Planning topics to discuss, possible guest interviews, and your show’s length in advance will go a long way to producing a professional-sounding podcast. Since you’ll be recording your project in an almost live fashion, you will have the flexibility of going back and re-editing sections as you like before you commit your show as a “wrap.”
Since nearly everyone has heard a radio program, you should expect that your listeners have grown accustomed to hearing material produced in a certain way. While the fun of podcasting is having the freedom to break away from those age-old formulas, you might want to consider the basics before you lay down your first show. Here is a suggested framework for mapping out your production:
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Sample Podcast Recipe
Shoot for a show length of 20-30 minutes.
Keep topics moving, and limit topic coverage to 5-8 minutes.
Try to use guests as a way to break up the conversation, pace, and tone of your shows.
Use musical backgrounds (known as jingles) or other non-music interludes to transition between topics. These topic breaks are typically described as bumpers or sweepers, giving your listeners the time they might need to digest the content you just presented.
Here’s an example outline of how your show should flow:
Show intro monologue (who you are, what you’re going to talk about): 30-60 seconds
Intro music jingle (repeat for each show so listeners identify the jingle with your show): 30-60 seconds
Topic 1: 5 minutes
Topic 2: 5 minutes
Interlude (music or break): 30 seconds
Topic 3: 5 minutes
Topic 4: 5 minutes
Closing remarks (thank the audience for listening, thank guests, talk about the next show briefly): 2 minutes
Closing music jingle (suggest same as Intro music jingle): 2 minutes
Record Your Show
Recording a podcast with GarageBand can be broken down into some basic steps that you may already follow when recording, editing, and mixing live instruments or vocalists.
Attach your preferred audio interface and a microphone to your Mac, or use your computer’s built-in microphone.
Create a Real Instrument track in GarageBand with your favorite preset vocal setting or build your own. (Tip: Using the Gate helps to eliminate unwanted noise when you aren’t speaking, and using Compression will smooth out the overall sound of your voice. Be sure to try the vocal transformer for some really fun effects!)
Adjust the Gain control on your audio interface to set the recording level of your voice. It’s good practice to test your distance from the microphone to determine where you sound the clearest. Attach headphones directly to your Mac or audio interface for the best quality recording (sound from speakers will be picked up in your recording).
Add an AIFF, MP3, or AAC file (except protected AAC files), or a selection of GarageBand Apple Loops to serve as your background music. GarageBand Apple Loops allow for the most flexibility since you can vary the length easily. GarageBand Jam Packs are also a great way to add thousands more professional loops that’ll add punch and polish to your podcast. Many professional broadcasts use music intros (known as jingles) to signify the beginning or end of a show. Apple Loops offer you the ability to create your own unique copyright-free jingles for use in your podcast.
Begin recording, remembering to keep your original microphone position. Don’t forget that if you make a mistake, you can always do a second take and fix it when editing.
Edit and mix your final recording.
Export to iTunes and then convert to AAC.
Publish your audio file as an enclosure on blogging services such as Blogger (for more information, visit http://www.blogger.com).
To share your podcast with iTunes users, you must create an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) file from your blog. RSS feed providers, such as FeedBurner, make it easy to create an RSS file from your blog. For more information, visit http://www.feedburner.com. If you choose, you can create your own RSS file. In this case, if you intend to submit your podcast to iTunes, first review the iTunes Extended Podcast RSS specification, which contains useful information on creating your podcast RSS file to work optimally in the iTunes Podcast Directory.
Once you’ve created your RSS file, your podcast is ready to be shared with the rest of the world. To make it easy for people to discover your podcast, we invite you to publish it in the iTunes Store. To publish a podcast, open iTunes and select Store in the Source list. On the iTunes Store home page, click Podcasts, then click Publish Podcast and complete the form.
Now it’s time to work on your next episode!
Posted by admin-dpotter at Monday, August 20, 2007, 05:38 PM.
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