How to Make a Podcast

Podcasts are the latest developments in digital audio broadcasting.  Some shows are professionally created by media outlets, such as Disney and ABC News, and others are produced by creative individuals with a microphone and a smidge of know-how. You can listen to anything from the latest sports news from ESPN to a group of random women dishing about pop culture on their girls’ night in. Why, (shameless plug alert) you can even listen to technology news via the new, weekly Digital Trends Podcast.

So, if you’re just now getting around to blogging, you may want to skip it and just go for the podcast, or, if you’ve already been bitten by the blog bug, you can insert a podcast right in there to complement your rant. Podcasting, at the moment, is essentially free to create and distribute, and is censorship free (depending on where it’s published), much like the early days of amateur radio, so you too can be the next big thing if you jump on it right now.  Just think, if you’ve always wanted your own show, here’s your chance.  And the best part?  You’re basically on a level playing field with the big boys because it’s a new medium.

As with anything, you can get the best of the latest products around to create your podcast, but, believe it or not, the basic nuts and bolts you’ll need are a computer, a microphone and a website to post your own, homemade radio-style shows. Those are the essentials.
    

First things first, you need a computer and website.  For those two, you’re on your own, but note that even older computers work well and you can also use a blog site’s bandwidth, such as Blogger’s, to publish your podcast.  More on that later.

After a computer and website, you’ll need a microphone, which is available in a variety of styles, depending on your budget.  Some computers already have microphones built into them.  If you don’t have one, or want to use something that cancels out noise a little better, you can buy an inexpensive one for about $10 (and up) from any electronics store. Headphones are a nice option if you want to hear your recordings played back without the additional desktop speaker noise, but not necessary.  You can opt for the spendy ones, or just use ones borrowed from your portable CD player.

Next, you will need to use a program that records a voice, ideally with some type of audio editor. You can use something as basic as the preloaded programs on most operating systems, such as Windows Media, or you purchase more sophisticated software, allowing you to modify the sound that you’re recording, such as ePodcast Creator. Another option, is Audacity 1.2.3., which is open-source audio editing software available via a free download at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ .  Audacity is a great choice, because it’s simple enough for first time users, and compatible with both Mac and PC.  And, did I mention it was free? 

Here’s a recording of my voice using Audacity 1.2.3.’s default settings and an inexpensive desktop microphone.  Click here to listen to me testing the mic. I listened back using the headphones borrowed from my CD player to make sure I couldn’t hear the rather loud PS2 game being played in the background, and sure enough, I couldn’t, so all seems to be in working order.  Here are two of us talking from an equal distance from the mike, in case you want to have more than one person’s voice recorded, much like an interview or a multi-person gabfest.  Click here to listen to a sample of two voices being recorded.

Audacity 1.2.3. Running on Windows

Image Courtesy of Audacity 1.2.3

To begin recording, just go up to the File menu and select New.  If you’d like to test your microphone input level, just click on the microphone icon on the far right, then start talking.  You should get a red bar going across, letting you know if you’re talking too quietly, or too loud.  The bar should reach most of the way to the right, but not stay completely red.  If it stays red, move away from the mike a bit or turn down the level using the input volume control located just below the microphone icon.  The rest of the program is pretty easy to navigate.  To record, click the button with the red circle.  To stop, click on the button with the yellow square.  To play, click on the green arrow.  Have fun figuring out all of the effect controls for sounds and track mixes, as well as editing features of the program. 

The Audacity program automatically saves your recordings as an .aup file, which many other programs cannot open. You can export the file as an MP3 after recording from the File menu. Audacity will let you know that it requires you to have the LAME library to handle MP3 encoding in order to export files as MP3s.  LAME can be found at http://lame.sourceforge.net/ and is a free download, to boot. Once you have downloaded LAME and have clicked on Audacity’s warning box to locate LAME, you’re well on your way.  Believe me, this is all easier than it sounds and it will make sense once you get there. 

Audacity 1.2.3 During the Recording Process

Image Courtesy of Audacity 1.2.3

A side note: once you have made a recording, exported it and are done with it for the moment, be sure to close out the window, or begin a new project.  If not, you’re going to lay another track right on top of your first recording.  That may be your desired effect, but for the purpose of this article, we’re going to focus on just the basics.

Now, the fun part.  You probably already have a general idea what you want to do, as far as content goes.  Figure out what you’re going to say and with whom you would like to work, if anyone. The content is up to you, whether you want to play obscure music, converse with callers about ancient cultures, give tips on budget travel, broadcast your own band, or perform a weekly comedy routine. Remember, this is your show and you get to make the call.  A few general things to think about are that many shows have some kind of identifying intro, like a jingle, tone or obnoxious noise.  You should ideally aim for a show length of about 20-30 minutes.  If you do a talk show, try to limit each topic to about five to eight minutes, transition with a jingle, then move to the next topic.  Whatever you do, just keep it moving. 

Next, upload your MP3 file to your website, and voila, you have just embarked on the new digital revolution, known as podcasting. All that’s left to do is to shoot your friends an email to let them know where to find your file.  Tell your friends to tell more friends and the next thing you know, through word-of-mouth (still the best form of advertising), you’re a star, if only in your own mind. 

If you want to reach a much larger audience, you can publish your audio file as an enclosure on blogging services, like Blogger.com, or you can share your podcast on Podcasting.com, or the behemoth iTunes Podcast Directory.  For regular, frequent publishing as well as using iTunes, you will need to create an RSS feed (Really Simple Syndication).  There are a couple of ways to do this once you get to that stage.  You can either take the time to hand code it (http://www.rss-specifications.com/), or just download software that will make it a snap to create and manage your feeds, such as the $39.95 software from FeedForAll. 

That’s it for the basics.  Good luck and happy podcasting!

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