An ENnie Nomination!

Lots of drama that I’ll write about later.

In the meantime, my podcast ALL GAMES CONSIDERED has been nominated for a second time for an ENnie! Please go vote for us here:

http://www.ennie-awards.com/voting/voting.asp

Podcasting: How We Do It At All Games Considered

Readers of this blog (I flatter myself that I have readers) are aware that I’m the co-host of the All Games Considered gaming podcast. Sometimes when I tell people that I’m a podcaster, I get questions on about how we do our recordings. I’m no audio engineer–our executive producer Mark is the guy with the broadcast degree–but I own the same recording rig and have gotten pretty comfortable with operating it. It’s inexpensive as these things go, but it allows us to support four microphones and Skype interviews.

Here’s the breakdown of our equipment and tools:

Software:

JazlerShow! Version 1.5.1: This version is freeware. This software allows you to quickly integrate bumpers, promos, sound f/x, and other audio as you’re recording your show. Windows only.

Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing audio. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.

Levelator: Levelator is free software that adjusts the audio levels for variations from one speaker to the next. It’s not a compressor, normalizer or limiter although it contains all three. Very simple to use. Available for Windows XP or Vista, OS 10.4 or 10.5, and Linux (Ubuntu Feisty Faun only)

Hardware (mostly via Radio Shack):

Mixing Board: 4 Channel Stereo Microphone Mixer (catalog# 32-2056). Supports up to four microphones. Requires 9-volt battery (available anywhere) or AC adapter (ask at your local Radio Shack) to operate.

Adapter to connect the board to your laptop or desktop’s microphone jack: 6-Ft. Y-Adapter, 1/8″ Right-Angle to Two RCA Plugs (catalog# 42-2483). This is not showing up on the Radio Shack web site anymore, so ask at your local Shack or at a musician’s supply store. One online source is here .

Unidirectional Microphone (catalog# 55036964): Decide how many you need. As host, you’ll have to have one for yourself. We use the maximum supported by our mixing board–four. The product comes with a mike holder, but you will still need a….

Mike Stand: Desk Mic Stand (catalog# 33-370) You need one for each mike.

Windscreen for Standard Microphone Head (catalog# 33-373). You need one for each mike. And yes, you need them, otherwise the very act of breathing or saying a word with the letter “P” in it will mess up your audio.

Closed Ear Headphones: the ones we use aren’t on their web site, but you want something comfortable, noise-cancelling, and with long cords (a bit like this or this). Whoever’s managing the recording is the only one that really needs headphones, but there may be instances where you’d like others to be able to hear themselves.

3-way adapter to hook up headphones to your headphone jack: 6-Inch 3-Way Headphone Y-Adapter, 1/8″ Plug to 1/8″ Jacks (catalog# 42-2458)  You can also get a 2-way splitter or a splitter with an amplifier if it suits your needs better.

Portable Digital Recorder: The AGC Crew goes to various conventions–GenCon, Origins, and the like–and interview gamers and gamer publishers. I bought the Olympus VN-6200PC digital voice recorder when Radio Shack had them on sale, and I’ve found it to be fine. It does have a unidirectional mike, so whoever you’re interviewing needs to be in front of the mike–if they move to the side you will lose sound. Please note that it only records in WMA format, so it is not Mac or Linux compatible.

(Update: I lost my recorder, alas, and wound up with another Olympus recorder from Staples.  But before I bought that product, I purchased another Olympus recorder which–incredibly–did not allow for hooking up to your PC so you could transfer the sound file to it for editing.  It turns out that Olympus makes a couple of these (here’s the other), so while I can certainly recommend them for their sound quality, please take extra caution when you purchase. )

When I bought all of this equipment (picked it up in the last year or so), it came to roughly $250. I caught a lot of the stuff on sale, and it helped that Radio Shack marked down the mixing board from $100 to $30. Please note that the above represents a beginner’s-level equipment, and while there are other podcast starter kits out there for beginners, this is the only way we’re aware of to have this many microphones available for recording on a tight budget. The other kits we looked at only seem to enable one or two microphones.

The above rig gives you ability to set levels, mix audio, and otherwise manage your sound. If you need a more basic (read: cheaper) set-up, get:

• the Jazler, Audacity and Levelator software
  the 3-way adapter that lets you hook up headphones to the laptop’s headphone jack
• three gaming headsets that you know provide good audio and ideally have little foam screens over the mike (like this one or this one)

You’re sacrificing ability to manage your audio but otherwise should be able to knock out a very basic podcast.

If you start to get the hang of podcasting, and want to upgrade your recording equipment, there’s tons of options available online and through muscian’s supply stores. Check out Podsafe Gear to get an idea of what’s available to podcasters, or Google “podcast kit”.

Resources on Learning to Podcast:

Podcast Academy
School of Podcasting Morning Announcements
About.com: How to Create Your Own Podcast – A Step-by-Step Tutorial
How Stuff Works: How To Create Your Own Podcast
Podcasting For Dummies (book) (highly recommended)

Other Podcast-Relevant Materials:

Creative Commons. Covers legal issues for releasing your podcast online for free while maintaining certain rights.
Podsafe Music Network. Primary source of music available for use in podcasting without significant licensing difficulties.
Podsafe Audio. Another source for podsafe music.
Podcast Alley’s list of podsafe music sites
Freesound.org and Soundsnap.org (for podsafe sound f/x)
The Internet Archive (for public domain audio)
Gear Bag (to haul your podcasting hardware in when doing off-site recording)
K7.Net: If your podcast begins to draw a following, you might want to set up a call-in phone # for listeners to use. k7.net is free, you just have to take small steps to keep the line active.
Skype and MP3 Skype Recorder: If there comes a time when you want to interview someone for your show, and that person lives out of your area, Skype and the free Skype recorder are an excellent solution. Heck, I’ve used it to interview people across town from me!

“Podsafe“, by the way, means any work which, through its licensing, specifically allows the use of the work in podcasting, regardless of restrictions the same work might have in other realms. Some stuff is inherently podsafe, such as public domain works or items released under certain Creative Commons licenses. Others may require certain light restrictions, such as requiring you to give the artist credit when you use their work.

Under no circumstances do you want to use work that is not podsafe, or where you do not have the explicit permission of the licensor to use the work. I cannot emphasize this enough. One, you don’t need the legal nightmare of the RIAA showing up on your doorstep, and two, there’s enough podsafe music, f/x, and other audio out there that it should not be an issue for you.

Hosting

Podbean provides free podcast hosting. It supports RSS 2.0 and Atom feeds, as well as the extended Apple iTunes podcasting tags. The podcast player can be embedded into web sites and blogs, too.

AGC uses Libsyn to host and distribute our show. It costs a measly $5/month for quality features and support. Libsysn is probably the most popular host for podcasters.

AGC’s official website is on Blogger.com, and serves well for our purposes. However, my experience is that several of the most well-known podcasters prefer WordPress, which has plug-ins that support podcasting. Not having used it for podcasting, I can’t speak from personal experience, but if it’s good enough to be recommended by Leo Laporte then there must be something to it.

Some good news!

I am just thrilled to announce that our gaming podcast, ALL GAMES CONSIDERED, has been nominated for BEST PODCAST at the 2009 ENnie Awards. Of the hundreds of submissions, only five were selected for each
category, and we’re thrilled to be included in the prestigious list
of ENnie-nominated podcasts.  Thanks to all of our listeners for their support! Voting for all of the listed categories begins today (Friday, July 24th) and ends at midnight on  Saturday, August 1st.    If you haven’t listened to our podcast before, please give it a whirl and support us in the voting.

Delays, delays

I haven’t posted lately, which frustrates me because I have a bunch of topics I want to address.

However, I so have an excuse: I’m in the process of buying a house.

If all goes well at the home inspection tomorrow, I’ll be closing on August 7th and moving that weekend.  Then I’ll be traveling to Gen Con with some friends for a much needed vacation.

I do want to take the time to announce that my podcast, All Games Considered, was nominated for an ENnie award this year.  We’re terribly excited and honored by the nomination, and we want to thank all of our listeners for their support.

I plan to return at the end of August, with more ramblings!