Digital Media

DM 341: Instructional Podcasting

Building an Audio Podcast on the Mac

In this tutorial, we will show you how to create an audio podcast using a Mac computer and iLife ‘06. To learn more about the various podcasting software available, check out our Resources page.

Most of the hardware and software are available for sale at the UC Computer Store and possibly on loan from ITC. Call 974-9670 to find out more.

Technology Requirements

A Mac with OS 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (Leopard) and iTunes
Recording Equipment (laptop-embedded microphone, small desktop microphone, digital video camera,
hand-held digital recorder, etc.)
iLife ’06 (GarageBand, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, iWeb) - bundled with OS X
NOTE: Though iLife '08 is now available, this tutorial focuses on iLife '06, which is still very popular and in some cases, a little easier.

What is an mp3?

MP3 is an acronym for MPEG layer 3, which is a compressed audio format.

What are your options for listening to an audio podcast?

IE, Safari, or Firefox (on PC or Mac as available)
Quicktime or Windows Media
iTunes or other mp3 player software
Portable mp3 player: iPod, Zune, iRiver, Sansa, etc.

Start with the Script

The process of building an audio podcast begins with the script. What sort of story are you trying to tell? Working without a script can be tricky and will require more editing.

What is GarageBand?

GarageBand is an audio editing program that allows you to record your voice, add sound effects and music, and import images or video to accompany your recordings. It's fairly comprehensive, and among the easiest-to-use software on the market. You'll use GarageBand to blend all of your podcasting elements and compress them into a web-ready format.

Opening GarageBand and Exploring the Interface
Open GarageBand. From the intro window, select the New Podcast Episode setting. When prompted, type in a project name and click Create.

New Podcast icon

View the interface

Tracks: When the project opens, you will see five tracks.

Podcast Track: holds images and other media
Male Voice: designed to optimize male pitch and vocal characteristics
Female Voice: designed to optimize female pitch and vocal characteristics
Jingles: provides opening, closing, and transitional music
Radio Sounds: offers traditional radio sounds such as creaking doors or ambient crowd noise

Timeline: The timeline contains the tracks where you record Real and Software Instruments, add loops, and arrange regions.

Track Editor: Real Instrument track editor shows the waveform of the track or selected region. Move, crop, join, transpose, and rename regions in the editor.

Loop Browser: The loop browser lets you quickly find loops to add to your projects.

Track Info Pane: The Track Info pane shows the current instrument, effects, and input settings for the selected track, or the master effects settings for the master track. You can change these settings in the Track Info pane.

Watch a Video Demonstration

Audio and Microphone Settings

To record audio directly into GarageBand, you will need a recording device. Apple's iBook G4s come with a built-in microphone. It's suitable for simple applications, but for higher quality audio you'll need an external microphone with USB input. If using an external microphone, be sure to change your computer’s audio preference settings. Go to System Preferences > Sound > Input and select the name of your microphone. If your microphone came with a software CD, you may need to install the software before the computer will recognize your device.

Set GarageBand's audio settings by going to Garageband > Preferences. Select the Audio/MIDI button at the top of the Preferences window and select the name of your microphone.

audio midi button

Recording the Audio

Select the male or female voice track by clicking directly on the desired layer. The layer will appear blue when selected. If the icon on the left is grayed out, click to turn it red. This will enable recording for the track.

The location of the Playhead (the vertical red line) indicates where the new microphone audio will be inserted. Move the Playhead to the beginning of the timeline by dragging it (grab it by the arrow at the top) or pressing "z" on the keyboard.

To begin recording, click the main Record button below the tracks area. Begin speaking. When you’re done, press the spacebar to stop recording. Press the "z" key to move the playhead back to the beginning and click Play (or Spacebar) to listen. Bravo!

Watch a Video Demonstration

Editing Sound Clips in the Timeline

To change the clip length, click and drag the beginning or end of a clip.
To move the entire clip, click and drag in the center of the clip.
To delete a clip or segment of a clip, select the clip and press Delete.
To delete a portion of the audio, place the cursor at the beginning of the desired area
and select Edit > Split (Command-T). Place the cursor at the end of the desired area and Split. Delete the section created by the splits. If necessary, close the gap by dragging the remaining clips together.

Editing Sound Clips in the Track Editor

To perform detailed editing of tracks you will need to open the Track Editor. Click the Track Editor icon in the lower left near the Record button.
From within the Track Editor, select a specific area by clicking and dragging on the timeline. Click within the selection to slice the area. Once the area is selected it may be deleted.

Adding a Jingle

Click the Loop Browser icon directly below the track names.
When the menu appears below, select Jingles.
Choose a style...
...then drag a specific jingle up to the Jingles track and drop it into the timeline.
Drag and edit it in the same way you edited the voice tracks.
To add sounds, select Sound Effects in the same menu. Choose a style and specific sound, then drag it up to the timeline.

Mixing the Tracks

You may want to reduce the volume of jingles or sound effects when voice tracks are playing. To do this automatically, look for the tiny arrows at the right edge of the Mixer column. Give the voice tracks a dominant setting by selecting the Up arrow (orange). Give all other tracks a non-dominant setting by selecting the Down arrow (blue). This is called Ducking.

To adjust Ducking settings, select a layer and click the Track Info icon on the right. Select Master Track, then click the Details arrow. Find Ducking Amount at the bottom of the list. Drag the slider to increase or decrease the degree to which non-dominant tracks will audibly drop below the others.

Adjusting the Volume Levels

Select the Track Volume button. This reveals the adjustment layer. Click on the volume level line within the timeline to create adjustment handles. Drag the handles up or down to heighten or lower the levels.

volume level button

Adding the Description

Remember that the podcasts you saw in iTunes had titles and descriptions. You’ll want to create these for your podcast as well.

With the Podcast Track selected, click the Track Info icon (next to the Media Browser icon).
Fill in Title, Artist, and Description.

Exporting the File

In the menu, choose Share > Export Podcast to Disk. While you can also save the file straight to iTunes, this gives you an opportunity to save the files to an easy-to-find location. Select "Compress Using: MP3 Encoder". Choose an audio setting based on the content of your podcast. Choose a destination on your drive to save the podcast to.

You’re almost done.

Posting to the Web

Now you’re ready to place your files online for public or student viewing. You have two main options:

UTK on iTunes U
iTunes© U is a dedicated area within the iTunes Store. It features a free, hosted service for colleges and universities that provides access to their educational content: course lectures, interviews, lab demonstrations, etc. Visit the UTK on iTunes U site to learn more about the University of Tennessee's partnership with iTunes.

Note: UTK on iTunes U files can be made available to all visitors or protected behind a login.

Blackboard (Online@UT)
Post your file to the web. You can upload it to UT's Digital Media Services, or your own site or blog. When done, make a note of the URL.

Log in to Online@UT, choose your course, and navigate to a Content Area. In Edit View, click Add External Link. Give your file a short but descriptive name and add the URL. Under Text, add any necessary details.

Your podcast is online!

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