The Podcast Studio » Podcast

New Ebook!

Russ Turley — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:03:13 +0000

Thanks for visiting The Podcast Studio!

If you’re new to podcasting, I encourage you to check out my new ebook entitled, Virtual Podcast Seminar. It contains all the information from my Podcast Seminar series of posts PLUS expanded examples, more details and links for products and services that the beginning to intermediate podcaster needs.

It’s only $2 and is available as a PDF download NOW!

New Ebook! is a post from The Podcast Studio. If you enjoyed this post, please consider buy my new ebook, the Virtual Podcast Seminar to take your podcast to the next level.

DIY Microphone Stand

Russ Turley — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:41:00 +0000

Dozens of people each week using the search term “DIY microphone stand” land here on The Podcast Studio. I did make a post back in March of 2007 showing a wire coat hanger twisted with some duck tape into a microphone stand. I’d consider that a more “makeshift microphone stand” than a true do-it-yourself project.

So in that DIY spirit, and in conjunction with NaPodPoMo, I give you my DIY microphone stand. The whole thing cost me $6.50 in parts from the local Lowe’s home center. Listen to the podcast below to find out all the parts to assemble your own stand.

The DIY Microphone stand is really only good for the handheld, SM58 style microphone. I couldn’t attach the Heil pictured above to this stand. I guess if you really wanted to you could attach a 3/4″ PVC cap to the top of the stand and then drill and insert a bolt with the exact thread count and size as the microphone attachment clip. This DIY mic stand, with a coat of black paint, would be almost passable especially if you mounted it to a round piece of wood instead of the two chunks that I have pictured.

Did you make a piece of your podcast studio yourself? Send me a picture and I’ll post it here on the blog.

DIY Microphone Stand is a post from The Podcast Studio. If you enjoyed this post, please consider buy my new ebook, the Virtual Podcast Seminar to take your podcast to the next level.

Top 5 Free Podcaster Tools

Russ Turley — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:08:08 +0000

I talked with a woman recently that is planning to start a podcast in the coming year. We setup a blog and went through how posts are made. She already had a web site so adding the podcast would cost next to or exactly nothing.

How is that you ask? With the Top 5 Free Podcaster Tools below.

#5 – WordPress w/Podpress

WordPress is the software that powers many a blog. It is free software that’s distributed by WordPress.org. Any $3 web host with PHP and MySQL can host a WordPress blog. With the addition of the Podpress plugin, which adds podcasting and, more importantly, iTunes support, you have a very powerful and capable podcast server. One caveat though, the latest version of WordPress introduced a feature that keeps multiple revisions of posts. This broke the Podpress plugin. So far the creator of Podpress has not issued a patch for this problem. However there are two work arounds. One is to add another plug-in called No Revisions and the other is to add a couple lines of PHP code to the Podpress code. Even though this incompatibility exists, I have not found a better combination of software to create a podcast site.

#4 – Feedburner

Feedburner is a free service from Google that will keep track of subscribers to your podcast, downloads and provide some other great services. If you don’t have another way to get iTunes compatible tags in your feed, Feedburner will also take care of that for youl. One of my new favorite services is the subscribe to podcast/blog by e-mail. Readers/listeners can enter an e-mail address at your web site and they’ll get an e-mail every time you post an episode of your show. Very slick. It also integrates with Worpress with the use of the Feedsmith plugin.

#3 – Audacity

Audacity is the defacto standard for podcast recording. You can purchase more powerful programs, but for the price, FREE, you can’t beat it. Audacity has filters/effects for normalization, compression, noise removal, amplification and oh so much more. Being free has it’s ups and downs. While I have found the program very reliable, there are multiple stories of shows being lost because of program stability. Overall thought, Audacity is a solid piece of software.

#2 – Google Analytics

When you’re trying to find out where your listeners are coming from, nothing beats Google Analytics. This is also a free service from Google. By inserting a small chunk of supplied code into your web pages, you’ll gather a plethora of information about the people that visit your site. And another bonus, Google Analytics will integrate with WordPress by using any number of great plug-ins. My current favorite plug-in to integrate the two is called Ultimate Google Analytics. The plug-in puts that Google created code on each and every page. That creates a complete picture of how each person visiting your site is using it.

#1 – Google Docs

Probably not an application that you’d expect to see on a podcast tool list, but Google Docs do one thing better than any other service out there. That thing is share documents. Each my co-host and I collaborate on show notes on Google Docs. Links, comments, e-mails, literally the complete show layout is input in a Google Doc. It is a marvellous tool.

That’s it. Get recording!

Top 5 Free Podcaster Tools is a post from The Podcast Studio. If you enjoyed this post, please consider buy my new ebook, the Virtual Podcast Seminar to take your podcast to the next level.

Behringer Podcastudio Kit

Russ Turley — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:21:47 +0000

For the beginner podcaster, heck for the veteran podcaster, it’s hard to go wrong with Behringer products. The UB802 is just about the most popular mixer used by podcasters. Well Behringer has recognized the podcasting market in a big way and has a couple kits that give you everything you need to get a great sounding podcast with very little money. Enter the Behringer Podcastudio USB. This little kit has it all, microphone, microphone desk stand, headphones, mixer, USB audio interface, cables. In short it’s a podcast studio in a box for under $100.

If you’re unsure if you would like to start podcasting, go ahead and plug a gaming headset into your computer’s sound card. But if you’re even just a little more than slightly interested in podcasting for a hobby, you’re going to want to start out with a setup that will give you a good sound right out of the gate. The Behringer Podcastudio USB is that kit.

Get recording!
Russ

Behringer Podcastudio Kit is a post from The Podcast Studio. If you enjoyed this post, please consider buy my new ebook, the Virtual Podcast Seminar to take your podcast to the next level.

#8 – PodCamp Promo (562) 219-3350

Russ Turley — Fri, 18 May 2007 18:02:38 +0000

If you’re subscribed to the show or read the blog, then you’ll be interested in this. PodCamp Socal will be happening on September 27, 2007. What is it? I’ve never been to one, but the official PodCamp site describes it s so:

PodCamp is a FREE UN-CONFERENCE for people who create, enjoy or are interested in learning more about blogs, vlogs, audio podcasts, web video, content networks, new and social media. Show up, meet people, make connections it’s that simple!

The Orange County Podcasters and LA Podcasters are sponsoring the event to be held the day before the Podcast & New Media Expo in Ontario, CA. The event is FREE to one and all either interested in learning about podcasting or wanting to teach about podcasting. The term podcast in this regard could be either audio or video. Check out the website http://www.podcampsocal.org for more information on the event and to see who is registered and what topics are being proposed.

The promo is from Andy Bilodeau from Andycast.net

#8 – PodCamp Promo (562) 219-3350 is a post from The Podcast Studio. If you enjoyed this post, please consider buy my new ebook, the Virtual Podcast Seminar to take your podcast to the next level.

#7 – Alesis iMultiMix 8 USB Mixer (562) 219-3350

Russ Turley — Sat, 05 May 2007 06:17:08 +0000

I just came across this mixer today and had to post about it as well as put out a podcast. It’s the Alesis iMultiMix 8 USB. This new mixer adds the ability to record directly to your iPod as well as to your computer through USB. This would make a great mobile podcast rig, providing you have power where you’re going to record. Click on the image to read more information about the great new mixer, the Alesis iMultiMix 8 USB.

#7 – Alesis iMultiMix 8 USB Mixer (562) 219-3350 is a post from The Podcast Studio. If you enjoyed this post, please consider buy my new ebook, the Virtual Podcast Seminar to take your podcast to the next level.

#6 – NewMediaGear.com (206) 203-3438

Russ Turley — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 06:52:50 +0000

Mark Jensen of Podsqod has a new venture, a forum dedicated to new media, of which podcasting is one media. All the topics you could think of and it’s a great place to poke around learn about podcasting. There are many knowledgeable people frequenting the site, including myself, so take a look at NewMediaGear.com.

#6 – NewMediaGear.com (206) 203-3438 is a post from The Podcast Studio. If you enjoyed this post, please consider buy my new ebook, the Virtual Podcast Seminar to take your podcast to the next level.

#5 – Talk Shoe Podcast (206) 203-3438

Russ Turley — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 06:33:16 +0000

So I already blogged about the service called Talk Shoe, but I wanted to get a podcast out about it also. Some people only listen to the podcast, some only read the blog. Check out more about the site at http://www.talkshoe.com.

Thanks for listening!

#5 – Talk Shoe Podcast (206) 203-3438 is a post from The Podcast Studio. If you enjoyed this post, please consider buy my new ebook, the Virtual Podcast Seminar to take your podcast to the next level.

#4 – The Levelator (206) 203-3438

Russ Turley — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:26:57 +0000

I downloaded and installed The Levelator from Gigavox Media. This little program raises the average volume of your audio file/podcast. After you’re done and ready to post your podcast, drag the file over to The Levelator as the last thing you do to prepare your audio. The results are astounding. Here are a couple links to examples and the program itself.

The Levelator (Gigavox Media)

School Of Podcasting (More indepth review of The Levelator)

Peace,
Russ

#4 – The Levelator (206) 203-3438 is a post from The Podcast Studio. If you enjoyed this post, please consider buy my new ebook, the Virtual Podcast Seminar to take your podcast to the next level.

#3 – It’s Not Easy (206) 203-3438

Russ Turley — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 02:38:00 +0000

While at the Podcast Expo waiting to watch the live recording of TWiT, the Leo Laporte podcast, there were technical difficulties. Leo had a MOTU digital interface (I’ll have to find it and give you a link later) that he was going to use that had multiple inputs. The thing didn’t work. On the panel were Doug Kay (IT Conversations), Leo Laporte (TWiT.tv), Alex Lindsey (PixelCore), Steve Gibson (GRC.com) and Scott Bourne (iLifeZone.com). A lot of brain power, and a lot of audio recording experience. They ditched the MOTU and borrowed an Alesis mixer from one of the vendors at the expo. That didn’t work immediately when hooked up to the Macintosh, and so someone came up with a Marantz PMD 660, or some other external recorder, that the show was recorded to.

My point, if these podcasting pioneers have technical problems, then you my friends, will have technical problems also. It’s not easy. If it was, everyone would be doing it. But it is worth doing.

If you have questions, give me a call at (206) 203-3438 or e-mail me at podcaststudio@gmail.com.

Good Luck,
Russ

#3 – It’s Not Easy (206) 203-3438 is a post from The Podcast Studio. If you enjoyed this post, please consider buy my new ebook, the Virtual Podcast Seminar to take your podcast to the next level.