Assignment 2 - Producing Digital Audio
This assignment was a very interesting process, from start to finish. First, I really struggled with developing an idea for the conversation to be recorded. I really wanted to fit the task in with my plans for the final website design project and I've honestly been thinking about how to make it fit for months. A few days ago everything finally clicked when I remembered a video that made its way through my #makered PLN on Twitter. We Are Makers (16:59) by The Learning Studio, which you can watch below, is a short history of the Maker Movement. With this video in hand, I generated some questions and hit up my wife, Sarah, to be interviewed.
We Are Makers from Learning Studio on Vimeo.
Now, it must be said that only the questions were scripted. The responses came honestly from my wife, who is both a teacher and a maker, after she had been given time to process the content of the video. Recording the RAW audio went pretty smoothly. We simply pushed record in Audacity and start talking. I had intentionally scripted more questions than I was going to need, including some there were a tad repetitive but worded differently, in order to ensure I had lots of material for editing. We ended with roughly 15 minutes of recorded audio responses.
The next day, I set to editing and remembered why I love Audacity so much. I had to learn a few new tricks in order to reach the final version and I managed to get it down to just over 5 minutes but, all in all, this was a very smooth process. While I know that this is longer than the assigned 2 minutes, I simply couldn't reduce the content any further and have it still be useful for the website I'm designing. I feel that I managed to remove a lot of material without making the conversation seem, well, heavily edited.
Take a listen and let me know what you think!
The next day, I set to editing and remembered why I love Audacity so much. I had to learn a few new tricks in order to reach the final version and I managed to get it down to just over 5 minutes but, all in all, this was a very smooth process. While I know that this is longer than the assigned 2 minutes, I simply couldn't reduce the content any further and have it still be useful for the website I'm designing. I feel that I managed to remove a lot of material without making the conversation seem, well, heavily edited.
Take a listen and let me know what you think!
In case you're interested, here is the script of the introduction and the questions.