DOWNLOADS/PODCASTS
 What is a podcast?
A podcast is a media file that can be downloaded automatically from the Internet using specially designed software such as Apple iTunes. Most podcasts (including Podrunner and Groovelectric) can also be downloaded directly to your hard drive. More info at Wikipedia.
Do I need an iPod to listen to a podcast?
Not at all! A podcast is just like any media file that your computer already plays. Podrunner and Groovelectric mixes are mp3 files. You can directly download them to your hard drive and transfer them to your portable media player.
If you want new mixes to download automatically, you'll need software such as Apple's free iTunes that will allow you to subscribe to a podcast and download it to your computer whenever new ones are available — but you don't need an iPod, even if you use iTunes.
Select the mix you want and right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) its "download" button, then select "Save target as," and save the mp3 file to your hard drive.
Why does it take so long to download?
Podrunner and Groovelectric mixes are at least an hour long, and the mp3 files average close to 60 Megabytes each. Also, Podrunner is extra- ordinarily popular, and the server that hosts the files is very busy handling lots of other downloads.
When I download a mix from your site, it doesn't show up in iTunes
Open iTunes. Open your computer browser. Use the browser to drag the mix (an MP3 file) from wherever you downloaded it to on your hard drive to your iTunes Library.
How do I play a mix on your website?
Choose the mix you want and press its "play" button. A small window will open containing a logo, a nifty music player, and a tracklist. Press "play" on the music player (it's the right-pointing triangle). Sometimes you have to wait a little bit (see next question).
When I press "play," a window pops up but nothing happens!
The server is very busy downloading lots of mixes! Usually the music player will appear in a little bit. Sometimes you have to press the music player's "play" button several times. I dunno why this is, but I can tell you that your patience will be rewarded with over an hour of dang good music.
SUBSCRIBING
What is "subscribing" to Podrunner or Groovelectric?
There are programs called newsreaders (aka feed readers or aggregators) that regularly and automatically read certain Web pages and check to see when new items are updated. When you add a Web page to one of these newsreaders, it's called "subscribing." More info.
How do I subscribe?
The "subscribe" button links to a bunch of code called an RSS feed. There are programs called newsreaders (aka feed readers or aggregators) that read this code and check in automatically when new items are added. If you use iTunes, it's the same as looking up a podcast and clicking "subscribe." Sometimes clicking the button will add it to your newsreader, sometimes you have to right-click it. It depends on the program you use. More info: What is RSS?
Does it cost anything to subscribe?
Not a thing.
Will subscribing to your podcast or signing up for your newsletter invite spam?
I will never share your information with anyone in any way, period. When you sign up for Run Time or Groove Time, your email is automatically added to a password-protected list on my website or on podrunner.com. The sole purpose of that list is to send out the newsletters. I value your privacy and listenership too much to jeopardize either. Subscriptions to podcasts happen outside of my control and knowledge, and they present little opportunity for spamming.
MIXES
Where are the playlists for the mixes?
- The current mix's playlist is available by clicking the word PLAYLIST under the mix's MP3 player.
- Each archive mix's playlist is available on the window that pops up when you press the mix's "play" button.
- On iTunes, the playlist is also on the "information" page that downloads with each mix (the little "i" on the mix in your iTunes Music Library).
- The playlist is also in the "Lyrics" section of the file's ID3 tag (usually accessible when you look for "track info" or "get info" with your MP3 player or player software).
- If you use an iPod, the playlist will come up when you click the center button several times while the mix is playing.
Can you make mixes faster than 180 BPM or slower than 130 BPM?
Currently Podrunner offers mixes at BPMs ranging from 130-180, with nudge mixes at the 1s, 2s, 3s, 5s, and 6s, giving 31 mixes in rotation. This means over half a year before a particular BPM can come around again. Adding to that also adds to the time listeners will have to wait for a new mix in their preferred BPM range.
On the high end, I'm pushing many of these tunes to the bleeding point at 180 as it is; many of them were recorded at 125 BPM! It's extremely hard to find music that will work at those speeds, unless you want to work out to an hour of drum&bass or psy goa trance. Not my style.
On the low end, most of the music I mix is recorded in the 125-135 BPM range, and while you can speed them up a surprising amount, slowing down by more than a few BPM usually sounds pretty awful. Most contemporary music recorded around 90-110 BPM is either downtempo, country, or hiphop — none of which I mix.
We're working on creating more specialized Podrunner podcasts (Podrunner: Intervals debuted Feb. 1). Bear with us; it takes a lot of work and coordination to launch something like this.
Besides the fact that if I get any busier I'll need to be twins, the whole point of Podrunner is to try to make mixes that a lot of people can use for a wide variety of workouts. Tailoring a mix to a specific workout pattern enormously narrows its potential audience, so it isn't very realistic.
Why don't you play more [INSERT FAVORITE MUSIC]?
I like lots of different kinds of music, but just because I like them doesn't mean they belong in my mix sets. Top 40, country, thrash metal, reggae, or any number of other types of music in one of my mixes would stand out like a vampire in a bloodmobile. Perspective is a good thing.
DJ-RELATED
Do you have a residency?
Los Angeles is an extremely competitive town for DJs, and the time and effort I would expend to attain a residency here have pretty much been taken over by Podrunner and Groovelectric. I occasionally play club gigs and private events. Many of them are last-minute affairs (which is why I don't have a "gigs" page), but I give notice on my News page, the Groove Time newsletter, and the podcast intros when I'm able to.
The up side to putting this work into Podrunner & Groovelectric instead of a club residency is that I have an audience most DJs can only dream of.
Probably! Ask your club owner or event coordinator to contact me.
What do you use to make your podcasts?
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