Concepts: Advanced Audio Editing, Interview Skills
Hello everyone! The last two weeks have been abbreviated due to Thanksgiving and holiday travel plans, so I’ve decided to do a quick post combining the session notes for each week. We’ve been focusing on expanding our editing skills, and further building on the techniques involved in creating loop-based compositions. Thanksgiving week, J was able to work in depth on a piece he’s envisioned as the backdrop soundbed for one of his ‘Top Ten’ lists. In creating the piece, he was able to select several source audio files and cut them into individual slices, and then process several of the slices.
Through this project, he discovered the ‘reverse selection’ function and began to experiment with organizing his cut audio into completely new clips, integrating several of the newly reversed slices. This is a very advanced concept and requires precision with cutting and a solid ear for layering the resulting clips. He then created a working soundbed from his track and recorded himself speaking over it, marking the first session in which one of the students recorded over a soundbed that they created!
I also had J take a few moments to teach his classmates some of his secrets for chopping and pasting audio. I’ve posted the resulting short beat that he created to show them. He looped a drum break and then cut a vocal line and matched it using the visual element of the waveforms.
Since we had only one session the week of 12/2, we focused on reviewing interview skills and discussing future plans. As a proof of concept, we did a 15 minute ‘talk show’ and the students have all improved so much in their confidence levels, question asking, and with the ‘unseen’ skills such as mic awareness.
We look forward to getting back on our regular schedule next week!
J’s ‘Happy Waves’ Soundbed
J Top Ten Worst Characters
J Teaching Cuts
