Entries tagged with “podcasting” from O'Reilly Digital Media Blog
I have what may be a radical suggestion for the “always control you content” types, you should consider making a change to your show’s site: instead of providing an “iPhone friendly” version of your site, send iPhone and iPod touch browsers right to your iTunes listing. This accomplishes two things: it keeps you from having to find (or make) a good mobile version of your site, and it gives your visitors the ability to add your podcast to their device immediately and start listening right away.
For those of you who missed it, the most recent set of new features for the iPhone included the ability to download...
I'm a wannabe podcaster that finally got around to to try to figure out how to create podcasts quickly and simply so it doesn't seem like work to me. I used a couple of freely available tools to create my first formal podcast. Read to on to see what worked for me...
Wondering which handheld digital audio recorder to buy? Guitarist and recording engineer Mark Nelson just compiled this helpful comparison chart based on his detailed reviews. Mark is one of the few people on the planet to have used each of the top recorders extensively, recording everything from Hawaiian surf to wild coyotes, so he has an especially deep perspective. As...
As part of today's feature article on making movies out of still photos, Michael W. and Debra Jean Dean whipped up this funny demonstration of good and bad background music. It contains five brief examples. See if you can figure out why each helps or hurts the presentation. Debra Jean reveals the answer after each segment. I burst out laughing...
Normally, flow is a good thing. A lot of my time as an editor is spent trying to make ideas and words connect smoothly to tell a story. But while editing a recent podcast, I had an important realization: Sometimes breaking the flow of one element increases the flow of the whole. To hear a good example of this, listen...
One of the hallmarks of amateur podcasts and screencasts is extraneous sound in the voiceover. Here are two DIY solutions for making quality recordings on the go and on the cheap.
I just got a call from a blind man who liked the sound of my podcast. He asked how he could get started podcasting. Would it require expensive equipment? I told him that all I used was a USB mic and some software. (In my case, Ableton Live, BIAS Peak, and Izotope Ozone, but there are plenty of free options...
One of the most popular uses of digital recording is capturing people talking. Of course, most people aren't that good at talking extemporaneously on command, and you usually need to help them along somewhat. Fundamentally, that is what most interviews are: helping someone talk about something intelligently and with some structure. Since most people who record are asked to do...
Christopher Penn from the Financial Aid Podcast has just released a tool to easily generate an iPhone-compatible page for your podcast. It is called the Financial Aid Podcast Podcaster iPhone Kit, and it is a free download.
Hello everyone! I'm new here, and I've decided to introduce myself by asking a pretty divisive question: How much does fancy gear really do for you?
Ever since I started my podcast, I've been searching for ways to improve the quality of the voiceover, and today I finally made a breakthrough. Realizing that every show has been slightly better, I analyzed the changes I'd made along the way. Changing mics made a big difference; the Rode Podcaster I'm using now puts out better highs and lows...
Via Tim O'Reilly's blog I come across San Francisco Chronicle publisher Phil Bronstein, predicting layoffs and saying the news business "is broken, and no one knows how to fix it... And if any other paper says they do, they're lying." Meanwhile, according to a Zogby Poll I find in the Financial Times, "Newspaper editors are overwhelmingly optimistic about their businesses,...
Podcasting Hacks author Jack Herrington turned me on to a bunch of excellent interview podcasts that I've been following ever since. One show in particular, Morning Stories, has a lovely informal feel, and part of the secret is the clever recording technique host Tony Kahn uses. Instead of jabbing a giant mic in the interviewee's face or forcing him to...
In audio, as in the rest of life, the basics rule. For example, you can spend all the money in the world on great gear, but if your room is bad, you're just going to end up with a great recording of a bad room. On the other hand, if you improve the room, everything else will sound much better....
There is a small ON light (actually it's an LED) and I appreciated getting that feedback. It let me know the mic was connected and powered via the USB port.
I was really pleasantly surprised to find that this mic has a built-in headphone amp. This offers zero-latency, real-time monitoring, with level control. The 1/8″ jack allows you to plug phones right into the mic body.
I realize that there are some podcasters who feel very strongly about keeping the dream alive of an inexpensive platform, driven by social media and ready access to affordable technology. But I think that soon, (like it or not) the podcasting community may have to re-assess its opinion of what constitutes "affordable" and what level of quality the audience will come to expect. I'm not saying I want this to happen. I am predicting it will happen. Please note the difference.
One of the most brilliant products I saw at this week's AES show was also one of the most affordable....
I tried the Levelator on several files and it works. It's very simple, doesn't offer any controls, and what you see is what you get. It's in BETA and may eventually need some tweaking. But I have no doubt that in its present form, it will be a very valuable tool for any podcaster.
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