Podcasting for beginners
At a PC near you …
Stuart Robinson
Following the recent launch of the RSCM's first podcast on its website, broadcaster and musician Stuart Robinson considers podcasting, and offers some DIY podcast tips.
'It's just a matter of getting the tune in your head, practising it in the bath or something, then getting on with it.'
Thus spake the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Dr Barry Morgan, after performing The Welsh Eucharist (Cymun y Cymry), Professor John Harper's bilingual setting published by the RSCM. With many churches in Wales having little or no musical resources, the idea of the RSCM podcast is to offer some hints about singing this flexible setting liturgically, in places where there is no choir, or even no organ. It is a short six-minute audio feature about the work, which you can listen to here. It sounds much like a feature you might hear on the radio, with musical extracts, commentary, and interview clips with the composer, users of the setting, and the Archbishop.
The interviews were recorded using a mini-disc machine, and the whole piece edited on a computer using a digital editing program. It was subsequently uploaded to the RSCM website as an MP3 file.
What is a podcast?
In short, podcasts are audio programmes; the only difference being that they are not to be found on a radio set, but downloaded from the internet onto a computer. They can then be transferred to portable digital players such as the Apple iPod™, for listening at a time and place of your choosing. Indeed it is the iPod from which the term podcasting is partly derived, though the audio material can be played on any MP3 player (including some mobile phones).
This particular phenomenon has grown considerably in the past couple of years. Figures are difficult to come by, but in February this year it was claimed that there had been half a million downloads of The Ricky Gervais Show – a podcast starring The Office comedian, published not by a broadcasting organisation but by a newspaper.
In the same month, there were 1.7 million downloads of BBC output, and one research organisation estimates eight million Britons will have gone in search of a podcast this year.
Broadcasting on the Web
Given that all you need to make a podcast publicly available is a microphone, a computer and a website, the dissemination of programmes to a potential mass audience 'out there' is no longer in the hands of organisations such as the BBC. There is no end to the number of subjects, ranging from knitting and learning the Shona language, to sport and gardening. Doctors at a practice in mid-Wales have gone one step further, and made a short downloadable film showing the correct way to use an asthma inhaler. Whatever next?
When it comes to Christian organizations, there are of course countless websites. Podcasts take the medium one stage further and there are many to choose from; in fact a visit to www.podcast.net reveals there are about 1,500 items with a Christian slant. The Methodist Church, the Salvation Army and the Church Mission Society each publish a monthly audio magazine, and there are countless churches making available recordings of sermons and addresses. The sound quality is also extremely variable, and as a listener, one is a mere eavesdropper; often no attempt is made to greet or include the online audience. www.podcastalley.com is another collection point with 1820 podcasts in the Religion/Inspiration category.
Church music on the Net
Virtually all of these podcasts are speech-based, but many Christian music podcasts are available as well. Try typing 'church', 'music', 'podcast' and 'podcasting' into your search engine and a whole world of potential listening awaits. Trying to find sites related specifically to church music, though, is not easy. Part of the reason is copyright, which I will return to later.
Perhaps the most off-the-wall is 'Christus Vincit Podcasting' (www.christusvincit.net) described as 'Liturgy, Music and Fun' by Brian Michael Page, and fun it certainly is in places. The subject matter is wide ranging from music for funeral masses, and the exploration of the hymn catalogue of St Thomas Aquinas, to the plainsong used at Page's church on Rhode Island, and a home-made recording of the hymn 'Let all mortal flesh keep silence' sung to Picardy. It is also described as 'the diary and musings of some snarky madman music ministers' (sic). Brace yourself: Mr Page is not short of opinions, but neither does he seem to take himself too seriously!
BBC podcasts
The growth of podcasting in the past couple of years has made broadcasters sit up straight. The BBC's response has been to make a few programmes on each network available as podcasts.
On BBC Radio Four, podcasts include the Reith Lectures given earlier this year by the musical maestro Daniel Barenboim, as well as In our Time, and items from programmes such as Today and Woman's Hour. From a musical point of view, perhaps the most successful project was the free downloading of all of Beethoven's symphonies.
At the time of writing, the only BBC religious programme that can be downloaded as a podcast is All Things Considered produced by my Radio Wales colleagues in Cardiff. To have Choral Evensong downloadable as a podcast would probably delight many readers, but rights issues could be a major stumbling block here.
Listening to podcasts
So what is needed to listen to all of this? At the very least your computer should have a soundcard and a program to process sound and video, such as Windows Media Player, QuickTime, Real Player or iTunes. Many podcasts are revised all the time, and you then need software which enables your computer to check for updates and download new editions. There is no shortage of free programs to use here: a visit to www.podcastingnews.com offers over twenty. You can then transfer material to your portable MP3 player.
Making your own podcasts
With Christmas on the horizon, you might be moved to record a podcast in your own establishment.
It is worth investing about £100 in decent microphones; professional broadcasters use AKG, Beyer and Sony microphones. Having got the microphone, it then has to be handled properly. The BBC offers good advice about placing and handling at www.bbctraining.com/modules/2857/text-version2.html. If taking your PC down to the church is impractical, there are portable recording devices such as mini-disc recorders, and digital recorders that use flashcards.
Digital editing software is then needed to record and edit material. Audacity is a free, downloadable and very basic program (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/).
Having edited your material, you need to buy some webspace and a domain name for the website, if you have not one already. There is no shortage of companies offering deals at knock-down prices; type 'web' and 'hosting' into your preferred search engine and you will see what I mean. Again there is no shortage of advice, but www.frequencycast.co.uk/diypodcast.html is a good start.
Copyright restrictions
A major factor to consider in recording music is copyright. Even before the arrival of the internet, the recording of any music in copyright has meant paying fees to the MCPS-PRS Alliance, who in turn pay royalties to member composers, arrangers and publishers. The internet has seen many infringements of copyright, but now the MCPS-PRS is fighting back with the launch of two licensing schemes for podcasters. The Limited Podcasting Exploitation Licence should be launched by September 2006 costing about £200–£400.
The MCPS-PRS website www.prs.co.uk/DocsRepository/4729/ explains all, though there are one or two curious conditions, the most notable being that the opening ten seconds of each 'track' should be obscured by speech or a station identification; many of us will blanche in horror at the concept.
Of course the easiest solution might be to record music in the so-called public domain. These are compositions and arrangements written by composers or arrangers who died more than 70 years ago, the copyright of which will have lapsed. But care still needs to be taken here. For example, the traditional melody of The Twelve Days of Christmas is in the public domain, but the version with the different music for 'five gold rings' is in copyright. It is best to check before clicking the record button.
Casting your net
By this stage one is tempted to ask 'why bother'? Why add yet another podcast to the cacophony in cyberspace? But as with broadcasting, you never know who is listening. Podcasting falls into the 'casting your net over the waters' category (or should that be 'casting your dot net over the virtual waters'?).
The Revd Leonard Payne from Suffolk, whose churches are affiliated to the RSCM, would readily agree. He decided to podcast his sermons on www.six-ten.org for those unable to attend the Sunday evening service, normally attended by 20 to 30 people. The peak listening was 2,500 downloads but now averages 500 each time including, would you believe, a ship situated in the Gulf. Some catch!
Stuart Robinson is a freelance broadcaster and church musician. His work includes the production of Celebration programmes for BBC Radio Wales, and running media training workshops. Stuart is the RSCM's Co-ordinator in Wales and Media Relations Organiser, and produced the podcast about The Welsh Eucharist on the RCSM website.
13 July 2006