Radio Practicum SP09

2009-04-08T23:17:00.002+09:00

Hey Scott. Here's a site that a friend just showed me. It seems cool, but very similar to ustream. Maybe you can figure out the difference. Cheers.

Jeremy

http://www.mogulus.com/

The Dusty Show - April 2, 2009

2009-04-07T15:49:00.004+09:00

One of the most interesting programs on radio anywhere is called The Dusty Show with Clay Pigeon. It can be heard on WFMU.

Unfortunately, here is another gem that was discovered too late to be used in class this semester. It will certainly be required listening for the interview assignment next term.

If you need a break during preparing for finals, and want to hear something unlike anything you've probably ever heard before, then please give a listen to the April 2nd edition of The Dusty Show with Clay Pigeon:

What do you think of Clay Pigeon's interview style and editing technique? Can you believe it's all done with micro-cassettes and a dual cassette deck?

Free Music Archive

2009-04-07T15:42:00.002+09:00

Oh, I wish we would have known about this a few weeks ago. The Free Music Archive is being put together by WFMU out of New Jersey in the United States. It is described on the website thusly:

The Free Music Archive is an interactive library of high-quality, legal audio downloads. The Free Music Archive is being directed by WFMU, the most renowned freeform radio station in America. Radio has always offered the public free access to new music. The Free Music Archive is a continuation of that purpose, designed for the age of the internet.

It is a resource very much worth checking out and that I'm sure students will use for future radio projects in this class.

Perhaps the reason that we didn't know about it earlier is that it only came online this past weekend. Check it out and let me know if you find anything good.

We Claim These Projects...Suckaz.

2009-03-31T18:34:00.003+09:00

DC and Marika are #1 and we claim the following pieces.

1. Simone's Interview
2. Dexter's VoxPop (Derrick)
3. Jeremy's Hitotoki

Arigatou.

Bags them... (Aussie for 'dibbs them')

2009-03-31T18:00:00.002+09:00

Hello all,

This is a note to say that Jeremy and I will be using the following for our final project:

Dexter's hitotoki
DC's voxpop
Marika's interview

Hope that's all good!

Jeremy Asked about New Media...

2009-03-26T09:45:00.003+09:00

This video provides a useful description and definition of what is meant by New Media and New Media Literacy.

The video comes from MIT's Comparative Media Studies program. Check http://techtv.mit.edu/collections/newmedialiteracies for a wide collection of additional videos on these and other topics.

Journal Idea

2009-03-24T17:21:00.002+09:00

For this week's audio journal entry, I'd like to ask you to listen to a recent episode of This American Life. Originally aired in 2002 and rebroadcast this week, Episode 209: Didn't Ask to be Born features two emotionally powerful audio feature stories.

Please respond to one of the two and post to the posterous over the next week.

Another Use for UStream: broadcasting from the metaverse

2009-03-24T12:53:00.007+09:00

As some of you might have heard, I'm somewhat interested in the online virtual world environment called Second Life.

Below is a demonstration video that was shot in November 2008 by a couple of Second Life podcasting pioneers, Stu Warf and Gomem DeSoto:

Online TV Shows by Ustream

Additionally, a lot of musicians all over the world are using Second Life as a platform for live performance and to connect with new audiences. There is even an online radio station devoted to Live Music from Second Life.

I see Second Life as offering great and exciting possibilities for education and communication. Fortunately, TUJC is making plans to establish a presence in the 3D virtual space in the near future. In fact, next semester I hope to have students do broadcasts and reporting from within that environment. One of the tools we will probably use will be UStream.tv to broadcast live audio and video streams out from the virtual world.

Let me know if any of you are interested to learn more about this exciting project. It might be possible to get involved on an independent study basis.

Final Project

2009-03-24T12:19:00.003+09:00

At long last, here is a summary of the final project:

I would like you to work with a partner to produce a 20-30 minute co-hosted magazine type segment. In your segment, you will feature work done by classmates from the other groups. Please coordinate with the other groups so that no elements are duplicated between projects.

You will also be expected to produce original content for the project such as narration, promos, public service announcements, and any additional elements that suit your purpose. You could also draw on material from previous classes that is on the X-serve (so long as there is no duplication between group projects).

I don't have a strong opinion about what sort of theme or premise you use to organize and present your show. One possibility, as mentioned in class, would be to present your project as a news story or documentary about what was done in the Spring 2009 radio practicum class.

You are welcome to interview me or record me in class so long as you make arrangements in advance.

Here again are the partner pairings for the final project:

Marie & Derrick
Marika & Jeremy
Simone & DC

The project will be due on the last day of finals week (of course you are welcome to turn it in as early as you wish).

More Net Labels

2009-03-05T14:49:00.004+09:00

Much of this music might not suit your taste. Still, I think it's exciting and interesting to see how artists are trying to leverage the global reach of internet communications to introduce their work to the world.

Here are few sites I found that have links galore to various netlabel stuff.

Music Sites for Research

2009-03-03T18:37:00.003+09:00

Hey guys, below are some links to some independent music sites that might have a lot of good music on it for your next project. Not everything on the sites are royalty free, but you should be able to find some artists who either give their music out for free/or own their own music.

Cheers!

amiestreet.com
reverbnation.com
musicforte.com

Blogs

2009-03-03T16:45:00.002+09:00

Hey guys,

Just passing some time before class by surfing the net. Found a quick documentary piece on differences between Japanese and western blogs- if you're into blogs, you may find it interesting. Click here

See you in class!

Simone

Preparing Music Show

2009-03-03T12:49:00.003+09:00

In tonight's lesson, I will run through how to produce a pre-recorded music show with Garageband or Audacity. I'd like everyone to select music and put such a show together by March 10th, if possible. As mentioned earlier in class, please try to use royalty-free music (Net Label for example).

I recommend netlabels.org as a good starting place to get an introduction to just how vast a selection of music that is avaiable out there. Phlow Magazine is an affiliated site that features some reviews of many netlabel offerings - this would be a good place to get information on the albums and artists.

Here is the sequence I recommend following for putting your show together:

Find music, research artist and label background to give you some stuff to say about the music you will play, decide on an order to play the songs, when you break to talk (stop set), what you will say whether about the music or other topics (3/3)
Produce your show using the audio software of your choice and export as an mp3 (3/5)
Broadcast file on UStream.tv (3/10 or 3/13)

Note: I have created an excel document that I'd like you to use to catalog the music as you find it. Please save the file with your name in the filename.

2/26 Conference Schedule

2009-02-25T06:02:00.003+09:00

As mentioned at our last meeting on 2/19, this Thursday I would like to meet individually with each of you to discuss your work to date and your plan for the remainder of the course. Please come to the conference with questions and ideas about what you've been doing until now and what you hope to do in the coming weeks.

5:30-5:40 Simone
5:45-5:55 Derrick
6:00-6:10 Marie
6:15-6:25 Jeremy
6:30-6:40 Marika
6:45-6:55 DC

I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing from you all then.

Interview Assignment Cue Sheet

2009-02-19T15:04:00.001+09:00

For the interview assignment, please use this cue sheet.

Spring 2008 - Promos and PSA's

2009-02-19T14:42:00.002+09:00

Looking back, most of these appear to be TUJ promos. Please give a listen and begin to think about how you would like to do your own PSAs and TUJ Promos over the coming weeks.

Talking Points: 021709 Lesson

2009-02-17T13:39:00.003+09:00

Wouldn't it be nice if I posted lesson outline notes more frequently and earlier? Sorry everybody. I'll try to do better next time.

Below is a quick rundown of what I'd like to cover in this afternoon's class.

Due date of Interview Assignment: 2/26
Next week's audio journal topic is free form - that means you may say or produce whatever you wish
Public Service Announcements and TUJ Promo requirements - we'll listen to a few examples produced by students in Spring 2008 course
TUJC UStreamTV - plan on putting together a similar 20-30 minute music show as students from Fall 2008
Ken's Audio Course Guide for Spring 2009 - we have been requested to produce similar pieces highlighting upcoming courses (Ken's audio course guide has been cut into shorter segments on the TUJ website Spring 2009 schedule page)
Audio feature production requirement - due during the second half of the course - should be between 5 and 12 minutes
Interview Assignment - we will briefly discuss during lesson - I'd like everyone to leave a comment on this blog post in which you should be included on as instructions and requirements on the handout for this assignment - I will compile the comments and prepare a handout for our next meetin

We will next listen to as many of your VoxPops as we have time for.

What's the listening order
Question for the producer: Shall we listen cold, or is any set-up required?
After listening for the audience: Ask the producer questions about the project? Mention things that you liked or moved you and explain why. Make suggestions for how it could have been better for you.

Thinking About Interviewing: 3 Points

2009-02-12T14:03:00.006+09:00

According to the revised assignment schedule, your interview assignment will be due on February 26th. Before we discuss the assignment in class, I'd like for you to consider the reasons for including an interview in a radio program or audio feature.

The video below suggests three points that make for a successful interview. Try to think about what those points might be before you watch the video.

Please keep the three points mentioned in mind and be prepared to discuss them in class next week.

Worth Listening To

2009-02-12T13:48:00.004+09:00

Yesterday I listened to the latest installment of This American Life. The entire hour-long episode was devoted to a fascinating story called, "The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar."

I'm not going to assign this as required listening, but I think it would be worth your while to check out for a number of reasons. Here are few that quickly come to mind:

It's an amazing and mysterious story that draws the listener in
It looks at a single event and the consequences of that event from multiple perspectives
Excerpts from interviews with members of three different families are presented so that the story unfolds in an unpredictable and thought provoking way

If you listen to the Bobby Dunbar story and wish to share any thoughts please do so either in the comments of this blog post or in an audio journal entry on the Posterous.

Week Five Audio Journal: A Broadcaster

2009-02-10T18:25:00.003+09:00

For this week's audio journal, I'd like you to talk about a person who was or is a broadcaster and the influence he or she has had on you. By broadcaster, lets include people who've worked in television, radio, or even podcasting.

Feel free to include actual audio from or about the broadcaster in your piece. Try to post your mp3 to the posterous site before the February 17th lesson.

Documents for Vox Pop assignment

2009-02-10T13:26:00.003+09:00

As promised last week, here are prints you download if you need extra copies for your Vox Pop assignment.

Audio Journal Week 4: Update

2009-02-07T23:30:00.004+09:00

Thanks to Jeremy for reminding me to remind everyone about the anecdote component of your audio journal assignment for this week. In addition to your thoughts and reflections on the Ira Glass video, I'd like you to tell a short anecdote. Try to apply the concepts that Mr. Glass suggests make for a good story.

Remember to post your audio journal to the Posterous site (send an email with your audio file attached to the address that was listed in the invitation email you received from Posterous). I would like for all of us to be able to listen to one each others' entries before class on Tuesday. Please let me know if you have any problems posting your audio to Posterous.

The above photo is entitled L'Anecdote and is provided through a Creative Commons license via Sébastien Magro's Flickr photostream.

More boring stuff from Jeremy

2009-02-05T20:53:00.004+09:00

Broadcast Radio Job Descriptions
Short dictionary of radio jargon

And finally, a short video explaining the Loudness War and how extreme compression and limiting is destroying modern sound recordings.

Enjoy!

Podcasts that may be of interest...

2009-02-05T18:02:00.007+09:00

Hi all,

I found some interesting podcasts/programs in my web travels...

Just incase you're interested:

Click here for ABC Street Stories. These are stories about Australians, similar to This American Life but the Aussie version.

Also, on NHK there are some radio programs about Japan. Click here to see more.

Hope they're of interest.

Simone

2009-02-05T18:02:00.006+09:00

Hey guys!

Has anyone come up with their Voxpop question? Because I sure haven't!

Have a super duper day~!

Peace and love,

Marika

Fair Use Law

2009-02-04T23:58:00.003+09:00

Note to Scott: I was mistaken about the 10% Law <-this only applies to sheet music. But speaking of the fair use law, here's a chunk of an article that I found:

Educational technology existed, of course, -- in the form of audio and video -- long before the Internet, software, digital images, and multimedia productions invaded our classrooms. Guidelines for the use of such "primitive" technologies were developed.

In 1981, a congressional subcommittee developed guidelines for off-air taping of television and radio broadcasts for educational use. Those guidelines allow educators to tape a radio or television broadcast for instructional (not entertainment) use if
the program is recorded simultaneously with the broadcast.
the program is being broadcast without charge.
the program is recorded only in response to a specific request.
the program is recorded (but not necessarily used) in its entirety.
the program is not altered.
the tape is retained by the educational institution for no longer that 45 days after the date of the recording.
the tape is used only once with each class during the first ten consecutive school days of the 45-day retention period.
the tape is used from the tenth to the 45th day of the retention period for teacher-evaluation purposes only.
In addition, guidelines established in 1976 allow educators who have bought or rented videocassettes designated for home use only to use those videocassettes for face-to-face student instruction -- but not for student entertainment.

And I realized as I was making this post, that this is United States Copyright Law, and we're in Japan. So perhaps we can do whatever we want?

That is all.

Jeremy Killgo

For Your Consideration

2009-02-03T00:13:00.002+09:00

Ira Glass, host of This American Life, was asked to talk about storytelling for Current TV. His comments are available in a multi-part series on YouTube. I would like for you to watch this and as many other of the following installments as you can. I'd also like for you to briefly discuss any points Mr. Glass raises as part of your audio journal entry for this week.

Revised Assignment Schedule

2009-02-03T00:02:00.005+09:00

Here finally is the revised assignment schedule as presented in class on 012209:

Hitotoki 1/27
Critical Listening #1: Segment summary of Luke Burbank audio feature 1/29
Vox Pop 2/17
~~Pre-recorded show 2/17~~
Interview 2/26
Critical Listening #2: In-class assignment 3/5

Please note that assignment #4 has been removed from the list of assignments for the first half of the semester. I will instead ask everyone to produce a pre-recorded show in the second half of the semester. Details and due date will be announced later.

Soundboards

2009-01-31T12:18:00.004+09:00

This was the topic of my last audio journal, and Scott requested that I share the info with everyone. Soundboards are basically flash programs with clickable buttons assigned to play short clips of audio, usually audio of speech taken from celebrities, actors, politicians, or any other notable personality. They are quite popular in America, especially to use for prank calls and other comedy bits on radio. I've provided two links so you guys can toy around with them. The first link has a ton of soundboards; the second link is the site with just the David Lee Roth board (it takes a minute to load, but well worth the wait). Enjoy!

Celebrity Soundboards
Diamond Dave

Jeremy Killgo

Your Hitotoki URL Please

2009-01-27T17:44:00.001+09:00

Please leave the URL for your Hitotoki story:

Hitotoki Interpretations Due: 01/27

2009-01-25T21:26:00.000+09:00

I know it wasn't necessary to remind anyone about the project due date. My actual purpose for this post is to let you know about two things:

Please leave a comment with the title, number and city(if other than Tokyo) of story your project is based on. The hope with this request is that everyone will be able read each of the other stories before we meet.
We will listen to and discuss each project (time allowing). Please be ready for this at the start of the lesson.

Please get in touch with me by email if you have any questions or encountering difficulties in pulling your project together.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of you on Tuesday and hearing what you've come up with.

Note: I've not been able to prepare response to audio comments yet. I'm still shooting to have them done before our next meeting. Frankly, Wednesday is looking more realistic. Sorry about that.

A couple of places for sounds

2009-01-20T18:51:00.000+09:00

After looking at CC-Mixter this evening, Jeremy asked if there were any similar sites for sounds. Here a couple that come to mind:

There are also a number of sound effects CDs available for production use in the library on the 4th floor.

Files for Critical Listening 1 assignment

2009-01-20T10:56:00.000+09:00

In addition to being located on the X-Server, the files for our first critical listening activity can be found on my recently set-up DropBox account.

We will discuss the specific details of the assignment at tonight's lesson.