to expect with 2.4 gigahertz, like the DJI Mic 2, the Rode Wireless Pro, all those we kind of expect, like you get two transmitters and a a receiver, but uhf it's a little different. That's a totally different ecosystem, a totally different workflow. Um and dual transmitter uhf systems are a little more rare, a little harder to come by. Um and ceremonic did an amazing job with this one. I absolutely love it and um, and I hope you like it too, or hope you're interested in it too. So that is. Our gear of the week is the Saramonic K9. I lost my keyboard to move things along as we go into the listener messages segment of the show. I had a couple of comments to highlight and also a voice message, so we're going to start with the voice message. This is from Chuck, and what Chuck is asking about are the mounts that I use to put microphones on the wall. So take it away, chuck.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hi Tom, my name is Chuck. I'm a voiceover talent, love your podcast channel. I'm curious how you mount the microphones on the wall. It a great idea. I've got quite a few mics myself and instead of having them on a shelf in a closet, it'd be kind of cool to uh mount them and uh kind of show them off in the studio. I think I found a mount that does it on amazon, but I'm not quite sure. So if you're able to enlighten me, that'd be great. If you can do so on your podcast channel, that'd be fantastic. Or if you just want to on your podcast channel, that'd be fantastic. Or if you just want to email me.
Speaker 2:All right, I cut the message off before Chuck shared his email, because I don't know that he intended for that to be shared with everybody. Yeah, so this is a question I've been getting a lot more and more lately. I have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven At least 15 microphones mounted on the walls in here, which I love and I think is really cool. So I'm gonna put two links in the show notes for this. One is a link to a video where I show exactly how I do it, and then the other is a link to the mounts that I use, and the video also has those links in it. So what I'm using are just these little like. I think they're called the 5.8 flange mounts. They're essentially designed to put microphone mounts on, like podiums is, I believe, what they're intended for. So if you have a podium or a lectern, you can kind of drill this on here and then you can screw like either a microphone directly onto it or you can screw like a mic stand onto it. Because they're just 5.8 mounts but they're very low profile, which I like. They each have three screws, so I make sure to either find a stud in the wall or use really strong anchors, and that's, that's basically it, so I'll put all those links in there. I really, really like being able to do this, because I think I love the way microphones look, goes back to that. Performance Performance is a generous term in the third grade play.
Speaker 2:Microphones are very cool and there's some really cool visual ones, like I've got the King Bee that I mentioned earlier that Doc Rock sent up there. It's yellow and black and it's got this cool chrome and a cool shock mount. Look at the Lewitt behind me right here behind my head. Over there on the wall We've got the original Worker Bee. There's the Shure Super 55. Like you know, they're kind of like my guitars right. Like I, a couple of years ago I hung all my guitars on the wall. They used to just be on a guitar rack, which was very compact and didn't take up a lot of space, but you couldn't really see them. I put them up on the wall and it's like I love just it's like artwork. I love staring at them because they're gorgeous, like sometimes when I'm just hanging out here, I'm just staring at like, looking at the colors and the shapes and the. It goes back to like that. You know those things as a as a kid. That kind of interest you and draw your attention. And so the microphones are the same thing, like they're really cool, they're really pretty, they're super, I don't know. I love having them out. It has been great.
Speaker 2:The question I get and the caveat that I'll put out there is to do with dust, cause people ask about that. Sometimes, you know, depending on where you live, but it is a very real thing anywhere. You do run the risk of getting dust in your microphones if you keep them. Everything that's not mounted I have in this drawer behind me here. So I have more microphones there which it's sort of just a whim which ones are mounted and which ones aren't.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's ease of use and accessibility. I pull them off the wall all the time and use them. So it's like every day I'm changing them out. It's just kind of random which ones I choose, but dust is a thing to be aware of. I just use.
Speaker 2:I was using cans of compressed air but I got one of those little. It's like a electric, it's like it almost looks like a mini hair dryer but it's like an electric blower. So that way, instead of using cans and cans and cans of compressed air. You just use that, or just, you know, use a soft cloth and cloth and dust them. Definitely be aware of that, though, and especially which kind of microphone it is. Some microphones might might be more like have open capsules that are prone to dust, so you might want to keep those in a drawer or a case, versus other ones like a pod, mic or something, especially with a windscreen on it. It doesn't matter, you put it out, it'll be totally okay. So that's my only caveat, but it is really fun. It's one of the things I started doing a number of years ago.
Speaker 2:I got the idea from Daniel Batal, who's a YouTube coach, and he has he was. He posted a thing, I think, on Twitter way back when showing it, and I thought it was really cool, and I kind of took the idea and did it a lot. I did it 15 times at least minimum. We got some YouTube comments to go through, so thank you, chuck, for that. Also, your voice sounds awesome. I can absolutely hear how you would be a pro voice actor, a career voice actor, let's jump into. We got a couple of YouTube comments. There were more on the last episode, but I just wanted to highlight a couple here, really for the sake of time or anything. Oops, I didn't mean to move that while I was recording the first one's from Jeremy.
Speaker 2:What's up, jeremy? Who said you inspired me to look into not so much the YouTube channels that I have which are far too many, by the way but also the domain names I own. I found out that I have 15 domain names spread across three registrars. Sometimes I'll just pick a domain name just in case, but the reality is, I think if you're limited with your domains and channel name, you'll be more consistent with your content and it'll be easier for people to discover and remember you. So that's on the episode about what should you name your channel? And I'm exactly like Jeremy. I'm a serial domain register where I just like, if I have an idea, I'm like I'm gonna get this if it's available for specific things. You know, like, my YouTube channel is my name. That's important, like keeping things consistent really does help.
Speaker 2:I like that the podcast has a different identity because it is a different thing to me. You know my wife Heather has different channels. She has Heather just create. Heather just play. Heather just jump, like she has, you know, heather just blank. It's kind of like her strategy there. But you know, it's kind of the idea of one name per audience. So if I wanted to do something totally different that was not really connected with like me as an individual, me in the audio video world, that kind of thing, then maybe using a different name or a different, you know type of branding wouldn't make more sense. And that's sort of what Jeremy is alluding to here, which is very, very true and very, very helpful.
Speaker 2:Next comment this is an interesting one. Oh, I don't want to skip that. I accidentally went too far on my little slideshow. This is from Krom K, who said some thoughts, my thoughts. Please read it like that and adopt anything If it suits you, your goal and preferences.
Speaker 2:I, like the disclaimer, appreciate that With the amount of gear and unleashed potential you have available both in gear and creative, I would have explored the potentials outside of the comfort zone. I remember back to the last conference when you made a portable SM7B. You were shining, as I'm said, portable SM7B with some 3D printed improvements. Definitely something I want to take to NAP this year. I really hope you find a way to kick yourself in the butt and get Heather to help you. Let's get enthusiastic. Nothing but support and love.
Speaker 2:I really like your videos. Be sure to enjoy them yourself. I do. If you ever think that I've never made videos, I don't enjoy myself so like I hope that's. I hope that's clear. I make, which is why, also, sometimes there's a trendy thing happening and then I make a video. That's you know. Here's my three-year-old computer. I do always just make the video I want to do. I do always just make the video I want to do.
Speaker 2:And I really appreciate the push for for, you know, leaning into the personality, the personal side of it, the unique things you know, because we all have things that we can only we can do right and they're they're uniquely us and it means a lot to me that you would encourage me to do that more with myself, which is something I want to do. Tricky part there, because my big thing whenever I talk about, like my career as a content creator, is sustainability. I want to be able to do this as long as I can, and when you're, when everything you're trying to do is now something new, it it becomes, like you, a competition with yourself to one-up yourself every time it could be. It doesn't always do that, but it could potentially do that, which then leads to like a disconnect from your audience. It leads to not sustainability in terms of your workflow. It can lead to a lot of stress.
Speaker 2:So I like to do that where it makes sense. I like to look for those opportunities more and explore things a little differently. And I have my second channel too, humbug 2, where you can kind of see like I've been playing around figuring out how to do bass covers on there and I do like to try to find different ways of approaching established things. Like you know, like the wireless SM7B is a good example. That's the most impractical thing to do for, like you know, person on the street style interviews, but it was really fun and I liked it a lot and it like it was also a cool superpower because it kind of immediately disarmed people. Even though it was like a giant microphone, the goofiness of it like immediately made people feel comfortable when you try to talk to them. So I love that and I want to use that more and I want to. I definitely want to do more stuff like that. I just want to make sure to do it in a way that's always fun and sustainable, because I don't want to lose the fun for things that I do either. I always want that to be cool.
Speaker 2:So appreciate all the messages, appreciate all the support. I hope my stories and all the rambling here made sense. I hope you're able to kind of take some fun tidbits away from this. I hope to have some fun things to share with you next time in the season finale. And until then, if you want to send a message to the show, you can go to hi. My name is Tomcom, leave a voice message. You can always email Tom at enthusiasmprojectcom, or you can click the fan mail link in the show notes if you're listening to the audio version, or just drop a YouTube comment, because that's the beauty of YouTube. So, all that being said, I hope you have a safe, happy, healthy fun, the fun rest of your day, rest of your week, rest of the time until we see each other again. Have a good one. I'll see you next time.
