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Audio Week Assignments:

1. Thoughts About Audio Storytelling
2. A Murder Of Crows
3. Create A Place
4. All The Relaxation
5. Remake That Genre!
6. Auditory Hell
7. What A Song Might Mean To You

Audio Summary

What did you learn?

I learned about some sound techniques such as using sound effects, layering, and music. I also learned about storytelling. The Ira Glass videos were quite informative regarding how to tell a story. It’s the most natural thing in the world to speak a story, but writing a story, or even producing a story, is much different. I don’t often consider the parts of a story, how I want the story to progress, what elements I want use to create a mood or give the story a certain pace or rhythm.

This week, I used Audacity for the first time. It wasn’t difficult to use. I have previous experience using sound and video editing programs and this one is similar to what I’m used to. The resources for free sounds and images were most useful during this week. Freesound.org made finding sound effects so easy. I also learned more about copywritten material and the different licenses. Though this was something I looked into on my own.

And, I learned that sites which use programs to auto-determine if something uploaded is copywritten can be wrong. SoundCloud pulled one of my sound clips as being copywritten even though it was under a Creative Commons 0 License.

What was harder than you thought it would be?

The most difficult thing was listening to hundreds of sound files to find the ones I needed. It was time-consuming. Sometimes the files I wanted didn’t exist. Other times, they didn’t have the necessary license for public use.

What was easier?

The idea of working with sound this week was daunting. When I looked at the amount of information included in this weeks resources and assignments, I felt overwhelmed. But when I finally sat down to do the work, it wasn’t that difficult.

Also, it appears that I haven’t been completing the assignments correctly. The whole thing was confusing to me. But it seems that I need to add sound, images, and video even if the assignment doesn’t call for it. Mentally, that felt like a lot of work and I was discouraged about it. I really didn’t even want to do any of the work this week because I was so frustrated. I’m an overachiever and I don’t like not meeting the mark. Anyway, when I finally sat down to work on the assignments, it wasn’t that much extra work. It was much easier now that I know about freesound.org and publicdomainvectors.org.

What drove you crazy? Why?

I find copyrights really annoying. It feels extremely limiting. I’m very confused as to how some people can include copywritten songs on their YouTube channels while others can’t. I want to create my own content in the future and I want to be able to use modern music and such without having to pay to use it. Right now, I don’t really have the time to research this, but in the future I plan to learn more about properly using copywritten materials on my own channels and websites.

What did you enjoy? Why?

I enjoyed listening to the podcasts. Podcasts are a part of my daily life since I spend so much time driving. It was a nice change of pace. Also, I enjoyed creating fuller content on my blog posts. I’m not sure if I met all the requirements yet since the due date hasn’t arrived. Some of the things I added were actually quite trivial. I’m not a believer that adding more content equals engagement. But, that’s because I’m a different kind of person. I’m not impressed with marketing tactics, clickbait, or empty pushes for user engagement. I do recognize that others are. So, I’m trying to change my mindset. I know that if I want to be successful as a content creator, I have to follow all the algorithms and marketing ploys. As annoying as it is to me, I know that it does work for others. I am surprised that I enjoyed adding a bit more content. It’s not quite where I would like it to be. But, I’m getting there through baby steps.

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Prompt: Pick a song from any genre such as, rock, pop, latin music, electronica, etc. and then find another version of that song in a DIFFERENT genre. Once you find the song in a different genre post the original and the remake and explain which you like better and why. Be creative and have fun!

This is a 3.5 star assignment.

#AudioAssignments2018

One thing about me is that I am extremely musical. At any given point in my day, a song is in my mind. I often randomly break out into song as if my life is a musical or I’m part of a flash mob. People around me may not always get the song reference because my musical tastes are quite eclectic. Overall though, I’m partial to R&B and soul music. One genre of music that I don’t enjoy is country. I think I have maybe five country songs total on my playlist, and those have been mixed with a little hip hop or R&B to be more acceptable to my ears.

For my digital studies blog, I like to complete assignments that connect to me as a person. It can sometimes be difficult to tell a story about my life and have it align with whatever is required. This time it was incredibly difficult. The songs I wanted to choose were not songs commonly made in other genres. At least, not yet. I was surprised because I thought nearly every R&B song had a country version out there.

And now….a warning. These songs have adult themes and strong imagery. Not recommended for anyone under age 18.

For this assignment, I chose the song Earth Is Ghetto by Aliah Sheffield. Its genre is R&B/soul. I found this song earlier this year and really connected with it. I often feel like I don’t belong on this planet or like the people here are crazy. Often our systems, politics, laws, and daily life requirements make no sense. And after all the civil rights uproar during the COVID pandemic, I feel even less comfortable in this place. This song touches something deep in my core and expresses thoughts that are difficult for me to say out loud to others. Just for fun, I chose a version with some funny TikTok videos in it to lighten the mood. That being said, the song is a serious one and I hope you will focus on the message.

It was difficult to find this song in a different genre. But, that happened to be the case with every song I chose prior to settling on this one. There were some club mixes, acoustic versions, and acapella versions, but overall, nothing to write home about. Ultimately, they were still in the R&B and soul genre. Then, I found this unusual rap version which expanded on the ideas in Aliah’s song.

WARNING!!!! This song is not good. The guy can’t sing. But, he did try.

I definitely prefer the original version. The rap version could be a real hit with a little work. Maybe if it was by someone who can sing on key, and if the lyrics were refined. I can’t tell if the differing keys was a creative choice or if it was accidental. The original is far better and I look forward to hearing other genre’s remake the song as it gains popularity in other communities. I do love it that both songs have a unified message about corruption, civil rights, racist systems, and mistreatment of minorities and the poor. Maybe the second song had such musical dissonance as a metaphor for the actual lived dissonance of so many people in the world.

Many artists find joy in taking a song and adding their own musical twist to it. They give a reggae flair to pop songs. A Latin twist on classical music. A Rock and Roll surprise on rap. So on and so forth.

Sofia Karlberg is a Swedish singer and songwriter who became famous for her cover that she uploads on YouTube. The cover that stood out to me the most was rockstar by Post Malone. The original song, released in September 2017, is a mixture of two rap genres: trap and cloud rap. The song quickly reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for two Grammys at the 2019 awards show.

Sofia’s cover of the song takes it from a rap song with a heavy emphasis on the bass to an R&B style track with a heavy emphasis on the piano. Though the lyrics are the same, the tone of the song has changed completely. It goes from dark and gritty to elegant and angelic.

I personally prefer Post Malone’s original track because of the dark and gritty vibe and just how much I can vibe to it. It’s edgy but you can still chill while listening to it. However, I have never heard anyone make swear words sound so peaceful and innocent.

Finding one song sang in 2 different genres is always so interesting to watch. It let’s you have an almost “what if” for the song, like “what if it was sang like this, would it do better or worse?”

That’s why upon reading this assignment that I thought of, yes, the Musical Genre Challenge on Jimmy Fallon. The one I would like to use is the one none other than Ariana Grande. I was able to find the video that had what I was looking for, but it was covered the whole segment as opposed to the one song. So enjoy watching it all, but focus on the song God’s Plan.

Here is the Original God’s Plan by Drake:

And here is God’s Plan by Ariana Grande in the 90s Diva Genre!

Personally, I prefer the original, but Ariana’s takes a very close second. I think I just always enjoy originals better since they are the ones that get stuck in my head first, but they are both pretty darn good!!

Which one do you like better? Let me know below!

Sound Effects – 3.5 Stars

For this audio assignment I had to create my own sound effect. I decided to incorporate my super hero into this. Since she is a super chef I decided to create a sound effect of Merciful Mise en Place’s 2 favorite sounds. Dishing being washed and put into the dishwasher because this means that she completed her job and ready to move onto help a new person in need. The other sound would be someone cutting into their food. This sound makes her very happy because she cooks to make others happy. Garageband was used to record both of these sound effects.

I know a lot about covers. I have a radio show with a friend of mine where we just play mashups and covers. So, when I came across the “Remake that Genre” assignment, I had about  a million ideas.

I narrowed it down to Ryan Adams cover of Taylor Swift’s entire album, 1989. This project is striking. He covered every song on the album, and made each one creative and distinct from the original, and one another. For the sake of brevity and accessibility, we’ll just look at Swift’s hit single “Shake it Off”, and Adam’s “Shake it Off” cover.

Swift’s original is a fairly generic dance-pop hit. It’s catchy, dance-able, and fairly simple musically.

Adam’s cover is more along the lines of indie dream-pop. It’s more mellow, less dance-able, and more complex musically.

I have to say, I like the cover better. Aside from the fact that it’s more in line with what I normally listen to genre-wise, I find it easier to listen to in general. The Swift original is catchy as a function of the genre, but the same style that makes it catchy also makes it grating to listen too after repeated listens. The Adams cover doesn’t have that same effect.

I enjoyed sitting down and comparing these two. I’m familiar with both – the first because of its pop-culture influence, the second because of my own interests – but analyzing them gave me an opportunity to express my feelings about them.

I’ve listened to The Smiths probably the same amount as everyone else has; enough to like them to the point where I don’t have to listen to them all that much.  (It gets to a point where you have to say, enough Morrissey.)  In searching for cover songs I came across Bobby Bare Jr.’s cover for “What Difference Does It Make?”.  It’s a country cover which is really interesting that I like it since I don’t like most modern country songs.  However, in listening to both songs, I still like The Smiths original song a little better.  I think I like it better because its sounds a little smoother; the lyrics fit the genre better.  The cover is still excellent and I will listen to Bobby Bare Jr. again.