COM 304 is a project-based course that will give you an overview of digital audio production. We will explore some of this through both making and studying.
By the end of this semester, you will:
- Record, edit and produce audio segments
- Use digital editing tools for post-production
- Be able to identify the right equipment for the need
- Combine multiple audio sources to create a completed work Re-record dialogue and other audio for a video segment
Assignments
Storycorps: The StoryCorps project is an online site that archives short stories from people’s lives. In this exercise you are helping someone tell a brief story. You are required to listen to two stories (of your choosing) on storycorps.org and briefly write about them (300 – 400 words) as your first blog posting. Analyze the pacing and scope, consider the sound quality of the recording itself. Your goal for your own project is to create an audio narrative which is of the same level of production values and could be part of this collection. The process is more than simply turning the recorder on and capturing the session. It is an interview which will need to be edited and culled to create a narrative that others can enjoy. Use your two StoryCorps stories as examples of what yours should sound like.
Radio Spots: For this project you will be creating two 60 or one 60 and one 30 second radio spots that will be aired on a WKNC digital channel. It should be campus related. For your subject you should choose one of the following: Student group, On campus event , Lifestyle Segment or Well-being (Exercise, Diet, Mindfulness, etc.). Use best audio practices to create well recorded voices. You are free to use background music or other bits of audio. We have licensing for commercial music recordings, but not other sources of audio, such as movies or television.
Soundscape: You are to build a space or place in time, imaginary or real that is described through audio. This is not through narration, but through captured sound that you then manipulate to build your space or point in time. As with the Storyteller project, you will be required to do more than just turn a recorder on. You should experiment with different ways of recording and combining them using multitrack production. The focus should be on high fidelity of sound to create an immersive experience. Inside of this, you may end up using a combination of found sounds, things recorded with field recorders and other sources. The result should be approximately 3 minutes in length.
ADR Project: For this project, you will be replacing the audio in a video segment of your choosing with your own recorded dialog, sound effects and recorded music. The segment should not be more than 3 minutes long and should be a convincing replacement for the original audio. In other words, consider where the audio is taking place and emulate that in your dialogue replacement. This will mean that you will not only be re-recording dialogue, but also any incidental sound and music in the scene. One suggested place to find a segment to work with is archive.org, which has a lot of films and ephemera in the public domain.
Live!: Using a combination of live recording and other audio sources, build a finished, original piece. You will be required to capture live performers. These could be musicians, vocal performers and whatever else you might need. It could be something traditional with new elements, such as live music and singing combined with some studio wizardry, or it could be a spoken word piece with found sounds. The point here is like some of our other projects; good recording techniques, editing, post-production – in all being able to create an experience that is memorable using tools that you should be by now comfortable with.