CoasterBuzz Podcast launches with first episode

Very nice!

"Can we please finish 2006?"

Gotta love it.

*** This post was edited by Neuski 9/26/2005 12:42:03 AM ***

Okay, I listened.

I'm going to be totally honest here, because that is why we're allowed to comment ;).

1. I now know Gonch's last name, and his voice. I can stalk all I want now ;).
2. Everything sounded pretty professional. Very talk radio-ish. It was at the least 'on par' with CoasterRadio.com's PodCast in the style/quality department.
3. This was far more informative than CoasterRadio.com (or at least what I've listened to so far) in that it actually had people who knew what they were talking about, and who had a rapport with each other.
4. Jeff-you laugh too much at non funny stuff.;)
5. I liked how you gave credit to whoever submitted the story, just a nice touch.
6. Will there be regular 'special guests'? And I'm not talking CBuzz posters, I'm talking industry types?
7. I thought you weren't going to do a PodCast as you felt it wasn't 'interactive enough'? Just curious, I could have sworn you said that.

Aside from that, I would give it a decent rating. I don't honestly know if I'll listen every week just because I still don't know if Podcasting, much like blogging, is my thing. But for the most part, at least you didn't sound like an amature.

See? That background in Broadcasting did come in handy ;).

Good first show. It sounded pro to me. Great idea having Paula on the show. I hope there are industry "insiders" like her on all of the shows. That will definitely keep me listening.

Keep in mind that this is something I decided to do less than a week ago. It's not perfect, the format needs to evolve, and I am seriously rusty doing anything broadcastish because I left that biz about six years ago (it's no way to make a living). I was at least pleased with the quality, and I didn't do anything cliche like compress the heck out of the audio to compensate for a weak voice. That's so 80's FM!

I know there will be inevitable comparisons to "that other" show, but truth be told, this is a news show, not a dick-and-fart joke yuck fest where we talk about drinking and brag about getting banned from parks. That kind of nonsense isn't good for the already fragile relationship our community has with the industry. I respect the professionals in this business, and I hope to earn their respect as well.

I didn't entirely "get" podcasting until I started driving a lot. It's about a half-hour drive to the school where I coach, so I was looking for something else to listen to. I've been listening to This Week In Tech for months, and while geeky, it's a good show, and apparently the most popular podcast in the world. After seeing the most recent episode of systm, I realized that, duh, given my background (and credit resources) I could do it too. No idea if or when I'll make money doing it, but unlike working in radio and TV, this might actually be fun.

We'll see where it goes. We'll keep doing it for awhile and see what kind of response there is, and if people dig it, we'll keep it up. If not, we'll can it.

Hopefully we'll talk Paula into being a regular. And we've got some surprises hopefully for future guests...

Glad to hear your change of mind on podcasting a show, Jeff :)

CoasterRadio.com does a wonderful job podcasting a weekly show, and I look forward to your efforts as well!

BTW, The only problem I have with Systm.org and This Week in Tech - Video version, is their use of using Bittorrent as a delivery method. Their new host, AOL Radio, can handle their bandwidth now, so I don't see why they remain using such awkward download methods.*** This post was edited by midwave 9/26/2005 1:47:54 AM ***

I just need to get a proper mic, so I don't sound like I'm living in Bangladesh.

For huge video files I think BitTorrent is the only way to go, especially if you can't afford the bandwidth.

While I didn't get a chance to finish the Podcast (it stopped during discussion about the HW dark ride), I really enjoyed it. One thing that is sorely missing from any online discussion group is the ability to hear people as they're speaking their thoughts. A lot of things can be misinterperted because of the inability to hear peoples tones. It reminded me a lot of an AM talk-radio broadcast without the irate callers:)

As I'm an audio geek Jeff (it's how I make my living:), could you tell us how you put the program together? I'm specifically interested in what hardware you used to get everyone on the line at the same time and what audio program/s you used to assemble the whole thing. Lastly, who does the theme song?

I just read your reply about the audio quality. I think it came out really well Jeff. Besides one overloaded point, the only other thing I noticed is what is called the "glass noise effect" (and it's very subtle), which I believe happens when Nasai speaks (?). For those of you who care, it's when you try to remove hiss from audio tapes or other sources in a computer noise reduction program. I've been dealing with this when trying to clean up audio from some Type I audio cassettes in Logic Pro.
*** This post was edited by Intamin Fan 9/26/2005 2:53:34 AM ***

Yep Jeff...I forgot that Systm.org is not part of the AOL Radio sponsorship that TWiT uses.

I just hope in time that the newly tested TWiT video is offered thru AOL's sponsorship.

I would rather watch a smaller video stream of Systm.org instead of a download, but it's still using premium bandwidth, no matter how small the video is.

Oh, one thing I wanted to point out, hehe:

You don't blow into Turkey Calls. Esp. not the ones Holiday World has the 'gun' modeled after. You scrape the top against the sides of the bottom in short to long bursts to sound like a turkey ;).

But....but...I'm not the marketing director!

How embarrassing. I guess there was a mixup. A communications snafu. You meant for him to be on, not me.

Sigh!

Paula (Director of Public Relations)

Good job Jeff.

LOL Paula, especially since you gave Jeff your "proper" title right at the beginning of the padcast. ;)

Awesome job to everyone involved.

heh heh, Rob said "Glom"

Can we get this on iTunes?

I only spent about $600 on hardware, not counting the stuff I already owned. My laptop acted as the Skype hub, and that's how I had Scott, LG and Mike connected. Rob and Paula were connected by phone (I use Vonage, so technically they came in via the Internet as well). That was kind of a mess because Rob and Paula had very different levels on a three-way call, and that was obvious. A little JK Audio THAT-1 phone patch pulled the phone audio off and sent the return audio.

I don't know what everyone was using at their end, but I know Gonch rigged a Shure SM57 to his computer. I used an SM11, which is actually a lavalier. The reason I bought one of those instead of a hand mic or headset is that I'd like to get back into video more, so if I'm going to spend $100 on a mic, it might as well be one I can use for other things.

I bought a Mackie 1202-VLZ to bring it all together. The little mixer has a two aux sends, so I could do mix-minus feeds back to the phone patch and to the Skype laptop, avoiding any feedback loops there. The Mackie output went to my desktop to record, and also to my DV camcorder as a backup. I don't have any special audio card, just what was on the motherboard. I'd love to have a multi-track card. :)

I did over-do it on the noise reduction, and honestly now that I listen to the original, it wasn't really bad in the first place. I edited in Avid Xpress HD, which is technically for video, but I'm proficient in using it and I don't have anything else to edit audio with.

The music is the first thing I ever tried to make with Acid, way back in 2000. It's a J-Pizzie original. :)

The iTunes feed has been submitted. I don't think it has appeared yet.

Yes, I have a bunch a stuff laying around from my music days. Just used a Shure SM57 running through an old SB Live! sound card and the same Sony headphones I use on my PC everyday.

I'm pretty sure the weak link at this point it the soundcard that is 7 years old, but it was still plenty good.

Just wish I could be at the HW event next week... :(