Final Products

Below are links to my finalised products, the first one is my radio broadcast and the second is my soundscape. The last link is for my Soundcloud which shows my development through the course in sound design.

https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438/radio-broadcast-final-edit
https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438/soundscape-final-edit
https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438

Editing the Soundscape

Editing the soundscape was the most difficult piece of editing for me so far due to how many recordings I was putting together. However, after watching tutorial videos and practicing on Adobe Audition over the course I felt ready to edit it together. First of all I put all of the recording into groups depending on which of the 13 sounds I was trying to capture it was portraying. After doing this I edited each recording that was possibly going to be used; taking out unwanted background noise etc. After this I started to put the clips in order. Starting with the team talk and ending on the winning talk, I edited in between using various noises heard at a rugby game such as studs leaving the changing room, the referee's voice, a tackle, a try being scored, people cheering from the sideline etc. I reused many recordings such as footsteps and the kick of the ball. I also overlapped sounds such as the studs walking out of the changing to imply a team walking out or the sound of cheering and clapping to make it seem like there were a lot of people supporting from the sideline. I also had the recordings that were simply one after another fade into each other to make it sound more natural and leave minimal pauses.

Editing the radio broadcast

Even though the recording of the interview went well and only a few things had to be swapped in and out, post production for the whole radio broadcast consisted of a lot of editing. First of all I had to make the changes to the interview such as editing a question to where the same question had been asked poorly before hand. After this I edited some introduction music which faded into the presenter introducing the interview. Then with the presenter recording I edited out a few 'umm's' and 'ahh's'. I then added Declan's mix which faded in at the end. After all this was done I went back to the edited interview recording and listened for the comparison in mine and Declan's voice which was quite significantly different. Also, I had realised that when listening through headphones, it was only heard through one ear. I found out that this was because whilst I was recording, I had Audition set to Stereo and so it was recorded as so. After googling the problem I managed to adjust the recording to the Mono setting, meaning it was heard clearly through both ears. The final bit of editing for this piece was to adjust mine and Declan's voices so that the interview would run clearly throughout the interview. To do this I grouped the recording to all the points where I was talking and all the parts where Declan was talking. After this I individually adjusted each recording using the single band compressor tool, making our voices the same volume and as similar to each other as possible.

https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438/radio-interview-first-edit
https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438/radio-interview-second-edit
(The final edit is on a later post)

Recording the Soundscape

For the soundscape I produced a variety of recordings using either a shotgun condenser or dynamic microphone depending on whether it was being recorded inside or outside. On the day I had recorded over 50 recordings trying to get 13 different sounds for the final piece. Some sounds were easy to capture such as the kick of a rugby ball, tackle or the team talk. However, other shots proved more difficult such as recreating the sound of wind and the passing and catching of the ball. To overcome these problems though I made sure that all other sounds were recorded to perfection and I would work with what I had for the more difficult sounds when it came to editing.


Below are some grouped recordings:
https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438/running-recording-for-soundscape
https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438/tackling-recordings-for-soundscape
(The final edited soundscape is on a later post)

Recording the interview

When recording the interview with Declan, I used a sound booth that consisted of a condenser microphone connected to an apple mac where it would be saved onto. I started by having a normal chat with Declan asking how his day was going etc. before I started to ask the questions. The questions and answers flowed very well and there was no hesitation in the answers. However, this made the interview shorter than expected. In order to add more to it I asked Declan if he had a mix that I would be able to use as part of the broadcast which he replied to with a yes. Therefore, at the end of the interview I added 'You've brought a mix with you today for us to listen to?' which I will then edit the mix into afterwards. Other than this there were no problems with Declan as an interviewee, however, I stuttered on one or two of the questions and so at the end just repeated the questions which once again will be edited together afterwards on Adobe Audition. Overall it was a successful recording and I believe a captivating interview just left to be edited.

Reading notes: From sensation to Perception

Below are notes from a reading called 'From sensation to Perception', over the course I will make notes from various readings. These notes will help me expand my knowledge of sound, enhancing my skills and therefore developing my final products.

-Once sound has entered through our ears, we begin to perceive through various listening modes.
-Hearing is passive and listening is active.
-While hearing involves receiving auditory information through ears, listening relies on the capacity to filter, selectively focus, remember and respond to sound.
-REDUCED listening refers to the real-time awareness of all the sound quality parameters (wavelength, amplitude, frequency etc.)
-CAUSAL listening consists of listening to a sound to be able to gather information about its cause.
-SEMANTIC listening pertains to the spoken language and other code systems that symbolise ideas, actions and things. The study of linguistics delves deeply into this area and points out that the variation can be great in actual sound and still have the same meaning
-REFERENTIAL listening consists of being aware of or affected by the context of the sound, linking not only to the source by principally to the emotional and dramatic meaning.
-Less is more: Sometimes you can get the most impact with the least number of elements in a sound piece, allowing the audience to be more participatory by letting them fill in the gaps with their minds, as opposed to handing them a full plate.
-

Adobe audition practice 3

I thought that whilst practicing using Adobe Audition that I should try and edit a piece that included dialogue so that I could further my skills in work consisting of voices. I decided to use the conversation from Pulp Fiction about marijuana being legal in Amsterdam and cheeseburgers being called Royale with Cheese in France. I edited the conversation swapping all mention of weed with the words "cheeseburger" or "quarter pounder with cheese" to make it seem like cheeseburgers were legal in Amsterdam but not in the majority of countries. I then swapped the mention of the quarter pounder with cheese with the word "hash" to make it seem like marijuana was sold in McDonald's in France and was normal. Editing this piece has helped me with picking out short bits of dialogue both deleting and replacing these bits. However, this piece sounded very unnatural and so I need to work on making the conversations seem like they flow properly.

https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438/royale-with-cheese

Radio interview inspiration

Below is a radio interview taken from BBC Radio 1 that I have gained inspiration from for when I create my own interview. Nick Grimshaw constructs the interview like a conversation which is how I want to do mine, this keeps the interviewee at ease which minimizes hesitation when answering. Grimshaw asks the questions with energy but not too much so that his interviewee's can work off of him and continue the enthusiasm going through their answers. He also allows his guests to say everything that they have to say before asking the next question. When I am conducting my interview I will try to mirror Nick Grimshaw's style in order to keep my interviewee at ease and make it seem like they are just in a normal conversation.

Adobe Audition Tutorial 2

Above is a tutorial video that will help me in the editing process of my radio interview. It explains how to change dialogue using effects such as compression to normalize voices. The interviewee and myself are very likely going to have different sounding voices in terms of volume, bass and pitch and therefore learning to use effects such as these will help me to adjust the voices into sounding a lot more similar.

Planed questions for interview

In preparation of recording the interview I have planned the questions that I am going to be asking Declan. I have written out more questions than will probably be needed to make sure that enough information is going to be covered. Below are the questions that I am planning on asking Declan, other questions may be added depending on what answers are given as the information may lead to a more interesting and relevant question being created:

1-How long have you been DJ'ing for?
2-What influenced you to take up this skill and how did you learn to do it?
3-Where did you first perform and how did you get the chance to do this?
4-What is your preferred music and is this what you mix whilst DJ'ing?
5-Do you think that the Brighton scene has played a big part in enabling you to start this career?
6-Other than your weekly night at Patterns, where else have you performed?
7-What do you hope for the future for you as a DJ? Do you plan to pursue a career in this area?

Adobe Audition practice 2

To continue furthering my skills in sound editing I created another practice sound-walk using  downloaded sounds. I used three different sounds and added them together to make sense of them. Through watching more tutorial videos, I learned to use the fade effect and how to have the sounds overlap so that it wasn't just sound after sound. My recording consisted of the sound of gentle waves, a rowing boat and seagulls. I had this piece open with the sound of small waves which I after added the sound of rowing on top of before having the sound of seagulls come in at the end. I was aiming to create the sound of a boat coming into land which I believe was clear. After creating this piece I felt a lot more confident with the software and creating sound-walks however, I still had more work to be done whilst using audition.

https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438/audition-practice-mixdown

Reading notes: Characteristics of Radio

-What strikes everyone as significant about radio is that it is a 'blind' medium- we cannot see anything it is just noise and silence.
-Comparing radio to other modes of communication, gives us a clearer idea of radio's characteristics.
-Unlike radio, modes which are interpersonal consist of the the sender and receiver of a message being physically close and within sight of each other- there are other signs which help communicate such as facial expressions.
-The obvious advantage of modes of mass communication are that the sender can communicate with multitudes of receivers over distances at the same time
-The disadvantage however is that contact becomes impersonal and the risk of misunderstanding becomes greater. Also, the receiver cannot give feedback.
-Radio's codes are purely auditory, and since the ear is not the most 'intelligent' sense organ, their deployment have to be relatively simple- the risks of ambiguity or communication failure are high and so in radio much effort is expended on overcoming the limitations of the medium, on establishing the different kinds of context which we would generally be able to see for ourselves.
-For example, Physical object or processes which are normally self-evident have to be described- 'tell the listeners what you are doing'

Initial interview idea

The second practical piece of this course that is required to be done is a three minute edited interview with an individual for presentation on local radio. I have chosen to interview Declan, an up and coming DJ who began DJ'ing properly at the start of university. He has always been interested in music and has mixed songs before university as a hobby but over the first few months he was enabled to DJ at a few clubs starting with 'Patterns' which he now Dj's at every thursday and is paid for. He also has featured on local radio playing some of his mixes before playing at a Ticketed event at 'Concorde 2' where he opened and closed the night. The Brighton scene has allowed Declan to start his career as his regular thursday night shift is a Funk night which would not be found in many other places such as his Croydon, where he lives when not at university. Whether funk is his preferred genre of music or not doesn't matter as it has given him experience into playing at clubs and in the future he is sure to experiment with different genres such as when he played at 'Concorde 2', with it being a garage and grime based night. I believe that an interview with an up and coming DJ who started in Brighton will be very interesting for local radio and he will have good things to say about the City he is DJ'ing in.

Planned recordings for Soundwalk

In preparation of recording for my Soundwalk, I have planned what sounds I hope to capture and in what way these sounds will be  produced. I am going to record a range of sounds that would be heard in a rugby game/team talk and depending on how each recording sounds, I will edit it together to create my soundwalk. Below are the sound I am going to individually record.

Captain finishing words to team talk:
-"Come on lads, heads on, if we win this we win the league. Let's go" (cheer from teammates)
-Record in changing room with a dynamic mic
-Record with 5 people and manipulate that there are more people cheering by editing the sounds.

Team walking out of changing rooms:
-The sounds of studs against the floor walking out of the changing rooms onto the pitch
-Record in the hallway of changing rooms using dynamic mic as it will be a loud sound and this mic can withstand high volumes
-Will only need a few footsteps to symbolise them leaving onto the pitch

The sound of the referee's whistle:
-The sound of the referee asking if both teams are ready ("Sussex ready? Brighton ready?") before hearing the whistle being blown
-Record with one person with a strong voice
-Using Condenser Shotgun mic with Dead-Cat as it will be recorded outside- can withstand high volume of the whistle

The sound of the ball being kicked:
-The sound of the ball being kicked which will be added after the referee's whistle to resemble the start of the game
-Have a single individual kicking the ball, recording until a distinct sound is captured
-Using Shotgun mic w/dead-cat as it will be recorded outside.

The Sound of a tackle:
-The sound of one player tackling a player in opposition
-Record someone hitting a tackle bag to resemble this action as it is unfair to have someone tackled multiple times if needed
-Will record with Shotgun mic w/dead-cat as once again it will be recorded outside

The Sound of the ball being passed:
-The sound of the ball being thrown and then caught will be recorded and can then be used a few times when editing
-Will record the sound of soft wind to resemble the ball moving through the air and then record the sound of the ball being caught and put them both together to resemble the pass and catch
-Record the sound of the catch with Shotgun mic w/dead-cat as it is outside and experiment with the shotgun mic with and without the dead-cat and move the mic through the air to resemble the sound of wind

The sound of Player calling for the ball:
-"Yes short left"
-Would record with the person standing a few steps from the microphone and moving whilst calling out for the ball
-Would be followed by the sound of the ball being passed
-Recorded with Shotgun mic w/dead-cat

The sound of running footsteps:
-The sound of running footsteps on the pitch to resemble the movement of the players
-Have someone run past the microphone and capture about 5 seconds of running
-Outside so using Shotgun mic w/dead-cat

The sound of heavy breathing:
-Record the sound of heavy breathing to emphasise the intensity of the game
-Have someone sprint around before recording their natural breathing after
-Use Shotgun condenser as it is a quiet noise and will be picked up quite well

The sound of the ball being put on ground:
-Resembling a try being scored, someone will place the ball on the ground quite hard and the mic will be close to it to capture this sound
-Shotgun mic w/dead-cat as it is outside and not a very loud noise- condenser mics work well with quiet noises

The sound of Cheering:
-Have a group of about 5-6 people cheering in unison and shouting phrases such as "Come on sussex"
-This will resemble people watching from the sideline and will be put after the sound of the ball being put on the ground to reinforce the idea of a try being scored
-Will experiment inside and outside with either dynamic microphone or Shotgun w/dead-cat to see which works better- want the sound to sound like it is coming from a distance and for the cheers and phrases to be heard in unison to create realism

The sound of the final whistle:
-Recorded exactly the same as the first recording of the whistle
-However, it will be the sound of the final whistle not just the single blow and will be followed by cheers to resemble the end of the game

Final Words from captain:
-"Well done Sus', a well deserved win!!"
-Record the same person who gave the team talk and have him shout this straight after the final whistle is blown and have him sounding quite out of breath(get the person being recorded to sprint around before recording this)

Depending on how each of the recordings sound, I will experiment with what order I will edit them in. I most probably wont use all of these recordings due to them not sounding like how I want them to or The soundwalk will be too long if all are used. Some of the individual recordings may be used more than once such as the sound of running or the ball being passed so that it is not all the individual sounds one after the other but in fact sounds like actions in the game. Also, each sound will be recording a few times so there is a range of different sounds for each action to increase realism, for example, different sounding tackles as all wont sound the same.

Initial Idea for Soundwalk

As part of the course I am required to create a soundwalk which will consist of a range of recordings edited together. I have decided to focus my soundwalk around a rugby game/training and the different sounds that are heard. The different sounds that I aim to capture in my recordings range from obvious sounds that are heard such as a referees whistle or a player shouting for his teammate to pass the ball to sounds that aren't as obvious such as a tackle and the ball being passed through the air. My initial idea is to open the soundwalk with the end of a team talk from the captain leading his team onto the pitch into the game and ending it with the whistle being blown and hearing cheering from the winning team. As there are a range of different sounds that I am aiming to record, I will need to record each part individually before editing them in the order that I desire.

Interview Techniques

In preparation for when I am conducting my own interview for my final project, I was advised to read 'Directing, The Documentary' by Michael Rabiger where I found many things to keep in mind when interviewing. Below are key points from this reading that I will make sure I follow in the production of my piece:
-Plan interview questions before hand in order to cover all areas that need to be discussed
-Must get comprehensive cover as the audience has no prior knowledge
-Maintain eye-contact to make the interviewee relaxed
-Keep questions on a piece of paper that can be referred back to if they are forgotten
-Take control as the interviewer and give instruction
-Keep the interview going until you have full understanding- factual and emotional
-Never settle for generalities, always push for an example or story
-Offer the opportunity to add anything that's missing at the end of the interview

Interview Practice

During one of our workshops, our class was introduced to the sound booths and live studios before being instructed to do a practice interview in the form of a radio broadcast in groups. My group and I took a story from the news for that day and interviewed a member of our group who pretended to be involved in the story. We decided to do half of the broadcast in the studio and the other half outside with the radio presenter talking from the studio and the interview being done off set. We used different interview techniques that were discussed in class such as setting the interviewee at ease, planning what questions will be asked before hand and leaving the more emotionally fueled until the end of the interview. As The interview was within our own group it wasn't necessary to do all of this as we were fine recording ourselves, however it was good practice for when we do our individual interviews as part of our final product.

https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438/practice-radio-broadcast

The Tuning of the World

-Keynote sounds can be considered the 'fundamental tone' of the world
-Sounds that have dramatically affected the fundamental tone of the world:
Traffic- depending on speed, density and mass, traffic will create different, constant fundamental tones
-Forestry/Farming- Clearing of forests and flattening of landscape reduces barriers to sound. Sound carries further, less reflection
-Electricity- is an oscillation- it has a set pitch. In America this is 50hz and in the UK it is 60hz. We can hear this almost everywhere we go
-Habitation- Ability to stop hearing sounds as we get used to them
-Familiarity- tactical response to foreign sounds- higher state of alert for unfamiliar sounds
-Proximity- Ability of brain to group similar sounds happening in close proximity together- even if they come from different sources

Adobe audition practice

To familiarize myself with the adobe audition software I decided to create a short practice sound-walk using downloaded sounds. I used three different sounds and added them together to make sense of them. This was the first time that I was using Audition on my own and so I wasn't completely comfortable using the software. I decided to try and create the sound of a person getting in a car and driving off. I used three sounds that were added one after the other, these were the sounds of a door shutting, an engine starting up and a car driving. I simply added them one after another in order to make the feel of a car driving off. I learned to shorten sounds and add them to each other to create a sound-walk. I am now feeling a bit more comfortable using audition but feel that I need to work a lot more on my skills and learn how to add effects to make my work sound better. In order to do this I need to watch more tutorial videos and continue creating practice pieces.

https://soundcloud.com/jsheehan-405881438/audition-practice-2

Reading notes: Soundscapes by Sonnenschein

-Stories happen in a time and place, and these parameters are characterised by their acoustic environments or soundscapes.
-A soundscape is composed of several types of sounds: keynote sounds, signals, soundmarks, and archetypal sounds.
-The KEYNOTE is equivalent to the tonal centre in music in that it represents the anchor and reference point to all other sound. Indispensable to the environment, it serves as the ground for the figure.
- The SIGNAL is considered the figure or foreground sound to be consciously heard. These include sounds that demand attention, like sirens, whistles etc. which can also transmit more complex messages like the number of bell chimes in a clock tower.
-A SOUNDMARK establishes a particular place, as does a landmark, possessing some unique quality for only that location
-ARCHETYPAL sounds stir out ancestral memories, bringing us into an environment through a universal emotional reaction.
-The natural soundscape can create not only a wide range of emotional spaces, it can also link with our human environments through analogy or simply because of our tendency to seek meaning in all stimuli.

Microphones

There are a range of microphones that are available for me to use for my project which were introduced in class. The three types that were discussed were dynamic, ribbon and condenser microphones and are effective for certain types of recordings and not so much for other types of sounds.

Dynamic Microphones:
Advantages:
-They are durable and can withstand a lot of volume before they distort
-Doesn't require phantom power
-Designed to colour sound at certain frequencies, e.g. making human voices sound stronger
Typically used:
- Live situations, but also sometimes used in studio
-Close mic situations
-Recording loud sounds
Disadvantages:
-They often miss subtle sounds as it takes a lot of sound pressure to move the coil

Ribbon Microphones:
Advantages:
-Captures a smoother sound than Dynamic mics
-Doesn't require phantom power
Typically used:
-In the studio because they're very fragile
-Close mic situations
-Delicate sounding objects, particularly quiet sounds
Disadvantages:
-Colours the sound by adding a high frequency edge
-Fragile
-Will only pick up sounds that are very close

Condenser Microphones:
Advantages:
-They respond to fast attacks and transients more precisely than other mics
-They can capture sound from a greater distance
-Record a sound whilst capturing the ambience of the room
Typically used:
-In recording studios
-Can be used to record almost any sound except extremely loud ones
-Very effective with quiet sounds
-Used very often for vocals and acoustic guitars
Disadvantages:
-Fairly fragile
-Require phantom power to operate
-Can pick up extraneous sounds easily

Once I have decided on what I am going to record for the sound-walk and interview I will have to pick which microphone is most suitable for recording each piece of work.

The Fundamentals of Sound

-Sound happens when a moving object causes the matter around it to vibrate, resulting in sound waves
-We hear sounds when sound waves travel through matter and cause our ear drums to vibrate
-A sound wave can be thought of a periodic movement through space over time
-The nature of that space determines a sounds amplitude
The speed at which a wave vibrates determines its frequency
-The most basic form of sound wave is called a sine wave. Sine waves are a fundamental tone, meaning that they contain no harmonics
-Different materials produce different types of wave forms, all of the following determine the nature of the sound an object produces:
How dense is an object?
What is it made of?
Is it rough or smooth?
How different is it from other sounds?
What space is it sounding in?
-By adjusting the frequency, amplitude, wave shape and envolope of a sound you can make entirely new sounds from existing material.

Presentation: Ben Burtt

As part of the course we were put into partners and told to do a presentation on an existing sound designer. My group did our presentation on Ben Burtt, screen shots of the slides are below:

Introduction to sound notes

-modes of listening:

1)Reduced- abstract, pure, uncultural/non-judgmental

2)Casual- clue, relational, non- abstract, narrative sense

3)Semantic- code, about language not sound, sound as a carrier of meaning

4)Referential- extra sonic, defines context, utilizes cultural meaning

-R. Murray Schaffer:

-keynote sounds- anchor or fundamental tone, the reference from which all other material takes meaning

-Signals- foreground sounds, listened to consciously. Warnings, direct messages, intended to impact meaning

-Soundmarks- unique sounds. Possess qualities that make it especially regarded by the community, define place

-Hi-fi Soundscape- rich with clarity, sounds have room to be fully percieved

-Lo-fi Soundscape- Cluttered, overlapping sounds, dificult to differentiate between sources 

Soundwalk Practice

In Session 2 of the course, as well as continuing to further my abilities of editing sound, I was able to go out and record the sound that I was going to use. In the class we were put into groups and given a Marantz Digital Audio Recorder and told to go out and record a sound-walk (A recording of the environment and what is going on around you). We did exactly this, we recorded sounds such as us walking down stairs, through co-op and the noises of a lift. After we had all of our recorded footage we headed back to class to edit different sounds from the sound-walk together. My group and I chose to edit different sounds into a song; we used the sound of steps as a build up, which then lead into a bleeping noise from co-op into a drop that we created of various other noises. After we had finished editing it sounded quite professional and we were very happy with what we had created.

Adobe Audition Tutorials

As I struggled whilst using Adobe Audition in the first session, I decided to look at some tutorial videos to help with my understanding. As I am beginner with this software I have looked at basic tutorial videos like the one below. Throughout the course I will continue through more tutorial videos that will help me with more complex things on the software but for now this video was very helpful;

Introduction to Course

In week one of the course I had an introduction and insight into the work that I will be doing over the following weeks. I was informed that for my portfolio that I needed to hand in two practical pieces.Firstly, I am required to plan, research and produce a two to five minute ‘audio soundscape’ or ‘acoustic portrait’ of a geographical place of your choice. Secondly, I am required to submit a three-minute edited interview with a single individual of your choice for presentation on local radio. After being informed what I was going to be doing over the course, I had an introduction to Adobe Audition- the first sound software that I have used. I downloaded 4 sounds and attempted to put them together to create a piece where the sounds sounded relevant to each other. However, as I was new to the software I found this very difficult and so I decided to just work with the sounds I had and try to put them together whilst using basic effects such as fades at the beginning and end even if the sounds didn't fit together properly. This session helped me to get used to Adobe Audition, however I need a lot more practice in it and so will research some tutorial videos and keep using the software to further my abilities on the software.