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http://wiki.elearning.ubc.ca/PodcastWorkshop∞

Podcast Frenzy - One Hour of Digital Audio Mayhem

People have been posting audio to the net forever (at least, as measured in web time). What's new about podcasting to justify this hype? Think of podcasting as analagous to what weblogs and wikis are to text publishing.

• The tools have gotten cheaper, and easier. All the software you need can easily be picked up for free (or cheaply).
• Bandwidth and hardware has also gotten cheaper. And the rise of iPods and other portable digital music players has been key.
• As with weblogs, RSS has allowed personally-produced audio to be syndicated and disseminated with unprecedented power and ease.
• As with weblogs, the above factors means that a whole new wave of participants have joined the party. That's when things really get interesting.

Listening to podcasts:

• We're using iTunes, today, which works very well as a podcatcher∞. Add podcasts by selecting "Advanced" and "Add podcast" and pasting in the URL.
• Via Reel Reviews Radio∞ links to other podcatchers, including iPodder∞ and iPodderX∞. Detailed instructions here.∞

• Our workshop podcast feed: http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/objects/index.xml∞
• Amy Gahran's list of Women in Podcasting∞
• iPodder Directory∞ - Educational Category∞ maintained by D'Arcy Norman∞.
• Podcast Alley∞
• Podscope Search Engine∞
• UBC Public Affairs Podcasts∞

Creating Podcasts

∞

Here we truly enter the dark arts. There are options that let you record podcasts with nothing but a phone, and that will handle the whole process for free (Odeo∞ seems to have established itself as the early leader, from the creators of Blogger.)

Hardware

You can capture hardware with your laptop or any computer with a soundcard and microphone. From there you can go as as deep as you wish∞. We're going to steer clear of hardware for now. If you plan to do a lot of recording, you might consider upgrading your microphone. USB microphones work well with both PCs and Macs, and start at around sixty bucks.

Recording

Standard considerations apply. Try to find a quiet place -- unless background noise is what you want. Think about what you are trying to capture. Recording single or a small number of speakers is easier than capturing a room. Trial and error is the best way to learn.

Using Audacity

http://www.agnula.org/documentation/dp_tutorials/audacity/images/audacity-2_small.jpg∞

Audacity is a popular, open-source, cross-platform recorder, editor and mixer. It is hardly the best tool on the market, but it is free, relatively easy to use, and surprisingly powerful.

We will be lasting through this, and there will undoubtedly be questions that remain -- suggested tutorials include:

• The official tutorial∞
• Multifile mixing∞
• Daniel James's Audacity Tutorial∞ -- includes some sample file. This one is my favorite.

Capturing a sound

Let's start by getting a source file. Just capture a few seconds of your voice.

Open Audacity. Select New.

It should be set to the "default input source". You can change this (in Mac) by selecting the "System Preferences", "Sound" and then "Input".

Click the "record button" and say a few things, wait a second, say something else, pause again, and speak again. Is your recording generating waveforms in the interface?

Play it back. Save your project.

Basic editing

Now, let's import a track. Download one of the following tracks to your desktop - [cntl-click, save-as] (If you added the workshop feed to iTunes, they might be on your machine already.)

• Applause∞
• Dog's barking∞
• Phone ringing∞

If you have or know of another short clip (MP3, 30 seconds or less) you are welcome to use it instead.

In Audacity

• Under Project, select Import Audio (Or keystroke Apple-I)
• Select the audio file you saved to the desktop.

Now the fun begins...

Time permitting, we will explore mixing levels, cutting, silencing, splicing, and synching. Not enough time for a proper overview, so I recommend you look at the tutorials above.

Uploading and syndicating your files

When you have completed your masterwork, save it again. If you have the LAME MP3 plugin installed with Audacity, select File and Export as MP3 as options. If you do not have a plugin, export as WAV file, hopefully it will be under 5MB. Export file to your desktop.

Login at: http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/login∞ (username and password to be revealed in-session)

• From the Movable Type weblog entry interface, select upload file.
• Select your podcast from the desktop.
• When asked, select create new entry.
• Add a title to your post, explanatory text (optional), and select the "Podcast" category from the drop-down menu (optional).
• Hit save.

Weblog viewable at: http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/objects/∞
Podcast feed: http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/objects/index.xml∞

More

- Gardner Campbell, There's Something in the Air∞
- Maricopa College, [[http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ocotillo/olg/notes.php?yr=0506&id=6∞