Three days before the first recording session was scheduled, the podcast corner of the studio was still a podcast-shaped idea: bare wall, concrete floor, and a pile of lumber. This is the build log of the 72 hours that followed.
Day one: the bones
The back wall went up first — a freestanding flat, framed in 2×4 and skinned in plywood, because a podcast set has to look right on camera, not to a building inspector. Two coats of deep charcoal, and the acoustic panels went on in a staggered grid that does double duty: sound treatment that reads as intentional design on camera.
Day two: light and power
Podcast lighting is portrait lighting that never moves. Two fixtures on ceiling mounts for key and fill, one accent light raking the back wall, and every cable run through conduit — because a set that gets rebuilt for every session eventually stops getting used. The whole rig comes up with one power strip.
Day three: the details that read on camera
Table height matters more than the table. Chair comfort matters more than the chairs’ looks — guests slouch in pretty-but-bad seating by minute twenty. The shelf styling took an embarrassing share of the final day, and it was worth it: the wide shot finally looked like a place where conversations happen.
What we’d change
Run more power than you think you need, treat more wall than you think you need, and build the flat two feet wider than the frame. You will want the room to move the cameras.
The stage is now in regular use — and bookable. Studio members get first access to recording slots.
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