What Do I Need To Make And Produce A Podcast?

[AussieJordan]

Jay, as the Award Winning Podcaster and creator I was wondering if you could tell me what I need to make and produce a podcast.

Oh and how many podcasts do you go on?! And did you play LOST Jeopardy on a podcast?

[Linda]

Nov 11, 2005 7:20:18 GMT -5 Jay said:

Well it really depends on what kind of setup you use. In my case i have a digital recording studio that i use to produce music. The podcast is something that i do, because i have a studio ready to go. And i love talking Lost.

So equipment is going to be your biggest investment. I use an Apple iMac which is pricey to begin with, but its worth it. that will set you back about $1,500 then i got a Recording interface (Mic inputs) which is about $600 then its Mic's which for a two person setup you can get away with paying $100 for two decent Mic's, but i have expensive ones because i use them for music. Then you need monitors (speakers) about $200 to assess the mix. Oh and Mic stands too. Last but not least is Software if you get a Mac it comes with garageband which is a great recording program, especially for podcast. The user interface is very simple. Since i have the studio for music i have Apple's Top of the line recording studio software, Logic Pro 7 which will set you back a $1,000. If i was just doing a podcast setup i wouldn't have bought that though.

So for Equipment that is the more expensive side going on about $3,400. But if you have a computer already it is going to be a lot cheaper.

Now for your hosting. I use Audioblog.com because its easy, and its relatively cheap. Its 5 bucks a month, but that is if you don't go past the bandwidth limit. Which is 5gb. If you do its a dollar for each additional gb. If you have a podcast that is somewhat popular like ours, you'll go past this limit quick. We used about 25gb last month with about 1500-2000 people downloading each podcast.

Now you need a home website like ours jaynadjack.blogspot.com. I used a free hosted website because its a heck of a lot cheaper, especially if you have to pay for all of that other stuff already mentioned.

OK so now you have all the tools.

Pick a topic to talk about. In our case "Lost" Jack and I watch the new episode, and do not talk to each other about it until we do the show the next day. I write out an outline of the events that unfolded in the new episode. I print out all of the emails get all of the calls ready in the correct audio file form.Then Get the the studio up and running. Then its time to record.

On a good day Jack and I can run through the whole show without any stopping, but nobody is perfect and sometimes we have to stop and start over, but since this is a high quality studio, we just start form were we messed up and edit it like no mistake happened. So the actual recording of the show will take from Short (Thirty minutes) to medium (usually 45 min.) to long (about an hour) Most of the time it takes about 40 to 45 min. to record the show.

Then there is the editing and mastering this takes me about 15-20 min. Its only vocals and a few software instruments( Lost Podcast Theme, and Jacks Drum roll) so It doesn't take me too long.

Then is the distribution of the show to you guys. For a thirty minute show it takes about 15-20 minutes to upload it to the server. Then I put the audio file to our Podcast Feed, and send the show to our site for you guys to stream.

And thats it. I know this seams like a lot, but once you get used to doing everything it's not as labor intensive.

So if you average all of the cost spread out between. The eight month period and say we do 35 podcast in that time. Its about 100 bucks an episode, thats averaging all of the equipment cost. With out that you just have the hosting fee.

Time wise it takes about about 3 hours an episode. This includes watching and analyzing the episode. Writing the outline, recording the show, mixing and editing, and uploading the show for you guys to listen to.

So this may seem like a lot, buts its not too bad. In my case i had a studio all ready. So i hope this answered your question.

[AussieJordan]

Thanks

[greasykid1]

Another podcasty question ...
I noticed that during the Superman V Batman vs, you played clips from the U2 song from Batman Forever ...

Do you have to pay any licence fees for using music like this?
I'd really like to add music to my own podcast, but I'm worried about getting sued

I'd only be using music in the same way you did - music related to the stuff we're talking about.

Thanks!