GREETINGS and welcome
to this week’s broadcast of ‘The Web Chalkboard.’ ‘The Web Chalkboard’ is a collaborative
effort on the part of many whose Podcasts
presentations attempt to explain the finer aspects of Web Design and Development. Its intended audience is Web Designers and Developers, Web Marketers,
Graphic Designers, laypeople, and all
others who hold an interest in acquiring additional knowledge relating to all
aspects of the Internet.
As I am sure many of you recall, last week on ‘The Web Chalkboard’ we covered the
basics of Wikis. That is, what are Wikis and how are they used. If any of
you are joining us for the first time this week, you may review previous podcasts as these have been archived on
our website.
This week we will investigate podcasts and how they
are used. A Podcast is a culmination
of two words spliced together – iPod
(meaning Portable on Demand) and
broadcast. According to the Business
Dictionary (2016), a Podcast is
“a digital recording of music, news or other media that can be downloaded from
the Internet to a portable media player” (Podcast, 2016).
Audio and video-casting have impacted the world in many ways.
First and foremost, this technology has expanded the reach of audiences around
the globe regardless of geographic location and most importantly for concern of
business, lessened the cost of doing such. Other benefits of this up and coming
technology are, but not limited to, the ability to better connect with your
audience, increase revenue, a smaller environmental footprint, and the overall
quality of output. This medium also allows one to provide their audience with
richer content and a much larger broadcasting range than does the traditional
radio medium of broadcasting.
Some examples of how these benefits can be used and targeted
to an audience are training, product illustration and knowledge, live
announcements, and online meetings, among others. The key advantage, however,
is one does not need a broadcaster’s license thereby avoiding unnecessary
governmental regulations and its so-called red
tape.
The use of videocasting
will impact the sharing of information to various degrees by furthering
education and the proliferation of knowledge, collaborating and crowdsourcing, bringing to light various
social issues, and affecting – to some extent – the world, national, and
regional events. Some other impacts brought forth by this technology are the
better facilitation of information between governments and its people and
better engagement of ideas and issues between individuals and private
institutions.
These are many problems one may experience during the Podcast recording process. As a result,
here – in a nutshell – are many of the problems one might experience as well as
the solution to each:
“Missing Audio…
1. Can your tool record what you want?
I’ve seen a lot of podcasters think recording Skype calls was as simple as
using Audacity, but it’s not. Whether you’re using hardware or software, ensure
that it can even do what you want it to do with the tools you have.
2. Is everything properly
connected? Cables might be loose or not connected, or apps might not be
running.
3. Is everything on? Power, mute,
volume, and more could be simple switches or knobs that might not be in their
right place.
4. Are signals properly
routed? Trace the cables and audio processing chain to ensure
everything is going where it should be. On the software side, ensure that your
apps are looking at the right devices for inputs and outputs.
Corrupted Audio…
1. Reboot before recording.
2. Quit as many background apps and
processes as possible and don’t run anything resource-intensive.
3. Unplug and reconnect digital audio
interfaces.
4. Keep enough free space on recording devices.
5. Ensure your input levels aren’t too
high.
Noise…
1. Ambient background noise: turn
off what’s making noise, move away from it, put things between your mic and the
noise, and point your mic away from it.
2. Constant hiss (not background
noise from your environment): get closer to the mic (about a fist-width away),
use quality equipment, and don’t let low-quality gear handle the
audio amplification.
3. Humming, buzzing, or strange
interference: keep audio cables away from power cables, plug everything that’s
connected to each other into the same surge protector, use a ground-loop
isolator, use a HumX, move equipment farther away from each other, and invest
in quality gear (including cables).
Volume…
1. Learn good microphone technique: stay
a consistent distance from the microphone, but move farther away when you get
louder.
2. Watch volume meters when testing
different sources: have each host or sound source come through one at a time
and ensure they average the same volume range.
3. Record test audio for
review: it’s hard to mix your own voice with others’ in real time. A
recording will let you see and hear the actual differences to tweak.
4. Listen instead of looking:
loudness is more than the visual waveform (although it is generally a good
representation). A highly compressed signal may look quieter than an
uncompressed signal, but it could still be louder.
5. Use proper measuring tools: use a
LUFS-measurement tool, such as r128x-GUI for OS X, Orban Loudness Meter
for Windows, or the measuring tools in professional software to get actual
numbers. These are integrated loudness (measured in LUFS), loudness range
(LRA), and true peak (dBTP). Ideal targets are -19 (mono) / -16 (stereo) LUFS,
under 4 LU LRA, and -1.0 or lower dBTP” (Lewis, 2016).
On another realm, my experiences with Podcasting in the past equates to zero. This course has – for the
first time – introduced me to Podcasting
and various ways of its applications for both professional and personal use.
After the initial learning process of becoming acclimated with the rudiments of
Podcasting, I experience little, if
any, difficulties with any of the required assigned tasks – everything went
smoothly. As such – I believe the course lessons and associated learning
materials are ample. Lastly, I do not have any suggestions for making the
course better as I do not have strong knowledge of the topic at hand.
References:
Lewis, D. J. (2016, June 16). How to fix common podcast
recording problems – TAP273 [Blog post]. Retrieved from
https://theaudacitytopodcast.com/how-to-fix
common-podcast-recording-problems-tap273/
