Behind The Scenes At the mrbrown show Podcasts

Download: the mrbrown show Podcast: “Causeway to Kuching” (MP3, 7.2MB, 20m48s)
Topics: Zouk, Kuching clubbing scene, tetno music, origin of Kuching’s name, “what do you call KL-ians?”, tallest building in Kuching, “how do you guys know about Kuching?”, Singapore children now getting taller, Azahari the bomb expert, Miyagi’s army stories from Australia, someone shat on the road, Kuching Kangaroo, Zouk’s water tap.
Subscribe: the mrbrownshow XML feed
Video: Behind The Scenes at “the mrbrown show”


Podcasting is set to revolutionise FM radio the same way MP3 technology revolutionised the music industry. Ever since I acquired the iPod nano, I find myself literally hooked on podcasts and have more or less stopped listening to local radio stations altogether.
I always wonder what goes on behind the scenes at the mrbrown show podcasts. On my last trip to Singapore I was lucky enough to not just appear on the show, but to have the man himself explain to me what went on behind recording and publishing your very own internet radio show.

Equipment-wise, the bare minimum you require is a microphone connected to your computer. But Mr Brown is a bit gung-ho about sound quality, so he made some significant investments acquiring two ice cream cone-like microphones (with stands), a DJ-like set of headphones, a flynet-like pop-guard and a mixer deck that looks like it’s gonna explode if I chin chai press any button on it.

Writeboard – the online collaborative software used to prepare for the mrbrown show podcasts.

Surprisingly, very little work went on behind preparing for the show. Comedy skits like the Zhng My Car series require a bit more work though. For Zhng My Car, Brown and Miyagi would collaborate over Writeboard, where the gist of the script took shape and they can review it individually at work or at home without meeting up face-to-face.
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In most cases, Brown and Miyagi simply get together and brainstorm for a few topics an hour before actual recording. Brainstorming was full of laughter and stupid jokes with those two around (check out the video link at the end of this entry). Almost all their shows were done in one take with very little editing effort going into post-production.

For sound-recording and post-editing, Brown uses Apple Garageband on his iMac G4. Any other sound recording software should work just as fine though.
I was nervous as hell throughout the recording, fumbling my lines in more ways than one. Brown was reassuring to me, “Don’t worryyy! If you mess up we will help you out one!”
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To him, doing an internet radio show is almost his second nature. In fact, as you will see in the video later, the only time he fumbled was when he did the intro and outro of the show.
After recording, all that’s left to be done is save the MP3 file, upload it, then publish it on the World Wide Web.

Podcasting is not my niche, but I sure had lots of fun recording the mrbrown show (perhaps more fun than the audience who listened to the podcasts). I totally enjoyed myself and I’m sure they did too.
Thanks again, Brown and Miyagi, for inviting me onto the show!
Download: the mrbrown show Podcast: “Causeway to Kuching” (MP3, 7.2MB, 20m48s)


There’s two more back entries from my Singapore trip. By the time those are published, I’ll be off to KL for another business trip.

30 Replies to “Behind The Scenes At the mrbrown show Podcasts”

  1. Hey, i felt the same way too when i got my iPod and started listening to podcasts… i totally abandoned the radio, such that nowawdays i try to remind myself to listen to the radio for some ‘live’ news…
    Do you have any interesting/funny podcasts to introduce?
    I listen to perfect10’s don&drew show (funniest) http://www.donanddrew.com
    Mr brown’s show and used to listen to the Dawn and Drew (funny, but a little pagan) show.

  2. YOU’VE BEEN TAGGED. (if you even bother)
    Instructions of the tag:
    Given a topic, you are to write down your answers in your blog, and then send the same topic to 5 other people. Write down the names of these 5 people and link to them on your blog. Go visit their blogs to notify them that they are tagged. The 5 people who are tagged should, in their own blogs, write down the name and link of the person who tagged them, answer the same topic, and send it to another 5 people, etc.
    The Topic: Your 5 Quirks

  3. Ehh, so little comments for this entry?…The casual conversation was cool!!! πŸ™‚ Your blog writing skills rock man! I’ve been Kinda addicted to it already,…hahah my friends too. Simply love it,…
    I also respect your decision to come back to Kuching.So you’re used to Kuching now?Just read your Reflections of Perth entries,…so you’ve got the whole package huh?…Being sociable and also a genius (nerd) hahaha Looks like everything turned out well didn’t it?Not so bad to be a nerd cos can earn some money πŸ™‚
    Best Wishes

  4. congrats on your blog. its the only blog that ive taken time to read the entire archived posts.(very addictive and heaps funny photos) your blog is amazing and its my daily dose of entertainment (no more cleo or cosmo) you rock! keep up the good work
    and good luck!

  5. haha. loved the podcast..
    i just came back from kuching actually.. and i totally freaked when i saw those long roundabout names. hahaha..
    well, i didn’t know about the existance of an east malaysia before this trip.. hahaa.. yea.. guess the geog teachers in singapore are pretty crappy..
    :ΓƒΕΎ

  6. Liked the show. Even tho… i mean… err… especially becoz everyone’s so ignoramus thus its funny πŸ˜‰
    Actually was the 2nd Mr Brown show I caught. (The first was the Zhng My Car. Had a good laugh when I found out how “Zhng” was actually pronounced.)
    Keep it up and props!
    ps. linked you from my blog as well since it’ll be on my regular reading list =)
    pss. hate ramming my thoughts down ppl’s throat but (you know I’m going to by the way i said it). FFS, if you’re going to post “First”, “2nd” or something… at least lar put it some comments that can be constituted to mildly related to the blog entry.

  7. btw…. Singaporeans are not ignorant la.. the show was deliberately scripted in such a way so it’d be funny… It’s acting… voice acting rather.. find it silly that after listening to the show, people actually feel that Singaporeans (in general) are ignorant and don’t know shit..

  8. I must say Mr Brown’s investment in the equipment shows – the sound quality was excellent, even better than some network podcasts from ABC, Comedy Central, etc.
    But Kenny – aiya, speak louder lah, you were mumbling at the start.
    So when’s the video podcast coming out? I suggest having SPG as a guest πŸ˜€

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