Feature by John Burns
Podcasting
3 Aug 2006 in Highland
Here Comes the Revolution
JOHN BURNS recommends joining the Podcast revolution
PEOPLE ARE TALKING – in bedrooms, in kitchens, in garages, fields, garden sheds and just about anywhere else you can think of. They are talking into microphones and casting their words out onto the Internet, where the greedy masses can download and listen. They are making Podcasts, and if you have never heard of them before you soon will, because the revolution is coming.
I discovered Podcasts a few months ago, I was bored at work and had exhausted every Internet radio station I could find when I stumbled across these strange things called Podcasts. Put simply, Podcasts are like radio shows that anyone can make and then put on the Internet so that anyone, anywhere, any time, can listen to them.
For Podcasters the possibilities are endless. You can do anything your tiny, fast-beating heart desires, including serialising your novel, making your own play, reciting your poetry, getting your band’s music heard, ranting about what’s annoying you. In short, anything you want to do.
For me, Podcasting has opened up some great possibilities. I am now the proud father of my own Podcast baby, ‘Purple Comedy’. The show is still in its early stages of development, but it has helped my to find a creative outlet for my work as a comedian that was otherwise difficult to find in the Highlands and Islands.
Podcasts can be put out by anyone and, if you are good enough, there is a huge potential audience out there
My problem is that most comedy clubs are in the central belt, and I’d end up driving for over five hours just to do one twenty minute slot in the back room of a dingy pub in the Gorbals. Not a very cost effective way of using my time.
Now the comedy world comes to me. ‘Purple Comedy’ is a 30 minute show, and in it I do some stand up, air some comedy sketches, and interview folk.
I’m lucky in that I know a lot of comedians and, almost by definition, comedians are prodigious talkers, so finding content for my shows is not a problem. Right now I’m working on my fourth show and the numbers of people “tuning in” is steadily growing. I’m still evolving the format so what the show will sound like in a year’s time is anyone’s guess.
For folk in the Highlands and Islands, Podcasting could offer a very effective way of breaking down the barriers of geographical remoteness. Making your own show offers lots of opportunities to collaborate with other people.
Glaswegian comedian Austin Low has worked closely with me on my first few shows, and helped get the ‘Purple Comedy’ off the ground. Local comedian Robert Ford is doing a guest spot in ‘Purple Comedy 4’, and actress Jackie Goode is playing a frustrated wife in a sketch (although I haven’t told her yet, so keep quiet about it.)
It is easy for segments of Podcasts to be recorded in different places so there is no reason why a play could not be written in Orkney, recorded in Oban, have it’s sound effects added by a techy guy in Inverness, and then be heard at four am the following day by an insomniac cab driver in New York.
See what I mean? Distance means nothing to Podcasters. One essential for Podcasting is access to Broadband, and I know that there are some areas in the Highlands and Islands that don’t have connections yet, but that really is your only barrier.
I don’t think ‘Purple Comedy’ will make me rich or famous, but that isn’t the aim and, to be honest, we are having a ball with it, so why worry? I’ve learnt a lot in the process of making the few Podcasts I’ve produced. My skills as a presenter are still in their infancy and I’ve discovered that interviewing folk is not quite as easy as Parky makes it look.
The up side is that we are getting better. I hope to sound a lot more professional in a year’s time, and to have improved my sound production quality. Our audience is steadily growing and we are developing a decent core of subscribers. (Subscribers are people who like your show and tell their computers to download every show you produce.)
It’s also worth remembering that Podcasting is not just a one-way process, in that your audience can talk to you and about you. Yes, they can email you and let you know that your piece about cheese pies was about as funny as a rattlesnake in a lucky dip.
Well, that’s showbiz, folks. You will have to learn to cope with criticism if you are going to put your work out on the ‘net. Even if the folk who contact you couldn’t write a letter of complaint to the gas board, they are still your audience and worthy of love. I’ve actually had far more positive feedback than negative, so the old ego isn’t too battered just now.
Whilst I’ve been talking about podcasting as though it’s only for audio, that is actually far from true as there are many video podcasts already out there. Video tends to be more difficult to record as it’s hard to compete with the production values of TV and I think it takes greater skill to wield a camera than a microphone. The fact remains that if you are into making short films and want to get your work out there, Podcasting offers you an avenue.
Oh, I nearly forgot, the revolution bit. Well, Podcasts can be put out by anyone and, if you are good enough, there is a huge potential audience out there. At present it’s estimated that there are around 200,000 people regularly listening to Podcasts.
As Podcasting is a relatively new phenomenon, that number is predicted to increase dramatically over the next few years so there is likely to be an audience of millions in a very short time.
That means that anyone has the ability to produce media content, so the revolution is that you don’t have to flog your idea to some huge corporation – this is literally DIY entertainment. The band Gnarles Barkley got to number one just by offering downloads of their single in a manner not unlike Podcasting. That’s the first shot before the proletariat storm the palace.
Okay, so if you are still reading this you must be interested and might want to know how to set up your own Podcast. There isn’t enough space in this feature to tell you how to Podcast but I can tell you how to get started.
You need a computer with a Broadband connection and a microphone. It helps to have a portable digital sound recorder – I bought one for £40, but it’s not essential.
Then you download Audacity sound editing software, which is relatively easy to use and – here comes the best bit – free!! That will enable you to edit the sound you record, add music and mix tracks, etc. You will also need Lame software that allows Audacity to make a library of what you record. Also free!
Once you have recorded your podcast you need to put it up on the net. I’d recommend the Podomatic website. It’s really easy to use and has great functions like allowing you to monitor the number of people who listen to your show. Podomatic is, believe it or not, also free! If you already have the hardware the whole thing can cost you, as my mate Mike from Yorkshire would say, “Nowt!”
If you are an absolute technophobe then Podcasting probably isn’t for you, although you can pay people on some websites to do all the techy stuff for you. I’m reasonably computer literate (cue howls of laughter from the HI~Arts office) and it took me about a month from never having edited sound to producing my first Podcast.
My recordings are still pretty rough, but I’m improving and, as I acquire better equipment, my sound recording quality will improve. I don’t know where ‘Purple Comedy’ will lead, but I plan to build on it and to provide a website with video links for comedians, blogs, info on gigs and much more.
Why not join the revolution and give podcasting a try?
© John Burns, 2006
