Audio Assessment
Assessment #1: Audio Package
This assessment constitutes 25% of your overall assessment this semester.
Instructions:
Create an audio package that runs two-and-a-half to three minutes long and write a one-page summary that explains your topic, and how you think your combination of interviews, commentary, music, sound effects and mixing these elements through multitracking achieved that. Choose any topic you like.
Your package will be assessed on its overall sound and how quick and easy it is for a listener to understand, drawing on the discussion we had in class about audio psychology. It will also be assessed based on your written summary that discusses why you used music or didn’t, why you included sound effects or didn’t etc. In one sense, your written piece will be a self-critique.
Your audio package needs to include:
- A short commentary to introduce the topic interview/vox pops
- At least one interview or a series of at least four vox pops
- A short commentary to wrap up the interviews/vox pops
Your package should also include sound effects or music or both. Each of these elements should be mixed so that the levels of each track work together. In your written piece make sure you explain either why you used music or sound effects or why you didn’t. Your explanation should tell me why they are appropriate or inappropriate to your package.
How you’ll be assessed
I will be assessing your audio based on the following criteria. I’ve also added a percentage to give you an idea on how I’ll be weighting elements of the assessment. Your assessment is based on:
- The overall sound and feel of your audio package and what we discussed in class (15%).
- Your script – do your intro and closing commentaries follow the audio writing conventions we discussed in class … for example, sentence structure, word choice etc.? (15%)
- Your presentation – does it take into account the techniques we discussed about breathing, diction and expression? (10%)
- Your interview – is it a factual (rather than a personality) interview? Are you impartial in your questions if you don’t edit your questions out? Does your guest have a chance to share her/his thoughts and do you lead them to make really good comments? (15%)
- Your use of music – if you choose to use music, how appropriate is your choice based on what music can do for audio? And do you use too much or too little? (10%)
- Your use of sound effects – if you choose to use sound effects, how appropriate is your use of sound effects in terms of the message you are trying to convey? Are you using enough sound effects? Or too many? (10%)
- Technical Quality – Is your package recorded well? Is the volume of commentary and interviews loud enough, too loud, too soft or distorted? (Remember, if a track’s volume – or part of a track – is too low, select it and use the amplify function in the effects menu to adjust the volume to ensure all tracks are approximately the same volume.) (15%)
- Multi-tracking – Have you used the envelope tool to appropriately adjust the volume of each track so it sounds clear and professional? Have you used the time-shift tool to make sure each audio asset starts at the right time? For example, you don’t run music longer than necessary before starting vocals. (10%)
Your assignment needs to be submitted to me by email as an MP3 or WAV file and the written component submitted as a PDF. If you are going to have difficulty in meeting the deadline, talk to me at least one week before the deadline to negotiate an alternative date. (Please note any alternative dates we may negotiate will be based on my availability to assess and the institutional need to have marks submitted to the university for your academic record.) Otherwise, 10% will be deducted per week for lateness.