We wanted to do a streaming audio for the conference so that people would be able to listen to the conference without having to venture to South East London. The live stream would be an experiment in media delivery using an up-to-date medium, attempting to modernise the image of housing issues. The experiment was not as successful as expected due to logistic problems, however, the experience was invaluable and a lesson for the future.
The way we organised the web-cast:
A tape player would record each speech. After each speech, the tape would be taken to the tape-player plugged into the encoding computer and played back. This would then feed to the server and steamed “live” (1 hour behind) on the net. Why do it this way?:
A direct microphone connection to the computer would not work because the microphone’s signal was too weak and would need a pre-amp. The distance from conference to computer was about 20m, which was too long for most of the cables that we had. Tape was the simplest method. Why didn’t this work as well?:
The web cast was full of long silences, irregular broadcast and uncertain content. The speeches were different lengths and sometimes the tape was not taken out between speeches but left for a couple of speeches. There was no engineer/ person watching the broadcast at the computer, checking that tapes were in on time, turning tapes over, checking levels and adding fillers to keep content active. This was unfortunate and I have learnt that someone keeping an eye on the broadcast is vital to a quality product.
What is Streaming Audio?:
Streaming audio is sound/music/talking broadcast on the internet as it happens/ is played, no downloading, just a constant “stream” of information that your computer converts to sound on a media-player.
How it works:
The audio device (tape player, CD, microphone) sends its signal to the computer’s sound-card, which converts the signal into electronic format. This “file” is then encoded for streaming by your producer software (winamp, RealProducer). The producer software also makes contact with your streaming server, where it sends the “files” to, in a constant stream. The listener who tunes into your broadcast is directed to this server, where they are sent all “streamed files” so that there is a constant flow of files playing on their media-player, creating the effect of a seamless radio broadcast.
Setting up the Software:
You will need to install a producer type program on the computer that will be encoding the audio broadcast. I advise Winamp with its add-on from Shoutcast. Find the free downloads from winamp and shoutcast…also note that the plug-in does not work with the Winamp3, so make sure to download Version 2.9 or 2.whatever. Shoutcast has a tutorial to run you through setting up a server, broadcast and being a listener. It s a great website and its all about free, quality software for everyone. You can of course visit RealNetworks for RealMedia players and producers (Helix and RealProducer), the Basic versions can be downloaded free.
Finding a Server
You will need to find a streaming server to send your broadcast to. You could set one up on the computer that you will be broadcasting from. Visit www.shoutcast.com about doing this. Note: Most computers have a changing IP address, which means that you can’t use it as a streaming server…to remedy this go to noIP to get a set IP address.
However, this path is a little tricky as I found out myself. Instead I opted to go with a local streaming service that cost £25 for a month’s subscription (from SPC) or Community Media are another community-based group offering streaming services.
The company you choose will send you the following information if using Winamp:
Server Name
Port
Password
These details you add to the Output details.
Adding the Link to your website
You will need to make an .m3u file that will open your media-player for MP3 before linking to the live stream. You do this by opening Notepad/ basic text program and write the URL for your live broadcast (e.g. http://nameofserver:portnumber, http://happyserver.org.uk:8002). Then when saving put a quotation mark (“) on both side of the file name and name it as: whatever.m3u …… Save this in the same place that you have saved the rest of your web pages (called your “web server”).
The link (for Winamp/ Shoutcast/ Icecast) on your web pages will be:
a href=”whatever.m3u”
Clicking on the link will open the media-player and direct your media-player to the correct stream. M3u is the simplest way of doing this and there are different ways and post-scripts that you can use for Winamp and RealPlayer, but find out about these on the web.
Hardware:
Most computers these days come with a Sound Card, but just make sure you have a Line-in and Microphone ports. A note of warning about Microphones: standard microphones do not have a strong signal, and even shouting into them does not make a difference. You either have to buy a pre-amp/ booster for the mic, run the mic through a mixer or use a specialized computer mic. But don’t run it through an amplifier as this is the job of the soundcard and if the signal is too strong, it will bust the card.
With our experiment, we used a tape-player that was plugged into the Line-in on the computer. Change the Input (on Winamp plug-in) “Sound Device” to any option other than “Winamp (Recommended)” and choose the “Line-in” radio button. You should see the blue decibel meters moving up and down if there is any signal coming from the Line-in. Also change the Recording Audio Properties on Windows; check the “Line-in”/ “Stereo” boxes. Put a tape in the tape-player and play it. You should get a fairly good signal; change Volume Controls in Windows to get the right volume.
Now you have the hardware connected to the software which is then connected to the server, which people access by clicking a link on your website. Voila! A lot harder than it sounds, but worth the effort.
