Ah....Progress (le sigh)

O.K. The audio is working for now. Let's pray to God that it stays working. That is all I have to say about that for now. Audacity settings are pretty intricate. I will say this however: I am learning a lot. I always thought that I was "technologically challenged." But actually, once I get into it, I catch on to all this computer mumbo-jumbo finagling and I feel pretty darn smaht.

I like the audio clip. I think that the sound levels could have been tweaked better. I had some trouble balancing the background music with the interview and there are two moments when I feel like I should have edited better. But, I quickmixed it and it cannot be undone now. Eek. Well, the moral of the story is that I'll learn better for next time, I guess. Or, I can do the whole mixing audio action over. We'll see. I might just re-doing the clip in order to make the project more polished.

I'm going to interview and photograph the Press Room tomorrow night or the next. Should be fun. I'm looking forward to it.

Audio

SUCCESS!

I can't believe it. I, Abbie Crocker, completed my project - and it doesn't sound horrible for my first time mixing something. Once I started figuring out my files and arranging them, the work went by pretty fast. Thank god Howard gave the class those editing handouts. Otherwise I would have been supremely lost. I have to admit though; I think my radio experience at WUNH really did help me out with this project. I'm used to hearing my voice and controlling it to sound the way I want it to. That was a nice comfort when trying to narrate bits into my digital recorder. I also had an ear for when I should let the music pick up or drift into the background.

I ended up interviewing Bruce Pingree, general manager of The Press Room in Portsmouth and a 30-year+ blues DJ at 91.3 WUNH. After I bought a great (and pretty) white Olympus digital recorder on Sunday, I was panicked to find a story. Luckily I remembered that Bruce does his blues show on Sunday nights for a couple of hours. He has a great DJ voice, he always has interesting things to say. He's literally worked with legends. Plus, he was close; it was convienent. So I called him up at the station. Even though I know him, and he's extremely helpful, I was nervous he would say the big N. O. to my interview.

"Hey Bruce, it's Abbie."
"Yeah."
"Do you have any time to be interviewed for a multimedia project I'm doing?"
"Yeah."
"I'll be there in a half hour."
"Yeah."

The interview took ten minutes. I got solid golden eggs. I was a very happy digital rookie.

This Saturday, I saw Bruce and had a quick beer with him at the Press Room. I think I picked a good subject.

Because we are living in a digital world and I am not a digital girl...

Best Buy lied to me. The lady at the Worcester store said that the audio recorder I purchased would work with a PC. But either she just didn't know what she was talking about or she was just mean because this recorder did NOT do what she said it would. None of my interview files are transferring to my computer let alone the Audacity program. Therefore on this blustery Sunday I am going to make the trek to Best Buy, slam down my receipt, and demand a refund! (After I pick out a recorder that does work with Audacity.) Then, I am going to go out into the streets of Portsmouth to find a compelling story like the ambitious reporter that I am. That's it. I am off!

Beginnings

For the past week, I've been wracking my brain about who would make a great audio interview. I need the subject to be passionate about something interesting - hopefully something that is relatable or novel (anything, something) to listeners. I've decided that Rev. Dr. Mary Westfall is the best choice for now. She is the leader of a historical New England church plus highly educated, a woman in a man's profession and has undergone a lot in her life. (By a lot, I mean she has stories about being hit by lightening and such. I think that small tidbit of information is fascinating in itself.) Last semester I interviewed her for the Herald in order to recieve some commentary from a religious authority. What we talked about, I found fascinating. She is extremely articulate. Since then, I've heard some positive town gossip about the woman from Durham community members. Can't wait to speak with her more about working in the religious community. Here is a LINK to her bio.