Mystery Story Radio Play: Learning to Use Audio Files in Your Multimedia Presentations

INTRODU CTION: In your English class, you have been reading and studying the mystery and suspense genre of literature. By now, you should be an expert at identifying mystery types, characteristics, and suspense techniques.

Your English teacher has asked you to select one mystery story you have studied in class and to rewrite the story in the form of a radio play. INTRODU CTION:

Now that you’ve finished transforming the stories into radio play scripts, we’re going to add sound effects and turn them into audio presentations to share with the class! INTRODU CTION:

By the end of this entire activity, you will have: 1.located sound effects and other audio files to use in your radio play recording 2.used Garage Band to record your radio play INTRODU CTION:

Our goals for today’s class are: 1.to listen to a sample radio play to understand how sound effects and music are used to convey plot action and to create moods 2.to determine what kinds of sound files you want to include in your radio play recording 3.to search for, locate, and download sound files to use in your recording INTRODU CTION:

Once you have completed today’s three objectives, we will learn more about how to record your radio play using Garage Band. You should already be familiar with this software application from your Music class. INTRODU CTION:

Visit the website below and read about the history of sound effects in radio plays. In true radio plays, the sound effects were created by someone called the Foley Artist. He would use everyday objects like a comb, shoes, a glass, etc. to imitate sounds made in everyday life.Foley Artist In your radio play recording, you will be incorporating audio files and sound effects that have already been recorded and are available through the Internet. Old-Time Radio Sound Effects BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Listen to a clip from an old-time radio play. Pay close attention to the sound effects and music that are used. “The Hitch Hiker” by Alan King With a partner, discuss the kinds of sound effects you heard and how they affected the listener’s overall experience. ACTIVIT Y #1

ACTIVITY #2 The first thing you will need to do is go through your radio play script and indicate the kinds of sound effects and other audio files you would like to include in your recording. Use a copy of your script and write the sound effects in the margins at the places where you want them to occur. When you type the final copy of your radio play script, you will insert the sound effects in all capital letters to set them apart from the rest of the text. Click below to view a sample radio play script.

ACTIVITY #3 Now you should be ready to search for audio files. Before you do this, let’s review how to download audio files so that you can incorporate them into your Garage Band recording of your radio play!

ACTIVITY #3 1.Locate the sound effects and/or music you would like to use in your radio play recording. 2.Once you click on a clip’s icon, it should play automatically since each computer has the current version of RealAudio Player installed on it. If you have trouble listening to clips, ask your teacher or the media specialist for assistance!

ACTIVITY #3 3. Some audio files are available for download to your computer. Others can be accessed only via a URL address. 4. Create a folder on the computer’s Desktop labeled with your name. Save all audio files and links to this folder. [NOTE: For music files, you may use 10% or 30 seconds of a piece, whichever is less, in order to adhere to copyright law. This is important to know when you put together your final radio play recording!]

ACTIVITY #3 4. To save an audio file that is available for download, hold down the CTRL key and click on the file you want to save. Hold CTRL + CLICK on file

ACTIVITY #3 5. If you are unable to download the actual audio file, you will want to save the link to it so that you can access it when it comes time to use it in your radio play recording! Copy and paste the link into a word document, along with a description of what the file is. Save this document into your desktop folder as well!

ACTIVITY #3 Locating Audio Files and Sound Effects: In order to locate sound effects and audio files for your radio play recording, you may: 1.use the top five recommended search engines listed on the next slide OR 2. access the provided list of websites that contain free audio files for the public.

Recommended Audio Search Engines: AlltheWebAlltheWeb AlltheWeb is one of the least sophisticated audio search engines of the five I’ve selected, but it still is helpful. It does not give users the chance to add limitations to their searches, such as file format or length. However, it does come up with relevant results. Its results window is easy to read because each result is in an alternating blue or white highlighted bar. AlltheWeb also shows the various file sizes and the dates they were posted on the Web on its results page. AltaVistaAltaVista AltaVista is a general search engine that can be limited only to audio searches. Users can specify the kinds of return files (MP3, WAV, etc.) they want, as well as their lengths. These limitations allow searchers to input specifications they know will work on their computers, thus eliminating time wasted by wading through non-usable files. The results appear with the following information: the file name, the file format and length, and the page URL where the file is located. Google Audio SearchGoogle Audio Search Google’s Audio Search actually involves a Directory. The benefits of using the directory over Google’s general search feature is that the sites that are listed and ranked in the Directory have been reviewed by volunteer editors. Users can also specify the type of files they want returned. One drawback to Google’s Audio Search is that the results list does not include the actual audio file itself. Rather, it gives you a website where you will have to conduct another search for your desired file.

Lycos MusicLycos Music Lycos Music is a comprehensive resource for any kind of music search. It has information about artists (bios, album information, etc.), concerts, music news, downloads, charts, etc. The only drawback I have with Lycos is that it uses Rhapsody, which does not support Mac computers. Yahoo!SearchYahoo!Search YahooSearch! is the most comprehensive audio search engine I’ve found. Users can specify file formats as well as the applications they would use to open the audio files. Once a search has been conducted, the user can further limit results according to format, duration of the recording, source, and releases. Furthermore, when you click on one of the results, YahooSearch! provides you with a list of web pages that carry the file you desire, the format and length of the file, along with the size of the file and its quality. Recommended Audio Search Engines:

A1 Free Sound Effects The Daily Wav Sound America Wav Central: Wav Files & Sound Files Database Recommended Websites Containing Sound Effects and Audio Files:

You should now have all of the sound effects you’ll need to record your radio play. In our next lesson together, we will review the features and set-up of Garage Band, as well as the process for recording your radio play with the sound effects and audio files you have downloaded to your desktop folder!

And in the Spirit of Old- Time Radio… Click on the picture to say goodbye!