Month: October 2019

Intro to Audio Editing

You have the option to edit your audio projects on either Audacity or Adobe Premiere Pro.

Pros of Audacity: Free to download. You can edit at home/on your laptop.

Pros of Premiere: Better editing program. More intuitive to use. Less buggy/prone to crashing. Will also give you a head start on getting familiar with the program, since it’s what you’ll be using to edit your videos for your final project.

Cons of Audacity: Sometimes prone to crashing. Doesn’t allow for more complex, nuanced sound mixing.

Cons of Premiere: You’ll either be reliant on school computers and lab hours (they have this program on the computers on the 6th floor of the library as well as in Studio H) or you’ll have to pay $19.99 a month to subscribe to it.

Audacity shortcuts to know:

Play/pause: space bar
Split track: Command I
Zoom in: Command 1
Zoom out: Command 3

In the tool bar, this is the selection tool that allows you to click and highlight and delete sections of track or select a spot where you want to split it:

And this is the tool that allows you to move sections of track:


And this is the one that lets you adjust the volume, basically the same way the pen tool works in Premiere:

Sound files download: acts/ambi and narration.

Script download: Trade and Manufacturing Script

In both programs, when you’re finished editing, you’ll need to export the finished sound file before you can upload it anywhere.

In Audacity, it’s File –> Export Audio –> select “WAV” from dropdown menu and give the file a name and location, then hit “Save” and “OK.”

For Premiere, it’s File –> Export –> Media. Select “Waveform Audio” from the “Format” dropdown menu if it’s not already there. Name and locate the file in the “Output Name” field. Then hit “Export.”

In-Class Exercise: Script Writing and Audio Editing

ACT: TRUMP: “NAFTA was the worst trade deal in the history – it’s like – the history of this country. And China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization has enabled the greatest job theft in the history of our country.”

HOST INTRO: That was then-candidate Donald Trump hammering the North American Free Trade Agreement while delivering a speech on trade last year in Pennsylvania. Just last month, he threatened to scrap the deal altogether. He isn’t the only politician to blame trade deals for lost manufacturing jobs—they’ve been something of a punching bag on campaign trails for years. For anyone seeking votes in places where factories have been shut down, globalization has proved to be an effective scapegoat. But the reality is not quite that simple. [Your name] went to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to investigate.

Okay, there’s your host intro. I want you to use the following information to write the first scene of a script for a radio story.

Location: The factory floor at Vaughan-Bassett in Galax, Virginia.

Source: Safety coordinator Brian Reavis.

Reporter notes: You’ve been given safety glasses to wear by Reavis. Reavis has a thick Virginia accent. The place smells like sawdust. The noise is deafening. Reavis points out a conveyer belt where workers are building nightstands assembly-line style. They’re building 16 nightstands every minute. It’s a chilly, cloudy day in October.

Background info:

• Vaughan-Bassett is the largest wooden bedroom furniture manufacturer in the US.
• Galax, Virginia considers itself the world’s capital of old-time mountain music.
• There used to be six furniture factories here in Galax.
• Cheap, imported furniture has disrupted the American furniture market.
• Vaughan-Bassett is the only factory left in Galax.
• Many furniture companies have moved operations overseas where manufacturing is cheaper, or closed down completely.
• Galax sits at the “gateway” to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
• There has been an emphasis on tourism in recent years since the factories closed.
• Vaughan-Bassett employs 650 people, many of whom are longtime employees and work alongside members of their families.
• Galax population: 7,042 people as of 2010 census. In 2018, the population was 6,423.

Soundbites (Reavis):

“My mother worked here for 35 years, she started here in 1972 making a dollar 62 an hour, I think minimum wage was a dollar fifty back then an hour, she brought home 80 dollars a week and she just retired probably 12 years ago. But a lot of folks are impacted by these furniture factories …I mean, it’s a vital part of our mainstay, our life, and we’re very fortunate to have it.”

“Oh yeah, we had BC Vaughan, TG Vaughan, EC Dodson, Webb 1, Webb 2, all within eyesight of this facility. Unfortunately they’re gone, and chances are they’ll probably not be back.”

“The process that’s going on here is Henry Ford’s assembly line personified. Every employee has a specific job to do to successfully put that piece of furniture from Point A to B…”

Your assignment is to write the script up to this point:

TRACK: Fortunate, yes. But it’s no accident that Reavis and the others at Vaughan-Bassett still have their jobs when so many others don’t. To show you why, we need to make another stop, over the border in North Carolina, where the Bassett family is gearing up for the world-famous, semiannual home furnishings trade show in High Point.

Remember, your script should follow a template like this:

HOST INTRO: 

AMBI: This is your natural sound AND your room tone.

TRACK: This is your narration.

ACT (NAME): These are your soundbites.

You should also include notes as to when your AMBI fades up and down.

Your sound files are downloadable here. Time permitting, we will also do an audio editing tutorial.for rob

https://maykhin.exposure.co/the-heart-of-the-burmese-community?source=share-maykhin

Dear editor, 

Baruch College Undergraduate Student Government is often overlooked by the students but USG put so much effort and dedication towards the Baruch community to make effective changes on and off campus. The club life at Baruch is a lifestyle, a choice and a lot of commitment and many students cannot handle both club life with their course load, jobs or extracurricular activities. However, there are some bearcats who are very active in the community and club life and have been showcasing their leadership skills to make important changes to the Baruch community. The current President, Dakshatha Daggala, is very well-known in the Baruch community for her leadership and services. Her passion and contribution led her from the Chair of Clubs and Organizations last year to the current executive board position – the presidency. She has been implementing her initiatives in diversity and voter registration to raise awareness on important issues and she is bringing so much to the USG table. Therefore, I will love to interview her on how club life has changed over the years and how campus life and club activities will continue to affect the overall student body at Baruch. I was hoping to interview the former Chair of Clubs and Organizations Arvis Chen (2017-2018), Dakshatha Daggala (2018-2019) and the current Chair Denise Rojas (2019-2020) on how the club life has changed over the years and what is next for club life in the future. Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you so much for your time.

Sincerely,

May Khin

Info session with admissions director of the Newmark J-school (CUNY), Max Patino.

Reminders/Upcoming dates:

Scripts for the radio piece will be due next Wednesday, October 23. We will NOT be having class as normal that day. Instead, I will be holding one-on-one edit sessions with all of you that day. You can sign up here. Time slots will be first come, first served. If you absolutely can’t do any of the available times, you can contact me about potentially setting up a phone call.

Your final produced radio story will be due Wednesday, October 30. As a reminder, here are the requirements:

Assignment #2 will be a 5-minute news radio feature (a “wrap”). A wrap is a scripted radio piece that weaves together natural sounds, interview clips (known as “actualities”), and reporter narration to tell a story.

These are the components you are required to submit for the final draft:

1. A good headline/title.
2. Your final 4-5 minute edited audio file, posted to Soundcloud and embedded on the blog or on Exposure.
3. At least one photo.
4. A slightly reworked version of the script that reads like a normal news story, similar to the examples we looked at in class.

I’ve always wanted to start my own podcast about basketball, especially since I want to go into the field of sports journalism, specifically basketball. I can’t think of any topic other than this, to do the radio project on. Wanted to do like  an interview show, since the new season of nba basketball is about to start. Idea is to have a panel of guests talk about the upcoming season, who they think will win, etc, kind of like the debate shows we see on tv (First take, Undisputed).

Showtime musicians. I want to follow the story of a few subway musicians throughout the day. I’ve been following a few musicians on the subway who play music for a living. Some of these musicians are older in age and often only work certain hours of the day due to that. There is a group of musicians on the C and A train who play the same music and have created a small community. I will be focusing on 3 musicians who have more than 30 years of experience put together. I will dive into the work they do, the music they prefer to play, how much money they earn, and conflicts that occur to them as street performers. The piece will include ambient sounds (trains, crowds, subway announcements, etc) and live music.

The Harlem Renaissance 100 year anniversary is approaching and I would like to visit the Shrine and find performers in Harlem today. I want my story to focus on the performers influence on The Harlem Renaissance through Jazz music, and compare Jazz’s influence years ago to Hip Hop’s influence throughout Harlem currently.

Pitch 1: I would like to visit NYC’s 6 Annual Festival of Dreams. The Festival of Dreams celebrates the vibrant immigrant community and provide support for people who are facing immigration problems. It provides the opportunity for immigrants to meet people who can help them through various issues. I would like to interview someone who has had immigration problems and how it affected their family. The celebration has a variety of food and cocktails from different cultures. In addition, this issue is still politically relevant.

Pitch 2: I would also like to do a story on the 400 Years of Inequality Observance. The observance is done as a way of bringing publicity to racial and gender inequality. I would like to interview a member of an activist group or political representative who supports racial or gender equality programs.

Radio Pitch: The person I want to interview is an old friend of mine who has recently become a cop. There are a lot of things to talk about but the main thing I want to speak with him about is the high suicide rate amongst police officers. From what he has told me some cops see things that would scar you for life, and that can be a common occurrence for cop. So for them having to bottle it up can take a huge toll on their mental health. He also mentioned that people don’t really respect cops as much as they used to according to some of his more senior co-workers, I believe this might also be contributing to it.