HINTS
FOR SUCCESS
•
Make sure to plan for your sound project. If it is a sound portrait,
write out the questions beforehand and share them with the person(s)
you are interviewing. If it ia soundscape, scout your location (at the
exact time of your intended recording!) very carefully. If it is an
audio documentary, make a list of sounds/people/activities you need
to record in order to document the event/trend on which you are focusing.
•
Make sure you know how to use your recording equipment! Read the documentation!
--always
use the headphones when recording to hear what is being captured
--make
sure to check the volume (gain) levels before starting
--make
sure to have fresh batteries in your mic (if it runs on batteries)
--make
sure to have freshly charged batteries for your minidisc player or
to plug it into a good power source with an adaptor
--make
sure you are not recording sounds (e.g., air conditioning hum, a lawn
mower going by, a nearby source of electrical power, ambient noise
in a room) that will obscure or contaminate the sounds you want to
capture
•
Schedule more time that you think you need for editing--it always takes
much much longer than the original recording!!
•
Before you edit--draw a visual plan of how you want the essay to be
structured--what anecdotes go where, where you are going to include
soundmark, signal sound, keynote sounds, silence, music, narration,
etc. Identify when and where you are going to layer these sounds
to create a rich texture for your project.
•
Make sure to provide some kind of focused reflective frame for your
audio project--some way of helping listeners understand what they are
hearing, why it is significant, and what you are trying to convey about
your subject. (Read the excerpt from An Illustrated Guide for Radio.)
•
Select/edit/winnow! Make sure your sound composition is tightly and
effectively composed. Cut everything that doesn't directly contribute
to your intended message. (Read An Illustrated Guide to Radio)
•
Make sure your sound project effectively takes advantage of the specific
affordances(capabilities) of the medium. What can sound capture best
(e.g., tone, emotion, accent)? What escapes the affordances of sound
(e.g., a wink, a hand gesture, a facial expression).
•
SAVE OFTEN, SAVE OFTEN, SAVE OFTEN!!!
•
BACK UP YOUR WORK, BACK UP YOUR WORK, BACK UP YOUR WORK!!!
•
See the evaluation sheet below for the criteria on which this assignment
will be graded.