Newbie question.

[Heatherzilla]

I wish to make a podcast with about 4 or 5 teenagers from all over the world. I want to have each persons voice as a seperate track to mix in audacity whats the best way to do this? I've heard that skype is good but I've never used it before, what other programs could I use? I also need to find myself a good not to expensive mic coz at the moment I've just been useing whatever I have lying around which in general were not designed to be used as a computer mic (singstar mics, eyetoy, the mic on my mp3 player lol). Also I need to find somewhere not to expensive to host it, any suggestions? Your help is most appreciated.

[WyethDigital]

I don't use Skype, but there are programs you can use for recording it. For technical questions of that sort, you should probably post a little about the computer you're planning to build your podcast on. Is it Mac? Windows? Which versions? How many and what kind of ports does it have (Firewire, USB, Line-in, Mic In)?

Some of those questions apply to what type of mic, as well. Although, if you're using Skype, then you'll likely need headset mics. And not those $5.00 headsets, but something better.

As far as hosting goes, there are lots of sites that provide low cost hosting. Libsyn, Switchpod, PodShow (free), etc. Another site you might look into, given the nature of your podcast, is TalkShoe. They're focus is on live, multi-person podcasting (which can then be downloaded and/or syndicated via RSS). I even believe they work with Skype, but would not work with 5 or 6 people in their own separate tracks.

Eric

[Heatherzilla]

I probably should have said what my computer is like in my first post. It's runing windows xp home, has 512 RAM(want more), 6 USB, 1 port I've never seen before and don't use and about 4 expansion slots for me to put stuff in. I plan on building a new computer sometime later in the year but I dunno what it will be like. It's not absolutely necessary for everyone to have a different track, it was just wishful thinking on my part so I could play around with things a bit more later.

[thebeatsuite]

Will the teenagers be independantly producing their voice recordings so to speak. i.e. setting their levels and purchasing the equipment for themselves?

[Four-Oh]

You might consider using Skype combined with a Skype plug-in called Pamela (http://www.pamela-systems.com/). With it, you can record yourself on one channel, and all the other teenagers on the other, which helps for mixing purposes.

[mugatu]

I wish to make a podcast with about 4 or 5 teenagers from all over the world. I want to have each persons voice as a seperate track to mix in audacity whats the best way to do this? I've heard that skype is good but I've never used it before, what other programs could I use? I also need to find myself a good not to expensive mic coz at the moment I've just been useing whatever I have lying around which in general were not designed to be used as a computer mic (singstar mics, eyetoy, the mic on my mp3 player lol). Also I need to find somewhere not to expensive to host it, any suggestions? Your help is most appreciated.

I'm a fan of Mixcraft. I like it more than audacity - simply because it is compatible with acid and garageband loops. It's a pretty cool multi-track editing app. It's more expensive than audacity (then again, everything is more expensive than free...hahahaha) and will run you about $50)

As for the host, there are lots of them out there with various price ranges. We've done a few, like switchpod, but we eventually moved all of our business to www.avmypodcast.com. They're all pretty much equal - but we liked the support best there.

Hope that helps.

[cybercooler]

I wish to make a podcast with about 4 or 5 teenagers from all over the world. I want to have each persons voice as a seperate track to mix in audacity whats the best way to do this? I've heard that skype is good but I've never used it before, what other programs could I use? I also need to find myself a good not to expensive mic coz at the moment I've just been useing whatever I have lying around which in general were not designed to be used as a computer mic (singstar mics, eyetoy, the mic on my mp3 player lol). Also I need to find somewhere not to expensive to host it, any suggestions? Your help is most appreciated.
There are a couple of issues. If you have more than one guest, having them each on a channel is an issue. You would have to have each person record THEIR pary of the call on THEIR side and then send you the mp3 file. You then combine them. This is called a double ender and sounds much more complicated than it is. The biggest hurdle is if your guest doesn't have the hardware and microphones to record their side. There is software to record a skype, or if you have an outside recording device, you can have YOU plugged into the microphone input, and then have THEIR side of the call panned to one side using the windows mixer. This makes it easier to edit later as your vocie will appear on both channels, but your guest will only be in the left or right channel.

As for micphones I've got a few examples over at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/tools (http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/tools) of the microphones I use. All are under or right around $99 dollars. I also show how you can podcast for free, or on a limited budget (hosting, etc).

If this sounds confusing, I have some tutorials that make it crystal clear.