An introduction to the world of 21st Century Media On-Demand Podcasting is simply a way to syndicate audio or video programs so people can listen to or watch it at their convenience. Anything can be in a podcast. It can range from: Talk Programming Music Programming Technical Information A how-to class A podcast can be anything that you would like others to be able to have on-demand. No! You can listen to podcast on an iPod, an mp3 player, or on a computer. MP3 is an shortened reference to MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. It is an audio file that is compressed to save file space. It has the nearly the same sound quality as a .wav file (used for creation of audio CDs), but takes much less file space, allowing it to be more easily shared over the web. Yes. You can hear an mp3 on pretty much any media format. Computers and iPods both play mp3’s. But. . . If you download a sound file from iTunes, it can only be heard on an iPod. It is becoming one of the biggest forms of media today in the U.S. Because of the popularity of podcasting, mainstream radio and television stations have started making their content available on- demand. There are many industry-specific podcasts in just about every industry, including agriculture.
Entertainment Information Education Interests There’s plenty of reasons to start your own podcast. 1. You can become an information resource within your industry. There’s plenty of reasons to start your own podcast. 2. It can become a place for discourse amongst your fellow industry-specific communicators. There’s plenty of reasons to start your own podcast. 3. It can be used as a marketing tool for your Extension office or academic program. There’s plenty of reasons to start your own podcast. 4. It’s good for your image (you’re on the “cutting edge”). A computer Sound editing software There are many programs: we’ll be going over Audacity. A microphone A proper microphone cord There are other electronic components that you can add to make the podcast sound better, but they are not necessary. Dynamic
Shure SM57 and Beta57a, courtesy Iain Fergusson and Wikipedia
Dynamic Generally very good for voice recording Generally pretty cheap Durable Easy to buy Dynamic The sound produced usually needs amplification Distorts particularly high-pitch sounds Capacitor (also known as Condenser) Capacitor (Also known as Condenser) Wide range of sound can be acquired Design allows full voice range representation Can easily be attached to a table using a boom Capacitor (Also known as Condenser) Generally more expensive Sound needs to be amplified Lavalier
Courtesy www.equipmentemporium.com/Lavarticle.htm Lavalier Compact Easy to store Good sound quality Can be worn on clothing Lavalier Movement of clothing can cause distortion Not as durable as larger microphones Computer Mics
Courtesy www.logitech.com Computer Mics Generally cheap Easy interface with computers Computer Mics Sound quality may not be as good as with professional microphones May not be as durable as professional mics Headsets
Courtesy www.headsets.com Headsets Convenient Provide very good sound quality Headphones built in Portable Headsets Can break easily More expensive If you use a Mac, you get off easy Mac provides a good sound program called “GarageBand” in its iLife software package. For PC users, you will either have to download a software program, or buy one. Acid Express Adobe Audition (formally known as CoolEdit Pro) ProTools Sound Forge Audacity It’s easy to use and is free to download Download is available at http://audacity.sourceforge.net Before you think about recording, you should optimize your system to improve the recordings. Some of these optimizations include: Turning off unnecessary applications Shutting off unnecessary services Disable indexing Constantly defragment your hard drive Turn off system sound Control sound card latency Use a second drive for media storage After the program is downloaded, you can start using it immediately. You have the option to create a desktop shortcut when you install the program, which you should do. It will allow you to open the program more easily. Audacity is a trademark of Dominic Mazzoni ® When you open Audacity, the window will look like this: The first step is to make sure that your recording device selector reads “Microphone.” The first step is to make sure that your recording device selector reads “Microphone.” The first step is to make sure that your recording device selector reads “Microphone.” Next, you will want to make sure your preferences are set correctly. Go to the “Edit” menu and find Preferences at the bottom of the menu. Go to the “Edit” menu and find Preferences at the bottom of the menu. You will see this: Make sure that both your playback and recording audio devices are the sound card that your computer uses. Keep the “Channels” setting in the “Recordings” box set to “1 (Mono).” Even though you may think Stereo will sound better, it won’t. Recording in stereo will simply duplicate your track and make it sound like an echo chamber. If you are going to record with two microphones, then switch the “Channels” setting to “2 (Stereo).” Now, switch to the “Quality” tab in the “Audacity Preferences” window. You will see this: The only setting in this tab that should be changed is your “Default Sample Format.” Change it from “32-bit float” to “16-bit.” The only setting in this tab that should be changed is your “Default Sample Format.” Change it from “32-bit float” to “16-bit.” The only setting in this tab that should be changed is your “Default Sample Format.” Change it from “32-bit float” to “16-bit.” Next, move to the “File Formats” tab. Make sure that the “Uncompressed Export Format” shows “WAV (Microsoft 16 bit PCM).” Now you’re set up to record audio! First, you will need to turn on microphone monitoring. To do this, simply click on the microphone icon in the toolbar. To start recording, all you have to do is click the “Record Button”, which is the one with the Red Circle on toolbar. When you start recording, a new sound track will appear on the screen. It will look like this: Once you’ve got your audio recorded, simply hit the “Stop” button in the toolbar, which is the one with the yellow square. Once you’ve got your audio recorded, simply hit the “Stop” button in the toolbar, which is the one with the yellow square. Once you’re done recording, you can edit the sound file. You can click and drag across any part of the sound file to edit. You can click and drag across any part of the sound file to edit. To delete a section, you can do it a few different ways: You can use the Edit menu to select “Cut.”
You can use the keyboard shortcut “Control + X” Or, you can simply hit the “Delete” button on the keyboard. Finally, you can use the “Cut” button in the middle of the tool bar, which has a picture of scissors on it.
Just like most other programs, there are two or three ways to do just about everything. There is a keyboard shortcut to just about operation. List of Keyboard Shortcuts: Menu Shortcuts (Press “Alt” key) à File = F à Edit = E à View = V à Generate = G à Effect = C à Analyze = A à Help = H List of Keyboard Shortcuts: In File Menu à New = “Ctrl + N” à Open = “Ctrl + O” à Close = “Ctrl + W” à Save Project = “Ctrl + S” List of Keyboard Shortcuts: In Edit Menu à Undo = “Ctrl + Z” à Redo = “Ctrl +Y” à Cut = “Ctrl + X” à Copy = “Ctrl + C” à Paste = “Ctrl + V” à Trim = “Ctrl + T” à Delete = “Ctrl + D” à Preferences = “Ctrl + P” List of Keyboard Shortcuts: In View Menu à Zoom In = “Ctrl + 1” à Zoom Normal = “Ctrl + 2” à Zoom Out = “Ctrl + 3” à Fit in Window = “Ctrl + F” à Fit Vertically = “Ctrl + Shift + F” à Zoom to Selection = “Ctrl + E” List of Keyboard Shortcuts: In Project Menu à Import Audio = “Ctrl + I” à Add Label at Selection = “Ctrl + B” There are six different icons in the top left corner of the window. Here’s what they do: Selection Tool: Allows you to click on any point of your window and set a mark. Once you set a mark an icon with a finger pointing to the mark will appear. You can use this tool to then create a region by clicking and dragging. Next is the Envelope Tool, which will create various kinds of fades in your sound file. The last one on the top is called the “Draw Tool.” With this feature, you can change the sound level of any piece of audio in you file. You do have to zoom in as close as you can to the waveform to use the tool.
The first tool of the bottom row is the “Zoom Tool.” The next tool is called the “Time Shift Tool.” It allows you to move the entire track. It should mostly be used in the editing process when an area is already highlighted. The final tool is called “Multi-Tool Mode.” In this mode, you can use all five tools when you as you need. One other important feature is the ability to use multiple tracks. If you are going to record all of your tracks yourself, simply hit record, and Audacity automatically creates a new track. If you need to import a track, you can create a new track by selecting “New Audio Track” from the “Project” menu.
To Import a file, choose “Import Audio” from the “Project” menu. Once you’ve done that, select the file you want to import from the dialog menu. Many of the options in the “Effects” menu are not going to be necessary for you, as most of them are for mastering music, but some will be of use: Amplify: Bumps up the audio level Equalization: Can make sound file louder or softer using your command Fade In/Fade Out Noise Reduction: This will partially remove any background hissing or noise you don’t want Normalize: Will make the sound a uniform volume To save the project, use the “File” menu and choose “Save Project.” To save the project, use the “File” menu and choose “Save Project.” Before you record, you should do three things: Test your recording gear à Make any adjustments that you need to make Write a script Practice the script a few teams During the Editing Process Think about what music you would like to use as background. à If you have the ability to digitally compose music, that is perfectly acceptable. à If you want to use music that is already produced, you need to be very careful! Copyright laws are very strict, and music companies WILL come after you if you use music without permission. During the Editing Process There are, however, places you can find “Podsafe Music:” à The Free Sound Project: à freesound.iua.upf.edu à www.soundsnap.com à www.flashkit.com/soundfx à www.bumpermusic.blogspot.com à www.fourbees.com/fourbees/audelm.asp à www.podsafeaudio.com à www.acidplanet.com/tools/8packs à en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sound/list There are three steps to finalizing your podcast: Evening the audio level throughout the podcast Saving the file as an mp3 Putting the podcast in RSS code for internet distribution To make it easier to make all sound levels even, there is a free program called Levelator that can be downloaded. http://gigavox.com/levelator From Audacity, you will choose “Export as an mp3” from the “File” menu. Once that is done, you can drag and drop your file into Levalator and it will make all the sound uniform. You can then export the file back into Audacity. To save the file as an mp3, Audacity users must export the file to a component program called LAME mp3 encoder. It can be downloaded from the Audacity website To export, choose “Export as an mp3” from the “File” menu. Once the file is saved an mp3, it can imported back to Audacity and is now ready to be published on the internet. The final step is to generate RSS code for the podcast RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication It is feed that users can subscribe to that alerts them when new content is published Many news sites now use RSS, including our site: cahnrsnews.wsu.edu If you already know how to write internet code, writing this isn’t much different. If you don’t, there are programs available online that will write the code for you Once the code is written, it should be validated. Any mistake in this code will render it useless on the web. There are a number of websites that will tell you if your RSS code is valid. Once it is validated, you may post it to the web! Now that you have a podcast, how to get people to listen to it? You’ll need to know your audience: where are they likely to look for the kind of content you’re producing? If you have a website, promote it there. Be sure you write a clear and concise description of each podcast – this will help search engines properly categorize your content Use a graphical icon so that the visitor instantly recognizes you’ve got podcasts available Alert Podcast listing websites to your podcast. It’s always been considered the best advertising: WORD OF MOUTH! Post messages on blogs in your area of expertise. One of the best ways to create buzz in the new world of the internet: Get a blogger interested in your podcast. Find blogs in your interest area (try using the blog search engine Technorati) Contact the blogger by email and let them know you’ve developed content that might interest them Post comments on blogs that link back to your content Jeff Mannix, Radio Relations Coordinator, WSU CAHNRS & Extension News & Marketing Service Office: 219 Hulbert Hall on Pullman Campus Office Phone: (509) 335-8169 E-mail: [email protected]