Here is a remix that I have done to a song called Otis by my favorite rapper Jay-Z and his partner in crime Kanye West. This song features a sample from the song Try a Little Tenderness by Otis Redding, hence the title of the track! I had an amazing time with this project from “trying,” to create my own lyrics to getting the music and trying to have it exactly how I wanted it!
This project definitely helped me to learn a ton of new things and I really enjoyed broadening my horizons!
In order to create my ringtone, I used a program called Soundations. Find this free program at soundation.com. The program gives options to utilize a free program, but you can also buy the Premium or Power package which allows for more storage and additional music selections.
It didn’t take long to learn the basics of this program. Soundations has a library of free sounds at your fingertips that you can choose from. Just click to listen to a variety of clips and then click and drag the clips you want to use into the corresponding Audio Channel. This makes it very easy to layer one sound over another. Once you have chosen a sound, you can drag it to increase the length of time it plays, or copy and paste it in different locations. If you layer two clips that have different speeds or rhythms, the program automatically asks you if you would like the program to time stretch the clip in order to match the other audio clips you have chosen.
For my specific ringtone, I used four different sound clips from the free library: BellAgosha, BeatGrimed, BellDirtyDark, BeatHyphy6and Clap. I began with BellDirtyDark to start the beat and then layered BellAgosha and BeatGrimed on top of it. As the BeatGrimed audio ended, I, allowed BellAgosha to play for a moment before I introduced the Clap. In order to make the Clap audio work, I had to time stretch it to fit the rhythm of my existing sounds. After I put this initial portion of the ringtone together, I copied and pasted it again a second time for a longer ringtone.
This program is super easy to use and I was able to teach myself just by clicking around. When I ran into questions, I just asked my 11 year old daughter, who was much more familiar with the program than myself! I have added her ringtone to my blog as well to demonstrate how much more you can do with the program if you have more time and are more creative than me!
In order to post my ringtones to my blog, I saved the files as wav files on my computer. Then, I uploaded them to soundcloud.com. Once your sounds are uploaded, SoundCloud allows you to share the links with your blog, Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.
Check out my Ringtone here:
Check out my daughter’s creation here:
http://soundcloud.com/dmart67/ocean-ringtone
Combining my love for the ocean and guitar music, I created a soothing ringtone featuring peaceful ocean wave sound and some laid back minor key guitar riffing of my own composition and performance. I used Audacity to record the guitar part and then added a slight echo effect to make it sound like I was doing more than I really was. Then I added a tasty ocean waves sound clip from a free audio sample website at http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/soundfx/watersounds.shtml. I then copied the ocean track to play twice to sync it with the roughly 20 second guitar track. Looking back, I feel as though I should have looped it to repeat as a ringtone, but I can always go back and do that later, I guess. Finally, I uploaded the whole deal to my www.Soundcloud.com account, which converted the file to an accessible format for the masses, including this blog.
Being a musician, I am obviously intrigued with the possibilities out there for PC sound recording and mixing, so I had fun with this. I will most certainly be exploring other options for recording, particularly in regard to sound quality, which is likely to be dependent on the quality of an external microphone and controlled external recording conditions. In the meantime, enjoy the soothing sounds of my beach guitar!
I have to admit, I love mixing audio into a video file. It’s one of my favorite things to do. Finding the perfect song that matches the mood of an image – purely delicious. That’s why this project challenged me to tell my tale with just my voice and music. I decided to keep the subject of my audio recording something easy and fun to tell, so I chose to write a short intro to my new puppies transition from pound puppy to princess. Her favorite music is Adele; In fact we play Adele to calm her down when she is puppy wild. The two meshed well together, even if my voice sounds wickedly horrible lowered so many octaves!
I’ll post my how-to in another blog – stay tuned!
My New Appreciation for Photo Editors
I’m not going to lie…When asked to edit an image in Pixlr or Photoshop, I was a little nervous. I have never done anything but a collage. In fact, the biggest difficulty I encountered while trying to complete this task was figuring out how to navigate the picture editing program, Pixlr. However, after I figured out how to navigate, it was pretty easy. YouTube tutorials help a lot, even though I did have to figure out some things on my own still.
I knew I wanted to do the option of Time of Day because the beach picture was beautiful, and I love nature images. Although I would have loved to travel to Jamaica and spend a week on the beach gathering different images throughout the day, I settled on a tree in my backyard. Usually, there is a beautiful sun set in my back yard, but I did not luck up to capture the images on a night that was red, orange, pink, and yellow. However, I still am very happy with the final image.
For those that would like to try this on their own, I hope these instructions are easier to follow than anything I found online.
How To:
1) Take multiple pictures throughout the day and upload them to your computer.
2) Log on to Pixlr, Online Editor.
3) Click on the “Open Pixlr Editor (Advanced)” link.
4) Click on the “Create a New Image” link. It’s the first option.
5) You then have to chose a size. You can manually set the size, or there are some options to chose from. My images were 2448 x 3264. I had to load an image first to see the size. If your size is not set the same as your images, it will crop out a large portion of your image, which gets frustrating. After that, a white blank working box will appear.
6) Next, click on “File” and then select “Open Image.” Find the base image (mine was the image on the far right) from your documents on your computer and upload it.
7) After that image appears, you need to unlock it. There is a box on the right, middle side of the screen titled “Layers.” There will be white box with “background” written next to it. There is a lock next to that. Double click on that lock. You will need to repeat this for all images and the initial blank box.
8) In the toolbar, there will be a Marquee tool, found under the crop button, that you need to click. Then use that tool to select all of the first picture. (You will select less and less of each subsequent image, subtracting an equal amount from the right side of each image.) After you have selected the portion you want to use, press “Ctrl + C” to copy that portion.
9) Click on the Blank box and press “Ctrl + V” to paste that into the working blank box. If you need to move the image, which you probably will move more as you paste each subsequent portion into the box, click on the Move Tool and then move the image into place.
10) Repeat steps Step 6 – Step 9 for the number of different images that you want to include. Make sure you divide out the space equal to however many images you want to combine. Don’t forget to unlock each image that you upload so you can copy and paste it.
11) Last, go to “File” and select “save” to save your image.
Boarder: I then entered into the “Open Pixlr Express (Efficient)” mode, uploaded the image, and added the feather boarder to smooth out the edges that didn’t line up perfectly.
For my first remix assignment I thought I’d do a little movie creeping. I really enjoy many movies and found myself at a crossroad when selecting one that can be considered “famous!” Then I thought back to a trip I took to Universal Studios in Orlando Florida for Labor Day and remembered the fun I had eating at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co. All of the great food and Forrest Gump trivia really got me thinking! I decided to creep on Forrest and Jenny and what better way to creep then by including a pair of shoes from my own Nike Collection!
To remix this photo I first went to google images and selected a Forrest Gump photo. Next I went into Pixlr where I selected open URL and inserted the web address. Next I went to adjustment and add image. I selected my own image and after some serious adjusting I inserted it into the original photo. Finally I went to the History Brush where I was able to erase my body to fit into the original screen.
It was truly a fun experience and I cannot wait until my next Remix assignment!
So, when I read Prufrock, I think of a highly intelligent, over-dramatic (and melodramatic), egocentric kinda guy. I feel like he is well-liked, but tired of always feeling examined or inspected. His obsession with his outer appearance raises his anxiety levels to an absurd level, as far as calling himself a specimen “pinned to a wall”. Sometimes I just want to tell him, “Hey, buddy…no one really cares that much about you. Stop worrying so much.”
Steps to complete this picture:
1. Use www.picmonkey.com
1. Find a nice black background off Google Images to use.
2. Honestly, all I did was randomly search for pictures of “Old Bars” “Misunderstood”, “All seeing Eye”, “Staircase”, “Legs going down stairs”, “Pinned bug”.
3. Once having an ample collection of good photos to use, I started placing them where they looked good. (The revising portion of this assignment takes the most time!)
4. When you use the “Overlay” option on www.picmonkey.com, you must use an eraser to cut the excesses of the images. (I used the erase button to trim my images on almost every picture. You should use this option as needed; it is a great tool to help your creation)
5. Insert text with the simple text option. (I found some lines from the poem that moved me. I would use the text sparingly as the picture(s) should speak louder than the text(s)). I used the font called “STAMPETE”.
6. It is important to add some type of movement to your art. (Ex. The drink spilling over. Or, Prufrock coming down the stairs) You must direct your spectator’s eyes to follow a smooth-flowing cadence.
7. Have fun, revise often, and be patient! (I messed up so many times. And nothing bothers me more than time you will never get back!)
The hardest part of this assignment was deciding which option to choose in order to complete the task. Now I really understand how my students feel when I tell them to “be creative” and they look at me as if I am speaking Latin. So, I settled for remixing the
work of a famous artist and the piece of art I settled on was DaVinci’s Mona Lisa.
I love tech. There. I said it (shocker, I know). However, I do not love editing photos! I would rather spend hours setting up the perfect shot with a camera, or finding a different way to portray the needed visual aid. Why? Patience. The amount of detail that it takes to use photo editing software surprised me. One little line to far to the left can ruin what you are trying to accomplish. Overall, I think the image turned out well. I like that I portrayed Mona as I feel she would be in today’s society. AND, I gained a huge amount of respect for graphic artists!
How To:
1. I used Pixlr as my editing tool. After loading both images, I began with the image of a Mona Lisa skinned iPad.
2. I created a white border around the image, to simulate an iPad case with the marquee tool feathered (feather setting) to 40. After inverting the selection, I was able to color the entire portion outside of Mona Lisa’s iPad covering.
3. Next, I used the free transform tool to rotate the image slightly so that when it was moved to the final image, it would looked natural in Mona’s hand.
4. I created a new image with a transparent background and then I copied and pasted the image of iPad Mona into this transparent background. To make this happen, I used the inverted wand tool.
5. I re-sized the transparent iPad Mona so that it was less than half the original size so that the iPad would look normal in Mona’s hand. This was a lot of trial and edit/undo’s. I really was just eyeballing the two images side by side in order to have the right size.
6. I then copied the iPad image into the image of Mona Lisa, which created two layers on the untouched photo. The next step was to create a third layer of just her hands so that I could sandwich the iPad between the two layers. Using the wand tool, I carefully selected the hands – this was a pain! With the hands now a layer, I placed them on top of the iPad image and erased the extra bits I missed with the wand.
This is a photo of my youngest daughter, Erica, from Easter 2011. I’ve always loved the expression on her face and the bright colors in the picture. I tried to add effects that made the picture more dream-like. Erica is my free-spirited child who often loses herself in imaginary play for hours. She is sweet and caring. I wanted to portray that essence here.
I used a program called FotoFlexer to alter this picture. I played quite a bit with the distortion, twirling the flowers, leaves, and branches. Then I used the neon effect to brighten the colors. I was able to paint certain areas of the photo and then add a neon color of my choice. I added the neon effect to the flowers, leaves, and branches separately. In order to soften the picture a little, I blurred it a bit and also added some opaque circles very subtly. To brighten the overall color, I used an effect called Lomoish. I also rounded the corners of the picture.
Overall, FotoFlexer was easy and fun to use much like Pixlr. I worked on a couple of versions of this photo before I decided on this one. I like the end result of the picture, but Erica noted that she “likes it better the normal way.” I guess you can’t please everyone!
