I spent a good portion of one day working on ds106 assignments, just sitting at my computer, thinking, planning, searching, recording, rejecting, and trying again. Somehow, just sitting in that way was rough on my back and by dinner I could barely walk. (I’ve had lower back problems in the past, but usually for more justified reasons.)

That evening I created a ds106 radio bumper and focused on pain, not shockingly. I opened with an odd monster sound, just because it seemed like an interesting opening and it showed up when I searched for pain. Then I used a sound that was created to simulate someone falling down the stairs. I think, in context, it sounds more like a door opening. Finally, I ended with some maniacal laughter.

Another audio assignment I attempted was the One-Man Play. This was one of the first to catch my attention and I knew immediately what part of which play I wanted to use: the opening moments of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia. It may not be a play many folks know, but it is one I love, especially the opening. Stoppard writes brilliant dialogue. The down side to that is I am no actress so I do not do justice to the words. I did have fun trying to make myself sound like both a 13 year old girl and a 22 year old man.

I didn’t add much beyond my voice. The scene takes place in Thomasina’s home, during a lesson with her tutor. I added a bit of pages turning as the two were working and some pen writing.

I’m still working on the Suess It assignment but Audacity and I are not getting along well at the moment. I’m trying to copy and paste some sounds but when I paste, nothing seems to happen. It thinks it did, because I can ‘undo paste’ but that’s not impressive when the sound isn’t there. I haven’t given up yet but at the moment Audacity is winning.

Audio Assignment 36: Create a bumper for DS 106 Radio.

I had such a good time participating in the DS106 class radio productions. I think the satisfaction of making something out of nothing but a thin thought wisping through your mind is amplified ten-fold when it melds with those of others to produce something only possible because these individuals came together at this moment in time for one and only one production. You can never step in that same sound wave twice. Then layer on the appreciation for those productions of others and the opportunity to contribute to the live experience and you’ve got great live, interactive radio.

Inspiration

Here’s a bumper that I created for my piece using a kindly contributed “soundtrack of summers past” by Norm. I rely on Norm’s compelling personality and the sweet music of the legendary Mamas and Papas to create kind of a pause that refreshes.

Process and Reflections

I love working with layers of music and voice and had a good and challenging time playing with the rise and fall of the music and Norm’s voice. Norm’s voice as recorded was giving me fits because it just mellowed out below the music and I could not seem to raise it loud enough — and, well, then, I discovered the sound mixer. Who have thought it would be under “View”? Still learning about fades in and out but this sounds pretty good for someone who has always heard horror stories about Audacity.

Thanks, Norm, for the assist!

Aspirations
I’d like to be able to record my own psa’s for the local radio station to promote fundraising events for my community garden. So, would Audacity work for that, if I got really, really good? Thanks for any advice.

Dear Chanda,

I totally ripped you off by co-opting a short clip from a well-known movie and turning it into my DS106 Radio bumper.  I’m sorry.  I was desperate.  Attempts at other audio assignments failed.  Miserably.

Sincerely,

Me

You can listen to my bumper here:

You can find Chanda’s bumper here.

I’ve listened to DS106 Radio a few times, and I’m enamored with the set up and what I’ve been hearing.  When DS106 Radio was first mentioned, I thought about that 1990 Christian Slater classic, Pump Up the Volume.  God I loved that movie.

Over the weekend, I watched Awesome: I Fucking Shot That, a Beastie Boys concert film shot by 50 members of the audience.   After this viewing, I got it in my mind to do the “Forced Collabo” audio assignment.  Who wouldn’t really?  Skip to about 3:30 in this video and tell me that Mixmaster Mike’s job doesn’t look totally easy.  Right?  Right?

Yeah. Not so much.  After many attempts to find the perfect songs to mash-up, I gave up with the realization that (1) I have a crappy music collection and (2) I have been blindly consuming music rather than listening.  Sad.

Here’s another clip from Awesome just for fun.  It’s “Intergalactic.”  Look how happy everyone in the crowd looks.

Create a ds106 radio bumper Now that we have a #ds106 radio up and running creating a 15 to 30 second bumper for the station.

This one is pretty simple. Short segment from Gnawa Diffusion‘s Frik Fashion.
I’ve enjoyed Gnawa Diffusion for a few years while hardly understanding a word of their lyrics (in Arabic, Tamazight, French and English). A fair metaphor for DS106.
Nothing fancy. Just the start of the track and a few words. A few minutes with GarageBand. I regularly do some quick edits of recorded audio and normally use audacity followed by Levitator for that but prefer GarageBand now for recording and simple ducking.