Week VIII: The Sound of...Podcasting

This week we learned about podcasting and digital media files. I enjoyed learning about how to use GarageBand on a MAC and free software for PCs like Audacity. We all know the purpose of audio files, whether it is to create a video, listen to music, or get news off of the internet. Podcasts were created to change the audio files from websites into a downloadable form for mp3 players. Although I have not used podcasts before, I feel that it is very beneficial for others. One way that I would find this to be used for entertainment purposes would be radio shows that are not broadcasted in your area. For me, I enjoy listening to Real Radio 104.1 which can be heard in the Orlando area. They do stream their show online and it is available for podcasts. I could not listen to this live for it is early in the morning, but if I put it on my mp3 player, I could listen to it whenever I wanted to.

I plan on using Audacity whenever I need to record something and clip it together in the future. When creating my audio file, I tried to be creative and have a story behind my clip. The guitar that is heard was made for me by a old friend. He created the piece for me about 8 years ago and I've had it in my music folder through several computers since then. I paired it with rain in the background and a ticking clock. The story that my piece portrays is a teenage boy alone in his house in the country. He is sad about the girl he loves being so far away. He is looking out the window of his house after dark and it is raining outside. Just sitting alone, he decides to play his guitar and reminisce about his summer love. I had a great time with this project and have listened to the piece several times since then.

When looking up more about Podcasting, I came across a website called PodcastAlley. This is a pretty cool website because it explains what podcasting is and allows you to subscribe to different podcasts that you enjoy. You can look them up based on genre, comment on them, and upload your own. I think this would be great for people who have a lot of time to listen to things like this such as truckers.

Sound files are going to be useful for websites in the field of audiology. Podcasting, on the other hand, is not the most effective method to communicate with clients for they may not be able to relay a message if your clients are unable to hear it. Visual representations are going to be more effective for my future clients but the sound files that will come with this can be enjoyed by clients with a mild to moderate hearing loss and hearing family members.