Web Clip A:
A supplement to the December 2005 Electronic Musician cover story, "The Art of Podcasting," by David Battino

To create this example podcast, I edited my 40-minute telephone interview with Emmy Award-winning composer BJ Leiderman into four MP3s, and then created an RSS file that links to the MP3s. To subscribe to the podcast, simply copy the following URL and paste it into your podcatcher program. (In iTunes, click the Advanced menu and select “Subscribe to Podcast…”.)

 http://emusician.com/web_clips/Art-of-Podcasting-RSS.xml

Subscribing to the podcast brings you additional information, but if you’d rather hear the MP3s immediately, you can click them here:

Interview, part 1 (5.6MB): What Makes a Good Podcast?

Interview, part 2 (3.6MB): Secrets of Composing Theme Music

Interview, part 3 (3.2MB): Surviving MP3 Audio Quality

Interview, part 4 (4.4MB): Producing a Memorable Radio Show

Some notes on the production process: I recorded the interview through a JK Audio QuickTap onto a Korg PXR4 digital recorder. I then converted the PXR4’s MP2 file to an AIFF in iTunes so I could edit it. I used BIAS Peak Pro 5 for the editing, snipping out irrelevant comments and background noises, as well as balancing levels. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get rid of the horrendous telephone noise, settling on a tag-team approach of BIAS SoundSoap and parametric EQ. I then enhanced what was left of the sound with Izotope Ozone 3, a multitalented mastering plug-in.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t do much to improve the several distorted sections in the recording. (The PXR4 distorts even when its meters are in the safe zone, I discovered.) So when I went to record the introductory voiceover, I used two tracks on the PXR4, setting one to a lower level. I also used the PXR4’s highest quality setting. But iTunes apparently can’t handle MP2 files at that setting, so I played them back in the QuickTime Player and resampled them to AIFFs with Audio Hijack. I then edited and enhanced the voiceover files in Peak, using a touch of SoundSoap and Ozone. For the musical “bumpers,” I played a few notes from Leiderman’s Morning Edition theme on an ancient Korg T3 keyboard.

I then assembled all the elements in Ableton Live 5, adding more parametric EQ to squeeze a bit more clarity out of the telephone recording. After exporting the mixes as AIFFs, I converted them to MP3s in Peak. After some experimentation, I went with the 64kbps rate. Surprisingly, 32kbps didn’t sound too bad on this material, but it might become annoying over the duration of the interview.

To create the RSS file, I initially tried the free Poderator service, but the resulting file didn’t validate, so I went with Reinvented Software Feeder (Mac) instead. Feeder provides lots of options, but comes with a clear and thorough help file. I especially liked its iTunes preview feature.

My thanks again to BJ Leiderman for sharing his time and insights, which took him away from finishing his long-awaited album, Life at the Bottom of the Dial. —David Battino