Tag Archives: LoDown

DS106zone Reflections – LouDown EP33

Hey there! Rockylou is back home and hosting what is most likely her last DS106zone LoDown – or the LouDown as I’m calling it now 😉 – since she took over the duties from ScottLo last week. I’ve enjoyed my time in this whirlwind 5 weeks of the DS106 Summer 2013 session. I’ve met a number of creative people and seen a lot of great projects that have inspired me to take my own projects to another level. Thank you everyone for playing with me.

In the spirit of sharing and collaboration that is so prevalent in DS106, this 33rd episode of the LoDown features highlights from the audio self-reflections of two UMW students, Claire Patrick and Kelli Wisbauer, and one open-onliner from Virgina Beach, Virgina, Bill Smith. The background music was all my doing. I hope they don’t mind the ramblin’ feel to it all. It worked for me…

So what brought them here? What have they encountered? Why are they still here? Claire admits that her first week was a complete and utter failure. But she pulled herself together and Prof. Groom even congratulated her on being the come-back kid of DS106. Kelli had to get through a lot of hurdles and maybe even shed a tear or two. Her advice? Get help as soon as you can and start the work on Monday! Channeling the spirit of ScottLo – he really can’t leave us for good – Bill Smith recorded a “drive-by” for his introduction. What keeps him in DS106? The community that’s formed, the ability to experiment, and having a forum that’s open and supportive.

Unfortunately, two UMW students posted their self-reflection assignments too late for me to include in this episode #33 of the LoDown. (I do need to get some sleep, afterall.) I want to highlight them just the same.

I’d also hoped to include a parody by Sean Placchetti who didn’t think he could stomach all the anticipated mushy stuff about DS106. As a matter of fact, I created the parody assignment just for him. Sean’s Parody – Chet Shamus

It’s been a blast. I hope to create and collaborate with some of you again in the future. This is Rockylou signing off from the DS106zone LouDown. #4life

CREDITS:

DS106Zone Audio Self-Reflections

Music:

Landslide by Stevie Nicks, as performed by Rochelle Lockridge | Full length version
Old Into New by Rod Kinny | Music video created by Rockylou Productions below.
River Walk From GarageBand
Acoustic Sunrise from GarageBand

The How And Why Of Creating EP33

The How & Why of LouDown #33

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On EP32 of the DS106zone LoDown, Alan Levine talked about how it was just as meaningful to him to know why we chose to do something as well as how we did it. Since I’m not formally trained in this area, I do a lot of my work by intuition and trial & error. This project was no different. I had three early posts of self-reflections that I could use as my base material. And as the case with anything I’ve created for this course, there was a very limited time-frame in which to finish the project. Here’s what went through my head producing DS106zone LoDown #33.

Kelli’s file provided a number of challenges. First off, she had forgotten to tell SoundCloud to allow downloads. But thanks to a tip from Christina Hendricks, I figured out how to use SoundFlower with my GarageBand software to record Kelli’s audio self-reflection directly onto my computer while I played it on-line. Unfortunately, I also had to deal with a sound level that was extremely low and there was a noticeable hum that only became more pronounced as I tried to boost the volume. I’d appreciate any advice on how to remedy this situation more easily than my trial and error attempts using various GarageBand effects until I found a combination that seemed to work well enough.

Once I had all three files loaded into GarageBand the real work began. As usual, I wanted more of a challenge than simply stringing the files together as-is. My initial attempts to have them commenting back and forth on similar themes didn’t work. So, I decided to stick with each person talking solo using soundbite length clips to tell their individual story instead.

Next, I wanted an audio background track. Sampling of stuff I had easily available on my computer lead me on a search for the right track in order to enhance the individual reflections and the overall theme/mood I wanted for the finished podcast. I tried various ambient sounds I had on hand recorded from my backyard, but none of them sounded right. Did I want serious? Did I want moody? Or Twilight Zone eerie? Oh my… some of those just didn’t work at all. The bluegrass, ramblin’ theme I finally chose came about because I had a few similar sounding music tracks from past projects that I knew worked together, and they fit well with the Rockylou-On-The-Road story arc I’d been using.

This is where I took a real risk. Instead of editing the small soundbite clips so that they gave the illusion of a natural continuos flow of conversation, (Which was going to be a particular challenge with both Kelli’s and Bill’s audio.) I opted to make each transition very obvious and pronounced. That lead me to going even a step further by synching the clips to the rhythm of the music. I like this effect here. There’s no trying to mask anything, and I feel it punctuates that these are the highlights. I’m curious as to how others perceive this staccato effect. Any and all comments are most welcome.

Next hurdle? Adding my intro narration. I wanted to use a soundtrack under my voice chosen from music I had personally recorded of my singing and playing guitar. Landslide is one of my signature songs. [Listen] The finger-picking style I use on my 12-string guitar lends itself well to the banjo picking of the other music used under the self-reflections. AND … this was one of those serendipitous bonuses I’ve talked about before…. the lyrics “I saw my reflection in a snow covered hill…” fit perfectly with the theme of the entire podcast. YIPPEE!!! As a matter of fact, if you listen close enough you can hear other lyrics match up with the speaker as well. Like when Claire talks about getting her act together the Landslide lyrics chime in with, “when children get older.” Cool, huh?

The placing of my narration and background music took some careful thought. I felt a need to break up and differentiate movement from one speaker to the next. But having narration as well as my music between each speaker, was too choppy and distracted the listener from the real purpose of the podcast – to hear the self-reflections of our class mates. I liked how Christina in Wednesday’s episode of the LoDown used background music in the beginning and end, and her solo voice with the personal narration in-between. That seemed to work well here too.

So that’s how LoDown podcast EP33 came to be. And while I still have you here…I’d like to learn more of the technical tools of creating a good podcast instead of relying so heavily on trial and error. I’m sure some of you can point me in the right direction. Thanks!

The Devil’s Hairground (EP:30)

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Rockylou Productions will be guest hosting today’s LouDown EP:30, by giving the DS106zone participants an opportunity to listen to The Devil’s Hairground podcast referenced in past episodes of the LoDown [EP17 & EP23].

This is episode 4 of Amber’s Obruni (white person) adventures as an AFS exchange student to Takoradi, Ghana, Africa in 2000. In this first of a two part story reliving Amber’s arduous and humorous experience to an African beauty salon, you’ll meet the infamous ‘woman in blue pants’. Unfortunately, we don’t introduce the ‘antelope man’ until part 2, All’s Hair In Love And War. You can view photos and listen to the entire series of podcasts at: www.rockylouproductions.com/Obruni.html

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/97335780″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

The DS106zone is about to come to an end with Prof. Groom posting his expectations for week 5 yesterday. What a great idea to have the audio self-reflection assignment as part of the final exam. I’m looking forward to getting to know the UMW students, and hopefully a few more of the open-onliners as well.

We have only 5 more episodes to go to make it to the originally planned 35. Tomorrow [EP31] Christina Hendricks will be guest hosting from Australia, and on Thursday [EP32] CogDog himself will be joining us once again. We’re not sure what will happen on Friday [EP33]. I’d personally enjoy highlighting some of the UMW self-reflections, but I’ll need you to post them by Wed. evening in order to produce a podcast for Friday.

On Saturday, [EP34] we have a very special guest host scheduled with a live broadcast on DS106 Radio. TalkyTina will be taking on the #pretenders, and all will be revealed.

Don’t miss LoDown 34’s live broadcast. Talky Tina Reveals All!

Calling All you #pretenderTinas

Talky Tina Takes on the Pretenders

Talky Tina @IamTalkyTina

Calling All you #pretenderTinas wp.me/p3jUN7-8B

Mon, Jun 17 2013 19:30:10

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Talky Tina @IamTalkyTina

Photo: Calling All you #pretenderTinas The Episode: LoDown #34 The Date: Saturday, June 22 The Event:… tmblr.co/ZoTwfsnbhG7i

Mon, Jun 17 2013 19:30:26

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Talky Tina @IamTalkyTina

@scottlo @Rockylou22 @jimgroom Calling All you #pretenderTinas wp.me/p3jUN7-8B #ds106zone @techsavvyed @bennettscience @phb256

Mon, Jun 17 2013 19:32:49

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Talky Tina @IamTalkyTina

Calling All You #pretenderTinas wp.me/p3jUN7-8B #ds106zone @dkernohan @cogdog @clhendricksbc @DrGarcia @seanplacchetti @olHatchetJack

Mon, Jun 17 2013 19:34:24

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Rockylou On The Road (EP:29)

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Scottlo has totally disappeared now. He’s not even posting to his Scottlo Radio Blog. Maybe he really has joined a guerilla sect in the Syrian civil war [EP27] and is arming rebel groups instead of arming us with his audio tips and tricks. How is it that Rockylou has become the “official” coordinator for the remainder of the LoDowns? CogDog has made some mention of Scottlo totally Tom Sawyering his way out of podcasting. Expect some smack-talk when Alan Levin takes the mic on Thursday’s episode 32 of the “Lou” Down. (Like the new thumbnail image?)

So…. Rockylou is hittin’ the road. Yesterday she was visiting with Scottlo over in Saudia Arabia [Ep28]. Today she’s chattin’ it up with John Johnston in Glasgow, Scotland. And on Wednesday [Ep31], Christina Hendricks will be joining the LouDown from downunder in Melbourne, Australia.

A big thanks to DS106 open-onlinerJohn Johnston who was the first to respond to the call for volunteers to sign-up for a self-reflection chat with Rockylou. You can listen to the 5 min highlights distilled from our conversation in his DS106 audio self-reflection.

Talk about serendipity…. John produces a regular podcast with his co-host David Noble on Edutalk (Educational Audio and the Home of Radio Edutalk) and shared some tips of the trade with this interviewing & podcasting newbie.

When all was said and done, we had a great “15 min” conversation.

While I was sitting outside Skyping from my grandson’s backyard as he played with his water table. [Tip: Use music or recorded ambient background audio to help mask the empty spaces left during editing.]
Our voice levels were surprisingly well balanced – NOT. [Tip: Use the Levelator software to adjust the audio levels when you have variations from one speaker to the next. John talks more about this on his blog post.]
Recording our conversation with a Skype add-on called Call Recorder. [Tip: Turn ON your recording software. You never know how you might be able to use the audio file in the future.]

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/97242048″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

You’re also welcome to sit in on our entire 40 min unedited chat.

Lo & The Lou LoDown on Self-Reflections: (EP:28)

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As scottlo fades into the airwaves and twitter feeds [EP:25] Rockylou has stepped up once again to fill in on the LoDown. Jim Groom and Mikhail Gershovich posited a number of theories yesterday in episode 27 for Scott’s sudden and unexplained departure – from joining a rebel group to getting a much deserved PAID gig with one of the big MOOCs. But he hasn’t totally abandoned us. Thanks to the wonderful world of recorded audio, we’re able to listen in on a recent Skype chat between the Lo and the Lou to witness the birth of the audio self-reflection project.

Scott was concerned about the amount of work that it would take to produce and post the DS106 self-reflections. But, as I surmise in this previously recorded chat, I’ve only had three submissions so far, four if you count mine. Not a whole lot of work to do here.

So where are you all? We’d love to know who you are, how you found yourself in DS106, and why you’re still here. Especially the UMW students in this insanely compressed 5 week summer course. I’m making it easy. You can send me a tweet @rockylou22 , fill out the contact form to submit your own 3-5 min audio file, or schedule a Skype chat with Rockylou. You can even earn stars with AudioAssignments1119.

And, thanks to Sean’s twitter comments [Twitter Feed] there’s a new audio assignment [AudioAssignments1121] for those of you who can’t stomach all those glowing self-reflections about what’s so great about DS106. Have a little fun and make a parody by recording a 3-5 minute “self-reflection” from the point of view of a disgruntled student, teacher, or open-onliner, etc. Start by creating an obviously fictitious name and location, then let ‘er rip. Maybe use a different voice, and some strange background music. Provide a thumbnail image that will grab the reader’s attention when they scroll down the list. Here’s an example of a self-reflection you can poke fun at.

Kudos to Jennifer for the DS106 bumper introducing this episode.
Link to mentioned animated GIF of DJ’s Daddy
Links to mentioned Rockylou & Amber interviews on the LoDown (EP17, EP23)
DS106 Mashup at the end created by yours truly.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/97118950″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

LoDown with The Lou (EP:26)

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[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/96827590″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

This is Rockylou unexpectedly stepping up to host episode 26 of the DS106zone LoDown. Yesterday, sadly, Scottlo signed off for the last time as host of the LoDown. It was a question of time and the constant demand to produce for us something interesting and of value everyday. I personally wish him the best as he prepares to leave Saudi Arabia to return to the US in 4-5 weeks. I’ve learned a lot working with Scott the last few weeks, and I hope I’ll have a chance to work with him again in the future. Good Luck Scott!

As you may have heard, Rockylou created a project to collect audio self-reflections of the DS106 experience: Who are you? What brought you to DS106? And why in the world are you still here? In this 26th episode of the LoDown I share two of those self-reflections that just arrived from Alan Levine (CogDog) and open on-liner John Johnston from Glasgow, Scotland.

To submit your own self-reflection or schedule and record a Skype chat with Rockylou complete this contact form. Two new DS106 audio assignments have also been created: AudioAssignments1119 , AudioAssignments1122 Parody

So now what do we do without Scottlo? We step it up a notch. Put on our “A” game and all pitch in to produce the remaining 10 daily episodes of the LoDown. I’m on deck for this episode and I have at least 2 more up my sleeve. I don’t want to give away too much, but thanks to the wonders of recorded audio, Scottlo may be making a future guest appearance on the LoDown.

We only have 9 more episodes of the LoDown to go. We can make it to 35 if we work together. Are you game to give it a go? You can contact Jim Groom, leave a comment for Rockylou, or tweet to @Rockylou22, and we’ll get you on the air. It can be a lot of fun. And an extra special bonus? You get to play your own stuff. You don’t have to wait with baited breath through each and every episode of the LoDown like Brian Bennett. Here you go Brian. You’ve been featured on the LoDown.

CREDITS

Rochelle Lockridge: DS106 Mashup Bumper
Alan Levine: CogDog Bumper 4 Pack- “The Right Place”
John Johnston: Jim Says & Confusion
Brian Bennet: Once you’re in

The background music under Rockylou’s intro is a self-recorded version of “Can’t Find My Way Home”, written by Steve Winwood. (Often attributed to Eric Clapton.) The lyrics of the chorus have been modified to:

Near the end and I just ain’t got the time
To be wasted ’cause I’m findin’ my way home.

John Johnston self-reflection:

Music soundtrack: “Days Of Freedom” by In The Nursery.
Ambient background was audio captured from an afternoon with my grandson, DJ, playing in his backyard.

LoDown Part Deux (EP:23)

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[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/96080634″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Rockylou’s (Rochelle Lockridge‘s) first foray into guest hosting the DS106 LoDown (episode 17) was a success. However, the original recorded “interview” between my daughter Amber and I, chatting about our experience producing our own podcasts, provided us with almost 30 minutes of airtime. That was too long for the editing, post-production phase with the time constraints I was under. And I sense our listeners aren’t so keen on sitting down and listening to something that long either. So we decided to split it into two parts.

Amber is the author of our Obruni podcasts, based on short stories and letters she wrote as an AFS exchange student to Ghana, Africa in 2000. In part two she shares the differences in writing for reading and writing for audio. We then pick up our sound effect conversation from part 1. I was surprised to learn that her initial reaction when she sits down to decide on what sound effect goes where is:

“PANIC… I don’t know how I pulled this off last time… I’m never going to be able to do this again.”

…especially during those times when we needed to create our own sound effects like her head hitting a pillow at the end of the day, or her agitated shuffling feet as she tries to sit still on a stool during her marathon hair braiding experience.

Amber’s advice?

“You really have to go for it. You can’t hold back. It has to be like a small child trying to imitate a sound. You just have to let it rip!”

Thanks again to scottlo for giving us this opportunity to guest host not just one, but two episodes of the LoDown.

Easy Link to this podcast.

You can listen to all of the Obruni Podcast episodes with the audio player below. Photos and scripts are also available. Episodes referenced in part two of our conversation:

The “Antelope Man” (The Entertainer) in EP05- All’s Hair in Love and War
The “woman in blue pants” in EP04- Devil’s Hairground
Gulping of a Coke in EP01 – Obruni: Take it Up
Head hitting the pillow in EP02- Obruni Ko Skuul
Agitated shuffling feet in both EP01 and EP04

+ EP01- Obruni: Take It Up
+ EP02- Obruni Ko Skuul
+ EP03- Transportation
+ EP04- Devil's Hairground
+ EP05- All's Hair in Love and War

Low down on the LoDown 17

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[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/95490369″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/96080634″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

construction,under-128 Here’s a picture of what went on technically behind the scenes to create the LoDown Episode 17 and the LoDown Episode 23 podcasts.

1. Preparation

My daughter, Amber, and I talked about what we might like to do and what format to use. The interview format appealed to both of us. I jotted down some concepts and themes that I wanted to include in the interview and posted them to Google Docs. This way Amber and Scott could see what I was thinking and respond in an asynchronous way, when their schedules allowed it. The document was continually updated when any of us had additional ideas or comments.

We eventually came up with 8 interview questions which included notes with talking points and examples that we wanted to include in our responses. Putting the questions in an order that made sense and flowed well took some thinking and working. We weren’t creating a script, but we needed to know where we were going. We didn’t want this to be a rambling flow of consciousness thing. Amber also identified which sound effects she wanted to use, and where they could be found in the Obruni podcasts.

Our time together to record the interview was limited, and I needed to have everything finished and sent to Scott soon. So we needed to hit the ground running.

I had the studio set-up with chairs and two mics. (had to go out and buy a 2nd pop filter)
I re-familiarized myself with my audio mixer. As much as I could on my own, I balanced the sound levels for the two microphones. This gave me a chance to practice speaking, recording, and listening to what I sounded like. I noticed I was speaking too fast and needed to slow it down significantly. That took some practice. (Scott suggested I smile and relax.) Recognizing this before we started recording together, meant I could warn Amber and she could help me to remember to slow down.
I created a new file in GarageBand and gathered all of the zingers, bumpers, and sound effects that would be needed for the completed podcast. Fortunately, I didn’t need to go hunting on the internet or create any new sounds. I only had to locate them on my computer from past projects and place them in my new file. I optimized volume levels and aligned the timing of the intro & outro bumpers, and also went ahead and recorded my solo spoken intro and outro. (I’d already used up 4min of air time before the interview even started!) It took a couple of hours to find everything and set it up in GarageBand, so that “all I had to do” was to drop in the interview tracks.

2. The Actual Interview

Rochelle and Amber making their podcasts

When Amber arrived at 6pm we still had work to do to get the interview questions and talking points to a place we were both comfortable. By 7pm we were almost ready to record. The sound check with both of us speaking went surprisingly smooth. The pre-work I’d done earlier paid off. We weren’t sure how this was going to work, but we were hoping we could do it in one take to keep the energy alive and spontaneous.

One take was all it took – except for when the dog came into the studio, whining, and we had to stop recording to take her back upstairs. Not only did we have to redo a quick section, but I started talking too fast, and we had to wait until I could relax and settle myself back down again.

When we finished the interview we had 30 minutes of material. Ooops! How’d that happen? Now what? It turned out that the way we had structured the interview questions there was a logical mid-point where we could split it into two parts. Fortunately they were both about 15 minutes long. We decided we had accidentally made two podcasts, and I’d only work up one of them now. [Link to 2nd half] We spot checked the quality of the recording instead of listening to the whole thing like we would usually do. Amber needed to get home. We were happy with what we heard and Amber was out the door by 8:30pm.

3. Post-Production

rockyLouProd

Using only the first half of the interview, I went to work editing (or proof reading) the sound file to take out mistakes and dialogue that weren’t really needed to tell the story. I also had to add in the sound effects. I know my way around GarageBand, and have produced several of the Obruni podcasts, so I was able to complete this phase in under 3 hours. This wouldn’t have been possible if I’d been working with the entire 30 minutes. You have to listen to it, and the whole thing mind you, a couple of times through to make sure you don’t miss something. Even though I’m thorough and pay attention, I continue to catch mistakes or spots I’d like to clean up a bit more when I turn it into an mp3. The third time was a charm.

4. Final Steps

Upload the file, which took a few failed attempts on SoundCloud before I just gave up and uploaded it VERY simply to google docs.
Write up the blog post for the LoDown with hyperlinks activated
Write my own blog entry on my process. (I worked on this alone for about 90 min.)

UPDATE Oct 7, 2013:

You can listen to all of the Obruni Podcast episodes.

+ EP01- Obruni: Take It Up
+ EP02- Obruni Ko Skuul
+ EP03- Transportation
+ EP04- Devil's Hairground
+ EP05- All's Hair in Love and War

Rockylou's DS106 Blog

Cultivating Creativity. Raising Visions.

Tag Archives: LoDown

DS106zone Reflections – LouDown EP33

The How And Why Of Creating EP33

The How & Why of LouDown #33

The Devil’s Hairground (EP:30)

Don’t miss LoDown 34’s live broadcast. Talky Tina Reveals All!

Calling All you #pretenderTinas

Edit

Talky Tina Takes on the Pretenders

Rockylou On The Road (EP:29)

Lo & The Lou LoDown on Self-Reflections: (EP:28)

LoDown with The Lou (EP:26)

LoDown Part Deux (EP:23)

Low down on the LoDown 17