Reflection blog

. . . justification. . .

The project is a line reading (or a soliloquy?) of an excerpted text from William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Before this, I had some reservations already on what to take on as a project for this course. A classmate's project proposal was also one in my head - kinda ambitious but doable. However, with me being in a far away land, I had to re-align the ideas that I had and create a project that can be "handy" but meaningful. There are not few recordings of the popular excerpt which has Shylock justifying his revenge for all the wrongs that was done to him. I have seen even a vernacular version of it done by an ADMU professor who did justice to William's text. Notable too are the women who have recorded their voices and even had captured videos of them delivering their own interpretation of the said text. This project aims to add to the content of interpretations that has been created prior to it. The issue of discrimination is close to my heart and has always been the core of my many various advocacy and principles. Shylock's being Jew is being seen as a springboard by Shakespeare to say that he is not anti-Semitic and that discrimination is not palatable if not detestable. In any case, there have been other perspectives too surrounding the interpretations of Shylock's speech, but this audio will veer away from that. I remember when I was a freshman BAMS student, I dreamt of creating projects for the course using low-tech gadgets and free and open source applications. I had in mind those who have no means of buying their own sets of gadgets and who did not have the resources to spare to get them a well-placed application. Audacity is one of those free software that I had in mind. We have been using it in the office to record audio messages and I was able to tinker on some of its basic features - cut, paste, listen, adjust. . .

Compared to the recording environment I could have had in the Philippines, mine now is better. It is located at the sixth floor of a building in a suburb. And although it is fronting and beside the main highway, it is relatively more quite than that in our house (or in a popular[?] motel which has become my option too). The bathroom was enjoyable, needless to say. It had plastic pseudo-tiles for bathroom panes/walls, and carpeted walls for the rest of the room. The flooring was real, tiled. It had a shower curtain, a vent, and a bath tub of the same material as the tiled wall. Good thing the hotel bathroom had seat covers with them, I used that as a makeshift table for the laptop which I borrowed. And uh, the mouse was just on the floor. Like, mouse. And yes, I used a quilt and all towels in the bathroom available, including the soiled ones, to break the sound travel. To record, I used my Samsung Galaxy S3 4G LTE, removed the protective cover and used a battery pack 'console' to make it stand so that I did not have to hold it while recording.

The Internet is full of information and many come free at that. I did not have the luxury to record some of the ambient sounds that I needed such as the cicada, and some marketplace background. For the best part, traffic sounds and electronic gadgets could ruin your recording, with marketstalls having portable radio and even blaring TV sets. As for the cicada, I remembered just now that I have a recording of it, around three years back, when I visited my beloved Los Banos. Many of the sound bits that I used are from sounddogs.com. Some of them (metal clankings, plank/wood sounds, and birds chirping) are my own recordings. The background music I used were from Youtube (converted the video to mp3 and then mixed them up).

The tracks were 11 in all - one for the main music background, three for the vocal recordings, which are all center-panned, a secondary music background, and six ambient sound recording tracks (which did not have strictly six sound recordings only - as I had some of the tracks combined in one, to minimize view clutter. A few of the tracks were panned left channel and right, some where at 70% while some where at 100%. I had to ensure there was space by changing the panning and controlling the volume to create the illusion that the sources of sound were moving. The illusion that the clip transitioned from a busy marketplace daytime to some alley at night is important as it gives an ambience of the setting when the three characters were talking.

In order to come up with the best possible sound clip, it is ideal to have a clear understanding of how this can be of use in the future. As I have seen in my search for the interpretations of this speech, there has been not many of it. Managing and overcoming the challenges that one encounters during the prep, creation, production, post-produciton, are nothing compared to the usage and importance a multimedia material could have in the future. Audacity was relatively easy to navigate and use - given more time, anyone can maximize its potential, as I have seen some of the features were quite 'alien' to me. Time, and dedication/passion is important in this field. Adequate, yes. Impeccable, no. In a sense, the project is able to provide information to another Internet user in the other side of the world who may be needing materials such as these. The creation of an audio material which can help them interpret the speech is already an adequate reason - notwithstanding the fact that the line-reading was done by just one person (that's me!!!!). The project is not impeccable. It is even far from what could be of high standard. Perfection does not come overnight. It should be left to simmer.

With audio being an important part of the multimedia experience, it should be of equal footing as other disciplines.

Mixed 2.0 (make that 4.0)

Sukiyaki was a chart topper in the early 90's. Little did I know that the original song (Ue O Muite Aruko) was also a hit in the US. The 4PM version was already a third version of the Japanese first, with even a Spanish version sang by Selena making it to the airwaves. I was part of that generation - Now That's What I Call Music, Soul Jam, TOTP. . . Music was pleasing to the ears. And Daniel Padilla was not even fertilized yet. Again, the Samsung Galaxy S3 recorder was handy. And I decided to do four voices of the song, combining them with no instrumentals - a capella.

It was fun mixing the four vocals. But really, who does not feel their voice is not cacophonous?

Here is the link to the mixed, edited, mastered (?) four vocal recordings. https://soundcloud.com/chi-upou/sukiyaki-4pm-cover

Mixed

Uhmmmm. . . hi welcome back chi *wave*. Seriously, I may have missed out on a lot of things. Well that is what I thought. When I checked back on the course site, nothing much has changed, really. Or is that what I thought again of it. In any case, I hope I did not mess up. I can't afford to mess up now. Kissing a fool is one of my favorite songs. I am not going to talk about how I can sing that well using dynamic microphones and during wee hours of the morning when my friends and I have smelly breath already because of brandy. Fools. Crazy bunch of people. Love. For this class, I decided to do a mix of instrumental version of the George Michael original, record my own vocals, and then mix the two. My Samsung Galaxy S3 proved to be the savior of the term as the Samson USB mic that I bought back home had issues - goodbye to more than two thousand pesos worth of gadget?, i hope not - I'm going to try with the toll free number of the manufacturer. I am still in the US, that could play the part of salvaging the hard-earned money from back home. The hotel room was big. I had problems containing the sound in the room. Although there were wooden panels that could absorb the sound, the centralized AC system of the building prevented me from doing an all-out vocal recording for this. I tried the fire exit staircase too, to no avail (where more sound is being created with the wheezing of the heater and all that stuff coming to play). So there, last resort - the infamous bathroom. I have long been a bathroom singer. Well, I sing anywhere - in a bar, at a bus stop, inside a class, I sing in my head too! It's no surprise that I would be singing even in the bathroom - a lot of Filipinos do that (well, even other nationalities for sure do *wink*). Fast-forward >> after recording the vocals while headset on and instrumentals played through the notepad, edit and mixing part of the toil.

So here it is: Kissing a Fool Cover https://soundcloud.com/chi-upou/upou-mms-172-kissing-a-fool

Journey of a Thousand Knobs

That's right. I did not dare count all the knobs, the LEDs, dials, levers, and other control whatchamacallit. No. I'd die if I did. And I'd slide back to being the Obsessive-Compulsive kid that I am. You start the days of your journey with more than "unknown" phone numbers asking for directions. I LOVE IT! So, yes. A lot of students are coming to the party. And uh, yeah, some expected guests did not arrive. Normal thing for a party -- a no-show, and some gaka's (gatecrashers) [though gaka's in this case are very much welcome]. There. . . you arrive at your destination, tugging lost/almost lost people from everywhere from the sleeves just to get there on time. You pass by some garrison, some peons, and some more bridges, turn one alley and up a ravine. This time, on board, someone else's carriage. :)

As expected the class was as enthusiastic as other F2Fs in other classes of the FIC's. Questions left and right. A hearty laugh sometimes. True experience. A one-of-a-kind indeed just for the people that you walk with. An experience of slideshow presentations. A lot of personal insights from the Master. A state-of-the-art facility. Some free coffee and donuts to match. What do you call this? A yeah, some calls it trip, others say it is a class. I'd say it is on a league of its own. That is one of the reasons why UPOU is one of the best in the system, one of the best in this part of the world, and one of the best in the league. Where else do you get a learning experience like that? ugh.

We learn. From the best. From each other. From some place. From introspection. From retrospection. From everywhere. From nowhere. It is countless, this learning journey. Just as I did not dare to be exact with the possibilities of the knobs, deep inside me, I probably did not want the learning experience to be definite, defined, and definitive.

(Eeman)

REverb REvenge

Asked about an audio project that we wanted to complete for the course, I initially thought of doing a song cover, a duet, with a piano as an accompaniment. I have always wanted to do that. And hopefully, this course can force encourage my lazy ass to visit my relatives who would be generous enough to share their talent and time. Ok I failed there. Reality check. Scheduling our time - my grandfather, and my aunt (who is younger than I am) - is a roadblock. All of us work in different time zones(?) and with varying days off. I have got to really shed some blood just to get us three in one place at the same time. Will definitely work out on it some time. In the meantime, I had to consider other options >> an excerpt should be the most possible. Lift a script from a popular soap opera perhaps and emulate the sounds perhaps of a horse galloping (coconut shells on pavement), and bang galvanized iron sheets for thunder effect, or some glass shattering for a "Your news got me surprised, I dropped the glass I was holding" effect. Try. It is a project anyway. And in time you can still pursue them, perhaps. Now, in the younger days, I used to join oratorical contests - either with my classmates or solo. And the excerpt on W. Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice really occupied a bigger chunk of my grey matter (and probably heart too). There... I can more probably deliver this better than more ambitious ones. But is this not also ambitious - to capture the feeling of middle ages Rialto and exude three to five emotions at the same time? Ah.... we'll see. So here is the excerpt which I intend to deliver, monologue (or with thrown lines from other characters, monotonous, ambient): ***** SOLANIO Ha, what sayest thou? Why, the end is he hath lost a ship. SALARIO I would it might prove the end of his losses. SOLANIO Let me say “Amen” betimes, lest the devil cross my prayer, for here he comes in the likeness of a a Jew. (Enter Shylock) How now, Shylock? What news among the merchants? SHYLOCK You knew – none so well, none so well as you – of my daughter’s flight. SALARIO That’s certain. I, for my part, knew the tailor that made the wings she flew withal. SOLANIO And Shylock, for his own part, knew the bird was fledged, and then it is the complexion of them all to leave the dam. SHYLOCK She is damned for it. SOLANIO That’s certain- if the devil may be her judge. SHYLOCK My own flesh and blood to rebel! SOLANIO Out upon it, old carrion! Rebels it at these years? SHYLOCK I say my daughter is my flesh and blood. SALARINO There is more difference between thy flesh and hers than between jet and ivory, more between your bloods than there is between red wine and rhenish. But tell us, do you hear whether Antonio have had any loss at sea or no? SYHLOCK There I have another bad match! – a bankrupt, a prodigal who dare scarce show his head on the Rialto, a beggar that was used to come so smug upon the mart. Let him look to his bond. He was wont to call me usurer; let him look to his bond. He was wont to lend money for a Christian courtesy; let him look to his bond. SALARINO Why, I am sure, if he forfeit thou wilt not take his flesh. What’s that good for? SHYLOCK To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies – and what’s his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute – and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

Diana Doolittle DAW Quite an experience listening to my voice for more than 6 hours to get the tempo right and remove the hisses and pops. Finally I resorted to creating a snippet instead of the whole shebang because of the noise. To minimize reverb in the bathroom I had to remove all plastic wares inside the small space and hang a lot of towels to cover the sides. The room was awkwardly more than eight feet high so I had to get an umbrella opened inside with towels above and under. Recording took at least 4 tries. I was wet all over right after. :3 The stereo file was a slower tempo, a Diana Ross rendition which had vocals, almost staccato but mellow and soft. The version of that I did though was of another artist - Melinda Doolittle, a soul singer and a vocal calisthenics pro. Combined, it is expected to be an peculiar rendition since the tempo of the music will not always coincide with the vocals. I had to cut some of the prolonged verses/words just to be in tune with the instrumentals. DAW: Audacity Split and invert stereo track Vocals was done separately using Samsung Galaxy s3 voice recorder with .3ga output file which was then converted to mp3 for DAW. 3 mono tracks resulted to a wav file converted to mp3; free online conversion sites

SOMNUS Roman god of sleep. Greek equivalent - Hypnos. Sleep is a bliss. Well, at least for me. Seldom do I get enough of it. Those crazy neurons in my head gives me a hard time doing so. Though even during sleep the brain is still active, I don't suppose they are cooperative enough to make me go "SUCCESS!" after doing an eight-hour rest. Blame age yes. Blame whatever. I got used to it anyways. I have not talked about how 'lucky' we are to be under the wings of a bright and successful tandem of audiophiles. I might reserve that for the last blog I am going to put for the class. (Brain, remember this.) The FIC asked us to do a recording of any sound. (At least that is how interpreted it.) Create and examine. That means, the sound has to come from me. Hmmmmn. Kinda freaky. Let me share some bit of a private life with you. I could be a child of sound. SON, the French word for it, makes up 60% of my first name. Freaky? Nah. I am not surprised. I talk a lot. Sing. Listen to people talking. Listen to music. Listen to newscast. (Listen to podcast, once, chi.) Hmmm, play instruments! And I am not alone in these stuff. I am surrounded by audiophiles and audiogens (sound creators) too! Family, friends, my phone, my office desktop, laptop. Google Drive, Dropbox. WHOA! So. . . yeah. The clip I added here is not me. It's someone else. HEHEHEHE I hope he goes nuts when he gets to know his snore is up in some blog being listened to by many other people. One snore unit (if there is such) could be the span of exhale to inhale (or vice versa). In the sound clip, The absence of audible sound is the signal of the start of a snore. There is some sort of a pattern too. A snore is continuous as if rhythmic. Undulating perhaps. In this particular file, the snore is soft, not too loud. I was lucky enough to record it while no dogs were barking, no kids talking, no neighbors watching their fave movie, though I can hear the electric fan whirring in the background. I suddenly missed that place. I have not been there for quite a long time. Somnus. I am your child. Sleep. Sound. Sound sleep.

Because I needed to explain. . .

Yeah. The freakazoids have done it again. I am not quite sure how they could not understand, or at least Google, what the blog title could mean. This story started when a friend invited me to go out and relax. I turned down the offer but gave in after 30 minutes. He asked what is keeping me busy at that time. I answered, "Blogging is part of school." "COOLIO!~" "Don't get too pumped up. It's not really that much of a big deal for me." "Yup, people like you. . ." "What do you mean by that?" "Nothing... just that." And a shrug. That comment really freaked me out. Was there something wrong with me being me? Or was I too complex, he was just not buying that blogging is synonymous to studying? Well... I took my thoughts off of the conversation and went ahead looking for some quotes that I can use as a blog title. Then it struck me! I will greet this day with love in my heart. And how will I confront each whom I meet? In only one way. In silence and to myself I will address him and say I Love You. Though spoken in silence these words will shine in my eyes, unwrinkled my brow, bring a smile to my lips, and echo in my voice; and his heart will be opened. And who is there who will say nay to my goods when his heart feels my love? This Og Mandino classic from the Greatest Salesman in the World, Scroll II, is a sure winner. Didn't really have a hard time weighing between options. So there... I was thinking three weeks ago. I should be doing voice-recording and posting it here instead. Hmmmmn, might have to try that out next time. (Ironic not to have some audio clips here when this really is an audio class, ayt? :p )