The idea of the Podcast theme I chose was to interview 2 of the UK’s biggest Naat Khawans and what their life is like behind the camera, and also cover some misconceptions followers may have.
My inspiration was formed from many parts of my life. The first reason I decided to record a podcast was to widen the reach of my business. I am a Sound Engineer and run my own Business called TranquilSound&Media where we provide sound and media nationwide. My second inspiration and reason for choosing a podcast was an Event I organised in February. I organised a successful gathering in February of 2023 that lasted under 5 hours and was held at Hilton Road Masjid. I invited many Naat Khawans and scholars from all over the UK. I have always wanted to host a podcast, so I took the opportunity. I strive to hopefully one day carry on this podcast. I researched similar events people may have held. I found that one of the leading World Renowned Naat Khawans had his podcast interviewing other World Renowned Naat Khawans, so I took some inspiration from there with my twist.
The podcast from the beginning popped in my head fully formed. But to meet with reality I had to make some changes. I had a vision from the beginning that the podcast will be a certain way, many of the parts of that vision had to be changed so I could as I mentioned meet with reality. The first thing that changed from the beginning product to to the end product was the location. I was sure that the location I wanted to film in was possible for me to film there but unfortunately it was not. The second thing was the amount of people I had at the recording. I was certain that I would have my friends and people who are involved in my business at the recording but unfortunately, no one was able to come down. Fortunetly, Hashmat brought brought a couple of his friends down to the recording which really helped as they were able to control the mixer and cameras.
I faced many problems throughout the production of my podcast. The first of which was the sponsors. The sponsors were a big part of the podcast because they helped fund everything. Without the sponsors, I would not have been able to purchase many essentials for the podcast such as the Poster & the fee of the singers. Luckily I was able to acquire them 2 weeks after the filming of the podcast. This affected the production because nearly every single day the singers were contacting me to find out were there money was and this was causing me a lot of stress and it was the only thing I could think of. And due to this I have still yet to edit the full version of the podcast with only 20 days left till the official launch on all platforms. The second issue I faced was the podcast location. My initial plan was to film in the Bradford College TV Studio but unfortunately, I was not able to. I had many locations such as:
- Sufi Waqar’s
- Sufi Sohail’s
- Saqib’s/TranquilStudio
- BradfordCollege TV STUDIO
- (149)
- Mua’llim Mudassir
- Al-Mustafa Centre
- Wedding Hall??
Ultimately, as a last-minute decision, we decided to film at the Al-Mustafa Centre as there was ample space. The time I took to find the podcast location did not affect the production as much because it was just a matter of contacting people whom I knew. The 3rd issue I faced was the payment for the Nasheed Artists. They both wanted £50 for their time and fuel but as I did not have the money at the time I was in a tricky spot. I was finally, with the help of a friend 2 weeks after the recording able to pay them from sponsors. As I mentioned this affected the production the most as this took the most time and had a mental effect on me as well. The 4th problem I faced was the camera batteries, Even though they were fully charged the night before, halfway through the podcast, 2 of the cameras died leaving us to use only one camera which had a bigger battery. The 5th problem I faced was the audio quality, As I used the Audio straight from the Mixer, not knowing what to do, the audio quality was very poor as I did not have an Audio Interface connected or at hand. This affected the actual podcast audio because I had to change the audio slightly whist editing it. I was still not able to fully perfect the audio. The 6th problem I faced was getting hold of the equipment. The equipment was also a very crucial part of the podcast and obviously without the equipment the podcast would not have been possible. Most of the equipment was borrowed such as the Blackmagic Design ATOM mini pro.
What went well? What didn’t go so well?
I learned next time that I should use my own cameras if I can or have extra batteries. I also learned that I need an Audio Interface if I am going to use the sound from a mixer in the future. Money was a huge part of the podcast, next time I hope to have a stable job with a stable income so I don’t need to fully rely on sponsors.
I mainly explored my methods which included the equipment I needed to hire/use and the way I was going to record the full podcast.
I would use an Audio Interface. Use better cameras or batteries. Have a couple of people with me during the filming of any event.
The fact that I produced the Podcast and the fact that I was able to bounce back from the heap of setbacks and still come out with something good is a success.