Digital Media
DM 341: Instructional Podcasting
Building an Audio Podcast on the PC
This tutorial will cover the process of making an audio podcast on Windows XP using Audacity 1.2.8 (or any recent version) and its companion compressor software, LAME.Technology Requirements
All are available for checkout at ITC (call 974-0680 for more information) or for sale at UC Computer Store.- A microphone.
- Latest version of Audacity free audio software (download now)
- Latest version of LAME mp3 compressor software (download now)
- Five minutes.
Publishing an audio podcast generally only takes a couple of steps:
- Recording your audio.
- Exporting your audio.
- Publishing your audio.
Audacity
Audacity is similar to other Audio software titles with its comfortable interface and its layering style of sound editing. The only difference is that Audacity is free to download from the internet and comes with full functionality. Audacity is full of sound editing features such as adding echo and changing the tempo of your recorded sounds. To add more sounds to a recording you simply record and layer it on top of the rest of the recording. You can then edit each layer to optimize your creation. The simple drag and drop system makes it easy to erase mistakes and make changes.Recording your Audio
Before you get started recording, be certain your microphone is plugged in and working. Try going to your sound and audio settings in the Control Panel and testing your hardware if you feel it is not responding properly.
Let's get started recording your podcast. Open Audacity (it should be on your desktop or in your Programs folder). When the window opens, you should see a few audio toolbars at the top and nothing should be in the middle of the screen.
Let's record a few sample sounds and edit them. Ready your microphone and click the red recording circle.
The waveform will begin to go across the screen; this is when you record. Record whatever you want: lectures, exam questions, training exercises, and so on. When you finish, click the yellow stop square.
You should see that a new track has been created.
This is your first layer of audio. To name the layer, click the Audio Track drop down, then Name...
If you click the red recording circle again another layer will appear underneath the previous layer for you to record into. You can create hundreds of layers of sound, but remember that file size will increase as the number of layers grows larger.
Let's record three tracks of audio and give them unique labels. We will edit them next.
Now that we have three layers of audio tracks, let's start editing. You can choose to edit all your tracks, one whole track, or a segment of a track. Simply drag your mouse over the part of the audio you want to edit.
To select everything, press Ctrl+A or drag over everything. When you've selected what you want to edit, go to the Effect menu at the top of the screen. You should see a long list of special effects. Let's add some echo to your audio for this example. This will put fear into your students...
Click Echo.
You should be presented with a dialog box with two factors of the echo you can adjust to your liking (you can preview is as many times as you want by clicking Preview). When you finish click OK; you should see the waveform has changed in respect to the new echo effect. You can experiment with other effects and more tracks.
Now you need to identify your audio file using ID3 tags. These are simply the title, artist, and album name of your file. ID3 tags are compatible with multiple audio mediums to identify the audio. Click the Project menu on the top of the screen and scroll down to Edit ID3 Tags... .
There you will be presented with a dialogue box with the tags for you to fill in.
When you are finished with everything, you're ready to export your audio.
Exporting your audio
Before you begin this section be sure to SAVE YOUR FILE. Just go to File and Save Project As... (It will save as ".aup"). This is the file you will come back to if you want to edit tracks, add audio, change effects, and so on.
Exporting should be a quick process in which you specify the format to save your finished audio file. You can export it in three formats: mp3, wav, and ogg vorbis. We'll be saving in mp3. When you're done recording and editing, click the File menu and choose Export as MP3. If you haven't already downloaded LAME, Audacity will prompt you to do that now. Download and unzip the file, then go back to Audacity and navigate to the lame_enc.dll file you just downloaded.
Your audio will be mixed down into a single track. Now that you've exported your audio file you are ready to publish it to the web for your students to view.
Posting to the Web
When you publish your audio, you upload it to the internet so that anyone can listen to it. When you upload your file, it is given a URL just like any website (web.utk.edu/~cweathe2/sample.wav). You can use two services offered by the university to publish your files: Volcasting@UT and Online@UT.- Volcasting@UT
Visit Volcasting@UT, a directory of academic and event podcasts submitted by UT faculty, administrators, and students. Faculty and administrators can request an instructor account (students can be added later as part of specific classes). If you don't have an instructor account, choose Request Volcasting Course and follow the instructions. When you receive a confirmation email (within the next day or so), go to Upload your Podcast. You will be asked to enter information about the podcast. To attach the file, navigate to the file you created and select it. The file appears, with description and RSS feed, under View Courses.
Note: Volcasting@UT 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 Volcasting@UT, 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!