Pagan Podcasting

I decided as my first article for the Proud pagan Podcasters to be a look behind the scenes of the Magick Jukebox. I will cover hardware, software, music rights, and my recording and editing process. I hope it will give prospective and established podcasters some insight into their own shows.

Hardware

I know a lot of podcasters record on a Mac, but I use a PC with Windows 7, 64bit. There is no reason for this, other than I prefer using a PC for my own use as well, other than podcasting. Probably the most important piece of hardware a podcaster needs is a microphone. I started my show with a basic unidirectional USB mic I picked up for about $20. It worked fairly well, and I have now passed it along to someone else so they can start their own show. I now use the Samson Meteor Microphone. It’s a USB studio microphone with a built in headphone jack for direct monitoring and a LED that shows red when you are clipping. The kit I got with the microphone included a microphone stand, a pop filter, and a set of Samson HP10 headphones, all for a little over $100. My new microphone has a much fuller, dynamic sound and makes it much easier for me to record as well.

Software

The Magick Jukebox is a show about Pagan and spiritual music. I have managed to put together a vast collection of music. I organize and select the music for the show using Mediamonkey (www.mediamonkey.com). Mediamonkey is free for the basic edition, but I highly recommend you spring for the $20 or so for the full version. It allows me to listen to the songs as I organize them into the playlist for the show. Then I can export the playlist to edit with a word processor to create my episode blog entry as well as be the backbone of my script. I know it’s not THAT important, buy just FYI, I use Openoffice Writer (www.openoffice.org) for my scripts. The entire OpenOffice suite is completely free and does a great job of replacing the expensive Microsoft Office.

My actual recording and editing is done with a great program called Propaganda (www.makepropaganda.com). This nifty little program will run about $50, and worth every penny. Propaganda is a drag and drop podcast editor. I simply search for the songs in my library (A), Drag them to the playlist (B) and use the drop down menus in the playlist and use basic editing tools in the timeline ( C) to fine tune the show. The built in record function automatically runs a noise filter and amplifies my voice recordings to a comparable level.

After recording, I export the file as a WAV file and run it through one more program called Levelator (www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator). Levelator runs a compressor, normalizer, and limiter, plus other filters to bring all your different pieces to your podcast to a nice, steady level. The best part about this powerful program is, it’s free.

Music Rights

This is a big issue for most podcasters, but oddly enough, Pagan podcasters have it relatively easy. Most podcasters need to either pay expensive music rights to companies like ASCAP or BMI to pay for the rights to use a song, and then more money to pay for the right to use a particular recording of that song. The alternatives are to seek out what is known as Podsafe music (www.musicalley.com, for one), or get the rights directly from the artist, as long as the artist is on an independent label or they self publish. Most musicians that make Pagan music are of the latter type and usually only require an email or two to get permission. Be sure to use a well defined podcast music agreement to protect yourself and the musicians. Many artists have already given permission to the members of the Proud Pagan Podcasters. Just look on the “Music we can air” page. Don’t forget that you still need to BUY or otherwise legally obtain the music. If a musician happens to give you some of their music to air, be very very grateful. They definitely did not have to do that.

Putting it all together

My first step to creating a show is to come up with a concept, or theme for the show. It could be as simple as celebrating a holiday or sabbat, or announcing the release of a new album. Once I get my idea, I search my collection of playable music to find songs that fit the bill. I usually don’t restrict myself here. Anything that I see that fits the theme, I put on the playlist. After I have found everything that works, I start listening, comparing, and removing songs from the playlist until I reach my time goal. My typical shows range anywhere from an hour to nearly two hours. Future shows from now will be limited to under 45 minutes, if possible. Just a format change I wanted to make.

Once the songs are selected, put in order (or just randomized, a simple thing I use more often than I probably should) I export the songs to a playlist. The playlist is edited with my word processor to be just a list of songs. I take out the directory info, the track numbers, and the “.mp3” at the end. I save this list to be used on my blog entry for the show and then break up the songs into sets. I can then write my script to fit the focus of the show. I always attribute the songs to their creators and give album information when I can.

With my script finalized, I can begin recording. I simply drag and drop my songs and sound clips into Propaganda in order as they appear in the script. When the time comes in the script to record, I turn on the mic and go for it. A couple tips on recording; practice, practice, practice. The more you do it, the less nervous you sound. Pretend you are having a conversation with a friend and you are explaining your subject to them and them alone. This is why podcasts with more than one host do so well. If I make a mistake, I stop, wait a few seconds, and start again. The long pauses make it easy for me to recognize what needs to be cut later.

Okay, recording is all done, and my (many, many) mistakes have been cut out, now what? I export the podcast to a WAV file and run it through Levelator. After it finishes, I plug it back into Mediamonkey to give it a listen, convert it back to a MP3 and put in my ID3 tags. I upload the file to my podhost service (www.podbean.com) and then publish it with the original playlist I saved earlier.

The future

I love doing the Magick Jukebox and I encourage anyone who has a desire to to at least give podcasting a try. I know I’m hooked. 2012 will bring some changes to my show. I am doing a shorter, more concise format and will be adding some interviews with the artists I play to give some insight about the songs and albums I am featuring. With a shorter playlist, I will be able to focus more on the songs and artists I do play and can give more information regarding them as well. I also hope that the shorter format will enable me to start putting out a show every two weeks or so.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my article and found it informative. I am willing to discuss anything about podcasting or pretty much anything else, for that matter. Please contact me at magickjukebox@gmail.com and I will get back with you.

Blessed Be and thanks for listening.

David Banach

Recently The Infinite and the Beyond was featured in an article by Tim Titus from The Juggler.

“In the past few years, the world of Pagan podcasts has moved beyond the comfortable introductory stage and into a more challenging era, one that asks questions and confronts assumptions, driving us forward as a community and as a group of religions.  Both types of material have their place, but as a person moves forward along their path, they need those greater and greater challenges to propel them along the way. One of the most valuable of the latter kind of Pagan podcasts is The Infinite and the Beyond… “ – Tim Titus

Be sure to check this and other articles by Tim Titus located at The Juggler.

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The Juggler is a part of the Pagan Newswire Collective and is the Arts, Culture and Pop-Culture branch of the PNC.

Here are two promos for the Proud Pagan Podcasters. I have a third I’m going to do and when it is available I will add it to this post.

ppp_promo_hey_enjoy
Music: “The Bomb” by All India Radio
http://www.allindiaradio.com.au/

ppp_promo_solstice_relax
Music: “Solstice” by All India Radio
http://www.allindiaradio.com.au/

Music obtained via MusicAlley.com. Released under Creative Commons Share-alike due to music used. Therefore, do not use if your show is released under traditional copyright without Creative Commons Sharealike. Music credits are included in the ID3 tags of the file.

I hope they are well received. Promos done by anyone else are also appreciated!

The topic of Men in Wicca seems to be shrouded in mystery. The awesome podcasters here at the PPP have assembled resources to tackle this topic as a result. Here are some of the more memorable podcasts I have listened to on this topic .

Shhh! There are pagans in Texas!! has a very thought-provoking episode called The Man Panel (Episode 11). Like many thought-provoking podcasts, it is long, but even as someone experienced in absorbing and even propagating this information, there was a lot of new stuff here I previously had not encountered and that’s always fun for an avid podcast listener.

Coming from an exploration of male archetype in Wicca and how that should help inform men how to behave, The Wigglian Way has an excellent series of segments covering 4 aspects of the male archetype:

1. The Warrior (in Episode 61)
2. The Magician (in Episode 69)
3. The Lover (in Episode 85)
4. The King (in Episode 87)

Broadening the discussion to all of Paganism and not just Wicca, the discussion would seem one-sided without some input from some women. The Women at Pagan Women by Lamyka’s Wiccan Podcast discussed Pagan Men in Episode 7.

And, of course, we can’t forget the show I routinely contribute to for my friend Barrett up in Winnipeg – Pagan Men.

Launched in the wake of the Pagan Community’s discussion of gender identity resulting from the events of Pantheacon 2011, Pagan Men is a whole show dedicated to the topic of Men in various Pagan belief systems. Here’s a player for episode 1 which sets the tone and definitions the show uses.