Out of interest... is anyone here podcasting poetry, attempted it or are any having success with it?

I've looked into it briefly, but the site I looked at seemed to want some sort of payment if the hits went beyond a certain number, and I'm not in a position to pay at the moment.

As a more basic alternative, I opened a free account with Putfile and uploaded my MP3 audio files there so that people could hear my work as well as see it. Some of those recordings are pretty rough though, as I've outlined elsewhere on this site, due to microphone issues. (They're also a little over-burdened by the use of the 'poetry voice'.)

That's why I'd like to have more professional audio files available to turn into a CD, plus recordings of my live performances. The ones I have so far are a bit ropey.

I might not have quite made my question clear. :)

Podcasting is slightly different from making audio files downloadable on a site as podcasting is (or should be) a free subscription to regular audio content. I came across a couple of sites who broadcast regular podcasts of poetry readings. Sites like Poetry X and Slam Idol or PostCast Shorts.

It struck me that in theory this looks like a good way to promote yourself with a regular slot of some sort. There does seem to be people out there who are interested in hearing work read / performed whether its new or classic.

Though.....I must admit I'm not entirely convinced maybe it is just me.

If audio downloads are popular as a webmaster I guess it would be a short hop and skip from making those files available for download but also via a podcasting feed. Then perhaps switching to a podcast format altogether if the demand was there. So podcasting could possibly be a way of capturing a regular audience(?)

This is why I am wondering whether anyone had attempted podcasting poetry and what kind of response they have received. Bascially whether poetry is a medium which can be podcasted and more importantly what the demand for it is like, if there is one.

Nope, it was crystal clear. I found a Podcast site which charged and decided not to bother. That's why I mentioned the audio files on Putfile. Because that was my 'free' way round the problem of wanting people to hear my poems online but not having a budget for it.

But if you say there are sites which don't charge, then I shall certainly explore that option further. Seeing what others have done always seems to be the best way to go. Perhaps someone will post up an answer who's actually gone down the Podcast route.

I think Bilko and Nathan may well know some of these answers, if we can only get their attention. Perhaps we could wave our arms ...

Free podcasting? http://www.odeo.com/

Hello!

I've been looking into this with Matt Nunn. He's found a technocrat who can do it all cheap and reasonbly high quality (although if you're a luddite like me, it's not cheap or reasonable.

I'll check out the links you've posted - anyone got any more?

But from what I can tell so far: you can get free hosting from a few places, as long as your bandwidth usage remains low - so you can trial it out. Once you get popular, you'll have to either pay them, or you can shift to hosting yourself - whichever is cheaper, I take it.

Thing is, the equipment costs, the hosting costs, the production time costs... You have to spend money and time telling people it's actually there to download. I don't see the point yet - as Jane has pointed out, you can blog your poems - text AND audio (and I even see video on myspace, although I'm new to it so not sure quite how it works) - for free on a weekly/monthy/daily basis. How are you supposed to cover overheads? Banner advertising, product placements?

Any thoughts?

George.

I am podcasting Paul, and it is a pretty simple and cheap procedure.

2 - Get an Mp3 player with a "microphone" or "line in" function, some have both. I got a Muzio, but it got nicked, though I am getting a replacement next week. The microphone works like a dictaphone and is high dictaphone like quality, but recording from the the "line in" option, which is basically a little hole where you plug in a condenser microphone, records in more or less CD quality. The Muzio I got was 512MB and cost about 180 euro, and the replacement is costing 100. The top of the range condenser mic can be had for 30-50 euro. When you record the file is done so in Mp3. So it's like using a dictaphone but the recording is in Mp3


3 - Get some "Creative" brand conversion software so you can convert from Mp3 to WAV format. Put it on your computer and then upload your recordings.

4- Convert your recordings from Mp3 to WAV and then you can edit them in "Sound Recorder", which is a very basic but useful programme. To acess it place the curser over

"Start - All Programmes - Accessories - Entertainment - Sound Recorder"

and click on the programme. A little box comes up and go to "open file" and then open an Mp3 recording you have converted to WAV. You can then chop it up, increase volume and overlay other WAV files. When you have finished convert the WAV to MP3 and that is it. Podcasting made easy.

If you click on my WWW you will be taken to the site where I house audio, so far it's all been free, but that may have changed. Listen to the Sunday, 18 December 2005 recording "Seamus Heaney Striptease" to hear the two recording qualities "Microphone" and "Line In" makes. I didn't realise how much of a difference in quality there would be. I was happy with the microphone option, but the line in really surprised me as you can now effectively make CD quality recordings using equipment that costs less than 150 euro. A few years ago it would have cost thousands.

The bulk of it is a compilation edit of the various poets I recorded at Chaplins open mic in Nov 2005. These were all recorded using the basic "microphone" option on the Mp3. So as I recorded them it was simply a case of pressing "record" and putting the MP3 on the table, then switching it off after each recording. The longest you want to record for is about 5-8 minutes, as this makes it much easier to handle when editing. I made this in my box-studio room at the homelss shelter I call home and I overlayed it with a loop I made from a 15 second acoustic Led Zeppelin intro, which I just looped into a 2 minute standard background sound I overlayed in Sound Recorder.

The final bit of the recording is two poets recorded through an amp at the Write and Recite open mic, which happens every Tuesday night at the Westmoreland Pub, O'Connell Bridge Dublin city centre, and you will notice the difference immediately.

Podcasting is dead easy once you have it sussed. It took me about 3 months to work it out, but that was from scratch. The biggest problem is getting an overload of info you don't need. People telling you to buy this this and that.

All you need is an MP3 with a "microphone" or "line in" recording facility and a condenser microphone and you are up and running.

Thanks for the info. :)

I have a couple of mp3 players. I will try plugging a mic into the line in and recording something to have an experiment with.

Editing is probaby going to be the awkward bit. I am Linux user although I have access to various Windows platforms too. Sound Recorder is something I have never touched!

Never thought of putting a background sound on but listening to your podcast it works well.

Not sure I will have time the weekend but next week I think Im going to have a play ou t of interest and see what I can produce.

Thanks again

The sound recorder, if you haven't used it looks confusing, but it is a piece of p.ss to use and dead basic. I heard Toon's Idol last summer and got the hots for podcasting but didn't have a clue and it seemed difficult to suss out coz everyone who was doing it was talking technicals and using all sorts of stuff, so I satrted a web authoring and multimedia course and, even though they didn't do podcasting and I learned nothing of it there, it was the spur that set me on. How I finally found out was going into a shop and discovering that some Mp3's have recording functions and then it was a week or so getting hands on. It really is simple once you've sussed it out, there are only four or five steps to it.

Good luck.

Hello, this is Simon from the Slam Idol podcast. I've been poetry podcasting for over a year now, and it really is fantastic. I've built relationships with most of the other poetry podcasters, some of them are poets showcasing their own work, while others (like mine) are hosts showcasing other poets' works. I set up the Poetry Podcast Banner Exchange programme to link together the poetry podcasting community.
It's very easy to get yourself featured on the existing podcasts, and/or set up your own. And it's all free! If you've got any questions, don't hesitate to ask me.

Check out Slam Idol at http://slamidol.tripod.com/

I am a podcaster from Birmingham UK and I have been podcasting mixed music and poetry programmes for 8 months now - lots of interest but poetry is still hard to find - once I approach a poet though, there is always interest, if anyone wants to check out my podcast goto www.homegrownpodcast.co.uk I am also a member of the poetry podcasting association at http://www.poetrypodcasting.org/

Cheers,