Final interview

https://soundcloud.com/user-35970585/derry-williams-interview-two-faced-records-final-interview-mixdown

Background music for my interview

I decided to use a song for the backdrop of my interview that was relevant to the discussion within that interview. So i chose a song by an artist that my subject talks about, Emperors of ice-cream's "Fires I wish I'd seen" as Derry makes a clear reference to them as a band in our interview and talks about how they will be making an appearance in the near future.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZmr_E4VGvQ

Personal experience

One of the reasons I chose to produce a sound walk through a festival campsite was down to my personal experiences with such events. Part of the task is the research side and I took resource from my own memory. Camping at festivals has been one of my loudest auditory memories and I find that there is nothing more exciting than the sort of environment where so much is going on that you find yourself blocking out half of the sounds in order to focus on the ones closest or loudest towards you

Style of soudwalk

Taking inspiration from both Janet Cardiff's very abstract and unrealistic work and also from Max Neuhaus' very organic and natural work. I decided to use elements from both.
I have used choppy editing alongside lo-fi clusters of natural sounds such as wind, birds, trees to create an atmosphere that challenges my audience in their perspective of reality

I hope that this will remind them throughout that they are listening to a creation and are aware of the piece not being a representation of reality but a reflection of it.

Janet Cardiff

http://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/walks/bathroom.html

Looked into Janet Cardiffs work as I like the vocalisation she uses throughout. Her narration gives prompt to the story. In some ways it reminded me of a audiobook. Takes away from sense of realism- you are reminded throughout that you are listening to a piece of art.
I like this aspect and will look to possibly use this in my piece

All questions asked in interview

Did you always want to be a record shop owner?
How would you describe the music scene in Brighton?
Did it provide the right backdrop for setting up your business?
Do you work with the local venues?
Whats behind the name of your shop?
How does your business compete against digitalisation and online streaming?
Do you find that you struggle with record sales?
What do you think is behind the comeback of vinyl?
What attracted you to Brighton?
If you could only listen to three albums for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Interview evaluation

When planning my interview, I was apprehensive about the organisation of the interview as I had originally emailed four record selling businesses within Brighton and got no response besides Derry, who was very flexible and easy to communicate with. One of the problems I faced initially was timing, we had to film outside of Derry's long work hours so it took considerable emails back and forth to finally book in an appropriate date for the interview to take place. We spent an hour talking before the interview began which I found was very helpful in helping me determine what questions would actually be most appropriate and it really helped us to both relax in one another's company which is very important- if someone is on edge you can usually tell through the fluidity of their voice. We were both prepared, Derry bought a small notebook with all of his notes in and I had an extensive list of questions and also was ready to ask any follow up questions if i heard something appropriate which I should ask more about for the benefit of the listeners. 

Derry was very talkative and open in his answers which meant that I came out of the interview with fifteen minutes of recording. This wouldn't have been a problem if the brief had stated that the interview should be just three minutes long! So I knew I had a challenging editing job ahead of me but I was content with the engagement within his answers so I tried not to cut Derry off when he was mid speech. 
One of the most charming things about the interview was derry's strong cockney accent which despite him residing locally within Brighton has stayed with him. I liked that it was clear where he came from and this will be clear to the listeners without even hearing him talk about moving to Brighton. 

Derry interview recording unedited

https://soundcloud.com/user-35970585/derry-unedited-mixdown

Reverb and proximity effect

Proximity effect

when the source of a sound gets closer to a microphone, the bass frequencies can be exaggerated which makes the bass seem to 'boom' 
-can merge words, making them harder to understand 

-can make it seem unnatural

-intimate sound

to avoid the effects of proximity the advised distance from the microphone

Reverb

Reverberation is the reflection of sound, a large number of reflections merge and then decay as theses sounds are then absorbed by the surrounding objects

-used to create special effects

-to enhance sound

-restore natural sound

Self sourced sounds

-All vocals
-wind
-walking through grass
-vocal buzz
-birds
-zips
-nylon
-lighters
-tin cans
-rubbish on floor
-laugher
-shuffling
-rain on cans/rubbish/nylon/chairs
-fire
-coughs
-portable speaker
-grass rustling
-food eating
-teeth brushing

Metropolis soundwalk

AN URBAN JOURNEY

I found an urban sound walk through a metropolis and I found it very influential. I was already very interested in urban culture which is why I chose to create a busy environment in my acoustic portrait anyway (festival campsite). despite the sounds in this soundscape being merging together, you still can depict a sense of where you are. I really like the constant vocal buzz which reflects the vast amount of people on the same path.

https://soundcloud.com/kent-sprague/an-urban-journey

Interview Conclusion

I enjoyed this project, it gave me the opportunity to explore an area I had never considered before. I was able to fully engage with the process from start to finish, from deciding on what kind of topic to follow, to getting to know my subject, conducting an interview and then editing it in post production to fit the brief. I was able to interact with some very interesting people and gain experience in equipment I had never come across before. i tried to keep my piece engaging and provide insight into Brighton as a musical community whilst staying factual. I feel I have done this successfully.

main microphone types

Condenser Microphones 


-greater transient + frequency response
-usually found in music studios
-sensitive to loud sounds
-able to reduce page of sound
-usually require mixing board
-expensive
-high quality

Dynamic microphone
-usually used in performances
-do not require personal power supply
-sound quality less accurate
-limited frequency response
-more sturdy

Acoustic portrait editing note

Originally I started producing this piece as a portrait of a camping environment but as throughout my editing I found that it works better as a sound walk so I'm glad I tested out this option by first recording the sound of me walking through a grassy area

Actual questions being used in final edit

1) What attracted you to Brighton?
2) How would you describe the music scene in Brighton?
3)Would you say that this kind of environment provided the right kind of background for setting up your business?
4) Do you work with the local venues?
5) Whats behind the name of your shop?

Interview recording

My interview with Derry Williams fluid and communication with Derry was easy as he was very laid back and open, this made my life much easier when asking him questions
the only problem I faced was that he wad very talkative and I often had to refrain from talking over him as i didn't want to stop him from being so open and articulate in his answers
This meant that I go a lot of information from him and a lot of material, a whole 14 and a half minutes!
This will be a challenge when I come to edit it

Unedited recording of interview with Derry Williams/ Two Faced Records

https://soundcloud.com/user-35970585/derry-williams-interview-two-faced-records-initial-recording