Get more listeners & customers, with Podcastar's FREE how to podcast guide.

Get full access to the ebook, articles and audio demo's that will set your podcast apart from the rest, FOR FREE. Join now by clicking here.

we aim to...

get your Podcast off to a flying start.
share learning materials I've actually used for teaching at degree level.
get you working PRACTICALLY with audio.
help you catch up and even over-take those who started Podcasting ages ago
help you avoid common mistakes & wasting money
reveal key ways to improve your audio quality before and after recording
make you think about your audience
tell you how to get the most out of interviewee's

Why bother Podcasting?

Big businesses have jumped on the band wagon, hiring freelance podcast producers; corporate podcasting. Many of these guys started doing it as a hobby, got really good at it and ended up podcasting for a living! Not bad. If you start to address the points I highlight, you won't go far wrong either.

Mainstream radio stations are even scouting for new talent by listening to podcasts.

So, create a show that outshines the vast majority and you're onto a winner. Did you know a popular podcast could allow you to sell advertising within your shows, creating a great source of extra income! If it's really in demand you may even be able to charge a small subscription fee. Fifty pence per download every month may not seem a lot, but if you had 10,000 listeners worldwide, that's a nice addition to your bank account!

Common Podcasting Questions.

When you're starting out there'll be a whole host of questions that you want answering quickly. Any delay can soon turn an enjoyable pass-time into a technical nightmare! As a "heads up" I've listed just a selection of the most common questions below:

I've got a low hum on my recording. Where did it come from? How can I get rid of it?
I want to get a good field microphone for doing interviews in noisy rooms. Any suggestions?
I can't get the audio signal to register in my editing programme.
I've got "clicks" and "glitches" occurring now and again in my audio. How can I get rid of them?
Some of my audio plays back very quickly, what's happened?
My recording sounds very "thin". How can I correct this?
I recorded audio into my computer off an old archive tape. There's a bit of "hiss" on it, how can I remove it?
I'm assembling shows from a variety of different formats, how can I capture the material without constantly unplugging equipment?
I want to use music in my podcast, but I don't know where I stand on copyright infringement.
The level going into my computer from my microphone is very low. What am I doing wrong.
My computer tends to "stutter" when playing back.
What would be a good Podcaster microphone?

Podcastar answers these questions and more by covering;

Setting up an RSS feed: Sample code, tutorials and links to other great reliable sites.
Podcasting system requirements: A concise overview of options to consider and potential necessary modifications to your computer.
Using Audacity editing software on PC: A quick start guide to getting started with this free software. Recording, editing and exporting.
Using Adobe Audition editing software on PC: A quick start guide covering set up of the software for a new project, the editing window, the multi track section, adding effects and organising your work, mixing down.
A recommended setup for your own audio editing system,**including wiring diagram and itemised equipment list**.
Portable MP3 recording: An example of what to look for.
Acoustics and Microphones: I recommend products, solutions and techniques
Encoding your podcast: Key aspects to consider.
Frequently Asked Questions: Common questions answered with hints and tips on improving your audio
Interview Techniques: Covering preparation, questions and vox pop considerations.

Check out some of the small extracts below before registering for free. These give you just a glimpse of the time, effort and money saving advice on offer.

From the "podcasting requirements" section

"Have I got a large enough hard drive on my computer?"

If you're just intending to do the occasional podcast then the chances are you can answer yes to this question. Though the work you do will be uploaded onto a server, it's always wise to have a back-up somewhere. Personally I like to back up to a hard copy format such as minidisk, CD or DAT tape, but many are happy to archive onto their hard drives. For the serious podcaster creating regular shows approximately 30 mins long, I would recommend around 40Gb (gigabytes) of free space. (that's if you are backing up the original audio recording before compression to MP3 format.

From the "band width" section

....a low bandwidth can therefore seriously hamper your efforts to increase the popularity of your Podcast. This is unless you've got one of those new bottomless bank accounts from your local friendly high street bank! By decreasing the audio file size it becomes possible to get more out of your allocated bandwidth. The alternative is to use an external site from which to host your podcast.

From the "Vox Pops" Section

Microphone Technique: There’s no need to shove the microphone into somebody’s face to get a good quality recording. Placing the microphone approximately 1ft away from the person’s mouth will be fine. Remember it’s their voice you need to record, not yours. If you want to get a good quality recording of the question on location, this can always be done either at the start or end of the vox pop session. Keep movements of the microphone to a minimum, it only makes your recording more prone to "thuds" and "clunks".

Don’t leave the wire dangling from the bottom of the microphone. Wrap a short length, once round your hand and then grab hold of the mic. By doing this you are preventing any sound resulting from banging of the wire, traveling up the body of the microphone and onto your recording. It also helps to prevent intermittent connections, i.e. if there is a faulty wire inside the cable, lack of movement will mean it either works for the duration of your recording or it won’t.

Remove any rings or bracelets. Some people tend to tap on the microphone when recording, particularly if they’re nervous. A metallic click of a ring on the body of a microphone will really carry and come through loud and clear on your recording.

All this, plus loads more, is your's FOR FREE and its available 24/7. All we ask is that if you like what we do, please make a voluntary donation using the buttons at the foot of the ebook pages. This helps pay to host it all and do regular maintenance.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW.

Podcastar.co.uk is a subsidiary of my company Frontrow Recording. Any donations are operated through PayPal, one of the worlds leading secure online payment processing services.

Frontrow Recording is a verified merchant on Paypal, meaning I've gone through additional security checks to reassure my customers.

full access to the online eBook

Audio demo's

Access to information updates at no cost.

music material to use in your show

Continued customer support

All the best...

Steve Jeffries

Podcastar.co.uk is committed to providing its customers with the best on-going service possible. If you have any questions whatsoever, please email;
help@podcastar.co.uk