#sound documentary

[year2sound]

19/10/2018 - Final 2 minute edit

I started the podcast with the sound of two rubbish trucks (I combined these sounds to see more atmospheric) to get rid of the abrupt start. a  (Backup reading)

Ending voice clips with silences from the same clip as fillers helped to integrate well into the next clip. (Backup reading)

Multiband Compressor - for narration I used the broadcaster effect while for my first interview I used the Classical master effect.  Different effects for different environments in which i recorded voices/interviews.  Applying the relevant effects also meant that I could put the voice clips back to their original volume levels.

I recorded four actuality sounds to use for my narration to make it seem as if I were sitting somewhere on campus.  I did this as I felt it fitted in with the context of the topic of waste management, especially since my first interview is with a university student (and my housemate).  

Four elements of a podcast:

1. Interview

For this podcast I used clips from two interviews I did to demonstrate two different experiences of waste management.  The first viewpoint being from a student and the second from an activist.

2. Narration

I used my own narration to open the podcast but beside my voice in the middle to introduce Tea, I let the interviewees narrate the subject as I wanted to portray the issue of waste management in Brighton from their viewpoint. 

3. Actuality 

For the both interviews, I recorded them on site but used actuality over my narration to set the tone.

4. Music 

I couldn’t find the right music for this podcast however in this case I believe that the subject is much more thought provoking without the distraction of a third element, especially since I had no control of the volume level of background noise in either of the interviews.  

[year2sound]

Phone Conversation with Grandfather

This was my first main step towards my final assessment.    Originally my grandfather wrote a fictional letter from his father to recount the real events that  lives overseas I asked him questions over the phone.  My intent with this interview was to ask questions that would encourage him to speak naturally and give great detail when retelling the stories he remembers.  This was overall very successful in that it gave me a better insight into how I could use his voice as a narrator and rely on his description of sounds such as Morse Code machines.  His natural way of telling stories in great detail was perfect as he didn’t require many prompts.  I feel it demonstrates how the oral tradition of storytelling is not completely lost and Mike’s description of the sounds that his father explained to him on returning from the war, reveals how sound was essentially recorded through memories.  

[year2sound]

Hildegard Westerkamp Reading Notes

Book - Radio Rethink: Art, Sound and Transmission.  Edited by Daina Augaitis and Dan Lander, Walter Phillips Gallery, 1994.

Several quotes from this reading interested me in that they reveal thoughts that could support the way I intend to use the sounds that I create for my final piece and how I shape them to have a specific meaning.  

‘to involve the community in the making of radio so that radio sound would embody the voice of the community (Page 88)

Page 89

‘In itself it (the microphone) is without culture: the way it listens to the world is entirely determined by the recordist behind the microphone.’

Within the context of my idea for my final assignment, there are two recordists, myself (with the aim to recreate history with modern methods), and the person who would’ve been part of the soundscape that I am recreating.  The latter would’ve been essentially new to the soundscape and unable to record it as people can today.

[year2sound]

Interview with Tea - Critical Reflection

Initially I intended to carry out Tea’s interview in the Old Steine Gardens but, because the sound of the buses would’ve overwhelmed the volume of the interview recording, I moved the meet up to the Pavilion Gardens instead where there was still ample background noise but .  Being in the city centre fitted in well with the theme of waste management in Brighton.

While this was an improvement, not being able to have control of the background sounds that would accompany the audio of the interview meant I couldn’t cut out pieces of actuality audio that didn’t work.

The questions I set up resulted in good answers in that they were open ended and allowed Tea to give her own opinion.  Moreover she was a particularly a good candidate for the interview in that her passionate personality fitted in with the tone of podcast which was ultimately meant to be a hopeful one.  

My aim for both of the interviews for this task was to make it feel conversational.  However, during both, just allowing the interviewee to speak without interruption worked better.  Allowing free speech also gave me more to work with in editing.

Finally, I was able to get good experience using the Sennheiser K416 microphone, yet next time I intend to check the settings correctly as one side of the mic wasn’t picking up sound.  Though this wasn’t a problem as I only needed to record Tea’s voice as I didn’t include my questions in the final edit, I will make sure to check this in the future.

[year2sound]

Week 2 Reading - Ira Glass

https://transom.org/2004/ira-glass/

Prior to releasing ‘This American Life’, Glass made shorter radio stories titled with the first names of the interviewees.  

About these he commented that;

‘I invented this series of stories where I’d interview people and then edit myself out of the tape completely. They’d tell stories and reflect on what the stories meant. No script. No narration.’

This focus on the subject rather than the narrator himself puts emphasis on what they are saying.  This is also done with the soft music that has been added to accompany the voice but not overpower it and there are no sound effects in order to keep the focus.

Overall this article had many pointers that I am considering when scripting my own narrative and interview questions.  Even though I will be looking at the script when doing the narrative for the 2 minute Waste Management podcast, I want to speak as naturally as possible as though I am speaking to whoever would listen.  The same goes for when I do the interview for this piece.  Because the podcast is dealing with an issue that is spoken about a lot, I want the interview to be more of a conversation rather than an interrogation.

‘It could just be a nice moment in the script. Every story had to have someone who was more than a talking head ... To make them more human, it sometimes only took a line of description, an original thought about who they were and why they believed what they believed, a surprising moment, a funny moment on tape.’