- Maker: Holland Cutrell
- Genre: Audiobook (short story)
- Level: Graduate
- Program: Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
- Course: WRIT 5340: Multimodality & Digital Media
- Instructor: Dr. Eric Mason
- Semester Created: Winter 2021
Description:
This is a short story audio book of my own creation. The project was made using Audacity, a free downloadable audio editing software application. I then curated a variety of sounds and music to accompany my recording and add to my story’s ambiance and presentation. The story is staged in a natural setting and encompasses a single part of a female individual’s day.
Reflection:
Of all our projects this semester, I must say I had the most fun and got the most out of this one. It was really my first time creating a full audio project from scratch by myself and it took a couple of weeks for me to get everything down. I wrote the story first, making sure to focus on the environment and really setting a natural scene. Since I grew up in a rural area, I am very familiar with sounds of nature and enjoyed collecting them. Once I learned how to layer different tracks on top of each other, the process became more complex, but sounded better every time I got my editing down.
One of the more challenging parts of this audio editing project was getting my volumes correct. My reading voice is soft and I did not use a very high-tech microphone to capture my voice recording so when I would bring in pre-recorded stereo sounds and effects, they would often overpower my voice and I would spend hours trying to get the sounds loud enough to be heard and add to the story, but not so loud to where it diminished my speaking voice. Of course, there are still some spots where some of the noise gets muddled, but everything is distinct enough to create coherence.
Lastly, as you listen, you will hear subtle changes in mood signified by music. This was a creative choice by me trying to play around with the way I’d set my audiences’ expectations up. I wanted to begin with this very tranquil nature scene that seemed like my character was enjoying the great outdoors. It then transforms into something more sinister, a darker deed must be done, and this disrupts the regular peaceful nature scene. Without the music helping achieve the tone, I don’t think this scene would have had nearly as much impact.
For a more analytical look at my audio project, I’d have my listener consider human impact on the natural order of things. Mainly, reflect on the amount of control humans have over nature and how that sovereignty can very easily be abused (not that it is in this story). However, this project shows how a simple, often overlooked thing spurred by human involvement can greatly alter nature’s dynamics. I invite my listener to sit back and allow themselves to sense how a sound or a short piece of music can alter one’s perception of a story.
