Introduction to Audio and Podcasting

J31 Multimedia Lab | Chris Snider

Who are you?• Name

• Where you work / go to school

• What you do (want to do in the future)

• What you hope to get out of today

• Favorite podcast (if you have one)

What I hope you learn today• The elements of a great audio story

• The tools you need to tell an audio story

• How to record using external microphones

• How to edit in Adobe Audition

• How to get your podcast published

Why audio works• Portable - listen in car/office

or walking to class/lunch

• Intimate - people often listen alone with headphones

• Easy to create as one-man-band

• Available sources: 911 calls, phone calls, reporter tape recorders, iPhone editing tools

What needed to be recorded to tell this story?

http://iowapublicradio.org/post/beloved-drake-mascot-dies

Elements of an audio story• Interview(s)

• Voiceover / Narration

• Ambient sound - the sound of the room/location

• Sound effects / natural sound / music

How do you hear Ambient sound and sound effects being used?

What makes this an interesting audio story?

How is the narrator making her voice interesting?

Emotion = Good Audio• Tone of voice (friendly, upset, annoyed)

• Intonation (rise and fall of voice while speaking)

• Pauses

• Pace of the voice

Let’s train our voices

Read one of the scripts as…• Cowboy

• Toddler mid-tantrum

• Carnival barker

• “Valley girl”

• Bugs Bunny

• Eeyore

Equipment and apps

What you need for a podcast• Microphone

• Something to record with (phone, computer, recorder)

• USB interface or mixer if two or more people

• Headphones

• Editing software

Microphones

$450$64

Zoom H4N recorder

$200

Mixer$100-500

Shureplus Motiv

Let’s look at some audio options in this building

let’s Test out zooms and external microphones recording a voiceover

Voiceover• Write a script

• Keep it short

• Don’t write in inverted pyramid style (pull the listener in and make them want to stay until the end)

• Warm up

• Be conversational

Voiceover• Identify most important words and emphasize them

with…

• Volume

• Pitch - high or low

• Rhythm - pause before or after words (or both)

• Tempo - slow down to emphasize areas

Record a voice over using one of the scripts provided

Pick the one you want to use

Emphasize key areas

Work in pairs and take turns recording

Let’s put it together and record a story

The interview• Location - somewhere quiet with good

acoustics

• Home or office is good

• Living room > Kitchen

• Coffee shop or busy area not good

• No squeaky chairs / clicking pens / etc.

• Anything making noise you can turn off?

The interview• Prepare your subject

• What is the story?

• Who is the audience, and where will they go to listen to the finished story?

• How long will the interview be?

• What kinds of questions will you ask?

The interview

• Test your audio levels

• Ask them what they had for breakfast (or what they wish they would have had)

• Wear headphones

The interview• Keep quiet

• Instead of “un-huh” and “I see” simply nod

• Pause before asking next question

• Feel free to ask questions again

• Mark the best spots while interviewing

The interview

• Have them introduce themselves

• “Could you introduce yourself? Tell me who you are, where you live, how old you are, what you do.”

The interview• Gather natural sound

• Are power tools being used? Is it a busy office with lots of chatter/phones ringing? Is it outside and you can hear birds chirping?

• Record uninterrupted 15-second increments

Natural sound / Sound effects

• Natural sounds help the listener see things with their ears

• Nat sound can be anything - weather sounds, phone ringing, crowd noises, machine noises, whatever’s happening in that particular setting.

Ambient sound• The pervasive sound at a location. (E.g. Traffic on a

road. Doors slamming. Sounds of a demonstration. Birds and wind in a forest.)

• Can be used by itself or mixed under narration or other interviews. Also known as “ambi” or “nat sound.”

• Ambient sounds help pull the listener in close

• Record for 30 seconds - ideally more

Let’s record an interview• Wear headphones

• Slate the tape - record the following: the date, the location, the name of the person you’re interviewing, the subject matter.

• Ask what they had for breakfast to set audio levels.

• Have them introduce themselves. “Tell me who you are, where you live, how old you are, what you do.”

• One question: What are you most looking forward to this summer? (at least a 20 second response)

Let’s get a voiceover• Listen to the answer to your question

• Write a script / Keep it short

• Write both an intro and an ending

• Don’t write in inverted pyramid style (pull the listener in and make them want to stay until the end)

• Warm up

• Be conversational

Voiceover• Identify most important words and emphasize them

with…

• Volume

• Pitch - high or low

• Rhythm - pause before or after words (or both)

• Tempo - slow down to emphasize areas

Let’s edit in adobe audition

Audacity is a free program, but not as pretty

Planning and publishing your podcast

Let’s plan your podcast (or your pretend podcast)

Format• What’s your podcast going to look like?

• Podcasts can take many forms: one-man shows, cohosts, guests, call-in, etc. Metafilter founder Matt Haughey, who has put in hundreds of hours on podcasting, recommends that your show involve two or three hosts.

Content• What’s your podcast going to say?

Where to host your podcast

• Libsyn - starts at $5/month

• Soundcloud - starts at Free

• Podbean - starts at $3/month

• Buzzsprout - starts at free

Getting into itunes• Step 1: Create an RSS feed for your podcasts. If you

upload your files to a site like Libsyn, the feed creation is done automatically for you.

• Step 2: Click on “Submit a Podcast” in the iTunes Store. Open iTunes, navigate to the store, click on Podcasts from the top menu, and the “Submit a Podcast” link will be in the right column under Quick Links.

• Step 3: Enter your feed URL and fill out the other information required (Name, Author, Description, etc.)

• Step 4: Click submit.

Storytelling

• Every podcast will be better if it tells a story.

• A story should have three elements

• A sympathetic character

• An obstacle (the thing in your character’s way)

• A pot of gold (the end goal or reward)

Hold part of the story back

• Don’t give away the story too early

• You want to intrigue the viewer and keep them around

• Your shots should raise questions, not necessarily answer them

How could you have used storytelling with your

summer story?

Let’s BRAINSTORM

• Choose a topic: the not-so-great outdoors OR trouble at birthday partyOR first-date disaster

• Who is your sympathetic character?

• What happens in beginning, middle, end?

• What is the obstacle? How do they overcome?

Podcasting tips• Ideal length: 22 minutes

• Ideal day to post: Tuesday

• Best frequency: Weekly