Digital Story Assignment

Tell a story supported by sound effects and music - recorded and produced completely by you.

Length

• minimum = 60 seconds

• maximum = 120 seconds

Software / Hardware

• you *must* use an analog microphone, an audio interface with preamp, and Audacity on a computer to record your dialogue

  • reserve time in one of the audio booths in the Garden Level of Moody Library

  • reference this Introduction to Computer Music online textbook for a deeper dive into studio gear

• use Logic Pro to put everything together (like an artist's canvas)

Content

All content must be legally allowed to be posted on Youtube = you must own the right yourself as the author, it must be in the public domain, and/or it must contain a Creative Commons license that allows for free use. No matter the case, remember that you must cite the work you use in order to not be liable for plagiarism. It is possible to follow copyright laws while still plagiarizing.

1. A story read by you (most likely in mono = 1 microphone)

2. At least 2 sound effects recorded by you (Foley art) (most likely in mono = 1 microphone)

3. At least 2 sounds from freesound.org

   • create a free account to download

   • filter by creative commons license 0 (CC0)

   • filter by quality recordings (lossless file types are best = WAV, AIFF)

4. Background music (multi-track recorded during class)

Where to turn in

• before bouncing to a stereo mp3, you need to add the following to the "stereo out" track in this order:

  1. add a Gain plugin (found under utility) = this is used to adjust your levels to meet the following two standards ... you may want to also add a compresser

  2. add a Loudness Meter and aim for -14LUFS (integrated) to prepare for streaming services

  3. add a Level Meter set to "True Peak" and make sure you never get above -1TP

  4. Here's some more info on getting the right loudness level

• to bounce:

  1. File > Project Settings > General == uncheck "Use musical grid"

  2. select 1min worth of your story by dragging in the thin marque area of the timeline (highlighting it yellow)

  3. File > bounce > project or section ...

     • checkmark MP3, 320kbps for Bit Rate Stereo, Normalize: off (if you don't turn this off you'll loose all your work on getting the loudness to -14LUFS)

• add the mp3 your class projects portfolio website:

  1. store the mp3 of your project on Box

  2. create a shared link, make the link available to "People with the link", and finally choose "Link Settings" to grab the direct [download] link

  3. using direct link in the html <audio> tag on your site