For my first Audio Bank assignment I completed an assignment called, Sick Beat. This assignment asks the creator to make a beat using sounds they found for free, public use online.

For this assignment I used freesound.org for all the sounds you hear, and used the Garage Band audio software to put everything together. To incorporate out 80’s Pop Culture theme I included sounds that were found through the search “80’s” on the Free Sound website. Each sound involves the 80’s in some way.

Once I reacquainted myself with the Garage Band software, I began to play around with different sounds. I choose to layer each sound to create a build, before trickling down to the Blender sound, before coming to an end.

Can you spot each of the sounds in the finished product?

80’s Blender (Water), 80’s alarm.aiff, DrumBass_80sUpdown_Dm_120BPM.wav, Tabletop clock ticking, 1/4 speed, Coquette French Style Phone.wav, and THX recreated.wav.

#ds106

For this fun little audio assignment, the task was to create a sick beats to end all sick beats. I spent a lot of time just trying to figure out where to even start. I’m not much of a musically minded person, so I felt like a log adrift until I remembered that the sickest beat has existed for many years now, since my childhood. I took it upon myself to do Strongbad proud and remaster this king of beats. If you don’t quite get the reference yet, it will only get more confusing after listening. Enjoy!

This is the original link to the assignment. I got these sounds and beats off of freesounds.org. I used three different beats. One was a counties beat and the other two are strokes with pauses. I think it turned out pretty sick.

Audio is a great way to tell a story. Just by hearing a series of sounds it allows the possibility for an individual to draw up an image in their head designed off of what they hear.

For my first audio assignment of the week I decided to participate in a three star assignment called sick beat. This project asked that individuals create a beat out of sounds they may have found on freesounds.org or whatever they have recorded or can find. I thought this would be a fun assignment to do because I have some experience, however not as much as I’d like, with creating some form of music or audio. Last semester I took a music technology class here at UMW as a lower level elective for my major. In this class we learned about music and played around with applications such as Audacity. That being said I actually had a folder or compilation of different drum sounds that was needed for the class. I decided to use these different sounds to create a sick beat for this particular assignment as opposed to using free sounds.org. I’m incredibly appreciative with the slight experience that I have with audacity because it made creating this assignment a bit easier.

To create this assignment I first opened audacity. Once I had the application up and running I then proceeded to open numerous drum files within audacity that I wanted to use for my beat. Following those two simple steps I began to just mess around with cutting, copying, pasting, etc. the files. I used many differing drum sounds so I just played around with what I thought would be intriguing to hear. Ultimately after some time, the short drum files turned into a two minute drum beat. Upon finishing my assignment I then saved it as a .mp3 so that I could upload it to my Soundcloud where I would ultimately have the ability to share this sound with the entire class.

Creating this beat wasn’t as hard as I initially thought and was actually quite fun. I think the hardest part was figuring out what sound went well together and what didn’t. Ultimately I still think the audio I created could use some work. I am obviously not a master at this, but am impressed with my first time creating something of this caliber.

While working on this assignment I strove to tell a story using different drum beats. Essentially I wanted my audio to sound like one sick drum solo, but with me being a beginner I believe I tell more of a story that fades into different drum solos. I believe the sound switches every couple of seconds and creates a different vibe based on the audio files I used. Ultimately I believe I tell various stories in this two minute audio beat. Audio is important when telling a story, this assignment opened my eyes to a different side of story telling that I wasn’t too familiar with. That being said I enjoyed every second of it. Sometimes we just need to sit back and listen and let our imagination paint the story in our head.

Music bytes that were used: 1. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/8bit_Betty/too_bleep_to_bloop/hc152_04_spooky_loop_by_8bit_betty 2. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Thee_Open_Sex/Live_on_WFMUs_Airborne_Event_-_April_1_2013/Thee_Open_Sex_-_04_-_Drippin_Down 3. https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/Music_for_Video/Komiku/THE_GIRL_WITH_THE_BASEBALL_BAT/Komiku_-_08_-_Final_Fight.mp3 4. https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/no_curator/Audiobinger/Audiobinger_-_Singles/Audiobinger_-_Cooling.mp3 5. https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/Music_for_Video/Frederic_Lardon_feat_Laura_Palme/Jazz__la_cool_pour_les_vacances_dans_le_dni_de_la_chaleur_de_lt/Frederic_Lardon_feat_Laura_Palme_-_03_-_Dans_la_chambre_dHenri.mp3 I loved the first sound I put on just because it felt so weird. It had a bunch of different things going on while still having a sick beat to it. This is the kind of music I love! The … Continue reading “A Collection of my Favorite Sounds”

Directions: “Make a sick beat, using whatever you can find on freesounds.org, and whatever you can record around you! I don’t care how long it is, just get groovy dood.”

Behind the Story:

Narrating the Process:

I had lots of fun making this assignment as I had no idea Air Jordans were first launched in the 80s (blows my mind as they’re still very popular today). With a little research, I created my own script and recorded it using a voice memo. I then converted it into a WAV format so I can edit it in Audacity. I used the same sound or sick beat that I used for my bumper as I felt it went well with both my assignments. I cut the free sound to match with my length of voice memo and finally uploaded it as a WAV file. Here is my script: 

Why run when you can fly? With the new Air Jordans, you will be doing just that. These new sneakers will have you the flyest not just on the courts, but in the streets too. Inspired and designed by the best in the world, Micheal Jordan, you too can reach his level of potential with these shoes. You will obtain the fury of a bull, as Jordan does on the courts. Don’t settle for less, be extraordinary. Just Do It. 

As I began thinking about my bumper, I decided to tune in to the local station beat 101.5 to gather some inspiration. I noticed that in almost every verse or statement, they conclude with the phrase “101.5” or with the beat that rhymes with 101.5. Although I wish I were talented enough to create a beat that rhymes with our radio show title “The Breakfast Club” (maybe a goal by the end of the semester), I chose to ultimately conclude my bumper with the same idea. 

I used freesound.org once again to choose my sick beat, and actually liked the beat so much I decided to also use the same beat for my 80s radio show commercial. I imported my audio voice recording and converted it into a WAV file to be able to use in Audacity. I then imported my free sound into the same platform and cut the sound to match my voice recording. I then saved the file as a WAV file and uploaded it to soundcloud. Hope you enjoy it!

“Listen to all the hits and keep up with what was popular in the 80s. Stay tuned for more interviews on the 80s and what were their favorite music hits and movies and to hear what we think. Catch it all here, on The Breakfast Club Radio. Where we love, listen, and do all things 80s.”

Assignment: Spooky Sounds
For this assignment, make an audio track using found sounds or your own recordings that is creepy, spooky, scary, halloween-inspired. Make it more than a minute long so we have time to get scared! 

So! I was browsing the audio assignments and I saw one that caught my eyes. It was the ‘Sick Beats’ assignment and I already had a cool sound in my head, BUT like many of creative ventures, it didn’t go as planned. Before I knew it I was making a creepy and eerie sound and I had to finish it. This was one of my favorite assignments so far! So, here is my kinda spooky little audio! Enjoy~~~

How It Works:
1.) I opened Audacity and clicked on new (on the files tab)
2.) I went to freesound.org and got all my sounds from there
3.) I liked many of the sounds but I picked only 5:
a.) https://freesound.org/people/googlekatclaire/sounds/505213/
b.) https://freesound.org/people/Mellau/sounds/505667/
c.) https://freesound.org/people/viznoman/sounds/267307/
d.) https://freesound.org/people/AmeAngelofSin/sounds/165597/
e.) https://freesound.org/people/MelvinJaepel/sounds/435468/

4.) I then imported all the audio one by one (files>import)
5.) once I had all the audio samples, I began to move and cut parts of the sounds where I thought fit best. (To cut: select track> edit>clip boundaries>split; To Move: On top there, under analyze, there is a two-headed arrow, click it but make sure to have the desired track selected)