January 12th, 2012 
DJ CapnJac 
IMPORTANT INFO BEFORE YOU START
Make sure your computer has all of the media components installed and working. You need to have a stereo mixer installed. Without the mixer some of the broadcasting components may not work. For instance your mic or headset. After its all working follow thru with the rest of the story.
As I had mentioned in my last post, you will need some tools and a bit of patience to setup, for the most part, a problem free broadcast. I should mention you need to know what type of broadcasting fits you, unless you already know which direction you’re heading. Do you want to be a DJ, or create and run your own radio station? Maybe you’re interested in setting up your own server? Can you and are you willing to pay a monthly fee. You can get a Free stream thru SHOUTcast and have your own radio broadcast, but that involves a little more. It has to do with MP3 Licensing and the Trans-coder. Especially if you set up your own server! Its a very small fee and very well worth it 
.
Lets stay with the SecondLife aspect for now.
Djing in SL you will need the following items;
(1) You need a Stream, this is nothing more then a pathway for your music to be encoded and traveled on. Its a simple URL,
example
http://190.189.187.47:and a port number like 1234
Its usually a 4 digit number. At times you’ll get a 5 digit port number which you may not want. The issue with that is it’s typically a server that is over saturated with existing ports (to much going on). Some streams have domain names example
mystreamaccount.com
If you purchase a stream like that, make sure to get the IP numbers to use instead. You will have less problems.
SHAMELESS PLUG HERE
mjsstreamsolutions.com and MJ’s Blues and Dance Club, located inside SL have SHOUTcast Streams of all sizes for rent. We ask a small monthly fee of just $5.00 USD. Ask us about the many package options available. These are very dependable streams with an excellent up-time history. Ask our clients.
(2) You’ll need client side software. Meaning the software that will encode and send your stream out.
- For Windows you can use Winamp* free of charge.
Winamp Pro - Sam Broadcaster will cost a big chunk for the full version,
- Virtual DJ full version cost’s less but is not as easy to use as Sam. Trial versions are only good for about 1 hr.
- On Macs, Nicecast is good, Nicecast has a very small License fee if you don’t pay the fee your broadcast’s will get noisy.
(3) Do you want SHOUTcast or Icecast? These are the actual streams, They are both very good. Each has its setbacks but minimal. They are both out with 2 versions. SHOUTcast V2 now supports Auto DJ and may even send Video. I haven’t looked into that. Icecast has always had Auto DJ and can also send video.
(4) You should have a very large library of Music. It only makes sense. In order to be a good DJ, you need to be able to satisfy the tastes of your listeners. In SL many clubs play different genres. Like the Blues, Blues/Rock, Classic Rock, Dance, Pop, Swing, Hip/Hop and so on. There are DJ’s who Mix their own, which is cool. Wish i could. Technically I can, but I don’t have the patience for it lol.
(5) Once you have acquired your Tools, the only thing you need to do is setup your software and get ready to go live! Of course, you need to find a Club in SL or build one to suit your taste, in order to broadcast to an audience. Clubs who are looking for DJ’s usually post ads in the SL classifieds, or check the search under, DJ’s Jobs, Clubs hiring etc. I have found a lot of clubs to get a DJ job from. When I’m not doing the club scene I turn on my DJ Booth inside MJ’s Blues, let my friends know and advertise, using the same classifieds I mentioned earlier. The next thing you’ll see are people showing up. 2 hrs go by with great tunes and conversation. Maybe you’ll meet a new friend.
If you are reading this and you are not a member of Second Life you should give it a whirl. It’s free and you can see for yourself what this Virtual community is all about. It’s more then you think. It’s as real as it gets, ( yes you are a cartoon Avatar lol, and yes you and I, control Avatars )
. There are over 10 million users in SL. People from all over the Globe doing what ever it is they do, all the while enjoying a Secondlife. I must tell you, as with everything else in Real Life, SL has its flaws. For some people SL has been a life saver. For others a Downfall and I mean…DOWNFALL SLAM THAT HURTS, type of experience. So just be careful and take it slow.
I will be writing some articles dealing with Setups for SHOUTcast, Icecast, Winamp + *(DSP) you must install the DSP for Winamp. I’ll try and get info on Nicecast but sorry, I don’t have a Mac nor do I know anybody with a Mac, to do any proper research with. Any info I get may or may not be Great, but its info. Mostly my experience is with Win, XP,7 and SHOUTcast using Sam, Winamp along with setting it all up in SecondLife. For real life events too.
I’ve been a SHOUTcast Reseller for 4 years, and personally use and configure what I sell. I use Centova Controls for my servers. I’m also a Club Owner in SecondLife. With this knowledge I figured I could pass the info forward.
I will also be setting up a Downloads page for some of the stuff I talk about. Freebies and Trial versions. Links for the products mentioned can be found on our resource’s page.
Have a Question or a Problem?. Feedback is welcome.
capnjac at comcast.net
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CapnJac
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