This presentation accompanies a practical podcast working lead by creative content communication company Inner Ear (http://innerear.co.uk).

1. Podcast Production
A digital media workshop by Inner Ear

2. Creative Content
Communication
• Inner Ear was established in 2000
• Radio Magnetic began broadcast in 2001
‣ UK's longest running internet radio station
‣ Alternative music shows, features, interviews and
sessions
• Create content for arts projects and cultural organisations
• Communicate content through social media
• Consult on, and train people in, use of digital media
• Making programmes since 2001
• Working with streaming media since 2000
• Podcasting since 2005

3. Podcast Programmes
• Tune Up
‣ Tour previews
‣ Originally tour diaries
‣ Interviews by Skype and in person
‣ Music clips
‣ Session recordings
• Glasgow Jazz Festival
‣ Gig previews
‣ Interviews
‣ Examples of music
• Foot Stompin'
‣ Music
‣ Interviews
‣ Features

4. Planning a Programme
• Objective: why are you making the programme? To
communicate a message of some kind? If so, what is it?
• Audience: who is it aimed at, what are their interests?
• Episode planning:
‣ Content: what will the programme contain?
‣ Style: presenter lead? Music only? Interview-based?
‣ Format: documentary? Profile? Session? Drama?
‣ Copyright: gaining permission, licences and royalties
• Series planning:
‣ Story arc
‣ Episode format
‣ Finite in indefinite

5. Recording
• Devices:
‣ Mobile phone (some are now pretty good)
‣ Portable digital recorders: Edirol R09, Zoom H1,
H2 and H4, Line 6 Backtrack+Mic, iPhone etc.
‣ Microphones (studio) and headsets (for Skype)
• Location:
‣ Indoors or outside?
‣ Quiet or noisy?
‣ Microphone placement
‣ Desk or live sound?
• File management:
‣ Saving, naming and cataloguing
‣ File formats and quality
‣ Storage and backup

6. Editing
• Software: Audacity, Adobe Audition, Logic, etc.
• Basics:
‣ Normalize
‣ Limit
‣ Top and tail
• Creative:
‣ Remove unwanted sections
‣ Select best bits
‣ Rearrange
• Advanced:
‣ EQ
‣ Noise reduction
‣ Mixing sources
‣ Compression

7. Presentation
• Recording links
‣ In the studio
‣ On location
‣ Scripted or off the cuff?
• Scripting
‣ Intro and outro
‣ Continuity links
‣ Throw forward to what's coming up
‣ Include hooks and keywords

8. Production
• Finalisation:
‣ Mastering
‣ Mixdown
‣ Export
• File formats:
‣ WAVE
‣ MP3
‣ AAC
‣ WMA
• Recommended bit rates (for MP3):
o 128K stereo
o 64K mono

9. Publication
• RSS Feed Generation
‣ Podcast Maker (Mac)
‣ Feed Editor (Windows)
• Online Services:
‣ Audioboo
★ Host files, embeddable player, iTunes feed
‣ Soundcloud
★ Host files, embeddable player, track comments
‣ Feedburner
★ Manage and measure RSS feeds

10. Promotion
• Directories
‣ iTunes, Podcast Alley, etc.
• Blogs
‣ Find using Hype Machine and Shuffler
‣ Build up relationships with comments
• Social Media
‣ Facebook profiles, pages and groups
‣ Attracting Twitter followers, retweets, using #hashtags
• PR
‣ Promote to publications
• Advertising
‣ SEO
‣ PPC (Google and Facebook)

11. Resources and Contacts
• http://innerear.co.uk
• http://innerear.posterous.com
• http://delicious.com/innerear
• http://issuu.com/innerear
• http://slideshare.net/innerear
• http://twitter.com/innerearuk
• http://facebook.com/innerearuk
• http://vimeo.com/innereartv
• http://youtube.com/innereartv
• http://radiomagnetic.com
• http://facebook.com/radiomagnetic
• http://twitter.com/radiomagnetic
• http://mixcloud.com/radiomagnetic
• Dougal Perman
• dougal@innerear.co.uk
• Bobby Perman
• bobby@innerear.co.uk