Work to have done: a solid attempt at a complete soundscape narrative, ideally meeting baseline criteria. Rough edges are still welcome.
Plan for the day:
Describe -> Evaluate -> Suggest: A Workshop Workflow (5 min)
Evaluation reminder: our shared criteria (5 min)
Peer review workshop (3 times 10-12 min); EXT: Studio
Evaluation revisited (10 min)
HW preview
0. Warm-up writing
Think about writing you’ve had reviewed before, whether by peers or by teachers. What were the best, most helpful responses? What were the worst, least helpful responses? What could you do to make responses that you give less like the worst, and more like the best?
Today is all about getting feedback for your projects. What does that metaphor mean? It’s a process by which the output is picked up again as input. You’ve brought in your output so far; now you’re going to learn by getting input from your audience.
To avoid some of the potential pitfalls of peer review, I’m going to insist that you provide this feedback in three steps:
First, describe what you hear, without judging whether it's good or not. What is this project? What do you think is happening? What stands out? What seems to be the focus?
Next, evaluate according to our shared criteria, in light of the focus you perceive in the project. NB: This is still a form of description.
Finally, suggest some revision possibility that you think might help take the project to the next level: assume a revision is on the way. Given the goals, the focus, the criteria, what might be next?
We can’t trade cards, so we’ll trade clones
In an in-person semester, I’d ask you to fit your comments on index cards; that should give you a sense of how much writing I’m expecting here. (Ie, it should be relatively focused.) Since we can’t do cards, you’ll download three repositories, as specified below, and write your feedback for the authors on GitHub.
If you have more than one Audacity project in your repo, to make this process easier, you should probably indicate in your README.md file where to find the main .aup file for your project.
Play for at least two minutes (and no more than five)
Contain at least one sound originally recorded by you
Explore simultaneity of sound by having two or more tracks overlap at least once
Have something change during the piece, even if it loops back to where it started
Credit your sources with title, creator, location, and permission; for clarity, credit yourself as well (e.g. “all other sounds recorded by me”)
Signal an intentional ending (or that the piece loops)
Meet deadlines and requirements from the assignment prompt (reflection, project title, playable mp3)
Aspirational Inspirations
To target (but not guarantee) a grade above a B, the best projects for this unit may...
Use background tracks (e.g. music, ambient noise) to convey a consistent narrative/emotional tone
Use background tracks (e.g. music, ambient noise) to convey a climax or shift in narrative/emotional tone
Create a sense of 3D environment using panning, volume, filters, etc
Use enough detail, perhaps in overlapping tracks, to convey a sense of a specific place and time (i.e. other than where the listener is)
Use enough minimalism to convey a sense that the narrative is located where the listener is
Demonstrate (e.g. in workshop notes or similar feedback) that listeners understand the soundscape narrative as intended
Have dialogue or monologue drive the story and/or give it structure
Convey a narrative without using any human voices
Extend your depth of knowledge with the software (Audacity or git / GitHub) by using features that are new to you
Try being a Foley artist: record your own sound effects, substituting available materials for unavailable ones (e.g. pouring beads for rain, compressing flour for walking through snow)
Practice high-level editing through well-aligned transitions and loops, cuts at zero crossings, etc.
Organize your files through track labeling, filenames, folder structure, etc
Use meaningful commit messages
Any surprises there, before we move on?
3. Peer Review Workshop (3-5 min setup, plus 10-12 min for each of 3 partners)
Detailed instructions for workshop-at-a-distance
Go to your first partner’s repo on GitHub, and use the green “Code” button. If you have a fast connection and lots of disk space, you can clone (e.g. with the “Open with GitHub Desktop” option); otherwise, you might be better off using the Download ZIP option.
In order to avoid conflicts with your own repo, you’ll want to add your partner’s name to the name of the Local Folder, so it’s not the same as yours.
Open the folder. If you cloned with GitHub Desktop, choose View in Finder (Mac) / View in Explorer (PC) to find the files you just downloaded, and open them in Audacity.
Optionally, zoom out to see the whole Audacity project with View > Track Size > Fit to Height / Fit to Width. Note that you can later use the same menu to Expand All Tracks; this will let you see the settings for pan, gain, etc.
Here’s where the cycle really starts:
describe the soundscape and narrative you hear
evaluate the project relative to the shared set of criteria, and
suggest changes that you think would take it to baseline and/or above.
Finally, make sure you post all these comments – in language you’d be comfortable sharing publicly – on the latest commit on the project’s GitHub website. Here’s how and where to leave comments on GitHub: Just
click through to the history of commits (the clock page);
click on the commit hash, the set of random-seeming numbers and letters almost at the end of the top row (i.e., for the most recent commit); and
scroll to the bottom of the diff view that appears. You’ll see a comment box there: <figcaption>You can leave comments on a particular commit using the GitHub website. GIF made with LICEcap.</figcaption>
Repeat the steps above for your next two partners’ repos. On subsequent loops, note that after viewing/listening to the project first, you may also want to read and/or refer to the previous comments.
Your Groups
Let's do this!
Within each group, you’re responsible for commenting on the three people that follow you in your line; if that takes you to the end of the line, wrap around again. (e.g. Abby will review soundscape narratives for Garrett, Grace D, and Greg; Garrett will review for Grace D, Greg, and Mason; Grace D will review for Greg, Mason, and Abby; and so on.)
I think it might be best to start by downloading and listening to one repo at a time, but your mileage may vary.
If you're participating asynchronously, please try to complete your review before class time on Thursday – or earlier, if possible – so your partners can work with your feedback in mind. If that's just not possible (and I understand how that might be the case), let me know asap and I'll make sure the others get my feedback in the meantime. Saturday morning would be the latest when it might still be helpful, so that's the official async deadline; just confirm that you've pulled the latest version whenever you start.
EXT: Studio
If any time remains, go ahead and get started on those revisions! If you have a chance to let me know in the shared notes doc what you’re working on or what you’re wondering, all the better. :¬)
4. Evaluation revisited (10 min)
Based on your viewing, if you’d like to propose changes to the baseline criteria, or add new aspirational goals to consider, please comment on the google doc!
Homework for Next Time
Next class will be a soundwriters’ studio: I’ll be on Zoom during class time (2:50-4:05), as usual, but I’ll mostly open the breakout groups and keep track of 25-minute intervals. I’ll stay in the main room to field questions or just for check-ins.
A final-for-now draft is due at the end of Sunday, to give you time to write a reflection by class-time on Tuesday; see the soundscape narrative prompt for further details.
Even as we zoom in toward the unit finale, I want to keep one eye open toward the bigger picture. Think about projects you’d like to try for at the end of term: e.g. What further possibilities of sound might you want to explore, perhaps in connection with other people, or with other media?
You can post this to the Issue Queue; there is no minimum length requirement.
<figcaption>You can leave comments on a particular commit using the GitHub website. GIF made with LICEcap.</figcaption>