Audio Assignment:

Emotions Through Sound 3?

I chose this assignment because I still wanted to work with sound effects using Audacity. At first I wanted to do a compilation of happy things. However, all I kept thinking about was how easy it would be to find sound clips that inflicted the emotion of fear.  So I ended up going with fear instead of happiness. I knew I wanted to do something with howling wolves. They are my favorite animals and are commonly used in scary movies. The next thing that came to mind was chainsaws which are a big staple in slasher movies. And of course it has to be raining. There is no other acceptable weather in horror movies. the heavy breathing and scream are just necessary.

For this assignment I used Audacity again. I also went to Freesound and got the clips of a thunderstorm, heavy breathing, a scream, howling wolves, and a chainsaw. I then imported them all to Audacity and edited them to fit together in a fear inducting clip.

One of the audio assignments I chose to do this week was emotion through sound for three stars. I chose to do stress because it completely reflects how I’ve felt the past couple days. I’ve had assignment after assignment due this week and next week I have two exams worth 20% of each of those classes’ grades. I have been doing work all day and gradually my stress level has decreased. So, getting my audio assignments done is just one more way to lower my stress level.

In order to portray stress, my mind immediately went to the sounds of clocks ticking as I ran out of time to do my work. I then thought of dissonance on piano keys which always makes me unsettled and I felt would add to one’s stress level. These two sounds alternate at the beginning of my audio clip, building the stress level. Towards the end, I added in a school bell ringing as if out of a nightmare because it suggests you’re out of time to get things done. I ended the clip with the roll of thunder, suggesting that the worst has happened just as you feared it would.

Emotions Through Sound (3 Stars)

Try to convey a certain emotion, such as fear, stress, sadness, etc. by combing sound effects. They can be human sounds, such as crying with laughter in the background, to maybe express someone’s fears or being embarrassed, or you can get really artsy and try to convey an emotion by sound effects– like loud noises to show intensity, thunder to show fear, or quick, chirpy noises to show happiness. Edit at least 4 sounds together to show an emotion, upload it to soundcloud and then tag it with the appropriate tags.

Story Behind the Story:

This was my very first experience with Audacity, and let me tell you, I was not a happy camper. So, what better way to complete this assignment then to evoke the emotion of stress and anxiety. I have always been a fascinated by people that can take all of these different sounds and create something unique. Or I will hear mash-ups of songs and think “how on earth did they do that?” Well, I can finally say “I DID IT!” While I may not be on the same level, I am prettyyyyyyy proud of myself for combining four different sounds. It may not seem like a lot, but phew, did I spend way to much time finding the “right” noise, or figuring out which sounds should be louder or which ones needed to go in certain places. It was definitely not just a drag and drop assignment.

At this point, I still have a lot more audio assignments to complete, and a lot more to learn about sound editing. After a while, this one ended up being pretty easy (not saying that I didn’t just spend an hour putting it all together). I tried to jump right into the next assignment; I was feeling pretty confident that I could do it. Nope. Audacity just didn’t want to let me have this one. Kelsey 1: Audacity:1. Who will be victorious? Probably not me, but I will get there!

Anyway, the sounds in this assignment pretty much sum up how I feel when I am stressed or anxious, so basically everything I felt while making this wonderful sound compilation.

I really wanted to capture the essence of how little noises can escalate to full fledged episodes of irritation. I know pen clicking and gum chewing are the first noises that become noticeable when I am trying to focus. Then they become the only things I can focus on. However, I have adopted the habit of listening to soothing rain to drown out noises, but this assignment really hits on that point when there is no escape. I have the rain in the background but all of the other noises are overbearing. There is a moment, one little moment of just rain, but we all know that is too good to last.

I absolutely cannot stand these noises, and the amount of times I made myself listen to it to make sure it all sound good was TORTURE.

Work Itself: WARNING!!! ANNOYING AND IRRITATING NOISES LAY AHEAD OF YOU! BEWARE!

Narrate the Process:

I began by searching youtube for specific sounds that pertained to my own personal experience with the emotion of stress/anxiety: pen clicking and gum chewing. I then thought about what I try to do in order to relax and focus: listen to calming rain. Finally, I wanted a sound that encompassed the exact emotion I feel when I no longer have control over the sounds around me: a screaming goat (would you believe that, that was the most realistic scream I could find on youtube).

Once I had each of these sounds, I had to convert them from youtube videos into MP3s (which sounds like I know what I am doing but I actually had a friend tell me what needed to be done). I simply typed in “youtube MP3 converter for mac” into Google and clicked the very first link.

You simply copy and past the URL of the YouTube link into the converter, download it, and open it in Audacity. 

I opened each one in an individual window and then copied and pasted them all into one. From there I just played around with position, length, and loudness.

First Audio Assignment is completed!

This is actually my first time using Audacity. It took me a while to make 1:40 sound. I went to tutorial in UMW’s Digital Knowledge Center, it helped me a lot. If I did not go, I would probably had hard time to this assignment. My assignment is to show emotions through sounds (3 points). About 45 seconds from beginning, I used church bell sound effect to give sprightly atmosphere. After the bell sound ends, the happy background music comes out with bird chirping sound. Whenever I woke up in morning, and hear birds are chirping, it made my days to start feeling good, and think that I might hear some good news. Lastly, I put baby laughing sound. I love babies, so when I hear babies are laughing, I laugh with them and sometimes they make me to forget worries and just smile like I have no concern.