How To Podcast Tutorials

How-To-Podcast-Tutorial.com
and
How To Podcast with the Gear You Own - by Todd Cochrane

Personally, I have found that there are a lot of different ways to podcast -- depending on your interests and goals in podcasting. The podcast rig that I show below, is one way to do it. (Since the photos below were taken, I have added a Macintosh Mini computer and a Tapco Squeez compressor, and I have purchased a Zoom H4 portable recorder -- very cool device that could be all I really need to podcast!) You can get by with a lot less equipment, and many podcasters purchase a lot more in their goal for high production quality.

Anyway, this link is to a very comprehensive and readable, and free, website that covers most everything that you might want to consider in starting or improving your podcast. Just remember that you can vary considerably from what any podcaster tells you about how to podcast.

Audacity Tutorials

• Partners in Rhyme - How to Use Audacity
• El Dorado High School Online: Audacity 1.2 Tutorial - includes videos
• NewsForge: Mastering Podcasts with Audacity
  

PodcastersWiki.com

PodcastersWiki

This wiki (open edited) website is created by podcasters as a reference source to help new and experienced podcasters.

FindSounds - Search the Web for Sounds

FindSounds - Search the Web for Sounds: "Welcome to FindSounds.com, a free site where you can search the Web for sound effects and musical instrument samples."

Someone at the eLearning Institute Workshop asked me about finding free sound clips online. The FindSounds search engine should do the trick.

Podsafe music (usually with a Creative Commons copyright that allows playing on podcasts) can be found at:

• http://www.podsafemusicnetwork.com/
• http://www.podsafeaudio.com/
  
  
• This Site compares different podsafe music provider
  

Historic audio clips that are in the public domain and free to use, can be found at:

• http://www.freeinfosociety.com/

AND - At the Creative Commons website (http://creativecommons.org/) you can find useable Music, Speaches, Graphic Images, Videos, Textbooks, Lesson Plans, and more...

Tags: Podsafe, Audio, Sound, Images, Textbooks, Creative Commons, Podcast, Tools

My Podcasting Steps

These are the steps that I go through to record and post my podcasts. This is a post-processing intensive approach. Using programs like Castblaster, other podcasters produce more of a traditional "radio" show without any post-processing.

1. Prepare Intro, Outro, Transitions, Sponsors (optional)
   
1. Text
2. Voice overs
   
3. Music
4. Sponsor ads
5. Other supplemental audio (music, copied audio, recordings)
1. Creative Commons copyright
   
   
2. Prepare Material
1. Lecture Notes
2. Contemporary Events
1. Email Lists
2. RSS Readers
3. Blog This (Firefox extension)
4. Google Notebook
   
   
3. Set Audio Levels
1. Volume
2. Equalizer (on mixer)
3. (Compression, Gate and other, if available)
   
   
4. Set Recording Rate
1. 22050Hz sample rate and 32-bit float format (in Audacity)
   
   
5. Record and Save Podcast
   
   
6. Post Processing in Audacity
1. Leveler
2. Normalize
3. Compression
4. Leveler
5. Amplify
   
   
7. Import, Adjust and Mix Intro and Outro Music
8. Create ID3 Tags
9. Export as MP3 File
   
1. requires lame encoder for Audacity
   
   
10. Upload to server
1. Libsyn.com
2. Podcasternews.com
1. Check Download Statistics
   
11. Create Blog Entry

Tags: podcasting steps, how to, audacity, podcast

My Current Podcasting Setup

This is my current home podcasting set up:



The computer is an old 300 MGhz PC with a 10GB hard drive that is on load from my department. It does not record well (drops words) and I am planning to replace it soon! [The vertical white stick thing is an antenna booster for the wireless Internet card that I installed on the computer.]

There are two mice on the table. The sliver mouse is the Thanko Silent Mouse ($35 from Dynamism.com). I bought is because I got tired of editing out mouse clicks from my podcasts. Works great.

The microphone is an Audio-Technica AT 2020 ($85 on eBay). The microphone requires a 48v phantom power supply.

I think I paid about $25 for the mic stand and about $15 for the pop screen at Arizona Music Pro.

Just below the microphone in the photo below is a Tapco Mix 60 mixer, which also provides phantom power to the microphone ($60). A "balanced" (3 plug) microphone cable connects the Tapco mixer to the AT 2020 microphone. only use one of the inputs, although you can have four to six (depending on the configuration).


The gray and black rectangular box next to the lap is the Edirol UA-1EX. I originally bought this for my laptop, based on comments that laptops have lousy sound cards. However, I found this it resolved the "latency" problem that I had with Audacity (the audio recording and editing freeware program that I use). Latency is the delay between when you speak and when the sound is received in the headphones. I could not use headphones while podcasting until I got the Edirol UA-1EX.

There is a line splitter coming out of the "phones" jack of the Tapco mixer. One line goes into the Edirol, and the other can be connected to an mp3 recorder to create a backup recording. I use an iRiver IFP 890. I only do a backup when recording interviews.

A very simple headset ($1 at the Dollar Tree) is connected to the Edirol so I can monitor the sound as I am recording it.

NOT SEEN IN THE PHOTOS:
- iRiver 890 mp3 player/recorder - for backups and sound seeing audio ($45 on eBay)
- SP-TFB-2 - In-Ear Binaural Microphones and sound seeing audio (SoundProfessionals.com, $69)
- Logitec 250 USB Noise-canceling Headset (used on laptop when traveling)
NEW:
- Tapco Squeez SQ2compressor ($99 - resulted in a great improvement to my sound! - the gate feature pretty much removed the dog and minor house noises)
- Zoom H4 Recorder ($299 - bought for a research project, but also used for podcasting)
- MacMini and an old LCD monitor - replaced the ancient PC in the photo - nice and quiet, and small


WIRING
The Microphone is connected to the Mixer usine the Balanced audio cable. An unbalanced cable goes from the headphone jack on the Mixer to the Line In jack on the Edirol external audio interface. The Edirol has a USB wire coming out of it that plugs into the computer. I have a split attached to the headphone jack on the Edirol, to which I have the headphones and the iRiver attached.

Tags: podcasting setup, podcast setup, podcast equipment, how to, podcast

Mighty Seek - Home Podcast Setup

Photos of one person's home podcasting equipment (click title above)

Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder

Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder

For PC and Mac, though most Mac users prefer Garage Band, which comes free on the Mac

Yahoo! Podcasts - Discover and enjoy all the best podcasts and vidcasts

Yahoo! Podcasts - Discover and enjoy all the best podcasts and vidcasts

PodcasterNews - Customize your newscast!

PodcasterNews - Customize your newscast!

libsyn // podcasting made easy

libsyn // podcasting made easy

Geography for Travelers

Geography for Travelers

Podcasting at the UA Learning Technologies Center

Podcasting at the UA Learning Technologies Center:

How Can UA Departments Use Podcasting?

Academic and administrative departments can use this inexpensive resource to connect with students and alumni here at the UA or geographically dispersed across the Internet. Provide weekly podcasts about such things as departmental news, events, professional and scholarly topics, student activities and faculty research. Use it as a marketing tool to set your department apart from others in students' minds. LTC staff are happy to get you started. If your department or college is unable to support you, the LTC will be glad to.

ASU Podcasting » General Info

ASU Podcasting » General Info: Library Podcasting

The University Libraries are now podcasting and of course we are feeling a bit of growing pains. Currently our “blog” isn’t so much of one as the podcasting page is a static page in AFS space until we decide where to host the wordpress version, which is very much still under develpoment. We are looking forward to having a much more dynamic page but for now we are at least out there.

PodCast.mansfield.edu - Mansfield University of Pennsylvania

PodCast.mansfield.edu - Mansfield University of Pennsylvania:

The Mansfield University PodCast looks at college life through the eyes of freshmen who share their thoughts, experiences and advice. Admissions Director Brian Barden shares tips on how to find the college right for you and Financial Aid Director Chris Vaughn makes the complex world of financial aid understandable and sometimes even fun! The Mansfield University PodCast is for high school seniors, juniors and parents.

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Education -- Stanford, UC Berkeley begin podcasting experiment

Stanford, UC Berkeley begin podcasting experiment:

BERKELEY – Technology-savvy students at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley can now download some recorded class lectures to their portable digital music players.

The schools are the latest to experiment with podcasting – a combination of Apple's digital iPod music player and broadcasting – in which professors record portions of their classes and make them available on the Internet.

Apple - Education - iTunes U

Apple - Education - iTunes U:

Click. Sync. Learn.
It all starts with learning

Apple shares common goals with education — to advance teaching, learning, and research through innovation, and engage and empower students. Students expect a campus environment that accommodates their digital lifestyle, adapts to their individual learning needs, and encourages collaboration and teamwork. Introducing a way to simplify and meet all these needs — iTunes U."

eSchool News online - Georgia school displays iPod ingenuity

Georgia school displays iPod ingenuity:

Though campuses across the nation have begun transforming iPods into educational tools, few schools have embraced the technology as much as Georgia College & State University, where faculty are using the devices for everything from screening movies to podcasting answers to frequently asked questions.

Georgetown University: Georgetown University Forum

Georgetown University: Georgetown University Forum:

The Georgetown University Forum is a weekly radio program highlighting the research and expertise of Georgetown University faculty. The program airs internationally via National Public Radio, Armed Forces Radio Network, Voice of America and other syndicated broadcast networks.

Download an MP3 file to use on portable players such as iPods, or just listen to it on your computer. Learn more about podcasting.

PODCASTING

Podcast = “Audio Blog”

• Internet Radio – early 1990s
• Podcasting” – September 2004

• Individuals creating own material

• Easy & Cheap
• Democratizing “Radio”
  

July 1, 2005 = Apple’s iTunes supports Podcast downloads

• Currently
  
• Podcast Alley = tracks 19,000+ Podcasts & Videocasts (May 2006)
  
• Feedburner = tracks 47,000+ Podcasts & Videocasts (April 2006)
• and 1.6 million subscribers
  
• estimates audience growth at 20% a month
  

• Travel Podcasts
• Industry News & Sales
  
• Personal travel experiences & opinions
• Interviews
  
• Soundscapes / Soundscenes
• Repurposed Radio Shows
  
• “Guerrilla” Podcasting
  
• [Education & Lectures]
• [Music & Comedy]
  

Podcasting Market “Come to Me” Web -- Instead of “Go and Get It” Web

• Pushing text, audio & video files to computers & MP3 players (RSS)
  
  
• Podcasting = Narrow casting Opposite of Broadcasting
  

• Ultimate Niche Marketing – narrow & devoted
• Psychographic Community
  
• Traditional Radio & TV = Geography-based community
  

Video Podcast: Vlog - Vodcast - Videocast

BLOGS

“Weblog” = 1997
“Blog” = 1999

• Websites that contain a series of articles in chronological order
  
• = Niche Media
  

• Identity Blogs (diaries)
• News & Comment Blogs
• Travel Blogs
• Collaborative Blogs (many contributors)
• “Moblog” = Mobile phone photo blogging
  

“Blogosphere” (Technorati.com)

• 27.2 million active blogs (Feb 2006)
• 1.2 million posts a day - 50,000 an hour
• 40.7 million blog sites (May 200)
  

Doubles every 5 months

• 70,000 new blogs each day
  
• BUT - Most are Splogs -- Spam Blogs
• steal content from others to attract users to click on ads (Google Adsense)