Finished! Radio Show, of music and revolutions

We've finally finished our group project, a radio show discussing the reasons why music doesn't seem to be as revolutionary today as it has been in the past. Here is a summary of the finished product:

"In the programme we looked at the journey of musical revolutions and represented different views and opinions in the forms of interviews and vox pops. We included music from different eras and from today, ending it with the suggestion that perhaps there is revolutionary music today and that it is possible for music to become revolutionary once again."

Here is the finished product, you can also download it here.

Things we would have done differently if we could do it again:

1. Introduce the interviewees and Mandy as another presenter, explain their positions and why they are a legitimate source of knowledge in music history

2. Include more of an outro, probably something said by one of the presenters to tie it all together.

3. Leave more time for post-production! Make sure we leave room for circumstances beyond our control and err on the side of finishing early rather than getting it all done at the last minute.

Overall, this was a really fun project, interesting and enjoyable. Everyone on the team was involved more or less equally and contributed in every area. I enjoyed working in a team as it was easier to brainstorm for ideas, we had fun together and all contributed and played a part, and pulled off a project I think we can all learn from and be proud of the finished result.

Soundscape - A journey through cultures.

My idea for a soundscape was to create a journey through different cultures through sound, resulting in this finished product.

Soundscapes.mp3

You can download it here.

I used GarageBand to make this as that is the audio editing program I own and have used before. Through this project I actually learned a lot of skills that can also be used in Logic, etc, such as using audio control points to fade in and out of tracks and using effects and filters to enhance the sound. Here is a photo of the process:


When I first began this assignment I found it was a lot harder than I thought it would be to collect recordings of sounds of other cultures being stuck in one city in southwest England. Eventually though, using mainly my own recordings of buskers, transportation, etc but also some samples/loops and sound effects from GarageBand, I was able to find some ethnic sounds and music and sounds of transportation to evoke the feeling of going on a journey. There were also some bits where I recorded myself, such as the middle-eastern-sounding singing at 1:40.

Using sounds of western culture for the first 45 seconds, including church bells and a childrens choir that were singing 'Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye' (thought it was fitting) on the street one day, then transitioning through the sounds of transportation (a train, then an airplane taking off) to the sounds of crickets, African drums and singing, and so on, I wanted to create an atmosphere of traveling around the world and experiencing different cultures through sound. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the project and learned a lot through it.