COM 304

Audio Production involves all of your broadcasting skills:
communication, voice, music, writing, engineering and salesmanship.

To be the best production person you can be,

you must understand the tools of the trade and

you must learn how to use them with successful production techniques.

THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Sound Originators:
Microphones, Turntables, Compact Disc (CD) Players,
MiniDisc (MD) Players and Tape Machines (Analog and Digital).
Sound Mixers:
Audio Console (or Control Board).
Sound Recorders:
Reel, Cartridge, Cassette and Digital Audio Tape/DAT (Equipment and Tape); MiniDiscs, Compact Discs and Computers (and Disks).

THE TECHNIQUES OR SKILLS
Creating (Radio/Audio is the "Theater of the Mind") * Storytelling *
Writing for Audio * Speaking on the Radio/Performing Voice Overs *
Producing News for Broadcast and for Informational Audio Programs*

Interviewing * Selecting Music and Sound Effects * Recording (Studio

and Location), Editing and Mixing * Promoting and Selling * Listening!

This course will combine basic technical and theoretical knowledge with

the practical skills used in audio recording and radio broadcasting today.
This will be a "hands on" experience for you.

Audio Production is a dynamic course.

Therefore, it is imperative that you come to every class to

find out where we are in the game plan and what you can expect next.
I will use this Web site to help you manage due dates and deadlines.
Please visit this online resource frequently.

Because students come from different backgrounds

and have different aspirations,

we will need to strike a balance in this course between the "technical"
and "creative" aspects of audio; between "style" and "substance."

To put it another way,
lousy ideas that sound great still wind up being lousy productions.
And badly recorded, edited or mixed audio can ruin a brilliant script
and what could have been an effective production.

So, no matter where you sit on the Technical-Creative seesaw,
you will get something out of this course because
we will focus our attention and hone our skills in both areas.
The projects and grading will not favor one aspect over the other.

Upon "successful" completion of this course – which means having attended all classes and completed all assignments/projects – the audio production student should be able to:

1.)   Recognize and identify the various "tools of the trade"; understand their function and purpose; and operate the equipment with proficiency;

2.)   Understand and use basic audio terminology;

3.)   Describe the many uses of audio in today's information-rich (multimedia) society;

4.)   Discuss and demonstrate the use of voice as a powerful communication tool;

5.)   Demonstrate how "writing for the ear" (writing for sound, writing words that are meant to be spoken) differs from other forms of writing;

6.)   Explain the visual aspects of audio production and how sound effects and music are used to create "Theater of the Mind";

7.)   Understand – and have experience in – the process of putting together an audio production from pre-production (conceiving and writing) to production (recording, editing and mixing) to post-production (distributing the end result, the final product);

and

8.)   Critically evaluate audio (listen!) and recognize the "Power of Sound" and the importance (effectiveness) of telling stories in audio-only and other media productions.