The Greyhound Diaries: a bus ride (crash) in podcasting

Sometime last August the notion struck me to try my hand at podcasting. An idea giving off ‘wouldn’t that make an awesome movie’ vibes had popped into my head, only with some obvious podcast-related alterations. I wanted to make a podcast that followed Canadian music along the major Greyhound bus routes. There would be an interview staged as a rest stop or a traveling game of some sort, and I could even get sound effects from the university library to flesh things out, you know, atmospherically.

So, bright eyed and bushy-tailed, I had this (somewhat) formulated idea in my head, a basic plan for execution and even some previous experience in audio recording and editing to back me up. However, what I didn’t have was any experience that was actually useful or any idea what I was getting myself into.

The whole project nearly came to a grinding halt when a very minimal amount of research let me know that my plans for my podcast were in fact totally illegal. I’d had a bit of an inkling that they were, but I was hoping that there might be some degree of vagueness which would let me through anyway. There wasn’t. If I was going to create something that could be downloaded I was going to have to pay royalties (not really an option for me and my student wage existence). I was completely buggered.

So, naturally, I made the podcast anyway. Well, to be more accurate, I kicked and pleaded with a disastrous, slime covered, lump of un-godliness from the cobwebbed recesses of my brain until it rearranged itself into a more or less acceptable podcast-like thing.

And the end result? I kind of liked it.

I mean sure, there are at least 50 things I would have done differently upon reflection, and there are some parts that cause more than a little cringing, but I’m actually quite fond of my thematic idea and the execution isn’t totally repulsive (especially not for a first try). More importantly, I had a seriously bitching time doing it. Even when I was ripping my hair out by the roots and threatening my laptop with imminent doom for being useless (this comes to mind), all my actions still all had a significant element of joie-de-vivre.

And all my royalty worries? Well, it appears that what I can do is broadcast all MySpace style via snazzy widgets and file hosting websites without too much trouble. Something about internet radio laws comes to mind... Ahhh download dodgers, an epic new era of sneaks.

Consequently, here is my 5 month old podcast- spruced and dusted.

Critique and suggestions are welcome. Praise (hem) is also (cough) quite welcome (hack-hack)…

Notes From The Process:

Tools: MacBook, Garage Band, Samson Q7 Microphone.

Duration of Creation Process: Immeasurable disguised as around 2 ½ - 3 days.

Moment of Glory: Getting Wayne Petti (Cuff the Duke) to actually concede to being interviewed. Who knew the power of simply walking up and asking?

Moment of Doom: Realizing that I’d said Perry instead of Petti at one point in the recording just after I’d declared myself as finished.

Flash of Genius: Re-recording the lost introduction to the 20 Questions segment while sitting in my empty bathtub with my laptop and microphone, trying to re-create the echo from the pub. I think it almost worked.

Flash of Melted Brain Syndrome: Every time I talked over Wayne. He said some absolutely perfect things that I destroyed by trying to do the converse-y thing.

Need to Improve: Script writing.

Am Improving: Vocal technique. Lessons in voice and speech with David Smuckler from Equity Showcase are seeing to that. For anyone considering a future in radio broadcasting, acting, or any form of career that depends on voice and speech patterns (and there are more of them out there than one might think) I highly suggest these classes or ones similar. They are eye-prier-openers.

Bit of a Giggle: My ridiculous 20 Questions jingle. It’s just two voices recorded over and over and layered on top of each other to sound like a chorus. It was supposed to sound like children but I guess you can't win every time.

Frozen Headphones and the new generation of winter clothing: oh the possibilities.

I’m not sure what I was trying to pull, or what I thought would happen. Could I do it? Could I really handle the frozen wastes of the 08-09 Canadian winter with nothing but Earbuds to protect my ice chipped little oreilles? Nothing but the easily pocketable anything-matchers that came with my iPod way back in the misleading heat of summer? The answer, dear friends, is a great whopping NO.

In the months of ice and snow to come (or ice and wind as is my case here in Toronto), headphones are a must have. And I mean real headPHONES. I don’t mean those spindly little jogger friendly question marks, or those floppy clip-ons with the embarrassingly inexplicable design, or even your custom fitted, wax-molded, personalized mini music-pumpers that put a healthy dent in your wallet, but a great, big, fuzzy pair of $35 Koss beasts from Zellers. The kind of headphones that block out bus horns and give you neck problems.

Luckily, for the shallow-pocketed of us, those $35 monsters really do exist. The sound quality is less than awesome and the exhausting length of the chord is enough to dry your laundry on, but these snug-as-a-bug, ear-muff speakers are just what any music lover needs to keep toasty and melodically infused while crunching and slushing his or her way through the next few months. However, if you can cough up the extra cash for a higher quality pair of speakers then do it, and for the love of god do it guilt free. It can be your non-denominational festive season donation to yourself. Tra la la la la - la la la la, and whatnot.

So go forth, toss your Earbuds in the bottom drawer, and embrace the cold. Don't worry, they’ll be there when you get back next summer and are looking for something that doesn’t gather neck sweat (ewe?). Now is the time to pick up a pair of full on head encompassers. You won’t regret it. After all, with a bit of careful planning, you could look this.

I mean, doesn’t he look totally pimp? Not to mention thoroughly blissed out? Personally, I’m jealous.

If you aren't yet convinced of your personal need for a pair of winter-tastic headphone titans then just keep in mind that the head strap will help keep your hat on like nobody's business. In the end what more can any of us really ask for?