Thread: How To Make Podcast/Audio files from your writing

It might be a good idea to discuss what one needs to do the podcast by oneself, rather than having someone else do it. Not to take money out of the pros' pockets, but some of us operate within budget constraints.
Let's take as granted that one has the requisite skillset-a decent voice, good diction, the ability to read what's on the page and project it to the audience.
We've mentioned Audacity as a good starting point, both for the usefulness and the budget-friendliness. It's not as good at multitracking as some other options, but it does record and reproduce sound accurately.
I use older versions of Sony's ACID software as multitrackers. There are some inherent problems, such as proprietary file formats and such, strange use of existing files, but I've managed to get those to work. There are also Ableton's LIVE and Adobe's Audition (formerly Cool Edit), as well as music industry standard ProTools.
You don't have to spend a ton of money to get professional results. ProTools can be expensive and needs a lot of processing power. Audition and Live are resource hogs as well...hence my decision to work with Acid.
Once you have your work recorded, you'll need production software. This is where Audacity comes in for me. Its accurate sound reproduction means you get consistent results, especially when using the many free plugins one can locate and download.
Confused? Intrigued?

I was interested in making audio files for some of my blog posts and a friend pointed me to Audacity. Now, I admit, I'm green as grass when it comes to audio anything and my budget is nicknamed 'Laughable'. What I need is a DIY plan for podcasting, possibly borrowing my husband's H2 recorder and then doing whatever needs to be done in Audacity. I know this is no where near pro anything but I need some rock-solid basic knowledge for how to carry this through.

An H2 recorder can do the whole thing, as far as getting the sounds down, and then you can upload the file and work with it. Are you planning just voice? That's pretty easy to get right. Audacity would be perfect for working with the vocal sound, just tweaking levels or whatever.
Here are their help files and tutorials. Let me know if I can help from there.