Creative Media: Sound

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Small changes 

Most of the archvie sound clips I got from YouTube videos had noise in the background and this worked to get the old-timey effect that I wanted to achieve.  In some of them the noise was not consistent and so I generated grey noise to improve this.  Grey noise was also used to merge certain clips together so that they came in and went out more smoothly.  

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When I ripped the audio from footage showing South Africa in WWII, there was no left side to the audio making the clip much quieter.  I simply copied what was in the right channel into the left one to fix this.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKhtWAkyTxg&t=183s (sound clip video source)

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Secondary Sources of Sound

Morse Code class from 1941

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Pq6cosm2A

In this stage of the project, I started ripping sound from videos I found on youtube to add elements of reality.  Though this clip shows footage from around World War 2, the fact that it is a video with sound is more important.  The medium of sound art and radio shows do not depend on visuals to portray a story and so there are more freedom of sources.  

Andrew Crisell, Understanding Radio, Second Edition, Chapter 3: Radio, Signs and Codes, (Routledge, 1994)     pg 44

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iAAP7upkYoEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=understanding+radio+codes&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj1mv-g9NHfAhUjt3EKHTV1CgcQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false 

‘It seems never to exist as an isolated phenomenon, always to manifest the presence of something else. Consequently we can say that sounds, whether in the world or on the radio, are generally indexical.’ 

Indexical in this sense refers to a sound that is a signifier that denotes an idea or one that is associated with a particular source and meaning.

My aim with this project was to be as accurate as possible in portraying WW1 but in some situations where I’ve found myself unable to recreate certain aspects, I’ve had to rely on secondary sources As sound attached to visuals was introduced after the end of the war.  WW1 ended in 1918 and the first film to use sound was ‘The Jazz Singer’ in 1927. 

Signalmen Training Semaphore (1914 - 1918)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpLAuxzmG44

Yet clips like this are still useful in having a visual reference that i matched the sound of flags to in the final project using sounds from Freesound.org

Flag - https://freesound.org/people/DeepPurple5/sounds/448975/

Wind - https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/405561/

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Muffled Gun Sounds

Muffled Music Sound Effect (Like A Noisy Neighbour) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XellYzrIR-w

This tutorial shows how you can take the treble of music to make it seem distant as though coming from inside another building or surrounding.  

It is important to note that for the battle recreation portion of my sound piece, I wanted there to be a shift from an overview of the soundscape to a first person encounter, especially since the narrative mostly focuses on Albert’s experience in WW1.

I used this muffled effect to further emphasise the effect the shell had on Albert’s hearing.  The sounds of guns and shells that were once clear have become warped to add to the idea of confusion and disorientation that he would have experienced first hand.  

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06/12/2018 - Foley

Equipment used

Telescopic Microphone Stand (K&M)

AKG 414 Condensor Studio Microphone

Foley Studio (with 16A Power Distribution box)

Not only was this session good practice in getting more comfortable with the equipment and setting up the mic correctly but the communication need to get what I wanted for my project.  Using the telescopic mic stand as opposed to the table top one allowed me to more easily control the distance between it and the source of sound. 

Foley Sounds Made

Shouting/Yelling

Horse running

Horse sound 

Heavy Breathing 

Trench Whistle 

Saddle

1 + 2: Shouting/Yelling

As my project needed some evidence of human involvement in the battle recreation segment, I recorded one of the people on my course (M) shouting out commands and generally yelling to add some realism to the scene.  Instead of being right next the microphone, I asked M to stand a little further away from the mic to portray the idea of distance.  This was successful but if I had to record this again I would try recording i as a stereo track so that I may play more with the left and right balances in editing.  

2 and 3: Horse sounds

Any sound of horses in this project were made by me in the foley studio.  I layered the recording of the horse hooves sounds I made combined with an online recording. 

https://freesound.org/people/StephenSaldanha/sounds/165532/

I also did the sounds of a horse snorting and whinnying and breathing in the studio.

4: Heavy breathing

To go along with the sounds of soldiers and Albert running I recorded myself breathing into the mic while keeping in mind the intensity I wanted to portray in the battle scene.  More even breaths were for portraying for Albert running but as the scene continues, I wanted there to be a more emotional and physical response to the introduction of the sounds of shells.  As Albert was only 16 when he went to war, I used my own voice but lowered the pitch slightly in Adobe Audition to get across his character better. 

5. Trench Whistle

While the main source of this sound is from an online recording but I layered in my whistling in the multitrack to add some texture to it.  

https://freesound.org/people/Adam_N/sounds/324539/

6: Saddle

For this I used my bag to imitate a saddle moving backwards and forwards on a galloping horse.  I ensured to keep this following the rhythm of the horse breaths.  

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Sir Edward Grey to House of Commons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrePa0wGGNI&t=10s

I edited this re-enactment of Sir Edward Grey’s plea the eve of the First World War, 3rd August 1914 that Britain should go to war to make it sound more like a radio broadcast.  

Effect - Multiband compressor - Toy/Walkie Talkie

Effect - Noise Reduction 

Using the Toy/Walkie Talkie effect increased the volume so I lowered it using noise reduction to keep the structure.  This also helped to decrease the echoes that represent a speech being given in Parliament.  A radio recording wouldn’t broadcast this echo as clearly. 

Effect - Surround Space 

From this effect I used the preset, ‘Somewhere not here’ and customised it with ‘Small room’ feature and decreasing the size of the ‘room’ even more to further imply the the fact this speech a snippet taken from a radio broadcast.

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Voice Sibilance Correction

Though i do not intend to make the audio of my dialogue with Mike sound less like a phone call, certain parts of it came across very harsh and so I wanted to remedy this.  Using the Desher and Desser tool, I downplayed the sibilance in Mike’s voice that was made more obvious by the fact the dialogue was over the phone. 

Where the green line peaks in the highlight area is where the harshest of the S sound were and so I focused this effect into that area.

While the quality of the speech is revealing that the interview did not take in person, I intend to inform the listener at the end of the sonic narrative of technical aspects to the material.  For instance, explaining that the interview with Mike was over the phone.

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Fixing Interview Background

There were two issues with the original sound footage, the humming and slight hissing sound in the background.  Using the Adobe Audition ‘Effects’ - Dehummer and Hiss Reduction - I was able to fix this.  However I did not apply the same settings to the entire clip as Mike’s voice changes constantly throughout and so I had to prioritise not loosing the clarity of what he was saying as well as making sure the tone remained mostly the same.  Especially with the Hiss Reduction effect, his voice would became very drowned out and echoey with the wrong combination of Noise Floor and Reduction.

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Morse Code

For the opening of my sound piece, I have used two sound effects from freesound.org to make my own Morse code message.  I wanted this to be as accurate as possible and also have a meaning so I used this Morse code key above to do that.  

The message itself says the name of my great grandfather who fought in the war since the material focuses on his experience serving in WW1.  

A ._ L .__.. B__... E. R.__. T__ / B__... E. N__. N__. E. T__ T__ / 

C__.__. R.__.  O_ _ _ U .._ C __.__. H ....

These are the two sound clips I reworked to make my own message.

https://freesound.org/people/electronicmusik/sounds/121421/

https://freesound.org/people/acclivity/sounds/25026/

I also used this site to get the spacing between words right, which I now know to be the length of seven units.

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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.  

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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.  

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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.

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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.

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Narration Script and Questions - 2 min podcast

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Messenger screenshots - Tea M

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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.’