What is a Podcast, anyway? A Podcast is an MP3 format sound file hosted on the internet for free download. These can be talk, music, whatever. These can be saved to your hard drive, and listened to on any mp3 player, software or hardware, NOT JUST iPODS!

Subscribing to Podcasts- iTunes and similar programs allow you to "subscribe" to podcasts by copying an XML script called an RSS to the program. When this is done the program will automatically download each new episode of the show you have subscribed to when they become available.

D Nation OS Pirate Radio show submission requirements:

Shows can be any genre/s, but try to cover some new ground and add a little of YOUR personality.

Show length/size is flexible, I have posted shows of over an hour in length, and I believe around 100mb is around the max size.

If you send me a show without voice over/narration, PLEASE include any info and at minimum a playlist so I can announce the track.

Feel free to send me even single songs you want to be heard on future Pirate Radio episodes. If it is on your hard drive you can send it to me via the Send This File box below on this page. If it is tape, CD, or other format and you dont have a way to digitize it, email me for my mailing address, and I will do the rest when I recieve it.

Basics

You do not need fancy gear or an audio background to make a podcast (good shit is nice, not nessecary). Any decent computer with a mic input will do. You need a microphone to capture any voice overs you want to do, and there are now many USB microphones of decent quality available that make having a mixer and/or audio interface un-nessecary.

It took me 3 weeks and a bunch of $$ and time sorting through all the crap on the internet about Podcasting and RSS scripts to get my Podcast together right. I stumbled upon audioblog.com today, and now all is right in the world. I highly recomend their service, it makes doing Podcasts right EASY. You can even "phone in" your show if you do not have a microphone! check them out!

It took me 3 months using the above host, audioblog.com before I realised they were a RIPOFF if you need more then 5-10GB of bandwidth a month. With 100+ subscribers, I burned through OVER 100 gb of bandwidth in 1 month. At $1 a gig, add it up. What a fucking joke... Thanks to some people @ www.podcastalley.com I found www.libsyn.com and am getting 800mb new monthly storage (enough for bi-weekly 1 hour high quality shows) and UNLIMITED bandwidth for $30 a month. That is easily more storage then I will need, but better safe then stupid (again).

There are many FREE audio editing programs available for download on the internet. I know DJ OM and DJ Sk8Bones use "GoldWave" and recomend it. Download it from the link below and give it a try... I used a much earlier version of it years ago and it was adequate for this type of use.

http://www.goldwave.com/release.php 

If you know of another/better program out there that is free, LMK and I will link it here also.

Tech Difficultys

I am willing to help anyone get their Podcast on if I can. Contact me via email for help or advice.

drewmonroe@hotmail.com

Here is my laptop based Podcast rig.

Hardware:

2.6ghz IBM Thinkpad w/2gigs of fast ram (thank you huge nameless company that employs She-Bear & their 1 year obsolescence policy!), M-Audio Quattro USB 24/96 interface, Beringer Euro Rack mini mixer, Shure SM 58 mic. Sony MDR 7506 headphones and M-Audio BX5 speakers for monitoring

Software:

Cubase SX, and Abelton Live (wave editing and capture) Acid Pro4 (mp3 editing) Waves Gold and Diamond plug in bundles and others.

This is a simple portable and powerfull rig for those times when I can't work in my "real" studio. I would recomend ALL hardware and programs I use to people trying to make quality Podcasts, or any general audio processing. For any DAW based studio do not skimp on your mic, monitoring (phones or speakers), and audio interface, or you will just end up upgrading down the road. M-Audio sells some nice "Podcast Bundles" containing everything you need to make a podcast starting at around $200, and are a great solution for people starting from scratch.

What I need is a good channel strip or preamp and a good large diaphragm condenser mic. G.C. has a deal on a AKG mic and a tube pre from PreSonus for under a buck fiddy and a few REALLY nice pre/strip/mic combos between 500-1k$ . I will let you know if it's good soon when I see what I get on a trade in on a BOSS 505 and midi bass module :).

My desktop rig is currently under the weather and rudely unpatched, and aside from my dj mixer to the amp basically un-useable. I am going to pick thru it in the next week in my "free time" wish me luck.