Multimedia 1

For the midterm you will be creating a "site-specific" sound piece that is meant to be experienced in a particular location in the city. Taking cues from projects we've looked at in class, like Janet Cardiff, Invisible-5, SOUNDWALK, and Slate's Unauthorized Audio Tours, you should develop a soundtrack that will somehow enhance or extend your audience's understanding of your selected location.

Part 1, to be completed by March 21:

Choose a space or location in the city that you would like to explore acoustically and conceptually. Visit that location with recording equipment. Spend some time in the location recording ambient sounds and (if possible) documenting the space through photography. It can be helpful to listen using headphones while recording, and to adjust the microphone levels as you are recording in order to get the best quality possible. Import your field recordings into audacity (if you are using a video camera to record, you will need to use Final Cut, instructions here). Spend some time exploring the sounds you recorded, and create a two minute sample to upload to your blog. This does not need to be a finished piece, but you should do some editing to explore the material you've gathered (experiment with high pass, low pass filters, noise removal, etc). Upload your field recording sample to your blog along with a photograph of the location.

Part 2: Due March 28

Building off the field recordings and photographs you gathered last week, create an audio tour of your chosen space. This can be a straight-forward tour, or take a much more experimental form. Either way, the final piece should include some voice over, but you are free to choose what kind and how much (your voice, classmates voice, interviews with strangers). The piece should be designed with an actual listener in mind, with the intention of that listener using the audio tour in that space. You may, if you choose, use photographs and/or a map to enhance the audiences' experience.

There is no required time frame. If the work is well done it can be any length or level of complexity. Just keep in mind that this is a midterm assignment (worth 15% of your grade) so the results should reflect a higher degree of effort/commitment than the average class assignment. Your tour should be posted on your blog as an mp3 file along with any supporting material (photos, maps etc). Come to class prepared to present your project. Keep the following questions in mind while working. You will need to be able to speak about them during your presentation:

1. What is significant to you about the location you've selected? How will you emphasize this for the viewer through your use of audio? (Keep in mind the idea not just of telling, but showing through sound)
2. Who is your audience? How do you address them in your piece?
3. How do space and sound interact in your piece? Are they in harmony or incongruous?
4. What are your artistic intentions? Do you have a particular experience in mind for your audience, or are you interested in chance encounters and interactions?

With a notebook (or laptop) in hand, find a public place to sit for a period of ten minutes. As you sit, try to focus in on all the sounds you are hearing. If you feel comfortable doing so, close your eyes. Listen like this for a few minutes, then begin writing down each sound that enters your range of hearing. This should be quick, shorthand list- scribble if you need to! When you have completed 10 minutes of listening, write a short blog post including where & when you listened, and the list of sounds you recorded in your notebook.

Create a 60 second audio piece using Soundflower (or, for Windows, try Virtual Audio Cable) and Audacity. Respond to one of the places from your "Mapping My City" project and create an audio "soundscape" for that place. This does not need to be a literal sound track, but rather an expressive, personal interpretation of what that place sounds like. Resources for audio samples (in addition to all of the internet, which can be recorded with Soundflower) include:

• Free Sound
• Quiet American
• Smithsonian Folkways
• Speech Accent Archive
• Huffduffer
• ccMixter

And many more...explore!

Using the two provided MP3 tracks (linked below) or 2 tracks of your choice with similarly distinct content*, create a unique two minute composition that is significantly different from either of the source files. You are free to experiment, but your project should include the techniques listed below, at minimum. Bring your .aup files to class next week (put them on lab share) so that we can look at them together.

Before you start, review the four rules for keeping your Audacity Project happy

1. If you import an audio file with the "Read uncompressed file directly from the original (faster)" option checked in Import / Export Preferences (and note this is the Audacity default setting), never move, rename or delete that file, unless you first copy it into the Audacity project.
2. Never move, delete or rename any of the files or folders inside the _data folder,
3. Never rename the .aup file or the _data folder.
   If you want to rename your project (for example, to save a snapshot at a particular point), use the File > Save Project As... command. Always keep the .aup file and the _data folder together in the same directory (folder).
4. Always keep the .aup file and the _data folder together in the same directory (folder).

Assignment Instructions

1. Download Audacity 1.3 Series (Beta)
2. Download these audio tracks, or select two others of your choice*:
   Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands
   Natural History Podcast: A Life With Loons
   (click the arrow on the right side of the QuickTime interface, choose "save as source")
3. Open both Mp3 files in a single audacity project
   (open one file, then use file -> import audio to bring the second one into the same project, or open them separately, and use copy/paste to put both tracks in one project)
4. Explore the navigation interface: zoom, fit selection in window, fit project in window, play back menu, etc
5. Explore the drop down menu to the left of the track area. Use it to rename your tracks, try splitting stereo to mono, etc
6. Use the envelope tool to create a gradual crossfade between the two tracks
7. Using Effect->Change Speed or Change Tempo, slow down or speed up parts of your composition
8. Using copy & paste, create a repetitive rhythm in part of your composition
9. Explore other options on Effect menu and apply a few to your composition.
10. Export your final composition to Mp3 and post in on your blog. Make a link from your assignment post to this page.
11. Bring your .aup file to class on Monday
12. Use the resources below if you need extra help

The Audacity Floss Manual has basic instructions that can help you get started. There is a lot more information on the Audacity development site.

If you're using a Mac and can't export to Mp3, download and install this library. More info here.

*If you choose to select your own tracks they should be two very different tracks- i.e. talk show & pop song, opera & field recording.