Create Your Own Internet Radio Show

By: Cindy Whitt

In the movie Pump up the Volume the main character, Mark Hunter, used an old radio transmitter to start his own underground radio show. He transformed himself into shock-jock Happy Harry Hardon and became popular among his high school peers and infamous in his small town. The Internet was just a baby when he told his faithful listeners, "Our voices our powerful, and we should be shouting with them from mountaintops, over the airways, on the web...wherever."

Almost everyone has some sort of presence on the Internet whether it's a weblog, a livejournal, or a plain ol' home page. It's hard to imagine what the Internet must've been like before everyone had access to it, when having a personal site was new and revolutionary, and when what you were doing hadn't already been done before by hundreds of other people. With so many personal sites on the web, the idea of self-expression through technology seems to have lost its luster, but that's only because all aspects of Internet technology haven't been tapped into.

Streaming radio has been around since the Internet itself, but it hasn't been used to it's fullest potential. The most appealing aspect of Internet self-publishing is the freedom to do whatever you choose, and you can do the same with a web-based radio show, except you'll be one radio host in fifty rather than one blogger in a million. This handy guide to creating and broadcasting a web-based radio show will help get you on the road to becoming the first web celeb of Internet radio.

Before televisions were a staple in homes and long before everyone had computers, people were entertained by their favorite radio shows. Families sat around and listened to weekly broadcasts of comedy shows like Abbott and Costello and thrillers like the Avenger as well as hundreds of others. Although two main formats of radio have persisted - news and music, the rest have almost vanished into the airwaves.

National Public Radio (NPR) has kept the tradition of entertaining listeners with broadcasts like All Things Considered and Fresh Air, shows which feature a mixture of news and commentaries. This American Life is another NPR show becoming popular among non-NPR listeners because of its blend of personal stories, interviews, and unique observations about everyday life. Radio Diaries, also a NPR show, gives regular people tape recorders to document their lives by keeping an audio journal and conducting interviews with family and friends. In Canada, a show called Outfront has a similar theme of giving people a chance to tell their stories.

With Internet radio, you can take this concept to the next level by creating your very own prerecorded radio show without having producers looking over your shoulder. All it takes is a little technical savvy, a little bit of cash to invest in the right equipment, and a lot of creative energy.

Create a Show. Radio can be a very personal form of communication because your thoughts aren't merely expressed through words but through your voice and the sounds of life around you. And since radio is such an overlooked medium of self-expression, the possibilities are endless. You don't have to become the next Rush Limbaugh if you don't like to talk politics; you don't have to be a misogynist shock jock like Howard Stern, and you don't have to stoop to grade school humor like those local morning show hosts.

If you're a writer, you can create a show based on your short stories. If you have a group of people interested in participating, you can even create your own weekly drama with reoccurring characters and regular story lines. If you're interested in telling other people's stories, you can interview locals. If you're a music fan, you can blend music and interviews of unknown artists or play your own original music. Or you can just combine everything you're interested in and create a talk variety show about your life, your culture, and everything in general. That's what a personal web site is all about, but with radio you can create something different from the rest of the Internet crowd.

Find a Format. The first thing you'll need to do is sketch out a format. Decide on the length of the show, and if you want to have different segments or one long show without breaks. Regular radio shows are divided up by local news broadcasts, commercials, and station identification promotions. This American Life has a brief introduction and three to four acts that are separated by snippets of songs. Because this is your show you can do it however you like, but consider the listener's attention span before you decide to spend an hour reading the first three chapters of your novel. Listen to your local radio stations and notice the length of time during blocks of songs and take note of your favorite segments of talk radio shows because this can help you set the groundwork for your show. Check the sidebar for a few segment ideas.

Get Content. With your format ideas in hand, you'll need to decide how to get content for each segment. If you plan to record away from your computer's microphone, you'll need to use a small tape recorder. The price of a new one starts at around $25 and can go into the hundreds, but ask friends if they have one you can borrow before you invest in one. Make sure it plays back without headphones, and make sure that it has a headphone outlet so you can connect it to your computer.

If you're running a one women show, decide how to incorporate other elements that will keep listeners interested. If you want to make a personal documentary, interview family and friends or record a day in your life by keeping an audio diary. Record yourself singing in the car as you drive to work or record the sounds of your daily activities, like cooking or working at your computer. You can also use these as sound bytes to break up different segments of the program.

If you're planning to have guests on your show, you'll need to arrange interviews. If you can't interview someone in person, you can email the questions and ask him or her to record the answers as if he or she is talking to you directly and have them emailed to you as a wav file or sent to you on a cassette tape. The only tricky part is that you won't know what the sound quality is like until you hear it.

When you're recording an interview or a conversation in person, try to do it in a location free of background noise, and do a sound check to make sure you can hear yourself and your participant clearly. Also make sure the person knows you are recording them; it's illegal to do otherwise.

If you are planning to use music in your show, whether you play full songs or use snippets as sound bytes, you'll have to consider the legal repercussions of using copyrighted music. Instead of putting yourself at risk with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), use your own original music or ask unsigned local musicians for permission to use their music. They'll be thankful for the exposure and you can promote music that probably deserves to be heard more than that new Justin Timberlake single. Also check out the web sites of some of your favorite independent labels; you may be able to contact them about using their bands' music.

Transfer & Edit Files. After you have gathered your interviews, sound bytes and music, you'll need to get everything in one place on your computer's hard drive. Create a new folder for all of your files and transfer any wavs or mp3s into it. In order to get the recordings you have on tape to your computer, you'll need a cable to connect the audio input (line-in) of your computer's sound card to the audio output of your tape recorder. You can buy this nifty device at an audio equipment store. Radio Shack has a 6-foot audio cable with 1/8" stereo mini plugs on each end for $5. Take your recorder with you to make sure it will fit.

Plug one end of the cord into the line-in audio plug on the back of your computer. It should be under the outlet for the computer speakers. Now plug the other end into the headphone outlet on your tape recorder. When you hit play on your recorder, you should be able to hear it through your computer speakers. Turn up the volume to a medium setting on the tape recorder for better quality, especially if your recording is a bit muffled. The way it sounds coming through your speakers is the way it will sound when it's recorded, so adjust the levels on the tape recorder. You may have to open your computer's volume control settings and look under options to make sure the line-in volume control options is checked. You can adjust the volume there accordingly.

See below and the sidebar to understand how to edit your files.

Broadcast the Show. Now that you've got your show ready for an audience, you'll need to place the file on the Internet. If you already have a web site with a host that supports Real Audio, all you'll need to do is create an HTML file that points to your audio file and then link it from your site. Open Notepad and type the URL for where your file will be.

Example: http://www.yoursitename.com/yourdirectory/nameofaudiofile.rm

Then save it as a .ram file, like radioshow.ram. Upload the actual audio file and the HTML file to your web site server then link the ram file from your page.

Example: <a href =http://www.yoursitename.com/yourdirectory/radioshow.ram > Listen to my new show</a>

When visitors click the link, it will open Real Audio on their computer and stream the file to them.

To allow people to download the mp3, just upload the file into your directory and link it from your site.

Example: http://www.yoursitename.com/yourdirectory/yourfile.mp3

If listeners have QuickTime or Windows Media Player, it's likely that it will automatically play from whichever is their default audio program, but they will also be able to right click and save it to their computer. If you plan to create more than one show, you may want to go with the Real Audio option because the files are smaller than mp3s.

Be sure to keep an eye on the amount of bandwidth you're using to broadcast your show. If you go over the limit allowed in your web-hosting plan, you'll be charged extra for all of the activity your show is producing. If your show becomes a hit, you may have to cut back on bandwidth usage by only allowing your show to be downloaded on certain days, or you may have to consider upgrading your hosting plan.

Find an Audience. Once you're satisfied with your first show, you need to find listeners. If you already have a steady group of visitors to your site, you shouldn't have a problem gathering an audience. If you're involved with other web sites or visit forums regularly, mention it in mailing list discussions or start a thread about it. Most people don't mind a little self-promotion if you're earnest and sincere. If you have guests on your show, they'll also help promote it because they'll want all of their friends to listen to their interview or newest songs. If you're really serious about your show, you can make flyers to hang in local stores, or place an ad in the arts and entertainment section of the newspaper or in your in favorite independent magazine.

Don't get discouraged if your first few shows aren't as clear and seamless as you would've liked. Keep recording, experimenting with formats, and testing different audio editing programs. No one becomes a professional, or a celebrity, on the first try.



To actually record the information from the tapes onto your computer's hard drive, you'll need an audio-editing program.

You can download a free program called Audacity here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net

The help file that comes with Audacity has lots of information for beginners and easy to understand tutorials. Unfortunately, the software seems a little buggy and will occasionally shut down for no reason. Since it's the only free audio editing software I've found I'd still recommend it, especially until you decide if you want to make more than a couple of radio shows. There are hundreds of others editors available but you have to purchase them in order to use all of their functions. The following is just a quick guide to using Audacity. The more you use it, the more you can do with it.

Download, install and open Audacity. Find the beginning of your segment on the tape recorder and hit pause. Click the red button on Audacity to record then unpause your tape player. When you get to the end of the recording, click stop on Audacity then stop the tape recorder. Now you have your first recording. It should look similar to the screenshot below.



There's a long selection tool that you can move anywhere within the recording. Click at the beginning and hit the play button and you'll be able to listen to what you just recorded. If you have a little extra at the end that you didn't mean to record, highlight it with your mouse and go up to Edit and click Delete. You can delete anything within the sound file, just listen to it several times first to make sure you know what you're deleting. Now go to up to File > Save it so you won't lose what you've done so far.

To use a file already on your computer, such as a recording you created with your computer's microphone, go up to Project > Import Audio. The track will open up below your original track. You can listen to it and cut out unnecessary parts as needed. In order to get it up to your original recording, highlight the part you want and go to Edit > Cut then click in your original track and go to File > Paste. You can also add silence between segments by clicking in the area, then clicking File > Insert Silence. If you want a song to fade out into the next segment, highlight the appropriate area and use the effect menu. There are many other options in the software but as you practice, read the tutorials, and try new things you'll discover how to use them.

Your first few attempts will need a lot of tweaking in order to make the show sound seamless. Play around with Audacity's effects menu and if possible, re-record the audio from your tape recordings if the quality is poor. Once you're happy with the way it sounds, you'll need to export the file. Audacity saves what you've done as a project file that is unique to the program. You can't do anything with it until you export it is as an actual audio file. You'll have to decide whether to export it as a mp3 or a wav file depending on how you want to present it to listeners.

If you're going to use streaming radio through Real Audio and allow your audience to listen without actually saving the file to their computers, then you'll need to export the file as a wav. Go to File > Export as WAV and save the new file.

Cindy Whitt is a college student living in Danville, Virginia. She’d like to be an art teacher, but she doesn’t know how to draw.

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