There is a documentary training intensive coming up that is well-worth your time and money. If you’re looking to learn some very strong production techniques, story-telling techniques, connect with other producers in an intimate environment, and build on your networking circle then you should definitely consider taking this 2-day intensive offered by UC Berkeley School of Journalism lecturer. I took the course about a year ago and I not only came away with a great folder of notes and information that I consistently use in my production endeavors but I made some awesome connections with other producers. I feel like it is a rare occurrence that such a worth-while course is offered so when one does come along you know it’s a real treat. Note: this is not a ProTools or other type of technical course. It is more about how to construct, manage, and complete audio documentary stories and productions. But since this is such an intimate course you can easily ask others for more technical how-to’s.
With all these electronic devices being such a central tool in media work how do we keep them charged?! Batteries are fairly toxic and using one-use types is a poor environmental choice for everyday use. Here’s a link to a site that has some good advice on recharging:
I have to admit, I felt pretty bitter after not getting any favorable responses from a recent story pitch I sent to several radio programs. I know, I know, it’s all about ‘volumizing’ your pitching; that is, pitch lots of ideas and as often as possible because only a small percent will actually get picked up at any given time. I understand that and see the logic but that doesn’t take my bitterness away or answer the nagging question, is there a better way? Anyway, instead of dwelling on all that I just kept pushing with the story and now it’s taking on a new life. So, we’ll see what happens next in the process but it’s sounding good. The new wrinkle? I just got hired full-time for some rather mundane but good-paying, temporary, office work. The folks at the company are great so it’s a good thing…but now I ain’t got the time I had when I started this project. Oh life, you just love to be complicated don’t you?
Today my FaceBook status reads: “Noah Chandler wishes he could say pitching a story is exhilerating but can’t. I feel like I’m groveling for crumbs from the royal cake before getting beheaded. All the while repeating the mantra, ‘Fail. Fail often. Dream big. Get it out the door.’” There has got to be a better way…
If you run Pro-Tools on Windoze then listen up: DON’T upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 (a recent Windoze Update offered by MS). What happened to me and apparently many others on the ProToolsUsers forum is that after installing the update and you try and open the ProTools program, it won’t open! Ugh! What a pain!
Anyway, I had to use a (free) third-party uninstaller to properly uninstall IE8 and once I did things are back to normal. I just wish it hadn’t taken 8 1/2 hours to figure this out. Another reason why you should have a machine dedicated to only your media work and not connected to the Internet. Obviously the problem is being able to afford two machines.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone spend a lot less time figuring out what the heck is going on and instead working on their projects.
I was browsing through my new favorite web site “instructables.com” and came across this really interesting demonstration for making your own microphone pre-amp. You see awhile back a friend and I started working on a project of making our own “piezo disc” microphone and a pre-amp from schematics provided by sound artist Richard Lerman. He’s done some really cool stuff so check him out. But we got a little bogged down trying to create the pre-amp from the directions Lerman offers. This leads me to this mornings find.
At Instructables.com is a demonstration (see below) that shows you how to make a cheap microphone pre-amp. This particular project came out of a test that an audio teacher did with his class seeing if people could tell which of 3 pre-amps was the most expensive and which was the cheapest (ranging in cost from $5-$1500). Can YOU tell? You may (or may not) be all that surprised by the findings. Hopefully this will get my own project back on course…
B&H has a new article up about being “green” in the area of field recording. Basically it’s a discussion of your various options with rechargeable batteries with some good product highlights. It’s worth a read.
I came across some useful links this morning that cover portable audio recorders, field production, head-worn microphones and a profile of a field, sound engineer. The articles are part of the B&H Email Newsletter, essentially a way for the trusty ol’ New York based professional equipment outlet to reach its customers. The obvious commercial motive aside, I found the articles insightful in that they clearly show some different professional configurations of equipment with simple explanations, pictures and price lists. Check it out:
Head-Worn Microphones – Up Close and Personal (I found this one helpful because I’m looking for a way to mic my self during interviews which allows me to remain able to monitor my recorder as well as hand-hold mic my interviewee).
I came across the Vermont Folklife Center online this afternoon. They have some honest and straight forward reviews of audio recorders (past and present) and some good “how-to” articles. So, if you are interested in reading some helpful and interesting reviews on audio hardware and such head on over to:
I came across some useful links this morning that cover portable audio recorders, field production, head-worn microphones and a profile of a field, sound engineer. The articles are part of the 
![[Valid RSS]](http://www.hellasolutions.com/images/valid-rss-rogers.png "Validate my RSS feed")