The Parts of a Podcast

Here's a breakdown of the different parts of the 5th Viloria.com podcast.

First 30 seconds: It starts by identifying what the podcast is called and what it is about. Intro music is faded in (with the help of a music mixer) while the main topics of the podcast episode are enumerated.

Next 15 seconds: You can put an ad here.

Next 120 ~ 180 seconds: Here's where you give the details of the main topics earlier enumerated. The short music that begins this section is called a "stinger" and can last anywhere from 5 to 12 seconds. In the case of the 5th Viloria.com podcast, you'll hear the stinger while I say "Welcome back to the..."

While the details of the topics are enumerated, you'll hear some music that keeps repeating in the background. This is called a "music loop".

Next 6 or 7 minutes: After the news, the podcast transitions to the introduction of the story "How Rosang Taba Won a Race" (by Dean Francis Alfar). Towards the end of the intro, you'll hear intro Spanish music fade in, up and out. This is followed by a period of silence.

(I didn't know what to put in between the Intro and the real start of the story, so I just kept it quiet.)

The actual start of the story (the part called "A Challenge and a Wager") starts again with a stinger. This serves as a transition from the quiet part to the narrative. The story contiues and as we come to the end, the closing music or "outro" fades in.

Do you really need to put music in a podcast? Not really. Just record your voice and post the mp3 file online. Eventually, you'll decide to add music. But just get started -- go and try recording and see if you'll find it fun. :-)

On the technical side, you can offer two versions of your MP3 file: a larger, higher quality version for download, and a lower quality file for streaming audio.

With streaming audio, people don't have to download the entire file before they start hearing it. The sound file will play as it downloads, which can be quite convenient for listeners who don't have MP3 players and simply prefer to listen to you using their computers. It assumes, however, that your visitors have Flash installed.

And lastly, the "podcast feed" is a file which other programs use to automatically send your MP3 file into the MP3 players of your potential listeners. If you have a blog that uses WordPress, the feed is automatically created.

[ First posted on 09/29/2005 by Manuel Viloria ]