Audio 2 Assignment
You will conduct a journalistic interview, record it live, gather natural sound, edit multiple files together in Audacity, and turn in one correctly formatted MP3 file.
Weeks: 4 and 5
Grade value: 15 points
Assignment Part 1
NOTE: You will turn in this assignment on a DATA CD. Make sure you do NOT choose "audio CD" when you burn the CD. Follow these instructions.
After the Week 4 class meeting, follow instructions given in class (Week 4) to conduct an interview as part of a Reporting assignment. Record that interview -- live and unrehearsed -- on your audio recorder.
Interview a person you do not know. I mean a complete stranger. NOT a friend, relative, classmate, etc.
Also record natural sound from the same location before or after the interview. For example, if you attend a public meeting, you could record the noise of the audience and the chairman calling the meeting to order. If you were interviewing a NASCAR driver, you could record the roar of the engines during a race. MAKE SURE the sound has a connection to the CONTENT of the interview (e.g., street noise is usually not acceptable!).
Length of interview: As long as necessary -- but you would be wise to use the "questions after" method explained in class. The longer your recording, the harder it will be to edit it.
Number of nat sound files: Minimum of two different ones.
Number of files on CD: Three (3) -- one interview and two different nat sounds (You may gather MORE than this, but copy only three files onto the CD!)
Due: Week 5 (Bring 3 unedited files to class on a CD, which you will turn in)
Submitting the CD
Before coming to class on the day this assignment is due, follow these instructions.
Grading (5 points)
- 1 point - one intelligible nat sound file suitable for your interview content
- 2 points - a second, different, intelligible nat sound file suitable for your interview content (NOTE: You will actually lose 2 points if you do not have a second nat sound file that is a distinctly different kind of sound from the first)
- 2 points - separate interview file(s) with acceptable sound quality (did you use your headphones?) and interesting content
Assignment Part 2
After the Week 5 class meeting, follow instructions given in class (Week 5) to edit your audio files and export one single MP3 file that meets the requirements.
Length of MP3: 60–90 seconds
Due: Week 6 (bring file to class on a USB thumb drive)
Grading (10 points)
- 1 point - correct length
- 2 points - content includes a clear, complete self-ID (for example, "My name is Stephanie Jones, and I'm the author of the book 'Chocolate to Die For'")
- 2 points - content is coherent and interesting
- 1 point - all transitions and cuts are smooth, not jarring or unnatural; pauses are not cut too short
- 1 point - nat sound is blended in unobtrusively and naturally (the koala story is your example)
- 1 point - at least two different instances of nat sound are used (distinctly different from each other)
- 1 point - acceptable volume and sound clarity
- 1 point - MP3 is mono, 44.1 kHz and 16-bit (instructions are in this handout)
If you turn in a file that is not an MP3, you will have missed your deadline and will take penalties (see Grading).
Submitting the file
When you come to class on the day this assignment is due, follow these instructions.
