Creating the Podcast
Written by: Dr. Steve Yuen
Podcasting is increasing in popularity because podcasts are simple to produce and very inexpensive to deliver. To create your own podcast, all you need is a personal computer with a sound card, a microphone, sound editing software, and an Internet connection with access to a Web site. Because of the low cost of entry, anyone can be a publisher or a broadcaster with their own "radio" show. Here are the basic steps for creating your own podcasts.
1. Record and Edit the Podcast
Use an audio editing software in your personal computer to record and edit your recording. Once you have finished recording and editing, save your audio file or export your audio file to MP3 format. If you do not have an audio editing software, I recommend Audacity, a free, open source, cross-platform audio recording and editing software. If you already have an audio software you like, then great--stick with that.
To use Audacity to record and edit your audio file, click on the link to the left.
In Audacity, with the LAME MP3 encoder installed, you can add ID3-tag info (Project menu, Edit ID3 Tags): Title, Artist, and so on. Without this tag, listeners will not be able to find your podcast on their MP3 players.
To keep you podcast file size small, I recommend you use a lower rate of bits per second and a mono channel for a classroom lecture and a higher rate of bit per second and stereo channels for musical performance.
| Type of Recording | Bits per Second | Sample Rate | Bits per Second |
| Lecture | 32 kbps | 11.025 kHz | mono |
| Mixed - Talk and Music | 112 kbps | 22.050 kHz | stereo |
| Music | 128 kbps | 44.100 kHz | stereo |
2. Make the Podcast Feed (RSS Feed)
RSS feeds are one of the most widely used XML formats on the Web. They provide an open format for syndicating all types of content, including podcasts. You can create podcast feeds with some RSS Feed software such as FeedForAll or dirCaster.
Also, you can create podcast feeds with a RSS Feed Generator (Somehow this script will not work with IE, try Firefox or Netscape browser). Enter the info into the RSS Feed Generator form and click on the "Create RSS 2.0 Feed" button to generate the RSS feed. Be sure to copy the script generated by the RSS Feed Generator (highlighted section) to a notepad and save it with an extension ".xml"
(Click to enlarge)
3. Publish Your Podcast and RSS Feed
After you have made the podcast feed, you need to publish your podcast publicly. You can upload your RSS file along with the MP3 files for your podcast to your Web account using an FTP program such as WinSCP3. You may also provide a link on your Web page so listeners can subscribe your podcast with their aggregator software. Many publishers use the XML logo to indicate that an RSS Feed.
