Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Noise, Noise, Noise!



Well, NetNarr friends, I tried. I tried so hard to accomplish the #soundwork challenge, but audio editing doesn't seem to be my forte! I attempted the "Have A Conversation With Yourself" challenge, and decided to read a excerpt from The Little Prince-- I thought it would be cool to put different voices to difference characters, as well as the narrator. My sound clip was less than 40 seconds, it seemed simple enough! Sadly....it was not, but I tried, and I think I could work around Audacity if I needed to, which is the point, r-right?

Disappointment at my meager results aside, I have to say, audio work is the most challenging thing that I've encountered in quite a long time! I've never before had the experience of working with an audio editing program, and I'm quite happy to learn about Audacity and mess around with it for this week's class. Without further ado, I present to you, my.....attempt:




Note: I'm not entirely sure why the image behind my excerpt is a giant version of my profile pic but, well, hello!

I worked on this for longer than I'd care to admit, and the main thing I learned is that the natural voice fluctuates quite a bit. I played around with pitch, and came to realize that it's not enough to adjust the end result pitch, in order for segments throughout the clip to blend well, the starting pitch needs to be consistent. This got quite confusing after a while and, even when I thought I had a smooth transition, it wasn't necessarily so. 

I chose this particular exercise because I thought it would be the simplest to grasp, considering how new I am to audio editing. Turns out, there's quite a learning curve, even for the exercise I thought would be simplest. However, this is what I enjoy about this class, it's always some new challenge. Now, I can come away saying I've played around with audio editing software.

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You can click here be linked to my #3soundstory, which is the story of a pretty normal morning in my life. It was interesting to click through the sound sets posted in the portal and listen to other people's morning sounds.

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I also want to comment on our bus tour to the Young Writers Project. As I browsed through the site, I was stunned by the talent and courage shown by the the participants, especially considering their ages. It takes a great deal of strength and confidence to submit your work to the public for anyone to see and review. Not a lot of people have this courage, and I am impressed that these kids have taken the leap.

Kids are crucially important to society, and I have always believed that we should listen to their voices. The events that shape a person in their formative years have a huge impact on who they grow up to become. Writing may be the best thing kids can do to work through the intense emotions and thoughts that accompany growing up-- the first heartbreak, family trouble, loneliness, questioning-- these things are all important. During my adventure through the site I saw stories, both fiction and nonfiction, that spoke to me because they indicated an incredible degree of depth and knowledge. I realize I'm waxing a bit Wordsworthian (à la "the child is father of the man") but I think there's a relatable degree of truth to be found in the comparison. 

If I could leave the writers of the Young Writers Project with one thought, it would be this- keep writing. Do not stop. Do not lose interest in your writing, and do not fall into the lie that it's not good enough, or can't compare to the greats. In expressing yourself, you are doing the world a service, and you will help at least one other person out there who thought they were all along. To drop another name, in the words of C.S. Lewis, "Friendship...is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself..."

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As for the weekly roundup of DDAs, I present to you:


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See everyone in class!
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