MMT Project 1: Audio Editing – Due

MMT Project 1: Audio Editing – Due

MUS-364U-001: MODERN MUSIC TECHNOLOGY

The audio editing project is an opportunity to become familiar with the basic concepts of audio editing in a DAW environment. There are several steps that you will need to follow to complete this assignment and I have placed video tutorials that you can follow in the Unit 2 Content Folder.

2020 -2021 has been a tumultuous time. Social unrest, covid-19, equity, extremism, economic uncertainty are just a few issues that we are grappling with as a society. The issues surrounding socio-economic, race and gender inequalities have been struggles for generations. For our audio editing project I would like you to build a 1-3 minute audio sequence, an audio montage of sorts, using speeches, rallies, protests, news commentary, and other audio examples that relate to these topics. You can choose one topic to focus on or you can combine topics. For example, You might focus on the Black Live Movement alone or combine topics like the rise of white nationalism and social inequality. This aspect of the assignment is completely up to you and I invite you to choose topics that speak to you.

The Digital Audio Workstation has really revolutionized audio production and there are many DAWS available to choose from. Many commercial DAWS for professionals come with a price tag that make it cost prohibitive for many. However, there are many free DAWS that are available that offer many of the key functions needed to make professional sounding audio and MIDI productions. If you currently use a DAW you are more than welcome to us it for this assignment. However, if you are new to the DAW you will not need to purchase one for this class. Instead, I have found a free online DAW that will do everything we need for this class. This completely online DAW is called Soundtrap

Click on the Soundtrap  link  and subscribe for a free 30 day trial. You will need to add a credit card but you can cancel your subscription before the 30 day trial period expires and pay nothing. 

Once you have subscribed to Soundtrap you can begin the assignment. I have placed video tutorials for all of the steps in the Unit Two Content folder. 

1. Search YouTube for audio clips you want to use for your assignment and convert the YouTube audio to mp3 and download to your HD. You will need a minimum of 4 audio clips,  3 speech plus 1 music.

2. Create a Soundtrap account

3. Import your audio clips into your Sound Trap Project and place them on the timeline after your introduction..

4. Begin editing the clips into usable segments and delete all unwanted audio segments from your timeline.

5. Select a quote or write one to use as an introduction for your project. Record your intro into the timeline.

You will be recording your own voice in this step. Feel free to write a statement of introduction for your project or you can choose an inspiring quote. For example; I chose a quote by Frances Wright. “Equality is the soul of liberty, there is, in fact, no liberty without it.”  You can read about her cultural and historical significance here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Wright

6. Do a simple mix of your project using the different tools available in the program including setting levels, panning, reverb, EQ ,fades, etc.

7. Export your finished project as an mp3 file and upload it to the assignment dropbox.