Gaëtan Harris: Sound Design Tips for Audio-First Podcasts

It's been a long time since I've spoken with Gaëtan Harris, founder of Syrup Sound, to talk about working in radio at Power 97 with me in Winnipeg to becoming one of Canada's most respected podcast sound designers. Gaëtan shares how an early fascination with This American Life inspired him to move to Vancouver, where he eventually joined Pacific Content alongside Steve Pratt and Dan Misener to help create award-winning branded podcasts.We talked about the technical side of podcast production and the creative philosophy behind great audio. We explore what separates a polished listening experience from a rushed edit, and why the smallest details can make the biggest difference.Things like... Why mouth clicks matter more than most podcasters realizeHow Pacific Content created branded podcasts that felt like compelling stories instead of advertisementsWhere independent producers can find affordable sound effects and music librariesThe strengths—and limitations—of AI audio cleanup tools like Adobe Podcast EnhanceWhy Gaëtan has remained committed to audio-first podcasting, even as the industry races toward videoYou can reach out to Gaëtan on LinkedIn or check out his offerings on his company's website, Syrup Sound.He also has his own websitePlease sign up for the SOUNDING OFF Newsletter. All the things that went unsaid on the show.Also we added the Sound Off Podcast to the The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.Thank you Megatrax for continuously supporting the showSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.