I have to admit I was initially nervous about recording
my writing for this class at the start of the semester. Turns out I was worried
over nothing. The hardest parts of the process have been learning to use the program
and adjusting my writing to be more effective to be spoken aloud.
For me, working with Audacity was tricky for about
two seconds. The program is pretty similar to some of the video editing software
I’ve used for projects in other classes, so I suspect that there may have been a
shorter learning curve due to that familiarity.
When I write, I try to read my work aloud, this helps
me to catch a lot of simple surface level errors (like dear or deer, which Word
typically won’t catch), and can help with awkward sentences. So, it wasn’t much
of a stretch to read out loud to make sure my writing was not only correct, but
also pleasing to the ear as well.
The hardest part, for me anyways, was the actually
recording. Trying to get through a section of my writing without stammering or re-writing
something as I’m reading it, is difficult and something that I hope I will get better
at with some more practice.
All in all, I was actually surprised by how much fun
this whole process has been. I find myself looking forward to the next stage of
this project, and the remaining projects for this semester. I am also looking forward to hearing pieces from the rest of the class.
Hi Bryan,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that its been fun! You write that composing for sound involves more attention to "simple surface errors." You example, correcting "dear" and "deer" is interesting because when spoken that distinction is meaningless. Are there other ways that you find yourself attending to sentences as you write these pieces?
Professor,
DeleteWhen I'm in the revision/rewrite stage I try to find ways to make my sentences sound better, both alone and as a part of a paragraph. I try to find a tempo that makes them easier to read and creates a good rhythm. You're absolutely right about deer vs dear being meaningless in an audio format, that was just an example for why I started reading my writing aloud to myself (I probably should have been more clear about that in my post. whoops). I found during this process that the biggest difference between reading for myself and reading to record, was determining which words to emphasize in each sentence.
I stuttered doing my first take as well. After getting frustrated, I remembered: Hey, this doesn't matter! I can easily edit this out in Audacity.
ReplyDeleteIn the second (and final) recording, if I stumbled, I waited a second, took a deep breath, re-said the word I mixed up, and then moved on. All I had to do was cut it out in Audacity. I couldn't even tell! Maybe this might help. :)
I agree with Cat here; the cut tool is fantastic.
DeleteI have a problem with always breathing like I've run up a flight of stairs, even when I'm sitting on my couch, and after using the noise reduction filter five times there were still gasps and wheezes I couldn't get rid of, and I realized that I could just cut them out entirely.
You could piece together multiple takes to make a Frankenstein's monster of all the best bits, and I think if you had a deft hand nobody would be the wiser.