My project for the 2015 EdMedia programme was inspired by Adam’s little educational recording showcasing the qualities of different microphones. Since I teach sound design theory, media analysis and sound production, the kinds of resources I always find myself in need of are ones that demonstrate to students the relationship between technological specifications and experiential features of media. This is particularly important as they are honing their abilities to analyze and produce media as part of the School of Communication. This resource is one of a series I hope to make that provide such demonstrations. With John and Adam’s help I initially produced an audio-only file, but after hearing the group’s feedback, ended up creating a simple video slideshow with some of the most salient technological features (and prices!) listed for each type of microphone. This makes this resource I think much more than a classroom comparison, and I hope that you’ll all use it and share it as you see fit as an OER, and use it as an intro to selecting your own equipment should you need to record audio, interview participants, produce video promos, etc. Just briefly, the next steps in this ‘series’ of demos would include contrasting different location recordings to showcase how our voices – and all sounds really – are modulated by the spatial characteristics of environments. Finally, a third resource I’d like to make is a comparison between different audio formats in the dissemination of popular music – from highest to lowest quality – but I think I might assign this task to students as an educational activity, rather than take all the fun out of it by making it myself 🙂
