So I want to start a podcast...

[Jaxel]

I'm asking this here because I really don't know where else to ask. I want to start a podcast... and I will probably do it in my kitchen. My question of course, is what kind of equipment would I need, and what kind of software?

Basically, I want to have FOUR people in studio, with the possibly of more through IP telephony such as Skype or Ventrilo. I'm a little confused on how this would all work...

1 - If I got four USB condenser microphones and plugged therm directly into the computer, what software would I need to handle it? Would I need to buy mixing hardware? Or would mixing software like M-Audio be enough?

2 - Would I be better off getting standard condenser microphones and plugging them all into mixing hardware? Then plugging the mixing hardware into my computer and just recording a single stream in Audacity?

How would I infuse Skype into either of these options? Basically, I'm really confused. So I'm asking, what microphones should I get, what hardware should I get, what software do I need, and how do I set it all up?

The best quality I can get, with the cheapest price would be preferred.

[UKBusinessLive]

Here are a few ideas i found for you

Determine the nature of your podcast. What will the content be? Write it down so you don't forget. Come up with an outline or some sort of organizer to keep track of what you will discuss or promote.

Record the audio for your podcast (Mixcraft or GarageBand are good). For a free alternative, Audacity is great too.

Tag it, give it ID information (Artist, Album) and give it album art. Either make it yourself, find some free, non-copyrighted images online, or have a friend make one for you.

Save the audio file (in MP3 format) to your computer desktop. Do not use special characters (such as # or % or ?) in the file name. Open it up into your sound editor and edit out extra background noise or long periods of silence. Put in intro/outro music if necessary.

Create your RSS podcast feed. The feed must meet all industry standards for a valid 2.0 feed with enclosures. Try using a complete solution and free service such as Podblaze or Podomatic . The easiest way to do it is to use a blog. So hop on over to Blogger.com, or another blogging service, and start a blog with the title of your podcast. Don't make any posts just yet.

Put your RSS podcast feed on the Internet. Go to Feedburner and type in the URL of your blog and click "I am a podcaster!". In the next screen, configure the elements for your podcast. These are the elements that directly relate to the podcast. your feedburner feed is your podcast.

Go to OurMedia.org and sign-up there (this may take a while). Then go to your files, and upload your MP3 file.

Make a post on your blog/website - the title of the post should be the title of that episode of the podcast, and the content will end up as the "Shownotes" or "Description". Put in a little about what you talk about in your episode. At the end of the post, put a link directly to your media file.

Wait a little. In a few minutes, Feedburner should add this to your feed, and now you have an episode! You can submit it to iTunes or a number of other podcast directories to get it known. You may want to wait, however, until you have some experience, so that your podcast will be compared as a fifth episode to another's first.

Ping the appropriate podcast directories when a new show is updated.

Put the appropriate subscription buttons on your website so people can subscribe to the RSS podcast feed.

Tips

Make sure your audio is of good quality. Use a decent microphone and have the other hosts do the same.

Make sure your audio is saved in mp3 format. Some users won't be able to listen to other audio formats.

Make sure your feed is iTunes valid.

Make sure your feed is in the directories.

Make sure you ping the appropriate services such as FreshPodcasts (find on google) after you update your show.

If you wish for the RSS feed to work in Apple iTunes, you must add special fields.

You can use the popular social bookmarking tool del.icio.us to create and manage the RSS feed for your podcast. Once you have your mp3 files hosted somewhere on the internet, create a bookmark for each one on del.icio.us with a unique tag for your podcast. To acccess your del.icio.us podcast feed, visit
http://del.icio.us/rss/username/my_p...m:filetype:mp3, substituting username and my_podcast_tag for your appropriate information.

A co-host can be fun, but be sure that it doesn't sound too scattered, like none of you know what you're doing. Making it sound live is one thing, but making it sound like you have no idea what's going on, it's a completely different story.

If you're going to play music, make sure you have the rights to it. Even though they can't really crack down on podcasts for putting music in their show, if you don't have the rights to use the song, then you can be sued by individual artists

REFERANCE

http://www.podstrike.com - PodStrike! Podcast Manager and Podcast Hosting (FREE Account Available).
http://www.podblaze.com - You can do the entire process for podcast creation & RSS feed creation (even for iTunes) at a web based service.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ - Audacity recording software. Free and open source.
http://www.podcastalley.com - Podcast directory.
http://www.freshpodcasts.com - Podcast ping service.
http://blog.podblaze.com - Step by step instructions for recording and everything else required at these 6 podcast specific blogs.
AP on Yahoo "Podcasting Easy for Everyone" Story by the Associated Press.
http://www.feedvalidator.org - Verify that your RSS podcast feed is valid.
http://www.teenpodcasters.com - A great example of a network, start or join a network such as this.
http://del.icio.us - A social bookmarking tool with the ability to host podcast feeds.
http://blog.leveragedpromotion.com/public/blog/98977 - RSS, Syndication & Podcasting News & Tips Blog.
http://www.podblaze.com/podcasting-b...whitepaper.php - 20 Page Podcasting White Paper Explains All About Podcasting.
Podomatic
http://www.okaytoplay.com - Charts comparing podcast hosting, audio hardware, podcast advertising companies, etc.
http://www.podcastspot.com - complete podcast hosting service with unmetered bandwidth, unlimited storage, automatic media conversion, and much more!

[Jaxel]

UKBL, thanks for the tips, but thats not really the answers I was looking for... I'm looking for tips on how to RECORD the show. The tips you gave me are for AFTER the show has already been recorded; I already have that stuff worked out.

[UKBusinessLive]

Originally Posted by Jaxel

UKBL, thanks for the tips, but thats not really the answers I was looking for... I'm looking for tips on how to RECORD the show. The tips you gave me are for AFTER the show has already been recorded; I already have that stuff worked out.

Sorry buddy i was going full steam ahead

Basically its really simple, if you have a decent Microphone, you can use Audacity to record your podcasts, just follow the simple steps below, Remember Audacity will give you some decent free software to start recording, the rest is upto you for the content.

1. Download Audacity

2. Learn to use Audacity

3.Think of a topic you'll want to talk about and make a general outline of what you'll be discussing. It could literally be anything. Once you are sure you know what you want to talk about you are ready to move on to the next step.

4. Start recording Be sure to keep your levels near the 0 (middle) point. You'll see bars on Audacity which will bounce back and forth when you talk, keep those as close to the Zero as possible, but still talk normal. If you talk loud the microphone will do something called "clipping" where something is so loud it will sound like all of your sounds are vibrating through tin foil.

5. Edit any mistakes you might have made. Remove background noise, change parts where you accidentally breathed into the microphone, and other things like that.

6. Save the recording in the Mp3 format.

7. Upload the Mp3 somewhere on the internet for downloading by subscribers. Web hosting is available for a minimal fee or consider a free group hosting available from Google, AOL, MSN, Yahoo, and others. The use of internet groups for the hosting is a good idea because they will not only host the Mp3 audio file for you but also make the subscription to the podcast easy and keep a database of those to send the announcement to when a new podcast when made available. All internet groups provide for RSS (really simple syndication). When an individual joins an internet group they automatically have access to RSS.

8. Continue the process of uploading new Mp3s.

Alot of your first recordings will probably be considered crap, especially as you get more confident and are starting to make more improvements in the quality of the podcasts, So the best idea would be to start off simple and then evolve into the more technical.

Sounds like your gonna have fun

Good Luck

[iogames]

Awesome information, but when u write the second part UK?

p.s. Thanks

[Jaxel]

Again UKBL... thanks for the tips, but you're not answering my questions.

[UKBusinessLive]

Originally Posted by Jaxel

Again UKBL... thanks for the tips, but you're not answering my questions.

Ok :erm:

1. Buy these Microphones from amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samson-CO1U-.../dp/B000AP1RE8 Fantastic value for a good mike.

2. Audacity is the software you need, Your PC is the Hardware, as well as the mikes which fit into a USB port

3. Record your Podcast

4. Use Audacity to save it as an MP3

5. Don't dabble with IP telephony such as Skype or Ventrilo as yet as you need to master the basics first.

6. Don't worry with the mixing hardware to start, a good quality microphone will be ideal to start you off

Little short of telling you what content to put in your podcast, its pretty basic but effective start up :up:

[iogames]

UK you got a podcasting where I can subscribe?

[UKBusinessLive]

Originally Posted by iogames

UK you got a podcasting where I can subscribe?

I helped a guy at work a few months back set himself up to record mp3's for this church group, Theres a lot of info and free resources out there, so it don't need to cost the earth to start up.

Just start off small and as you get more experianced start getting a bit more complicated, but the secret is to keep it simple first and build on your experiance.

Nah, I've not got a podcast, i wouldn't know what to say

[fattony69]

I just used a mic, skype, and pamela (not anderson the program).