Basic Gear

Microphone

This will probably be your only expense outside of the computer.  Billy and I use a Blue Yeti.  Blue makes really good mics and The Yeti will run you around $130.  Forkes told me he was using a 'Rock Band' mic and when i spoke with him on Skype it actually did not sound bad.  The thing to remember is bad audio quality and static will not only piss off your listeners, your friends will not want to record with you either :(.  SRSLY who needs friends!


Headphones

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get ear covering headphones.  Cost would be around 40$-100$ and is not 100% necessary, but will greatly increase the quality of your podcast.  Without headphones it is possible to get a terrible echo using Skype. You basically hear yourself from the speakers of the person you called.  No brands to label here, just GET A PAIR... steal them i don't care what you do to get them JUST GET THEM!

Computer

RAM, mouse, keyboard, porn, mac, pc whatever.  I suggest a mac because 'GARAGE BAND' IS AMAZING.  I use a windows laptop, bill uses a pc, whatever can connect to the internet is ok.

Software

Audacity - Free program, very powerful editing options.  It would be nice if you could multi-track record at the same time, but to be honest single track recording is all you need.  You can multi-track just one track at a time.  Not gonna teach you how to use it but it is a great free program

Skype - Free to use VOIP software.  The best way to connect audio that we have found so far.  The big selling point for us is that it is free, and there are free applications that allow you to record the convo.

iFree Skype recorder - This is the only Skype app we use.  It is the best because it gives you options like record in mono-stereo (suggest set it to mono).  It also lets you select the frequency and bit rate of the recording.  Our demo podcast 'SM001' also the intro podcast on the blog (as of Oct. 2, 2012) was about 40 mins and roughly 50mb.

Hosting

Internet Archive - name of the game is FREE.  This is where the link from our BLOG hosts the podcast.  You require a place to store your podcasts so you can save the bandwidth on your blogger or whatever host you choose as your main site people see.  These crazy bastards at the internet archive let you upload for free and all you have to do is claim your material as public domain (or stipulate what type of license(american) licence (canadian) you have. Supposedly they have a petabyte which is 1, 000, 000 gigs...  Good luck filling that with your crappy podcast!  Seriously good luck like I will pay you if you can do it.



Hope you liked the loose guidelines of what we use.  If you don't then thanks for the hit on the blog.  If you can try and share to twitter or facebook, or even better leave a comment on what you use or how this helped or ruined your podcast!


-john










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