Podcasting at iPodarmy.com

May 07, 2005 | 8 Comments

As you may have guessed I’ve been working away at a few different side projects over the last few months. I’ve got one big one, which is quite a-ways away, and a whole slew of smaller “mini” or “for fun” projects going right now.

One of these is my first ever podcast. It’s a music show, at least for now, where I showcase mostly Creative Commons licensed music and other tracks that won’t get me sued.

Along with that is the launch of iPodarmy.com, a site where I’ll host these podcasts as well as do some blogging on podcasting and related topics. I’ve decided that I don’t want to clutter Asterisk up with too much side business, so this is one of my “channels” to talk about something different.

Kudos

I wanted to thank everyone who entered my Creative Commons Contest. I found some great music via that, and found some nice new avenues to help find even more music.

I’d like to especially thank Fabien, Nathan, Kris and, the eventual winner, Bill McLaine. These guys pointed me toward the songs I liked the most. But, really, many of the recommendations were good ones.

Also, big props need to go to Matt May for giving me the lowdown on podcasting. He runs a great podcast over at staccatomusic.org and is one of the “curators” of Music Lovers Union, I urge you to check those out.

More On iPodarmy.com: Wordpress and Props to Dreamhost

iPodarmy is going to also be a bit of a playground for me where I try out different things. One of the first things to note about it is that it’s running off of Wordpress. Yep, not only is this my first run at podcasting, it’s my first run at Wordpress as well.

There are things I like about it, and things I don’t. I spent a hell of a lot of time working on getting my metas right and they’re still not the way I like ‘em. And the whole concept of “themes” leaves me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, even though they are pretty darn useful and once I get the hang of it all I imagine can be quite a time saver.

I’ve got to give props to Dreamhost for giving me the power to get this site up so quickly and easily. I’ll not go on, you can read all about why I love Dreamhost if you like.

In any-case, I hope you give it a listen, and don’t get too put of by the amateurishness of the whole thing. It was a pretty awkward experience for me that I hope gets easier with practice and better equipment. There is some good music in there though, something for everyone I’m hoping, so don’t let my lack of podcasting acumen stop you from checking it out.

Filed under: Music
Keyword Tags: podcasting ipodarmy.com music creative+commons

Comments

1. JamesZ said:

Kudos, Keith!
The only way that we ever reallly grow as individuals is by trying new things and stepping out of our comfort zone.

This is a great (IMHO) convergence of your talents and passions. I can certainly understand the difficulty you faced looking for CC licensed music.

Great work, I’m looking forward to more.

Posted on May 7, 2005 06:05 PM | #

2. B. Adam said:

Sounds great Keith, good work. Some great songs in there, and some that I had to skip over … But that’s the great thing about podcasts – don’t like it? Skip it.

Would love to hear more talk from you next time – your take on the music is just as interesting as the music itself. Oh, and couldn’t comment over at ipodarmy … link seems to want to pop-up, but it’s just too tired or something ;)

Posted on May 7, 2005 10:28 PM | #

3. Keith said:

JamesZ – Thanks for the vote of confidence!

B. Adam – I think I got the comment thing fixed. I’m still new to WP and I’m working with a mish-mash of modified themes, trying to get my head around it all.

As far as the talking bit goes… I need to be more used to it. To be honest, I’m not used to the sound of my voice recorded and I’m also not set up to do it right. This one was just me, my powerbook mic and Garage Band. Not ideal. But yeah, once I get used to it I may talk more. But I’m taking my time and learning as I go.

Posted on May 7, 2005 10:37 PM | #

4. Yannick L. said:

Good Job Keith. Just like B. Adam said there were some great songs and some that I had to skip over. But overall I have to say it was an awesome first attempt. Keep up the good work.

Also just like you I am new to WP so I am learning as I go along.

Peace and God Bless!

Posted on May 8, 2005 11:53 AM | #

5. Tom said:

Staccato is great.

Question: Why don’t you distribute your podcasts via BitTorrent as well as normal download?

Posted on May 8, 2005 03:00 PM | #

6. Keith said:

Tom – Honestly, because I don’t know how to yet. I’m not up on the whole BitTorrent thing yet, believe it or not.

Posted on May 8, 2005 03:10 PM | #

7. Kevin Tamura said:

Live from Sacramento on my mom’s new mini with dial-up. Yep, she’s been switched.

So this is what you were hinting about the other night, very nice my friend. I haven’t gotten too deep into podcasting but I will make iPodArmy my first testdrive when I get back to Seattle.

Posted on May 8, 2005 10:08 PM | #

8. Adrian said:

I use WP… The themes can be a bit frustrating, and at first a little intimidating, but the nice thing is once you get the hang of it, they’re a very nice feature to have… Many times, you can copy an existing theme to a new directory, edit only the css file, and you have a new theme..

Other than that, I like WP a lot better than quite a few of the other CMSes out there…

Posted on May 9, 2005 09:49 AM | #