Podcast provides 'uploads' of time, energy

   This latest podcast was probably the best one I’ve ever done.

   I say “the best” because I had a lot of fun doing it. Whether or not it sounds good to other ears, well, that’s another story.

   Before constructing my “professional” podcast, I listened to a few segments of “Detective,” featuring retired Colorado Springs, Colo., homicide detective Lt. Joe Kenda.

   Kenda has a wildly popular TV show on the Investigation Discovery network called “Homicide Hunter” in which the veteran detective, who solved nearly 400 homicide cases (92 percent) during his career at the base of the Rocky Mountains.

   I loved listening to the intro music and immediately knew I wanted to include that in my own presentation.

   But what should I choose? There are so many.

   I used the link provided in our class assignment to browse through a large collection of royalty-free music (that mean’s it free … and legal so you won’t get sued for copyright infringement). I settled upon a jazzy-type tune titled “Cool Vibes” because it had an NPR feel to it. While I wasn’t necessarily going for the NPR effect, I believe that’s what it turned out to be – and I am good with that.

   My interview with the local superintendent lasted more than one hour. I managed to record about 46 minutes of audio, so I had more than enough sound clips from which to choose. Unfortunately, in being careful what he was saying to me on the recorder, there were many long, awkward pauses and other stammering behaviors. Thanks to Audacity, I managed to edit most of them out, although I did leave a few because it sounded more natural to include them in certain places. To edit them out would have sounded unnatural.

   In all, I created 21 different sound clips and piece them together into one coherent interview that lasts about six minutes. It’s a little bit longer than what I was shooting for, but that’s OK because I feel the content is compelling enough to warrant that amount of time.

   The superintendent, Roger Mace, is discussing with me how his administration plans to cut $750,000 from next year’s budget, why four teachers and five aides are getting the proverbial axe, and what ways the district plans to save money faster than it loses it.

   Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to work on the editing portion of this assignment due to some issues at work and long hours covering for other staffers who were off on vacation and illness. Nevertheless, I needed to get it done and, well, better late than never.

   So feel free to listen to the clip below via audioBoom. I hope you enjoy, and please leave me some feedback. I’d love to hear your thoughts, criticisms, etc.

Podcasting vaults one's voice to the masses

    Podcasting is a great way to get your voice “out there” for the masses. People can listen to podcasts at any time of the day or night, during the morning commute to work, while cooking dinner or while on a road trip.

    But it takes plenty of work to put together a podcast. This block of instruction call for a simple recording, about two minutes or less, with no editing. Sounds easy, right?

Wrong.

    The final product for this assignment, which you can listen to below, was the 15^th take. One must first write a script before commencing to record audio. I did this with relative ease, but what wasn’t so easy was following that script. Distractions persisted throughout the process. I kept hearing “puffs” in the recordings from words that contained certain letters of the alphabet, such as “f,” “p” and “t.”

    I used an old iPhone 3 for my recordings, much as I do work other work-related interviews and projects. On that iPhone is an app called “iTalk,” a full-featured recording app with a streamlined and intuitive user interface. It allows the user to adjust recording quality, append recordings, and contains an easy management system so you don’t lose track of where they’re located.

    The iPhone I use has wonderful recording capabilities – almost too good since it captures those “puffs.” However, I used a washcloth and placed it over the microphone to serve as a pop screen. As an added measure, I positioned the microphone to the side so that I was not speaking directly into the mic.

My iPhone 3 I used for recording podcasts.

    Using Audacity for this portion of the assignment was relatively easy. I used the free shareware program to clean up a few leftover “puffs” that my pop screen didn’t catch, using the “silence” feature to erase occasional breathing noises as I attempted to catch my breath between sentences.

    In all fairness, I’ve produced several podcasts, beginning in 2007 and as recently as Feb. 9. They are extremely fun to record and produce. The aim of a podcast, if it’s used to complement a newspaper feature or hard news story, is to provide content that differs from what is already presented in writing. No one wants to read the story and listen to the same regurgitated content. The idea is to tell the reader/listener something they don’t already know.

    The key to producing a successful podcast, aside from possessing the necessary computer hardware and software, is knowledge of the planned topic. For those who are unaccustomed to podcasting, it is best to write a script and follow it as closely as possible. I am a writer by nature, and a script helps me immensely.

    It’s best to perform a dry run, so to speak, before one starts the recording process, or you will be like me and use 15 takes to get it correct. Dry runs will also get the time (length of a podcast) down to a manageable level.

    While I have previously recorded podcasts, there is always something new to learn. A professional-quality podcast is my ultimate goal.