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Sources:
All sounds and edits are my own EXCEPT: the sample of traffic sounds, downloaded from Free Music Archive (a great resource, by the way, for music and sounds, free to use and edit, in more genres than I knew existed).
Free Music Archive also made it easy to site the source, with the HTML code to imbed a link to the artist's page.
Recording, Editing, Constructing with Sound:
Making this podcast, it was evidently clear how important it is to teach to different learning styles, and to offer students a variety of formats to represent their ideas. I had fun making this. Every step. Finding sounds to record, and better methods of recording. Imaging which sounds would best pair with what I wrote. Actually, fun is an understatement. After I had collected all of the samples, I poured everything I had into this for 6+ hours uninterupted.
Something important to remember: I entered this assignment with some experience in audio recording and sound editing, and familiarity with podcast, radio plays, and sound experiments. So, an auditory learner, won't necessarily love this project, without some exposure to professionals and amateurs, and practice recording.
Performing:
The most challenging aspect was the performance. It didn't matter how much time I spent planning and drafting before, or editing in Audacity later, I still had to repeat my parts until I could understand what I was saying. Unless vocoders and text-readers become standard for audio news and essays, there's no cure for my enunciation. Which is strange, because I don't remember the last time I thought about my handwriting.
Beyond legibility, when recording my voice, I was really aware of how I was performing. Was I conveying my excitement when I said I was excited? When I complained about my jobs, was it humorous, or did I just sound miserable? I swear I like to be outside. And I enjoyed landscaping in high school, when I could see results.
I was aware while writing, that I was writing a script to spoken. As much as I could, I kept my thoughts short. I tried to use straight-forward language.
These thoughts will be just as important when I'm standing in front of a class. Am I conveying my excitement about this text? Is my speaking clear? Are my intentions clear? Students shouldn't have to interpret my tone during instruction.
To Update:
I will try to share as much of my notes as I can. I will also post some images of screenshots from my Audacity project. It's kind of a mess. There were more than 20 tracks used, but I really didn't do anything advanced, in terms of recording and sound editing.
Eric!!
ReplyDeleteSo, I was reading Dewey's book, checking out two fashion blogs, updating my playlist, shopping online AND started playing your podcast at 6AM (I guess I had too much green tea??), and after listening to the first 10 seconds of it, I decided to just stop doing everything else and just listen to yours ... This really takes podcasting to a new level!! Listening to the background sounds made me feel more curious than seeing the actual video clip, and the narrative was very interesting!! This (again!) is like a work of art to me ... Awesome job!!!!
Kleio,
DeleteI'm blushing, really. Quite possibly the greatest complement I've received. I had to read your comment to my girlfriend and my house mate. They were both really excited for me.
I spent a lot of time planning, and thinking about how the sounds and the words would work together, the way that comics do, to make something more.
Hehe Eric,
DeleteThat's the greatest compliment I've received on my compliments as well!! Thank you!!!! =)
Eric,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this. Great use of found sounds to create an atmosphere. The dialogue really seemed to be rooted in a place, which is really hard to do! If you do any more podcasts, I'll be a listener.
Alex
Alex,
DeleteI really appreciate your comments. I especially like the idea of dialogue being "rooted in a place." I can't say that I was actively pursuing that, but it will be a benchmark to judge future recordings. Whenever I finish another one, I will let you know!
Eric,
ReplyDeleteWOW. Simply--wow. Though it's a little early, can I request now to use your podcast as an example in my future classes? You've taken advantage of the features unique to podcasting to make a piece that couldn't be conveyed as effectively through any other medium. Although not all of our classmates have commented, I hope all of them have gotten the chance to listen to this.
Merit,
DeleteYes, of course. I'd be honored to reach more students by proxy. After seeing Alex's podcast post, I want to re-host my mp3 at Soundcloud.com. I like the application (and I don't really understand how PodBean works) and it makes the mp3 downloadable from my blog.
I do want to do a post about my use of Audacity, which I think seemed a little overwhelming for some of our classmates. But if you have any particular questions, I'm more than happy share.