The Audacity and Futility of Learning How to Podcast

Audacity, everyone is using it, or so it seems.  I have reservations. For every person who raves about the program (mostly painted with the brush, “it’s free!) there is at least another that will say how buggy it is. (It is free, after all).

When I briefly produced, edited and co-hosted a podcast back in 2008 Audacity was a our recording software.  As such the bugs did not worry me.  If we dropped recording it would be known right away and we could just set up another take.

Editing was done back then on my now deceased iMac G5 using Final Cut  (video editor, but I loved the interface).  The G5 was done in by a well-known power supply issue that is no longer covered. How is it that if there is a known defect that there is no life-time coverage? There ought to be  a lemon law for technology for all the Luddites out there that don’t need the latest and greatest upgrade, we just want things to be well made and work for more than 5 years.

The stagnant development of the  as yet untitled “Contrarian Fanatics” podcast has everything to do with fact that I am not comfortable with the audio editing options currently at my disposal.  I could very well use Audacity until a better solution comes around, but it feels important to have a process in place that can go forward.  As a Mac is not in my future any process cannot include Final Cut…not to mention my old version likely won’t work with today’s more powerful machines.

My goal with this post was to try to get some good ideas from those who might stumble upon it.  Googling “how to make a podcast”  and finding useful tips can be a frustrating endeavor.  The titles seem more helpful than the content. Here’s hoping I don’t provide another one of those.  I fear I may have.

In the meantime, “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more”.