Workflows by profession

Finding the take from episode 47

Updated 2026-08-08 · 4 min read

Every episode leaves behind raw tracks, a session project, remote recordings, edits and exports — a dozen files minimum, weekly, forever. The day a clip from episode 47 is needed, the archive either answers or it does not.

Name by episode number, everywhere

The episode number is the natural key — put it first in every filename it touches:

ep047_2026-03-12_guest-keller_raw-guest.wav
ep047_edit-v2.logicx
ep047_final.mp3

ep047 typed into any search box then assembles the entire episode — raws, session, exports — from wherever the files physically sit. This single habit outperforms any folder scheme, because it works *across* folders, drives and years.

Where recordings actually land

The scatter is predictable: local multitracks where the DAW writes them, remote-recording downloads (Riverside, Zencastr, Zoom) in Downloads, guest files arriving via WeTransfer links, phone memos in Voice Memos' hidden store. The intake rule mirrors every other profession's: files move into the episode folder the day they exist. Downloads is a loading dock, not storage.

The raw-audio storage cliff

Multitrack WAV accumulates at roughly a gigabyte per recorded hour per track. The archive question is really a policy question — decided once:

• Raws: keep until the episode ships plus one month, then delete or move

to a cold drive. Sort by size and age to sweep.

• Sessions and finals: keep forever; they are small next to raws.

Enforcing the policy is a periodic search — audio files over 500 MB older than 90 days — which an indexed tool answers instantly, mounted or not.

Clip retrieval

"Where did the guest say the thing about pricing" is a *content* problem in a format search cannot read — audio has no text layer. Transcripts are the fix: export per-episode transcripts (the remote platforms generate them; local tools transcribe the archive) into the episode folder as ep047_transcript.txt. The quote search becomes a text search that names the episode; the timestamp in the transcript names the moment.

Common questions

How long should podcast raw files be kept?

Until the episode ships plus a safety window, unless remixes are likely. Finals and session files are cheap to keep forever; raws are what fill drives.

How do we search what was said across episodes?

Keep transcripts beside each episode's files. Text search over transcripts is the only search that reaches into audio.