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21/10/2008

Media 21/10/08

As i discussed in the previous post, my aim was to finish editing and add the edited audio clip to my Jingle.

I am pleased to say that i did that with not much difficulty, in fact hardly any difficulty. Firstly, i had to finish editing my final voice clip which i had to do today because i tried to do it over the weekend and it didn't come up with the software via the terminal.

I began by finishing my editing and moved on to pick one which i liked the most, i did this by listening through them a couple of times, it turned out to be the first one i had done. I split it into two part's: one part says "You are now tuned into....." and the other part says "You are now tuned into.....BASE FM". Just for writing purposes i will name the first part i mentioned part 1 and the other part 2.

Part 1 (You are now tuned into.....").
Part 2 (You are now tuned unto.....BASE FM").

Once these were split, i was then able to save them to the N drive on Windows XP. I them moved over to the Apple Mac and connected to the N drive from that computer. I placed the two parts onto the desktop of the Apple Mac, this saved alot of time and it was easy to find. I opened up Garage Band which is a podcast creator, along with my Jingle and played it through once, just so i was familiar with it again, although i made slight changes to it. I made it shorter by deleting a few themes which would have just taken more time. Also i think if you do too much then it ruins it and thats the feeling i got. Anyway, i opened Garage Band and placed both parts 1 and 2 into it. I placed part 1 just before thr rewinding starts and i placed part 2 where the rewinding ends. I thought the outcome was ok, but Pauls first word was "extrodanary". For those who don't know Paul, he is my lecturer for A-level Media. Once listening through my finished Jingle he advised me on a small thing which he thought needed changing, so i took that into consideration. He said that the edited voice clips weren't that understandable and they needed to be a bit clearer, and i think it was because i had too much base on my voice. So i went back to the Windows XP computer and started editing again, but this time, my new one doesn't have loads of echo and deepness in it, it is still deep at the end but it's not so deep that you can't understand it. I then saved it in My Documents and transferred it via memory stick. The reason why is because the Apple Mac wasn't showing the N drive even though it said it was 'Mounted', this means it's connected.

So it was back to the Mac for the second time, and again, i put the new audio clips onto the desktop. I deleted the old ones from my Jingle and inserted the new ones as before. Part 1 before the rewinding effect starts and part 2 after the rewinding effect ends. If i'm being honest, then i would say that the outcome was unexpected but in a good way. Some how the volume matched the volume of my jingle which it didnt before and also it is easier and clearer to understand.

I now have a good jingle and in my opinion, i think i am ready for the next stage which is scripting my presenting, as long as i have the all clear from Paul.

If so then i would say my aim by the end of my next lecture would be to have my script done, or if not then at least started but as i say, this is as long as Paul is happy with what i have done and as long as there isn't anything else that needs doing first.

Just to let you know my next Blog will be in November as half term is coming up next week and also because November is when i have my first Media lecture after half term. I would have Media this Friday but Friday is a travel day for us here at college.

See you next month.

17/10/2008

Media 17/10/08

Today's media lecture was a great run through and to be honest, the time went quickly.

I achieved my goal for today which was to record the voice for my jingle, needless to say that it went better than expected. I used the recording studio, (Studio 6) at college to record my voice, which is also used for the radio. I had quite a few attempts at this by using a programme called Sound Forge, which is owned by Sony. I spoke through a microphone quite a few times and by the end, i must have had seven attempts to play around with. I tried recording sitting down and standing up, and i felt that standing up gave me a better tone of voice.

Paul (my lecturer for A-level Media) put them on the N-Drive for me to access in the music tech room (T14). I then listened through them and picked one and opened it in Sound Forge. Using Sound Forge, i was able to edit it in many different ways and the outcomes were very interesting. The software allows you to record your voice through a microphone and edit it. You can change the pitch to high and to low which makes your voice sound like a chipmunk or a voice box thats far too broken and deep. You can change the echo so it sounds like your in a cave and you can change the tempo to fast or slow although i think this mostly depends on how high or low you set the pitch. There are many other effects which i could explain to you but there are some which have complex names. However, one of which is the 'Bender', this is the name of the effect. It puts your voice waves onto a chart with a zig zag line going from left to right and if you drag the line in different places, then you have a voice which could go from high to low, to high and then back to low. This was an effect which i was considering to use but it didn't sound professional for my liking, so i stuck with the tempo, pitch and the echo. Another Effect which is on Sound Forge is the fader, i didn't find this very useful as it fades the voice at what ever end you want it to. For example, it starts off quiet and then gradually gets louder, or alternatively, it starts loud and gets quieter. I personally didn't think this would be any use at all so i didn't use it. I think that it is important to make your voice clear, especially for the Jingle so that the listener can identify the ID for the radio station. There was an amplitude effect which wasn't very effective, if you turn it up only slightly, it starts to crackle a bit.

Anyway, i was experimenting with these recordings and came up with four possabilities, number 5 i am still working on at this moment in time but i should have it done by Tuesday, or maybe even by the end of the weekend if i can edit it over the college terminal. I am hoping that by the time the next lecture ends on Tuesday, i should have had all the editing done and hopefully have it placed over my Jingle which would be great! It would mean i would be able to go onto the next stage.

I think that everything is going brilliantly and i am also enjoying it alot.

14/10/2008

Media 14/10/08

Today, i am going to write about my media Proposals for my first project on the course.

For my project, i have to create a jingle along with a conversation with a guest speaker and some music. At the end of this, i should have created an opening sequence for a radio station of my choice, or it could be a fantasy radio station. This will run for approximatly 30 - 40 minutes. This show will be aimed at the younger generation, 16+ and as a result of this the show will be in an evening slot as most teens will be at school in the day time.

The theme for my radio station will be based on Drum'n'Base and my radio station will be called BASE FM, which, as far as i know, doesn't exsist so it is a fantasy radio station.

My Jingle will consist of music (Drum and Base) and speech which will give out the identity of the radio station to the Listeners. The Jingle will be set in a scenario where someone starts up a truck and tunes in the radio to BASE FM. The truck noise will then fade away as soon as the radio is in tune, leaving you with clear audio of my opening Jingle. It will then play a Drum and Base tune for roughly 5 or maybe 10 seconds and over the top of this there will be speech saying "You are tuned into...." and then there will be a rewind noise. Following that, there will be more speech saying, "You are tuned into.....BASE FM" with no music in the background.

This will be the point where the jingle ends and the presenting begins. I will present the show and introduce myself and of course the radio station. I will then give out hints as to who the guest will be, who will appear on the show. Following that i will explain what will be happening on the show and who my guest speaker is. At this point i will introduce the guest speaker and will just ask general questions on his past gigs, how he/she got into drum and base and how drum and base is actually played.

At this point i will play one or two examples of her/his music. This will then bring us to the end of the 30 - 40 minute show. i will close the show off by giving my thanks to the guest speaker and playing one final piece of music before the show actually ends.

I will construct this making the different pieces in order of sequence. So for example, the jingle scenario will be first, so i will make that first. Then i will record the opening speech that will go over the top of the Jingle that will give out the identity of the show. After that is finished i will move on to record the main part of the show and my conversions with my guest speaker, and finally. i will put in some examples of his music and finally, say my goodbyes and play the closing track for the station.

As far as my progress goes, i have already made the jingle and i am now ready to record the opening speech on friday that will go over the jingle.

All is going better than expected at this stage and i hope it carry's on that way.

10/10/2008

Media 10/10/08

Hi,

My name is Luke Mitchell. This is my first blog on Blogger.com and i would just like to take this opportunity to explain what my blogs will be all about.


Before i get started i am just going to explain a bit about myself.

I am a full time Student in the West Midlands of the UK. I am studying A-level Media, A-Level Art, ECDL Advance in ICT, GCSE English Retakes and Level 2 mathematics. In my spare time i like to play on my Nintendo DS Lite, my laptop (worms world party, The Sims 2, both of which are class games), my playstation 2 (Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, World Snooker Championship 05, Test Drive Unlimited). I also like to see friends, hang out with my girlfriend, travel to a few places, go bowling and go for a pint up my local pub.

The reason why i have set up this Blog site is so i can keep records of my progress of my media coursework throughout the accademic year.

Anyway, time for me to go and will blog back soon.
Bye for now.

Luke