Reflection Posts

Both Together and Separate

In the video, “How radio creates empathy“, Jad Abumrad’s idea of “co-imagining” seems closely related to the idea of written text and reading. All readers have are words on a page, from that they have to imagine every image and detail of the senses. But with radio, as Abumrad mentioned, listening to a real human voice speak to you makes the experience much more personal. While I normally am the person who LOVES writing/reading stories, I am very interested in playing with the aural medium of relating to others.

In his other video, “Digital Shamanism and Old-Fashioned, Newfangled Storytelling Magic“, Abumrad mentions the magic in storytelling, both in person and now over radio. Listening to another person speak builds a greater, more empathetic connection to the story being told. Where writing has a disconnect where all organic elements are removed in the transmission of the story, audio/radio maintains one of the most prevalent ways of primary communication: speech and sound. I am really intrigued by the idea of connecting to the past with something so high-tech, and I would like to look more into the subject, though I’m not sure exactly where to start.


Niels Smeets

 

My only previous experience with audio comes from working on an audio essay for my creative nonfiction writing class last semester. I made my recording and taught myself Audacity through trial and error (it took a good amount of hours, which I could have shortened with looking up tutorials but playing with the software myself was much more entertaining). I’m now teaching myself much more comprehensively about the program so that I can help others as well.

The tips and links on the Audio Resources page were a very helpful read. I have this specific page bookmarked already so I can use it on future assignments. “Finding Sounds” and “Additional Resources” were the most interesting sections for me to look through. Namely, the What is Foley Sound video was so cool to watch. I think I might have seen this video before a while back, but watching it again I have a whole new respect for the people that did (and do?) this.

2 thoughts on “Both Together and Separate

  1. Yes, I love the connection you made to reading and listening. It makes me wonder if there is any difference between how we visualize these things mentally if we are reading v listening to it.
    If you are intrigued by the history of storytelling and how something high tech can connect us to it this ancient art I suggest contacting your friendly neighborhood reference librarian. They love getting these kinds of questions! 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *