How I make this Podcast

Hardware

When I first thought of making a podcast I did some research about what gear to use and originally had the idea of buying a Behringer C-1 microphone and a Behringer UB802 mixer. I didn't want to spend a lot of money but I did want to start with a kit that gave me good sound. This setup was recommended by Jake Ludington in his article Upgrade Your Podcast for Under $200.

A look around the Australian eBay site led me to CC's Light & Sound in South Melbourne so I took a drive down to the Big Smoke on a shopping trip. I could have bought the stuff via eBay but considering I know nothing about audio recording and I also needed to buy various plugs and leads I figured a personal visit would be best.

So I walked into CC's and tell the sales guy that I'm making a podcast. He immediately reaches behind, grabs a Samson C01U USB condenser mic and tells me that's all I need. He's been selling a stack of these to podcasters and none had come back.

The price at AU$199 was the same as the Behringer mic/mixer combo I originally wanted and the easy setup via USB plug-and-play sold me on the deal. While I was there I also picked up a desk stand and a pop filter for an extra $50. I already owned a pair of Sennheiser headphones.

A note here for US buyers - the Samson C01U mic sells for US$80 so it's reasonably priced over there. Don't ask me why we Aussies have to pay over a $100 more than you - someone in the middle is obviously making a tidy profit.

After I got home ten minutes later I was recording, it's that easy to set up! And most of that time was spent getting the packaging open and figuring out how the mic stand worked.

Software

My recording is done on a Apple Mac Pro using the open source program Audacity which is very easy to use (keep in mind I'm a audio-recording newbie) and I found the best way to learn is to jump in and make a recording then fiddle around to see what the buttons and settings do.

Here's a couple of links about learning to use Audacity:
Audacity Tutorials
Audacity Forum
Jeff Towne's Audacity tutorial
Mike C's Audacity page

There's also a page at podcastingnews.com about other recording software for Mac or Linux users.

Recording the show

I plug in the microphone into a USB socket and set the line-in level (via Settings/Control Panel/Sounds and Audio Devices), I select the Voice tab then select the Samson microphone in the Voice Recording section then click the Volume button and adjust the line-in level to about two-thirds. Once you set this you won't need to adjust it for each session.

I place the microphone a hand-width away from my mouth slightly to the left, then I put the pop filter in between and fire up Audacity. I press Record then start talking!

Editing the show

Press Play and listen to what you've recorded. I usually delete any mouse-click noises, swallowing sounds and I shorten any lengthy pauses between sentences (but keep the pauses natural).

After that I import my pre-recorded intro track (saved as a .wav file) and do the same for the outro at the end. I also import the background music and any promos. All of these items are added as separate tracks in Audacity which makes adjustments like gain (volume) and compression on each track very easy.

Exporting the mp3 file

Finally, I have one last listen to the completed recording then if all is well I do an export in Audacity to create the mp3 file. I leave the Default Sample Rate set at 41100 Hz, and I export with a Bit Rate of 96 kbps which seems to be a good compromise between file size and audio quality.

Adding ID3 tags

ID3 tags are important, don't ignore them! Once your .mp3 file goes off into cyberspace the ID3 tags are the only means of identifying who made the show - you do want people to know don't you?

There are two types of ID3 tags, version 1 and version 2.

Version 1 tags are very simple, the fields are:
Artist, Title, Album, Track, Genre, Year, and Comment.

Version 2 tags are basically the same but have a couple of extra features and they also allow you to add an image. Apple iTunes uses the version 2 tags to display the podcast info on your listener's iPod.

Rob Walch has a really good tutorial on his podcast411 site about what to put in your ID3 tags.

There is a handy freeware Windows shell extension called AudioShell to add your ID3 tags which is very easy and fast to use, I highly recommend it.

Hosting and RSS Feed

There are many options for hosting your mp3 files and just as many more for creating your RSS feed.

I like to keep things simple, quick and cheap so this is what I do...

I signed up for an account at Libsyn and I highly recommend using their service. They'll host your mp3 files and they have an integrated blog which also creates your RSS feed.

Libsyn really is a one-stop-shop (and no, they're not paying me to say this, I'm just a satisfied customer!).

The basic Libsyn account gives you a 100 MB monthly storage quota with unlimited bandwidth for US$5.00 per month. If you need extra storage you can choose from various larger packages.

Promoting your Podcast

Here are a few promotional tips:

1. List your podcast with all the directories you can find, Rob at podcast411 has an excellent list of podcast directories.

2. Add info about your podcast to your out-going email messages by adding a short signature at the bottom.

3. Look up some forums and message boards that would be relevant to the subject of your podcast. Don't spam them (a big no-no) but join in discussions and add details of your podcast to your signature. If people are interested they'll notice it and start listening in.

4. Contact other podcasters and swap promo files to put into your show.

More podcasting links...

Podcasting Do's and Dont's

Howto: Create Your Own Podcasting Show On Windows

Podcasting 101: A look at the subscription process (1 page)
Podcasting 102: Recording your show (2 pages)
Podcasting 103: Recording your interviews with Skype (3 pages)
Podcasting 104: Building your RSS Feed (2 pages)

Behind the Scenes: An inside look at what it takes to put together a podcast and make it work. Check it out.

PodcastRigs Forum

O'Reilly: Hosting Your Podcasts (2 pages)
O'Reilly: Ten Tips for Improving Your Podcasts (4 pages)
O'Reilly: Create Podcasts Using Your PC (1 page)