Recording technology is nothing new to me: my brother is very musically inclined and has been recording songs for years. I would always watch him do this but I have never tried it myself. But I had my reasons: I shared a bedroom with my sister only until a few years ago, I had no solid program to record these ideas in, I lacked ideas to formulate into recordings, and I only ever thought of recording music not spoken word. Although this was my first time chopping and cutting, I have had 4+ years on the sidelines watching the master of mixing in my house.
When Dean introduced us to Audacity, I was thrilled and a half. This programs has worked out wonderfully for recording; not only do I find it easy to use, I feel I have been producing some pretty good stuff. Here is a breakdown of how my podcast started:
In the Beginning
When Dean asked us to create a podcast, I really wanted to begin exploring and experimenting with sound, after all, I am bombarded with it ever moment of everyday. So I began with a title and concept. I decided "Erika's Podcast" was a simple and satisfying title; I felt that if I called it anything more spectacular and creative I would regret the spontaneity of it later. Plus, it allows me free reign on the topic of the podcast (for the same reason I called my blog simply "Erika's Blog"). My first concept was to create a podcast using some thoughts and ideas I had written down in my journals. I have kept art/writing journals for a long time, in which I would record trivial thoughts, ideas, and sketches. I have turned a lot of my ideas and sketches into visual works of art but never, have I ever tried to do something with audio. So, I chose a list I created of my wants from this world.
Introduction
The 10 second introduction to my podcast, which I created for my first episode, will remain static and consistent. Singing has been a passion with me since I was young and it was only fitting to add some to my introduction. The "Today's topic..." mash was easy but tedious to complete. I isolated the sounds (ie: I would repeat a "t" sound) then I creatively mixed all the isolations together to vaguely resemble the phrase, then for clarity I added one finely articulated phrase. The drum roll sample was already on my computer in Microsoft Office media, so downloading it from the internet wasn't necessary.
Process
Before I recorded my voice I chose the music first. I think this is one of the most essential components of any podcast. Setting the mood for the topic is more easily done when there is a great backtrack. So far, I have used Bell Orchestre and Sigur Ros for accompaniment. Both bands are favourites of mine. I wanted to try to avoid songs with lyrics as to focus the attention on my words. Although Sigur Ros has vocal tracks, the voice in their music becomes more of an instrument than anything because it blends with the music so perfectly. I think I had the most fun changing the the pitch for the rest of the podcast. I switched frequently from high-pitched girly voices to deep, dark manly voices. I tried to have the voice coincide with the thoughts, for example: "at least more than a millisecond" is quick and high pitched, "live in science fiction" is a deep voice (Darth Vader-style). The voice changes also gave it dynamism and related to the fact that the thoughts were not of the moment but were collected over time, time changing me significantly.
Product
Here is a screen shot of the final version of Episode #1:
Because the print is so small: Singing tracks, "Erika's Podcast" and "Today's Topic" mash-up, Bell Orchestre, Topic Introduction "I have always," Drumroll, and the remainder of the podcasts, which lists the wants.
One of the most challenging parts of this podcast's creation was sound balancing. I spent a long time making sure that the sound could be listened to at a consistent and comfortable volume. To change the volume...
It is quite simple, but like I said it takes some experimenting before getting it at the right volume. Well, that is a short breakdown of how I created this first podcast. I am excited to make more, I hope you have enjoyed Episode #1 and Episode #2. Stayed tuned for Episode #3!
Thats awesome Erika!
ReplyDeleteErika, interesting stuff here. It's great to see your enthusiasm for digital art.
ReplyDeleteI am a blogging colleague of your instructor, Dean Shareski, and found your post through him. I wrote a post earlier this year entitled, "Don't Let Your Students Use Music In Their Video Projects," the general thrust of which is that students should establish tone and theme through editing and content, using someone else's music only as a last resort.
I thought I'd mention it as a potential counterpoint to your enthusiasm for soundtracking in these projects.
Good luck in your coursework.