My First Podcast – Diaphragmatic Breathing

The Process

For this particular podcast, I chose to use my Yeti X Blue microphone with my Audiotechnica headphones. Specifically, I used the cardioid mic pattern to achieve the highest quality audio. This mic pattern provides noise isolation, feedback resistance, and versatility. I paired this equipment with GarageBand as my DAW. I recorded my audio directly into GarageBand. From there, I erased the “dead air” at the beginning and end of my recording. I used the track controls to moderate problems with reverb. Next, I added a new track beneath my recording. I opened the loop manager and chose a loop that sounded similar to breathing – my theme. I drug it onto the track. From there, I altered the fade in and out to not give it an abrupt feel. I added pre-made loop harp music at the end, in the same manner. As for my own sounds, I added two new tracks under the previous ones. For the first, I drug the playhead to where I wanted the audio. Then, I hit record and recorded myself taking a deep breath in, for the amount of time I desired. I adjusted the fade in and out next. For the second track, I did the same process, but a different sound. This time I did a large exhale timed to fit into my podcast. I also adjusted the fade in and out for those. Finally, I isolated each track to give a good listen. Then, I listened again to the audio as a whole.

Attribution and Useful Links

The Cleveland Clinic has a very useful page that fully explains Diaphragmatic Breathing.

John Hopkin’s has a similar page that can guide the listener in the correct direction.

The intro and outro sounds are loops pre-loaded into GarageBand. The image at the top of the page was created using Canva.

Transcription

• Mandy Speaking
  • (00:02)Welcome. Today we are doing a two-minute micro session on the absolute ultimate hack for stress
  • (00:07)management and musical performance, diaphragmatic breathing. By breathing using only your chest,
  • (00:13)you’re telling your brain to stay stressed. Let’s take 90 seconds to make one positive
  • (00:18)change that your body will thank you for. Take a seat in a chair with your back straight and
  • (00:23)your shoulders relaxed. Place your left hand on your chest and right hand on your belly.
  • (00:28)The goal is for the left hand on your chest to not move at all. You should only feel the
  • (00:34)hand on your belly slowly moving back and forth with every breath. First, close your eyes. Imagine
  • (00:41)you are pulling air all the way from your toes, filling your lungs from the bottom up. Breathe
  • (00:47)with me in through your nose, from your toes, filling your lungs for a count of four.
  • Starting
• [Breath In]
  • (00:53)one, two, three, four. Imagine you are filling a balloon
  • (01:01)with air all the way from the bottom up. Breathe with me in through your nose, from your toes,
  • (01:01)with your stomach, pushing your right hand outward. Now, purse your lips slightly and exhale like you
  • (01:07)are extinguishing a candle, slow and steady.
• [Breath Out]
  • Exhale for one, two, three, four, deflating the
  • (01:16)balloon under your right hand all the way until no air remains. Allow the body to relax as you
  • (01:23)exhale. Again, feeling no movement from the left hand on your chest, only the right hand on your
  • (01:33)to breathe thoughtfully. Just three to four minutes of breathing exercises twice a day can
  • (01:39)calm nerves for a meeting, assist in sleeping, or for any anxious situation. I promise your body
  • (01:45)will thank you. Use your breathing exercises to take control of your breathing and your health.
  • (01:51)Catch you next time on Mandy’s Digital Foray.
• [Outtro Harp Music]

Gunny’s Sea Stories and Smoke Pit Odysseys

This is the same story as the podcast but done as a video this time. It was uploaded to my YouTube channel.

Credit and Attributions

Context for the story

For context to the “I am green belt” reference, the Marines have their own recognized martial arts discipline known as the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). MCMAP is a program that every Marine is required to participate in and information about the program can be found at marines.mil the official program web page.

I also want to offer an explanation as to why the fall season was relevant to the behavior of deer. If you are a hunter or grew up around deer hunting, you would consider this to be common knowledge. But for those who do not; male deer (bucks) in the fall months, Sept-Nov will have higher levels of testosterone. So during their breeding season, bucks will often chase females, sometimes into traffic, in an attempt to mate. For a more detailed explanation of deer behavior, the deeranddeerhunting.com web article Behind the Hide is an excellent source.

Additional Media

The images used will be credited in the order of their appearance. Title screen photo of Marines standing along a ridgeline at dusk is named “Shadows in the Night”. It was taken by Sgt. Martha Linares and was released on 3/23/2026 by the U.S. Marine Corps, it is in the public domain. The second image, a sketch of Marines running away from an over sized tortoise, is a photograph that I took of it. I took it at the range control building at Marine Corps Base 29 Palms, CA on 6/9/2020. The artist signed the drawing but I cannot make out what it says, so I have attached a close up photo of it below. The drawing is making fun of the fact that the base is a wild life sanctuary for that particular breed of endangered tortoise. Training events are often suspended because one of those tortoises wanders too close.

The last image at the end of the video depicts two Marines with their newly awarded green belts. It was taken by the journalist Tyler Harmon and was released by the Marine Corps on 12/28/2021. It is also in the public domain. The music in the video was the free music found on the Canva site in the video editing section, named Background Music, FreeMusicForVideo from pixabay. Lastly, the person driving the blue jeep was my wife, Jessica.

Process

I started this project by thinking about how to take the story from the podcast and turning it into a video. To plan out the shots, I created a shot list in my note book while scouting areas around my neighborhood. Once I had a good feeling about the plan and how certain shots would be made, I set out to collect the gear. I already had a GoPro Hero 8, a handheld stick, and a tripod. Then I dug out an old uniform and recruited my wife to drive her jeep into an archery target shaped as a deer.

Once I was satisfied that I captured all of the shots, I transferred them to my laptop. I created a Canva account, uploaded my videos to it, and started watching instructional videos for how to edit with Canva on YouTube. I started to cut footage, incorporate music, and record narration. Hours later, after I was satisfied with the outcome, I uploaded the video to YouTube. From there I edited the Closed Captions and published the video for public viewing.

Hope you like it! Please leave a comment on the video on YouTube, I would love to hear your feedback.

About My Topic

This project takes my research narrative from the audio assignment and turns it into a visual essay about why women are leaving the American evangelical church. Instead of just looking at this like people casually losing their faith, I wanted to focus on the deep structural issues and expectations that make it so hard for many women to stay.

My project focuses on why women are walking away from the American evangelical church. I wanted to ask the question of how traditional environments, purity culture, and institutional responses to abuse intersect with a woman’s decision to leave. This project looks at how leaving becomes a vital path toward bodily autonomy and self-authorship rather than a simple loss of faith.

If you want to look into the research yourself, here are the main sources I used for my project:

• PRRI Report on Religious Change in America – This tracks the big macro-trends of why people are leaving religion.
• Qualitative Sociology Study on Abuse Survivors Leaving Evangelical Churches – This focuses on how survivors navigate church spaces.
• Social Work Study on Women Sexually Abused by Clergy – This looks at the institutional impact of clergy misconduct.

Video Process

I recorded my clean audio inside using my Mac and DJI Mic 2, then edited and pieced together the best takes in Soundtrap. For the visual side, I used footage of myself speaking directly to the camera as my A-roll.

For my B-roll, I used my iPhone and a DJI Osmo Mobile 6 gimbal from the HCC to shoot steady 16:9 footage around downtown Fredericksburg. I captured church exteriors, signs, closed doors, and a shot of myself looking up at a building to get that “outside looking in” vibe. I also filmed a close-up of my hand journaling to bring in a personal touch.

Since the outdoor background noise was way too loud, I muted the original video audio and layered my clean podcast voiceover on top using Clipchamp. I chose Clipchamp to edit everything because it made it simple to layer my voiceover tracks directly over the B-roll clips. To bring out the research data, I dropped in three different types of white text overlays that I created right in the software: an intro title card, text screens showing the key statistics on abuse and leadership scandals, and a clean credits slide at the very end.

I picked YouTube as the streaming platform because it allows the video to play directly inside a WordPress post without navigating away from the blog. YouTube also offers a reliable caption editor, which lets me manually correct the text to ensure the punctuation, capitalization, and timing are accurate. Overall, I am happy with the final result.

Credits

Intro Music by AlexGrohl from Pixabay

Text & Graphics Overlays: Created by Geneva Dickerson on Clipchamp

 A-roll and B-roll: Filmed and recorded by Geneva Dickerson

Audio Track: Recorded by Geneva Dickerson

Topic

My project focuses on the trend during covid called #BookTok. I wanted to ask the question of how successful this trend was in getting people to read. I also wanted to see how many people continue to read today because of this trend making it more of a movement. To read more about this trend I have a few sources that I used for further research.

The Guardian by Alison Flood
The Science Survey by Nehla Chowdhury

Credits

Outro Audio: On the road, looking at your feet by Monplaisir through Citizen DJ
Intro and Title Card: By Abigayle Crumley on Canva
A-roll and B-roll: Filmed by Abigayle Crumley
Audio: Recorded by Abigayle Crumley and Kate Bagley

Video Process

When creating this video it started with the production of a podcast. A general script was made and a 5 minute long interview was conducted between me and a friend of mine who has a passion for reading. This was recorded using the voice memo app on my phone. The recording had to be heavily cut down to fit the 2 minute requirement for the assignment. After this I was able to get most of my B-roll in a Barns and Noble following my friend using my phone to record. I was also able to re record an A-roll clip of a page turning that I used as a sound effect between segments in the edited interview. Because of how heavily I had to edit the initial interview, the best way to get A-roll clips of the interview was to record while lip syncing to the edited interview. Because of this, every clip used when editing the final video had no volume allowing for the edited interview to stay the same length of 2 minutes. For editing the video, I used iMovie as it is a video editing software that I am most familiar with. I then used Canva for the introduction and as a way to incorporate additional video elements (text, still photos, and graphics). At the very end of the video I used the text feature available in iMovie to make an outro. The final video was then saved and uploaded to Vimeo as I have uploaded videos to this website before. The website had auto generated captions for the video. If I were to make the video again I would have created a more structured plan for videos recorded and script. Overall, the video still turned out relatively well.

Topic

I decided to focus on how technology is part of our everyday lives. Technology has changed how we communicate with others, complete schoolwork, and find information. I also included artificial intelligence because it is becoming an important part of the technology we use today. My goal was to show how much we depend on technology and how it continues to change the way we live. I wanted to use different visuals to make the information easier to understand and more interesting to watch.

Process

I started this project by using the audio from my previous podcast. I then planned which videos and pictures would match the different parts of my narration. I recorded myself speaking to the camera and combined my footage with images and graphics related to technology. I also added a section about artificial intelligence to expand on my original topic. I also recorded using a iPhone 14 max. One of the challenges was making sure the visuals matched what I was saying and that there were no empty spaces throughout the video. I worked on the timing, transitions, and audio to make everything flow together. This project helped me understand how important visuals are when sharing information. I learned that combining audio, video, and images can make a message more engaging.

Credits

Narration and personal footage: Recorded by me.

Images created using Microsoft PowerPoint AI.

Video edited using CapCut.

The Video

Topic

The topic I talk about in the video is driver licenses and how important they are to us in the world. I discussed how they help us in the workforce and in solidifying our own identities.

Credits

Sky Driving School by Sky Driving School

“I Don’t Need to Drive Much, Why Should I Still Get a License?”

The Importance of Teens Getting Their Driver’s License by Courtney Cauldwell

Benefits of Getting a Driver’s Permit: Unlocking Freedom and Responsibility

Club No Copyright by MiroMaxMusic

Wondershare Filmora 15 (for title card, ending, and video making)

50 Years of Oklahoma Driver License Evolution for Picture 1

Adobe Stock for Picture 2

Filming Process

To create this video, I had to do more than just film. First, I did the research online. Next, I wrote a script for me to read and speak out loud. After that was done, I went to the Vocal Booth at UMW to record myself and my voice lines since there wasn’t any soundproof location in my house. I moved the clips to Wondershare Filmora 15 on my laptop to sort out the order so that my video would flow perfectly. I added in my music, pictures, and audio, trimmed out any unnecessary content, and clicked Export. Once I was done, I uploaded the video onto YouTube Studio. This way, nobody but me could see the video.

Choosing a Topic

As a Music Education major, I opted for a short lesson on a topic that lays the foundation for good musical practice: Diaphragmatic Breathing. Breathing from your belly instead of your chest is something we are born knowing how to do. Over time, most of us deviate to more shallow breathing, only filling our chests with air. Diaphragmatic breathing fills your lungs with air fully from the bottom, or belly, upwards. Taking proper breaths enables better performance and calmer nerves.

Podcast Outline/Script

Notes:

• Record in my home office
• Record on my Logitech Blue Yeti X USB Microphone, attached to my MacBook
• Intro Sounds to by the Wind; Outro Sounds to be Sighs; Serene music during deep breathing

[0:00 – 0:15] Topic Intro, Intro Music, Importance

• “Welcome! Today we are doing a two-minute micro-session on the absolute ultimate hack for stress management and musical performance: diaphragmatic breathing. By breathing using only your chest, you are telling your brain to stay stressed. Let’s take 90 seconds to make one positive change that your body will thank you for.”

[0:15 – 0:45] Set-Up and First Point

• “Take a seat in a chair with your back straight and shoulders relaxed. Place your left hand on your chest and your right hand on your belly. The goal is for the left hand on your chest to not move at all. You should only feel the hand on your belly slowly moving back and forth with every breath.”

[0:45 – 1:45] Guided Practice Inhaling and Exhaling; Serene Sounds

• “First, close your eyes. Imagine you are pulling air all the way from your toes, filling your lungs from the bottom up. Breath with me in through your nose, from your toes, filling your lungs for a count of 4. Starting 1….2….3….4…. Imagine you are filling a balloon with your stomach pushing your right hand outward.”
• “Now, purse your lips slightly and exhale like you are extinguishing a candle, slow and steady. Exhale for 1….2….3….4…. deflating the balloon under your right hand all the way until no air remains. Allow the body to relax as you exhale. Again, feeling no movement from the left hand on your chest, only the right hand on your belly moving outward and inward with every breath.”

[1:45 – 2:00] Conclusion and Sign Off

• “I challenge every listener to breathe thoughtfully. Just 3 – 4 minutes of breathing exercises twice a day can calm nerves for a meeting, assist in sleeping, or for any anxious situation. I promise your body will thank you! Use your breathing exercises to take control of your breathing and health!”
• “Catch you next time on Mandy’s Digital Foray!”

My Process Thus Far

To start, I opted to use my Blue Yeti X microphone and Audio-technica ATH-M50x headphones. Both are highly rated for audio recording. Then, I chose GarageBand as my recording medium. Once all was plugged in, I opened GarageBand, chose a new project, chose classical vocals, changed my microphone input to the Blue Yeti mic, and started recording using my script. After several tries, I was finally happy with the resulting recording. I then selected and deleted the blank space at the beginning of the recording. Finally, I saved, compressed, and shared my file with OneDrive.

This project has had an immense learning curve. The hardest part was including the link for this project here.