Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poet Tech Podcast – Episode #006

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I was able to record a great discussion with poet Radames Ortiz and musician Jonathan Jindra this past weekend. We discussed their upcoming multimedia collaboration of poetry and music; the way artists release CDs now and how they are marketed; the tools used to put together the project; being independent versus being with a label, and much more.

Projects like these are what keeps poetry and poets fresh and creative. They shift the definition of poetry that has been etched in so many people’s minds and puts it front and center in the modern world.

Be sure to check out the sites of both of these artists. Give them feedback, say hello, and buy their works.

Links mentioned in the interview:

• Radames Ortiz on Twitter
• Jonathan Jindra’s band” Trills” page
• Radames’ Youtube Channel
• Radames Ortiz
• GTA featured on “Hipster Please” podcast
• Buy Jonathan Jindra‘s latest project “Modular Puzzle“

Please leave your thoughts and comments or contact me via email, voicemail, or by the contact page.

Thanks for listening!

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poet Tech Podcast – Episode #005

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This episode features a discussion I had with Simon from The Slam Idol Podcast.  We talk about the history of poetry podcasting, where we are now,  what are the current trends, and what the future of poetry in tech and social media could be like.

Simon has a lot of great ideas about what he has planned for his long-running and ground-breaking show.  The Slam Idol Podcast started in April of 2005 and has been at the forefront of the poetry podcasting field. He is also the lead founder of The Association of Poetry Podcasting of which I am also a founding member.

I hope you get motivated by this conversation as much as I am and that you too get inspired to think outside the box about new ways to use and spread poetry.

This is a long episode, clocking in at 1 hour and 26 minutes, but it is worth a listen.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• The Slam Idol Podcast
• Slam Idol on Facebook
• SlamStream
• Slam Idol on Twitter
• SlamStream on Twitter

Be sure to visit Simon and Slam Idol and let him know that you’re listening; and voting!

Please leave comments below. I love to hear from you!

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poet Tech Podcast – Episode #004

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In light of the recent events in Haiti, I decided to talk about we as poets can use social media as a tool to bring about thoughts, action, and change in the world around us.

Here are the topic points of the discussion.  Listen in for the details and as always I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, by email, or voicemail. Thanks for listening!

• Lots of news about how Twitter and social media is helping to spread news
  • Current example : The Earthquake in Haiti
    • People sharing ways to respond
    • Texting Haiti to the Red Cross has raised $25 million as of this recording
• Sharing pictures and stories of those on the ground there
• What has been the poet’s response?
  • Writing related poetry
  • Share it online
    • Personal website
    • Email to friends and family
• What is the logical next step?
  • Stepping out of our poetry circles and sharing it on social media (twitter, facebook, etc)
  • Even better : Encouraging others to act
    • Give financially
    • Participate in an event
• Hellicane by PodPoet was an example.  Dealt with the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina
  • Motivated poets to share their poetry
  • Social Media didn’t exist outside of blogs and podcasts
  • Listen to the interview I did with Steven Schultz : Cloudy Day Art #21 from September 2005
• Every poet has their social muse
• Speak on those things that move you to write

“Poets, your words make people think, and when people think, they act, and act by act, the world changes, little by little.”

–NotOneNotTwo via Twitter

“You are the spark of the world’s change, poets. Do not think yourselves powerless, or meaningless. You *have* power and meaning.”

–NotOneNotTwo via Twitter

Other links mentioned:

Haiku for Haiti (via Dragonfly Archives)

Thanks for listening and reading!

Please leave a comment or add to the discussion. Thanks!

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poet Tech Podcast – Episode #3

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In this week’s episode I give my predictions of what the future of poetry online looks like from this point forward.  Here are the key points that I discuss. Listen in above or download the MP3 for the details:

• Before the web, the only way a few ways to share poetry
• Currently poetry is easier to put online than ever before. No technical barriers.
  • Anybody can create a poetry blog
  • Poetry can be posted on sites that aren’t specifically blogs
  • There are poetry specific web communities
  • New forms of sharing poetry are being embraced
• Here is what I believe we’ll see in TwentyTen and beyond:
  • An slight upswing in poetry specific sites targeted at the masses. There is very little upend left.
  • An unavoidable decline in these sites.
  • Poets will host their own writings because of the ease of entry
  • The number of poetry magazines will continue to decline as poets begin to the value of social media to gain exposure
  • More poets will choose to self-publish their poetry books through on-demand sites such as LuLu.com and will stop seeking publishing deals and bulk book orders
    • SEEKING A PUBLISHER IS A WASTE OF TIME
  • There will be more poetry online than ever before because more people are online than ever before. Sharing every aspect of their lives.
  • Poets have an innate desire to share our creation

So, what are your predictions for the upcoming years? Do you agree or disagree with any of the statements that I made?

Let me know in the comments or by calling in to the voicemail line.

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poet Tech Podcast – Episode #002

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In this week’s podcast I go over the basics of poetry home recording.  Many of the topics discussed will be the subjects of upcoming episodes, so please feel free to ask questions or offer your own personal insights.  I know many of the listeners of this podcast and readers of the blog have had experience in this area as well. Please leave a comment. Thanks!

Topics discussed:

• Show schedule update
• Reasons for recording
  • Share on personal blog
  • Send to a friend or family
  • Record a series of poems to sell via CD or download (future series)
  • Send in for sharing on a poetry podcast
    • Covered basic Audacity how-to video
• How can it help you as a poet
  • Reciting a poem out loud can help you get a better feel of how the piece flows, which may lead you to revise it
  • Listening to the playback of your recital can give you a feel of how an audience member or even a reader receives it
  • Sharing audio of you poetry can help give you exposure if you are trying to promote your works
    • Play on podcasts
    • Audio samples of a CD you have for sale
• Equipment needed:
  • Microphone
    • Internal laptop microphone
    • Web-cam microphone
    • USB microphone (cheap or expensive) ($15-400)
      • (I used a USB mic on very first Poetry Podcast in 2005.)
    • Hand-held dynamic (cheap or expensive)
  • Mixer (only if using higher end microphone)
    • $50-1,400
  • Recording device
    • Computer
      • Audacity (free (PC or Mac))
      • Garageband (free for Mac users)
      • Adobe Audition ($350)
    • External recorder
      • Can be used to record to without buying a mic or mixer
      • No noise from computer components (electronic noise and static)
      • No loss of recordings from software issues (mainly affects longer recordings)
• Process
  • Be familiar with the poem you’re recording
    • Cloudy Day Art #80 “Tips For Reading Poetry Aloud with Don From ClassicPoetryAloud.com”
  • Record in the quietest part of the house possible (in the evening or early morning may be best)
  • Turn off everything (A/C, fans, computers, refrigerators, etc)
    • (Don’t forget to turn it all back on!)
  • Multiple takes if necessary
  • Edit recording
  • Upload and send!
• Other options
  • Phone
    • Audioboo (iPhone)
    • Utterli
    • Voicemail

Thanks for listening! I looking forward to hearing your feedback and suggestions.

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Welcome to the first episode of The Poet Tech Podcast!

In this week’s episode we discuss:

• The purpose of The Poet Tech Podcast
• Play a welcome message from Simon from Slam Idol
• Talk about the benefits and distractions of tech and social media
• How we can ensure tech and new media distractions don’t hinder our writing

Links mentioned:

• Article from Psychology Today: “Easily distracted: why it’s hard to focus, and what to do about it”

I would love to hear your feedback on this week’s episode, so please leave a comment, call my voicemail line, fill out the contact form, or send me a message on my twitter!

The Poet Tech Podcast is a podcast for poets and writers about how we use technology, in the broadest form of the word, to create and interact with our works. I’ll discuss everything from computer hardware and websites to pens and paper.

Possible topics:

• How to set up your own website to showcase your writing
• Review of a popular notebook brand
• Interviews with poetry website editors
• How to podcast your writings

I’m looking forward to the launch, so please subscribe and stay tuned!