and Donald just read my stuff and don't Tweet
have a sleep
here's something from 7 years ago, about Radio
everything I write is for EARS, its my words on the pillow next to you
just as I listened to BBC Radio 4 over 50 years ago
All things for Radio ©
By
Michael Casey
I am thinking of getting my writing on Radio, as I’ve told
you all before. I have had good feedback from radio stations about my writing.
I did once get a comment “I like your style but not the content” which may have
come from a Hip Hop radio station. I have sent my word files far and wide in
the hope of connecting with a fellow simple mind, wasn’t
that the name of a band too?
A couple of radio stations even said they could find me a
slot but they didn’t get back to me. I even sent a bit of video and audio along
with 300 and Not OUT, which is my largest single collection of short writing. I
can wait till I die so I’ll continue my campaign. Now I’ve decided to record
everything I write so that people who prefer to use their ears cannot escape me
either.
I have over 500 pieces of short writing spread over 3 books
on Amazon Kindle, and 3 other books too. So now I embark on recording them all.
To do this I need a mike and a pop filter. At the moment I’m using the old mike
my wife used to scream through to Shanghai and her mum. Shanghai people are
very noisy, or is it passionate, no it’s noisy, after 14years I think noisy is
the correct word.
Now I’ve managed to record 50 pieces or 10% of my creation
so far. There is a problem when you record stuff and you are a writer, you want
to make changes as you read the piece. I also want to do it all quickly, so I’m
not as prepared as an actor, an actor would read a piece several times before
attempted to record it. I want the reading, the recording to be as fresh as the
original writing.
An actor would do a couple of takes and the director would
advise him, then in the editing suite the director picks the best. So I have to
be my own director, it is a learning process, and a couple of pieces I’ve left
out as they are too short perhaps or they don’t seem to fit Radio. The original
idea for Radio was 90 seconds with Michael, where I’d have 90 seconds to read
something for Radio and amuse them. Some stations liked the idea, so I hope
that if I now record everything and it’s out there in cyber space I’ll get
spotted, maybe I can be the new Justin Beaver. I am of course better looking.
Now for Radio I have to read more slowly, because when I
write I am very fast, and when we all read to ourselves it is much faster than
when we hear something on the radio. Remember too that we all think 4 times
faster than we speak. So first in my mind I have an idea, which I then write
down here at the keyboard, then I upload it to my sites. But to record it in
the hope that it’s heard and spotted, and folks tell their local radio stations
to listen, I have to remember to speak clearly and slow enough for people to
hear all the words clearly. Yes obvious, but when we all talk to our friends we
do speak much faster.
Which brings me to the topic of technology. When I started recording a week or so ago, I
was using our old stick microphone, which is ok for screaming to grandma in
Shanghai, but for speech radio it is not good enough. Grease may be the word but
HISS is the move, the sound you get when you record things. I tried lots of
things then I decided on wrapping the mike in the foam from mini paint rollers,
as I mentioned a few days ago. My daughter had been doing some felting at
school in the craft lesson. Her square of felt was perfect to insulate the
microphone from wind noise, or rather my own heavy breathing.
Pop filters are also recommended, I did not understand the
concept at first, I thought it was just some kind of lollypop. However after
watching music videos on MTV and VH1, I begin to understand. Utube also
explains things. A pop filter not only keeps the spit off the microphone, it
breaks down the air flow. So Ps and Bs or whatever don’t overwhelm the
microphone, it’s like changing an American into an Englishman, a very posh and
clear sound. Only teasing you Americans.
You can get all manner of “free” software on the Internet,
only it’s not really free, its free till you just get the hang of it, then they
want 50dollars. So you curse and start looking for more free software. You
click and click and click and then finally you find a couple of really free software packages to
record with. Only they are cuckoos in the nest and change your browser settings
and your default search engine to something worse than useless. Then you have
to go to the control panel and delete their droppings from your computer.
I was a computer operator for 22years or so, in the old
days, a kind of dinosaur compared to the IT people of today. So I always tidy
up, in the old days your computer could run out of space and crash the system.
If you had 4 gig on the computer that was very impressive, and that was 10
years into my stint as a computer operator.
We produced acres of paper and sold this to the clients, market research
into alcohol sales, yes really. I can even remember my boss saying alcopops
would NOT catch on.
So once I got rid of 2 or 3 not free recording sound
programs I settled down to record. The hiss factor was much improved, Audacity
seems to be just right, but when I get a new mike I’ll see how that sounds and
then I can record my stuff anew. I may have to go back and record what I’ve
done already.
Girls just like toys, so dad’s recording software and his
mike with a ferret attached to the top, is too good to be true. So the girls
have tried it out, singing hymns from church and Lady Gaga songs too. Then they
wanted to be BBC news reporters and weather girls. So while I had my dinner, on
their side of the computer the girls had broadcasting lessons with the gerbil attached
to the mike. All I could hear was laughter. Afterwards I showed them Audacity
and they tried that out. They were pleased with the less hissing results, no
snakes in the grass now.
Since I started on this adventure with a mike my ears have been
really tuned in. Even as I type as I talk to you I’m listening to the sound of
the keyboard. I’m listening to the sound of the computer itself on the self by
my knee. I can hear the clock ticking on the bookcase too. Normally I have
music playing as I talk to you but now I do not, so every little sound echoes
in my mind.
So will my efforts be in vain? I don’t know, but it will be
great practice for after dinner speaking. If I record 500 short pieces and put
them on my sites Typepad and Tumblr then perhaps somebody will discover my
words. And as for me perhaps I’ll get a free dinner.
and the rest is History
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