Building creative audio skills: the big list of resources
We’ve pulled together some of our favourite resources for anyone who’s looking to build their audio making skills. Whether you’re just starting out, have a little experience or even have a lot of experience, there’s probably some great stuff in here for you.
We’ll keep expanding this as we discover new resources, so feel free to submit ideas for things you’ve spotted that you think we should include.
Transom.org - website with a large archive of multimedia articles covering a huge range of topics for audio makers - including recording, interviewing, editing, mixing, creating a home studio, equipment recommendations, journalism and storytelling advice, and much more.
Telling Stories podcast - podcast where the producers Redzi Bernard and Phoebe McIndoe interview audio producers about their craft and approach storytelling in audio.
HowSounds podcast - podcast where the producer Rob Rosenthal (from Transom.org and PRX) interviews producers about work they’ve created. It’s a chance to hear examples of creative, innovative or otherwise interesting work, and then hear from the producer about how and why the work was made in this way.
BBC Sounds Audio Lab Masterclasses - series of videos featuring audio makers sharing advice, information and perspectives on a range of topics including interviewing, sound design, recording, storytelling styles and much more.
Third Coast Pocket Conference - podcast sharing recordings of conference talks from the Third Coast International Audio Festival over the years.
Rise & Shine - “An audio maker community set up in 2019 to help open the door of the audio industry to everyone, regardless of income.” The initiative is run by the producer Sarah Myles. Rise & Shine organises talks, panels and meet ups. They also have a podcast and a large archive of videos on YouTube with recordings of many previous talks.
Audio Playground - website and newsletter where the producer Sarah Geis shares “low stakes high risk audio assignments”. These creative prompts encourage makers of all abilities to try things out, be playful, and work quickly and creatively in a low pressure way.
NPR audio training website - an extensive library of audio training resources from National Public Radio (NPR) in the United States.
Audiotrain webinars from AudioUK - series of videos from training webinars recorded by AudioUK, the trade association for the UK audio industry.
Audiocraft conference podcast - podcast from the Australian audio conference ‘Audiocraft’. Features recordings of talks from the conference and more.
Radio Diaries DIY Handbook - a citizen journalism guide from the creators of the podcast ‘Radio Diaries’.
Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound, edited by John Biewen and Alexa Dilworth - a book featuring essays from a number of well known radio producers, about their approaches to telling true stories in audio.
Out On The Wire by Jessica Abel - a graphic novel based on interviews with a number of well known audio producers, about how they do what they do so well.
Podcasters’ Support Group on Facebook - a Facebook community started by Helen Zaltzman, where podcasters give each other advice and support on their personal projects.
Training videos from PRX - PRX is a US based audio organisation, and these videos include advice on both the creative and professional aspects of making audio.