This week’s assignment was to chose something from the DS106 Audio Bank. I tried using the randomizer again, but felt unsatisfied with the results. Audio is something that I’m still getting used to, and I really wanted to push myself a bit in terms of audio expression. So…I found something totally out of my comfort zone: A Capella with Yourself! (just fyi, the assignment came with its own exclamation point, rather than it being a reflection of my level of enthusiasm).

From assignments in other classes, I’ve developed a basic understanding of putting audio together in Audacity. I know next to nothing about singing or musical arrangement, much less about how to create a pleasant musical experience. However, this made the assignment a great way to try something different in Audacity, push my own comfort level, and learn a bit about a topic that I’ve often enjoyed as an audience member.

Not being up for adding “song-writing” to the list of firsts for this assignment, I went with a short bite from “Bye Bye Love” which is familiar to me as performed by both the Everly Brothers and, about a decade later, Simon and Garfunkel.

I started this assignment by reading through the tutorial provided by the original assignment creator, Amber May. Those instructions were a great place to start, but included a few tips/hints that were a bit beyond me. I added to my research by looking up videos on “how to sing a harmony” (I found this video from Zanna Discs most helpful).

I then recorded myself singing twice, with a slight variation in sound in order to create the harmony (I think…). The beat ended up being more difficult because nothing really sounded right. I initially stuck in a few backup vocals, just to add some interest, and finally decided on a very subtle background beatbox sound (the un-vocalized “p”). Finally, I exported my project through Audacity to make an MP3 version, which I then uploaded to Sound Cloud.

Although I won’t be hitting the tour circuit any time soon, I’m happy to have tried something that I normally would avoid. I learned a few things along the way, and I think I’d be more open to trying something like it in the future.

This Audio Assignment can be found here: http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/a-capella-with-yourself/

For this assignment I sang a verse from Just The Way You Are in my garage, recording four different times using Audacity. For the first two vocal tracks, I sang using two slightly different tones, one being a little higher than the first. For the next two tracks, I sang on both the left and right side of my microphone to form the background vocals. No instruments were used as this was suppose to be A Capella and thanks to my garage, I managed to get a little reverb, resulting in this audio file.

A Capella With Yourself! (3stars)

It has been a very chaotic semester so far. Taking two math classes, working and other personal business. This Post is all about the previous audio work which was to pick assignments that add up to 10 stars. Here they are (I had fun with them actually) I chose these assignments because they seem fun [...]

Today I created an audio assignment that I found in DS106, called: A Capella With Yourself. 3 stars. (Click the link to refer back to it). I chose this assignment because I love to sing naturally, so I figured I would try it out.

In order for me to do this assignment, I worked with Garage band on my macbook pro. I opened up my mp3 player on my phone and as I sung with the music, I recorded my voice on garage band. I recorded it 3 times to get the effect that it was a group of “me” singing. After playing it back and editing, I decided to fade the end out so you won’t hear 3 different clicking noises to end the piece. After that, I clicked on share and uploaded my track to itunes. Thereafter, I added the track to my blog’s media library, and Shazam! Here it is. I hope you enjoy my voice. (Click the link below to listen)

DS106 A Capelle With Yourself Assignment

Update: After changing my theme last night, I tried to log back on this morning and could not find the log in button on my page to click on. I had to search my history in order to log in. So, I am currently trying to figure out a way to see my log in button on my page.

I’ve figured it out! I just had to customize my theme, and deselect the option where it says short menu. Once I deselected it, I was able to scroll down and find the log in and log out button. Now, I am less freaked out!