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Guide to publishing audio

A simple guide to publishing audio

By the Ourmedia staff

"Audio" refers to any kind of digital sound recording: speech, music, sound snippets, etc. Each may involve a different approach.

Publishing audio in 5 easy steps

In general, creating audio for the Web consists of five steps:

Step 1: Record your audio

Step 2: Transfer your audio to your computer

Step 3: Optional step: Edit your audio with audio-editing software

Step 4: Optional step: Optimize your audio for playback on the Web

Step 5: Share your audio file with the world by uploading it to Ourmedia

You're responsible for all five steps.

Step 1: Just record it!

If you're creating music, the Web teems with tutorials on the software and techniques you'll need.

For other kinds of audio, you may record on a traditional analog tape recorder and convert it to a digital file, but the easiest way is to record directly to a digital recorder or directly to your computer with the proper software and microphone equipment. You don't need fancy studio recording equipment -- a US$49 handheld digital recorder will do.

Step 2: Transfer your sound file

Audio files are smaller than video files and will thus transfer much faster to your computer (if you're not recording directly to your PC or Mac). Many digital recorders come with flash memory cards, which connect directly to slots on newer machines or to a USB port with a card reader. Other devices come with a cable to transfer audio to your PC or Mac via USB or IEEE-1394 (FireWire).

Step 3: Edit your audio

There are dozens of audio-editing applications on the market, some free, some for a price.

Audacity is a popular free open-source free program that runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. It’s a great tool for recording and audio editing, and we recommend it without reservation.

Step 4: Encoding your audio (optional)

Codecs (compression software) reduce the size of your audio files so they require less storage and transfer faster over the Internet. (See Wikipedia for more on audio data compression.)

Some people like to listen to files in higher-quality formats than MP3, and the Internet Archive encourages members to upload audio in high-quality, uncompressed formats, such as WAV, or a lossless-compression format such as SHN (Shorten), a non-commercial format, or FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) or Monkey's Audio, both of which are open-source codecs. Be aware, however, that uploading uncompressed audio over the Internet, even with a DSL or cable modem, can take considerable time. For example a 10-minute stereo WAV file (16 bit, 44,100Hz sample rate) is bigger than 100 megabytes.

Generally, a better course is to publish your file in compressed audio formats such as widely popular MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3); Vorbis, a good open-source format; QuickTime; or (AAC) Advanced Audio Coding, though such files are compatible only with Apple computers and the iPod family and can't play on Windows Media Player.

And, if you wish, you may publish audio in Real Audio (RA) or Windows Media Audio (WMA) or other proprietary formats. Remember that whatever format you use, you may be limiting the number of people who can play files in that format.

MP3 is far and away the most common lossy-compression format, and if you use MP3 there’s a good chance that almost anyone will be able to listen to your audio. If you use Audacity for recording or editing, you can use the LAME MP3 encoder (a separate utility) to create your MP3 files.

Step 5: Share your audio

Ourmedia's publish my media pages and Outhink's SpinXpress tool are designed to simplify the upload process while capturing necessary text information about your audio file. Or, you may publish your audio work at a podcasting site, music site or elsewhere.

Don't be put off by the topic's seeming complexity. Creating media is for everyone — not just the experts. Do it once and you'll get the hang of it!