Podcast Solutions - Book Review

I’m warming up for PodcastCon in London on Saturday, and I’ve been reading "Podcast Solutions" by Michael Geoghegan and Dan Klass, about how to turn your blog into a radio station.

Geoghegan podcasts about movies on Real Reviews. He’s also podcasted for Disneyland. Klass presents the humerous chat called, "The Bitterest Pill." You can find links to buy the book from  both these sites. 

Podcast Solutions is full of tips and pointers to record your audio blog and get it up on the internet. It’s enthusiastic, but it is a bit technical. After reading this book you will definitely know your XLR from your 5 pin din. The introduction says that it isn’t a geek book - and it is well written with normal mortals in mind - but I will say this: if you like cables, adaptors, and mics, this is the book for you. Personally, I’m fond of microphones, especially old ones, but I’m not so keen on the wire spaghetti.

There are some good tips on the production side too. They advise you to get to know your microphone, and to be in no rush to put your first show up. A ‘narrow cast’ on a focused topic could win you a loyal following. I like their formula "audience = community." After that, they say you should set a realistic schedule - one show a week is about as often as most people are going to manage.

On the subject of equipment, you can go overboard. For portable recording, they recommend the Marantz PMD 670. I’m sure that this is a lovely piece of kit, but at $699 dollars in the US and even more in the UK, it’s going to set you back. Personally I’m sticking with my Sony minidisc which you can get for about one hundred quid on Amazon. (make sure you get one with microphone-in, and see here for models that upload onto computer) It does the job and it’s a more affordable option.

If you want to set up a home/office recording studio, this book is well worth its cover price (£12.59 on Amazon UK  and $16.49 on Amazon.com). It helped me choose my audio mixer and they write well about all the other bits and pieces that you might want to put on your Christmas list.

Update.  Since writing this review I’ve referred to Podcast Solutions many times.  I’m upgrading my recommendation to "essential." 

This entry was posted on September 15th, 2005 and is filed under Blog Home, How? What?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.