Com Arts 155 1st Edition Lecture 14 Outline of Last Lecture I Video II Professor Work III Side by Side Class Opinions Outline of Current Lecture I Assignment Ira Glass and Resources II Sound Fundamentals III Tascom and Microphones IV Artistry and Recording Current Lecture Assignment Ira Glass and Resources Campus Podcast Story In teams of 2 use the Tascam Zoom and Adobe Audition to create a 2 to 4 minute audio story about something that happened on campus Ira Glass from This American Life says Finding the great story usually takes longer than recording mixing and editing the story It s good to be thoughtful about what story you pick Ira Glass Two Building Blocks of Radio Storytelling Anecdote a sequence of actions Story in its purest form Rather than speaking in big generalizations be specific and offer details Moment of Reflection what it all means Don t forget this part Story has twists and turns but what s it all about This American Life No Map 2009 What makes it interesting Music helps drag you in sets particular tone lets it play during gaps Space after notable event pauses and silences to let us digest what was said Sectioned off well so that we could follow along easily Cuts between Ira Glass and the cop feels conversational but still a tells a story Anecdote in the beginning detail to hook us These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Deliberate speed slow enough to follow without letting it get boring Bigger Take Away There are moments in life where you re put in situations you ve never been in before and you have to improvise More Tips from Ira Glass Conflict is the essence of story Need some kind of conflict Beware of annoying dinner party guest syndrome i e only talking about yourself or another person focusing just on self Keep it conversational Can tell when someone is reading something off Resources for Free Music and Sound FX Free Music Archive http freemusicarchive org Free Sound http www freesound org Sound Fundamentals Key Terms Sound Wave Sound is a wave of energy We measure the wave from the top of one crest to another Determines frequency Frequency Number of cycles per second waves per second described in Hertz Hz We interpret frequency as a sound s pitch Range of human hearing is 20 Hz to 20 000 Hz Adobe Audition Spectral Frequency Display It gives a visualization of the different frequencies we ve recorded If something goes on in the background you can try to bring down the pitch of that outside source to that of the conversation Amplitude Amplitude is the loudness or volume of the sound Measured from the crest or trough to the midline of a sound wave You want to start the clip just before the person talks Adobe Audition s Waveform editor displays amplitude of wave Sample Rate The number of samples per second Takes a sound wave and then slices it into tiny sampling chunks CD audio has 44 100 samples per second 44 1 kHz Digital video and Tascam Zoom has 48 000 samples per second 48 kHz 48kHz is good to stick by Bit Depth Dynamic range of your sound In photographic terms it s like depth of field and number of f stops you capture combined Audition gives you four options 8 16 24 or 32 float bits Bigger is better Tascom records at 16 stick with at least that in audition Analog vs Digital Analog reproduces an approximation of the sound wave Digital reproduces an approximation then converts it into code Significance no degradation or generation loss during digital editing Tascom and Microphones Tascam Zoom Recorder 48K sample rate 16 bit bit depth keep it dB decibel is loudness and linearly related to amplitude Want it to be peaking at negative 12 decimals Go any above that and you re at the risk of losing information entirely UNI Refers to microphone Omni vs Uni Mic Us Omni Mics located on front when Pick up different sounds but less controlled You have to record audio from multiple people Sound you want to capture is coming from multiple directions Use Uni Mics located on top when Crisp and clean but doesn t have same range Interviewing subjects in a controlled location Audio is isolated to a small location Microphones Power Types Shotgun It will capture sound in key directions A Cardioid Mike Captures sound coming from upward rather than downward Omni Capture everything in all directions Artistry and Recording Aesthetics of Sound Sound presence the subjective closeness a listener feels to the sound Do we feel like we re having a close conversation or is it a distant conversation Sound perspective perception of the sound in space Stereo and Surround Sound such as 5 1 and Atmos give us tools for crafting sound perspective Silence part of sound just like negative space is part of design Sometimes one of the most effective things you can do is withhold Ambience background sound Remember to record room tone for continuity in editing Always record a couple minutes of just room tone in any location It will help in editing and create in sense of atmosphere and help with audio transitions Record it Clean Edit and mix the sounds in post production by using multiple tracks If interviewing cook focus on cook Can build ambience post production If you try to record everything at once you don t get a lot of editing options Tupperware 1980 What We Learned Strong sense of community with Tupperware Capture a particular moment in time We learned about the gender dynamic Aesthetic Choices Sound scape is very busy hearing different sound bits Create an atmosphere that sounds like you re at a party Can tell a story that is emotional sense of starting out and rising and overcoming threats