This is an audio narrative between me and my boyfriend, Jake. Jake likes to sail for leisure and also for work; he has trained under a captain and has enough experience to be able to sail his own boat. He has come across near-death experiences several times out in the sea, and has many stories to share. This one in particular involves a trip in California, when he was sailing from Santa Barbara to San Francisco. The narrative begins with me asking about his sailing adventures over the phone, and then it will transition us into his perspective, who comes across what may be pirates...
I've used Audacity before--recreationally and for a similar class that incorporated audio from the web for a podcast. Despite my familiarity, this audio narrative required more specific sounds, which allowed me to play with the different effects that audacity has to offer. These are just a few of the effects that I used for my podcast:
| Original sound | Effect |
|---|---|
| Radio dialogue | Distortion (Rectifier Distortion, 42.00) x2, Pitch (increase) |
| Phone call (beginning) | Graphic EQ (frequencies 500 to 3.1k set to 2db, frequencies lower or higher than that set to -15db) x2, high-pass filter |
| Spanish guitar (beginning) | Pitch (increase), Tempo (increase) |
| Narration (in-head) | Reverb (Reverbance + Room size) |
| Missile | Reverb, Paulstretch |
| Engine | Envelope (Increase/Decrease Gain), Low-pass filter (on the deck only) |
| First mate dialogue | Pitch (decrease), Filter curve, Low-pass filter (2nd dialogue only) |
| Radio beep | Reverse (end of recording only) |
| Air horn | Duplicate, Reverb, Paulstretch |
| Stairs | Reverse (ascending only), tempo (increase, 2nd time only) |
In addition to these effects, I used amplify, fade in/out, noise reduction, and the cut tool multiple times to create a cohesive and smooth transition between audio clips. Many of the effects I researched online, such as the graphic EQ and filter curve. They required specific settings in order to create a celluar or clearier/scratchier sound (respectively).
(Screenshots of work in progress for preview, draft, and final are included in the repo)
I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to capture in my audio narrative, and I wanted it to be fairly accurate to my boyfriend's adventure (the dialogue when he is on the ship is nearly 100% true to the original story). In the draft, I added some Spanish guitar tunes because the narrative ended rather abruptly. My boyfriend enjoys listening to Spanish music often, and I thought it would be appropriate to add it in the beginning as well to tie the narrative together.
The feedback from my peers were really helpful because while my draft was complete dialogue-wise, it felt a bit disconnected.
While I tried encouraging my boyfriend to sound more emotional/dramatic, he has a very monotonous voice and was having trouble changing his tones throughout the recordings. In return, I added more pauses between the narration to allow for a dramatic effect; this is to give the listeners time to anticipate for the next scene and not get bogged down by the dialogue. I also amplified his voice so that the engine noise wouldn't drown the narration.
This comment was helpful in order to replace some of the monotonous dialogue. I cut parts of the dialogue that were redundant, such as when he says "my first mate awoke me," followed by "still drowsy." I also incorporated the radio slide in the final audio, which also meant that I needed to add Jake going back down into the cabin. Specific details of the effects used for the radio slide is in the list below.
What actually really added depth to my final audio was Katelyn McHugh's podcast, "Last Night as Slashfest." I was chilled to the bone when I heard sound effects transitioning from my left ear to my right ear. I had used this feature in tampering with mp3 files before, but I totally forgot about it when I was working on my pocast; I was too focused on capturing the types of sounds in the environment. This list entails some of the changes that I made from the draft into my final piece:
| Original sound | Effect |
|---|---|
| Rain | Used a different audio that sounded more like rain against a window |
| Dialogue | Amplify (increase), greater pauses between clips, cut out redudant audio |
| Phone call and Missile | Split stereo, silenced left/right output |
| Accelerating Engine | Split stereo, enveloped to create shift in sound from left/right output to the other side |
| Missile | Reverb, Paulstretch |
| Radio slide | Added "gun slide on table" audio, high-pass filter, filter-curve |
Overall, I was pretty satisfied in the final output of my audio. I learned how to use a lot of different effects to manipulate sound; I created dialogue that sounded like it was from a phone and a radio, as well as incorporate internal monologue. Personally, I felt like I was able to capture the essence of my boyfriend's adventure, while also maintaining its authenticity. I originally was going to interview my boyfriend, but thought it would be more exciting to have listeners experience what sailing is like. I definitely feel like my audio narrative is lacking in some aspects; the narration could use more emotions, and I could have add micro-movement sounds such as footsteps or arms brushing against a surface. For a final draft, however, I think I was successfully able to layer several clips of audio, use new effects including left/right pans and low/high-pass filters, transition between scenes, create a sense of space/distance, use appropriate clarity in speech, have a clear intention and organization, and create a unique environment for listeners.