Civil Rights Example & Text

Download Soundslides exercise files!!

Civil rights example:

Martin Luther King – “I Have a Dream” (August 1963)

Barack Obama – “More Perfect Union (March 2008)

John Fitzgerald Kennedy – Civil Rights Address (June 1963)

Malcolm X – By Any Means Necessary (1965)

Elements of one possible combination:

Music: We Shall Overcome

MLK
(2:30-3:07 of MLK clip) When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

JFK
(1:10-2:30 of JFK clip) Today, we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. And when Americans are sent to Vietnam or West Berlin, we do not ask for whites only. It ought to be possible, therefore, for American students of any color to attend any public institution they select without having to be backed up by troops.

Music: “This little light of mine.”

Obama
(10:35-12:05 of Obama clip) People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters….And in that single note – hope! – I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world.

Music: “We are not alone”

Malcom X
(Entire Malcolm X clip) We want one thing. We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights as a human being, in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring about into existence by any means necessary.

MLK
(11:05-12:45 of MLK clip) I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

NPR Russia by Rail

I. When, why and how to use audio

There are editorial, logistical and production considerations when evaluating whether to use audio in a story. Audio may be the primary device used to convey a story, as in the case of audio slideshows or it might be used as in modular clips, such as in roundtables or Q & A interviews.

Audio functions:
To make first-person or eyewitness accounts more compelling
To develop story characters with voice, accent, and speech patterns
To set a mood or tone
To give a sense of place with natural sound or sound effects
In stories where audio is a central theme, to instruct or illustrate

Types of audio:
Interviews, voxpop
Narration
Ambient sounds
Soundtrack – music

Audio features:
Question and answer interviews, roundtables
Raw audio clips: 9-11 calls, ATC communication, police/fire scanner chatter, phone messages
Audio slideshows
Multimedia documentaries
Phone messages

II. Audio Features

Vignettes/Profiles

One in Eight Million is a multipart series from the NYTimes, consisting of vignettes about New Yorkers.

Roundtable, Q&A, man on the street

‘It Was Slipping Away From Us’

Patient Voices: Narcolepsy

Exonerated, Freed, and What Happened Then

New Yorkers Speak Out on Stop, Question and Frisk Policy

Subway Preachers

Slideshow + Audio

Audio Slideshows

In the audio slideshow, images, sound and caption text are layered together to tell a story. Sometimes high-quality images or illustrations with audio have much more impact than video. In the following profiles, the stories are created by weaving together photographs, audio interviews and ambient sounds.

NYT – Revisiting the South Bronx, 35 Millimeters at a Time

Non-Narrated
In these examples, the story is told by subjects themselves.

The NYTimes also has features where they are separate, and viewers can listen to the story subjects while flipping through the photographs. The Lady Jaguars

First-person, eyewitness accounts, 9/11 calls, ATC recordings, phone calls

Some audio is so compelling, shocking, or unique as in the case of eyewitness testimony, 9-11 calls, and cockpit recordings that it can really place listeners at the scene.

The 9/11 Tapes: The Story in the Air

Fatal Confusion

Flight 1549 – “We’re going to be in the Hudson.”

Egypt protests: ‘People are being hauled out by police and beaten’

Live Messages from Egypt

Thousands Feared Dead as Earthquake Hits China

Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr.:

Police arrested Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., a well-known African-American scholar, at his Cambridge home, saying they were investigating a potential break-in. The arrest report reveals that an agitated Gates, angry for being confronted in his own home, protested and was arrested for “loud and tumultuous” behavior. The event became a national controversy.

This 9-11 call is an interesting online feature because it illustrates exactly how the initial events unfolded.

Here, the police report describes the arrest: “The Cambridge Police Department reports, authored by Sergeant James Crowley and Officer James Figueroa, quote an incensed Gates yelling, ‘This is what happens to black men in America!,’ and, when asked by Crowley to speak with him outside the residence, Gates replied, ‘Ya, I’ll speak with your mama outside.’”

CNN – 9-11 Call in the Connecticut shooting August 5, 2010

Event coverage

Audio excerpts and transcripts can allow viewers to scan and review in-depth important events.

Analysis of the Arguments — The Supreme Court Health Care Challenges

Tours, guides, how-to’s, instructional audio

Snapshots of Provence

At the Metropolitan Museum, a New Wing, a New Vista

Broadway Houses

Phillips Obsessed with Sound

Build a Pop Song

PBS: Japan – Memoirs of a Secret Empire

PBS: Michael Palin’s Hemingway Adventure – Hemspeak

Kinetic

III. Multimedia documentaries

National Film Board of Canada: This Land

Water is Life: Water is Neglect

Live Hope Love

The Tiziano Project

Sudan Crisis Guide (Council on Foreign Relations) – audio timeline

V. Podcasts

NPR

Resources:

Editing Audio II (PDF)
Mediastorm – Gathering Audio (PDF)
No Fear Guide to Multimedia Skills (PDF)
Apple Pro – Techniques
Ethical guidelines for editing audio
Poynter: Sound in the Story
Radio news tips
Filmsound.org
Audio tips for print reporters from NYT sound sage Amy O’Leary
CUNY Soundmap

ART SHOW EXERCISE

DOWNLOAD REAPER

Reaper User Guide

>> Audio Settings

Two factors that determine the quality of  digital recordings are sample rate and sample format or size. Generally you will be working with a sample rate of 44 Hz and a sample format of 16 bits.

Sample Rate is important to audio files for two reasons. Sample Rate is the number of times per second you capture a snapshot of audio information during recording. Higher sample rates result in great audio detail, the same way you get smoother motion in video by capturing more frames per second. — Changing Audio Sample Rate in Audacity

See “What is Sound?”

Audio formats

For editing .wav or .aiffare best as they are not compressed as much as .mp3 files.  However, once you are done editing, for posting online .mp3 is the best format.

>> GETTING STARTED

1) If you are EDITING your audio files, go to Reaper > Preferences. In the pull-down menu Audio Device, select “Built-In Output.”

2) If you are RECORDING, go to Reaper > Preferences. In the pull-down menu Audio Device, select “Built-In Microphone.”

3) If you are RECORDING using an external microphone, go to Reaper > Preferences. In the pull-down menu Audio Device, select “Built-In Input.”

4) If you are IMPORTING media files, drag and drop the audio file into the application or Insert > Media file.

>> MENU

I. File
- New project
- Open project
- Save project
- Render: Use this to export an edited file

II. Edit
- Undo
- Redo
- Copy, cut and Paste

III. Insert
- Media file
- Marker (M), Shift M to name the marker
- Track (Cmd T) or double click in the left column

IV. Track
- Insert new track
- Duplicate track

>> CONTROLS

- Rewind to start of project (Or you can click W)
- Stop and rewind to where play last started. (Or Space bar)
- Play (Or Space bar)
- Pause (Stop at current position and move edit cursor)
- Go to end of project
- Record

>> TOP MENU BUTTONS

- New project (Cmd N)
- Open project (Cmd O)
- Save project (Cmd S)
- Project settings
- Undo (Cmd Z)
- Redo (Cmd shift Z)
- Metronome
- Auto cross fade (When you drag one clip into another this will automatically create a crossfade.)
- Group (Select, shift, “G”)
- Ripple (When enabled, this fills holes of edits by bringing clips together)
- Grid enable
- Snap enable

>> TRACK CONTROL PANEL

- Record in track
- Title (Double-click to change this)
- M for mute. (Click on this to silence the track.)
- S for solo. (Click on this to listen to this track only.)
- Volume (This controls the volume of the track.)
- Pan (This controls the pan.)
- Envelopes (You can use this to vary the volume and panning in your track.)
- FX sound effects

>> EDITING TIPS

- Zoom in and out +/- or use mouse wheel
- S creates a split or splice. Set splices at each end and then select the clip to delete.
- Or select the clip and then Shift S will select the clip which can be deleted using the “delete” key.
- Click one item, hold the shift key down and then press G to group them.
- Double arrow appears when on the edge of the audio, turns into the trim tool
- Place cursor in upper corner and pull in the direction of A fade. Right click and you get different fade forms.
- Command + Delete – Cuts a selected area
- Any Number – Go to marker point
- Up/Down – Compress or Expand track lengths
- Shift Up or Down – Increase or Decrease the peaks in your waveforms
- Shift Left or Right – Select portion of track
- F – Show/Hide Floating Toolbar
- Shift + 1 – Expand selected track, minimize all other tracks
- Option + M – Mute Selected Track
- Space – Play/Stop
- W – Return to start of project

>> RECORDING

1) If you are RECORDING, go to Reaper > Preferences. In the pull-down menu Audio Device, select “Built-In Microphone.” Or, if you are RECORDING using an external microphone, go to Reaper > Preferences. In the pull-down menu Audio Device, select “Built-In Input.”

2) Go to Track > New Track.

3)  Click on the red button before the name of the track to “arm” the track, or let Reaper know that is where it should record the track.

4) Turn on your recording device.

5) Click on the record button in the controls.

6) You should see the recording wav file in the track. If you don’t, it is not working.

7) To listen to your recording, you must change the “input” to “output.” Go to Reaper > Preferences. In the pull-down menu Audio Device, select “Built-In Output.”

>> TUTORIALS

Reaper Tutorial 2 – Quickly Getting Started

Basic editing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJqf6B6jqLE&feature=related

ADDITIONAL EXERCISE: Gun Show Audio Elements