Soundscape Inspiration

Above is a supermarket soundscape that I listened to and got inspiration from. I really liked how the sounds built up slowly and then became more obvious. I also liked the fact that the person who recorded it kept some of the original sounds of the supermarket, but also manipulated some of the sounds so that they sounded unusual and not what you would typically hear in a supermarket. I think this soundscape sounded really spooky and eery because of the loud sounds and manipulation. I quite liked this because it's the opposite of what a supermarket actually is and I'm hoping I can achieve the same feel with my soundscape. 
This was the only supermarket soundscape I could find online but it really inspired me and gave me idea's for edits that I could possibly do for my soundscape.

Equipment Used

I used two pieces of equipment when conducting my interview.
The first piece was a Marantz PMD 661. This is is a sound recording device. I felt this was the best device to use as I'd used it before so I knew how to use it and it's quite easy to use anyway and I didn't need anything too complex. 

The second piece of equipment I used was the Sennheiser K6. This is a big fluffy mic that I thought would be perfect for my interview and soundscape as it's really clear and picks up sounds really well. 

Complete Interview & Personal Opinion

Final Interview

The link above is my complete interview. 

Personal Opinion
I think the content of my overall interview is good. It's very well presented and has a lot of detail within in. The interviewee speaks clearly, slowly and informatively. The effects are relevant for the type of sound that I have created.

What could be improved?
The editing is relevant but isn't as professional as it could be. I don't know a lot about editing vocals so it was hard to determine which amount was the right amount to add. However, I researched and estimated thoroughly and I think it sounds fine.

Complete Soundscape & Personal Opinion

Final Soundscape

The link above is my final soundscape. 

Person Opinion
I like the sounds in my soundscape. I think it sounds really interesting and unique for the listener. I find the contrast between the happy, Christmas music and the spooky sounds that are around the supermarket engaging and it just makes me want to listen more.

What could be improved?
I could've had a wider range of edits within my soundscape. It was difficult to edit because of the music playing in the background when I cut bits out the music skipped so it was obvious. However, I still managed to cut pieces out and manipulate them to create a broader range of sounds.

Interview Editing

The screen shot above shows my interview before I started editing it. I started off with 10 tracks. I recorded the interview twice so I would have enough to work with, and incase the first recording was of poor quality. I listened to all the clips that I had and established the best responses from my interviewee and the ones that had the best quality of sound.

The screen shot above is an example of a clip that I had to edit. This was a response from my interviewee about the best night life in Brighton. I decided to use this print screen as an example in my blog because she said "um" and "er" and stuttered a bit so I felt that this was the most challenging to edit. However, I managed to edit it so that it didn't have these faults in it and it still sounded natural.



The screen shot above shows my interview after I had edited out all the unwanted parts. I was left with the remaining. The remaining parts are Olivia's answers to the questions I was asking her. I chose what I thought were the best and most thorough responses.

I added full reverb to my vocals. I used the preset 'Vocal Reverb (small)' because I wanted an option that was specifically for vocals as that's the main sound in my interview.

After this, I added noise reduction to my interview. There were a few unwanted background noises, and the occasional over-pronounced 'p' sound, so I used Heavy Noise Reduction to make this quieter and more natural sounding. 

I then added Delay to my interview. I wanted to add a bit of life to my interview so it didn't sound so dull and flat. I added the preset 'Room Ambience' to it to give it more of a lift and make it sound more like a radio show.

Soundscape Editing

The screenshot above is my soundscape before I began editing. It was just over 6 minutes long so I cut it down to 3 minutes.

The screenshot above is an example of adding delay to a sound. I chose to add the preset "Bounce" to this short sound clip as I liked the way it manipulated the sound and balanced it with all the other sounds.

The screenshot above is showing again, the addition of delay to my piece. I chose to repeat the sound of the till beep. I chose the preset slap back to apply. I did this because I wanted to achieve a longer delay time on this sound.

I then added reverb to a short clip on my soundscape. I wanted to make it appear echoey and also for it to be more obvious for the listener to hear. 

The screenshot above is how my soundscape looked once I had finished editing it. I cut some pieces out and put them on different tracks. I did this because I wanted to pan some sounds to the left or the right to make it sound more engaging for the listener. I also had to make some volume adjustments.

Interview Final Idea

The idea that I decided to go with for my interview was interviewing my friend about why she chose to come to Brighton and what's appealing there for students. I really liked this idea as I thought it would be an interesting topic for roughly 18-25 year old's who are possibly looking into going to Brighton for uni or just want to know about the nightlife! 

Olivia Watson is a first year Business Management with Marketing student at the University of Brighton. She's very smart and knows a lot about Brighton as before she was a student she used to come here a lot on day trips etc. I thought she'd be perfect to interview to talk about Brighton as she knows it really well and what's good/not so good. Also, now she's a student she's able to talk about the university and what the city of Brighton has to offer for students in the daytime and nightime.

Soundscape Final Idea

Supermarket Soundscape

My final decision was to do my soundscape around a supermarket. I chose this idea because I felt like it was the most unique. I spoke to other students on my course and found that a lot of them were doing Brighton pier for their soundscape, so I thought I'd choose this one as no one else would be doing it and I wanted to do something different. The supermarket I chose to use was Sainsbury's in Moulsecoomb. 

Because I used to work in a supermarket, I felt that I knew a lot about the different sounds that are heard in there throughout the day and so because of my previous knowledge, I would be able to create a really interesting and unique soundscape. 

Interview Idea's

I also had 3 different ideas for my interview. I wasn't sure which topic would be most interesting but I knew I wanted something slightly less mainstream. I knew that I wanted to do an interview involving Brighton as a whole. 

Idea 1
My first idea was to introduce my cousin, Laura. She's a 27 year old lesbian barmaid working in a gay pub in Brighton. I thought that it would be interesting to interview her about what is appealing about Brighton and what it's like to live in the gay community. I thought this would be a unusual interview topic but it's also really engaging for people to hear what it's like for a gay person to live in the biggest gay capital in England. Finally, I was planning on asking her about Brighton Pride, one of the biggest events in Brighton, and what it's like and the atmosphere in Brighton during it. 

Idea 2
My second idea was to interview my friend about why she chose to come to Brighton for University. I thought this would be quite a typical interview to hear on a radio and maybe appeal to younger listeners possibly wanting to go to Brighton for University. I also wanted to focus not only on the university itself but on why the city of Brighton appeals to so many students. Examples of questions that I could possibly ask her are:

• What's the best places for night life for students in Brighton?
• What's appealing about Brighton university itself? 
• What made you pick Brighton as a city, compared to other places?
• What's good in the daytime for students in Brighton?

Idea 3
My third and final idea was to interview someone that owns a local art shop along the beach. I had this idea when I was on the beach and saw all the different little shops that line up along the seafront. I thought the little art shops were really interesting and that maybe the owners had something to say about Brighton and why they chose to set up their shop there in comparison to other places. I thought that this would make a really good interview topic and would be informative and engaging for anyone listening. I chose that, if I were going to pick this idea, I would do my interview on the owner of 'Vivid Palette'. This art shop appealed to me most out of all of them because I thought it looked really endearing and little but at the same time, presented something so big. 

Soundscape Ideas

I had 3 different idea's for my Soundscape. I wanted my idea to be original and interesting with lots of different noises to present the atmosphere of the place I was recording. 

Idea 1
My first idea was to do a Soundscape of Brighton Pier. Being able to live in such a diverse place like Brighton I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. I thought this was a good idea as there is such a variety of different sounds when you walk around the pier and this would be really interesting to listen to. 

What sounds are possibly heard on Brighton Pier?

• Talking/Laughing/Shouting of people on the pier
• Seagulls
• Amusement sounds e.g. coins dropping, machine noises etc 
• Rides
• Screaming of people on the rides
• The sound of the waves from the sea

Idea 2
My second idea was to record my Soundscape in a supermarket. I got this idea because I used to work in a supermarket and I remember hearing all the different types of sounds that are around you when you are inside one. I thought this was a really original idea and would give me the opportunity to mix lots of different sounds together. 

What sounds are possibly heard in a supermarket?

• Crashing/banging sounds of workers with crates/rollers
• Checkout "beep" sound
• Self-checkout voice
• People talking around the store
• People asking workers questions
• Possibly music
• Opening/closing of the automatic doors
• Sounds from trolley's 

Idea 3
My third and final idea was to record and Brighton train station. I thought this was a good idea because train stations are very busy places and there are lots of different noises that can be heard. Also, Brighton train station has a piano in it and I thought that would create a really different sound because you don't hear piano's at a train station.



What sounds are possibly heard in Brighton train station?

• Sounds of the trains pulling away/coming into the station
• Sounds of people talking
• Possibly suitcases being pulled along the floor
• Announcements
• The sound of the piano
• Various sounds of the food shops