Sound FX

I decided to make a promo for my radio show that utilized sound effects. It was a fun project because I obviously care about my radio show.
I made the promo kinda corny by using a lot of play on words moments. I took breakfast sayings and put them with things that went along with my show. I said we'll serve up some fresh music alongside the hottest celebrity gossip.
It was a fun promo and I had a good time writing and recording it. There were alarm clock sound effects and some pouring effects. Being that this project was meant for sound effects, I think I could have done a better job adding in more sound effects. Overall though, I liked the way the promo turned out and I had a lot of fun with it.

Radio Drama

The radio drama assignment was probably my favorite assignment this semester. I liked it because I had complete control over what I was doing and I really got a chance to be creative.
The goal of my drama was for it to be as ridiculous as possible. I wanted it to be funny, yet serious. I also wanted it to be cheesy and corny, yet captivating. It was so easy to write it and I had a lot of fun recording it.
It was fun to see how the story came to life when I added in music and sound effects. I normally don't write such raunchy tales, but I figured I would try something new.
If I were to go back and do it again, I would probably try to blend the music a little better, but I'm 100% happy with the way it turned out. It cracks me up every time I listen to it. I'm proud of it.

Final Soundslides

Sometimes, when you interview someone, you go into it thinking you know what your story is going to be. That's how I entered my soundslides project. Being Aly's roommate, I figured I already knew a good bit about her.
When it came time for the interview, I was surprised by the things I didn't know about her. During the interview, I actually cried because it was so emotional.
I know that there were definite improvements I could have made, but I was satisfied with the end result. I considered changing the pictures to black and white or sepia, but I figured I would leave them the way they were.
Aly cried when she saw the soundslides project and her dad cried when he watched it. That was very rewarding to me and I appreciated that a lot.

Final Soundwalk Piece

I think that my final soundwalk piece turned out well. I worked to make it seem like a chunk of my day. I think that I conveyed the places really well by capturing familiar sounds that let the listener know where I am.
I feel as though it was kind of hard to transition smoothly from one place to another. That's why I tried to go from one place to another logical place. It seemed to make sense that I was in my apartment and then walking to class and then I was in class.
If I could go back and do it over again I probably would only change the fact that I did not have the sound of me leaving my apartment. I think that was necessary to have because it lets the listener know that I am not in my apartment anymore. Other than that, this was an interesting project because we were able to manipulate sound in a new and exciting way!

Voice Exercise

Voice exercises are harder than I thought. Reading a poem with no expression was definitely really difficult. I felt as though I was purposely making my voice slow and flat. For some reason, I also brought my voice lower. As if I was trying too hard to be monotone.
The poem was easier to read with emphasis, but I felt as though it was too different from the monotone poem. I actually brought my voice up so it was a lot higher than the when I read it monotone.
For my children's book reading, I read My Little Sister Ate One Hare. Looking back on it, I should have picked a book that wasn't so repetitive. It gets kind of boring because it is the same thing over and over. It would have been a lot more fun if I chose a book with dialogue so that I could have done some different voices. Overall, this was a fun exercise and it allowed us to try different things with our voices.

Soundwalk Part 2: Recording

Going out and recording the soundwalk was much different than just sitting somewhere and listening. I had to change two of my locations from my original soundwalk because the locations just weren't working. In my first soundwalk, I listened to the boys playing with the frisbee. When I went back to record, there was no one around. I felt as though I'd be missing out if I sat there and recorded just nature sounds. It is hard to record sounds outside because the recorders pick up the wind. To me, I hear the wind blowing through the trees. But when it is recorded, it just sounds like like wind.
The second location I had to change was sitting outside near the front entrance to the Reed Union Building. I was having the same problem with the wind. Instead of doing these two, I decided to make the soundwalk a short clip of my day. I started out in my apartment watching TV. I was hungry, so I recorded myself eating goldfish. It was getting close to class time, so I closed up the goldfish box and set it down. My second location was me walking from my apartment to my class. I recorded sounds of cars and people talking as they walked. When I got to my final location, I recorded a classroom setting. I recorded dialogue between my professor and another student.
The recording was not difficult, but problems did arise with the outside locations. It is just too hard to record on a windy day. Other than that, I think I let the listener in on a part of my day. I think it is easy to determine where I was on this soundwalk.

Soundwalk Part 1

Sometimes, people see being alone as a bad thing. They automatically assume that because you're alone, you're lonely. But that isn't always the case. For my soundwalk, I traveled to three different locations around Behrend.
First, I sat for ten minutes just listening to the sounds in my apartment. The fans, the shower, the television and many other noises make up a symphony in my head. It's magical, really. Trying to stay silent was not a huge issue because I just sat motionless. I just listened.
Next, I went outside to the field behind the on campus apartments. There were a group of boys playing frisbee. It was amazing because I could hear the frisbee whipping through the air. At that moment, I realized how many sounds I hear everyday that I completely ignore. I think sometimes people take hearing for granted.
Lastly, I went to a grassy area near the front of the Reed building. It was quiet and peaceful. There were birds chirping and the wind blew through the trees. I was calm and serene. I enjoyed sitting there because I was able to completely let go and immerse myself in the sounds of nature