Sound. Story. Church.

December 28th, 2008 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Sound. Story. Church.

Salt’s Radio Church during the Fall 2008 opening, “Meet Me Anywhere.”

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Here’s a beautiful thing: a Radio Church full of listeners.

No twitters. No Facebook. No emails. No blogs. No cell phones.

Just sound.

The human voice. The natural and built environment. Mainers living their lives.

The sound of story.

Sound. Story. Church.

The culmination of a fifteen-week semester at Salt is an opening. After all the uphill climbs, dangling on ropes, and tears (yes, tears), Salt’s photo, writing, and radio students present their work at a public opening. Photos are displayed in a gallery; writers publish essays and read excerpts aloud; and Team Radio presents their features in iTunes on classroom computers and at Radio Church. This semester’s opening was titled “Meet Me Anywhere.”

Radio Church is a dimly lit room with a couple dozen or more chairs and space for hardcore listeners to stand at the edges. Up front is “Bertha,” a 1930s radio that doesn’t work but she sure ads ambiance. There’s also a nice set of monitor speakers to “broadcast” student productions.

Church gets hot and stuffy pretty quickly. That’s a good thing. It means a room full of ears! Radio students introduce each others work and play fourteen features produced during the semester — one story per student.

Below are a few pictures from the opening and a cool sound clip from graduation day.

The world is now a better place because of fourteen new radio producers with big ears, big ideas, and big hearts.

Make good radio gang.

Rob

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A snap from the first day of class, September 2, 2008. Standing left to right: Suzi Piker, Allison Swaim, Ari Zeiger, Selena Simmons-Duffin, Jamie Yuenger, Lydia Crafts, Eloise Meltzer, Josie Holtzman, and Sarah Jessee. Kneeling: Emily Eagle, Jud Esty-Kendall, Natasha Haverty, Whitney Eulich, and Craig Jarvie.

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“Bertha” in all her glory.

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The line to get into Radio Church.

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Natasha Haverty (c) rips a joke (as usual), Allison Swaim (r) is a bit embarrassed, Emily Eagle laughs herself out of the frame.

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Left to right: Mandy Morrish, Salt’s Outreach Coordinator, Liz Donovan, Salt Radio grad, and Patty Wight, radio instructor.

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Kate Philbrick (r), Salt photo instructor, reminds me it’s illegal for me to take pictures in the state of Maine because I’m such a lousy shot. Colin Woodard, Salt writing instructor, remains silent on the issue.

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GPS coordinates for gallery visitors.

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Selena Simmons-Duffin lookin’ a bit too happy.

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A catty Suzi Piker.

A full gallery.

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And this just looks cool.

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In addition to the gallery opening, Salt ends the semester with a graduation ceremony. Staff and faculty give speeches. Students receive certificates. There are a lot of hugs and crying. But, the most endearing moment is when the students speak. Here’s a clip from the radio students graduation presentation.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 5:21 — 7.3MB)

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Listening to the Northern Lights

December 18th, 2008 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

United States Air Force photo of Northern Lights at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska by Senior Airman Joshua Strang.

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What’s it take to produce a radio piece that doesn’t have conflict, tension, or some universal we all can relate to?

Well, some of the storytelling components that help make up for those missing elements are great sound, an interesting character, a good talker, and an unusual location. Barrett Golding’s “Listening to the Northern Lights” has all of these elements and that’s what makes the piece work — that and Barrett’s excellent production values.

Whisk yourself away for a few minutes and listen to the Northern Lights.

Cheers,

Rob

PS – Check out Barrett’s other work at HearingVoices.com.

For other stories about nature, try the Nature Stories Podcast. And, one of my favorite environmental recording artists is Bernie Krause. He’s produced several CDs of “biophonies” — biological symphonies — and written some books on environmental field recording. Plus, Bernie produced a cool CD of music composed entirely of sampled animal sounds. Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention R. Murray Schafer and the World Soundscape Project. Okay, that’s enough for now.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 8:32 — 11.7MB)

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Dogs, Cats, Parakeets, a Moleskin, and The Squirm Test

November 30th, 2008 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Sally Rollins and two of her thirty cats. Photo by Katie Stohlman, courtesy Salt’s archive.

If Annie Larmon had asked me if it was okay to record with a mic in her pocket, I would have said “No.” Annie went to Salt in the spring of 2008. And, for a story on a woman who lived with nearly fifty animals, Annie wanted to record and write notes at the same time during one of her days in the field. To do both, she’d place the mic in her pocket so her hands were free.

I’d say “no” because I believe a producer should be in control of their mic. I’d also be concerned about “pocket noise” — the rubbing of the mic on fabric. Besides, can’t you write notes after the recording session?

But Annie didn’t ask me (for starters, I wasn’t her teacher that semester) and that was fortunate for her. 🙂  She did it and got great tape and excellent notes.

The observations Annie made in her Moleskin notebook made it into her feature and added a great deal of color to the story. The notes also helped Annie pass “The Squirm Test”* — the moment when a character in your story hears the piece you produced and you…. well…. squirm because you hope to heck you got the story right.

Listen now to Annie’s piece “Brighten The Corner” and her Squirm Test.

Ciao,

Rob

* I think Robert Krulwich of Radio Lab coined this term.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 13:43 — 18.8MB)

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Truckstop Love Affair

November 20th, 2008 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Truckstop Love Affair

Jackie takes and gives orders at Dysart’s Truck Stop, Bangor, Maine.

Photo by Molly Myers, courtesy the Salt Archive.

At first, Sara Paul thought she’d do a story on bear hunting. But, hanging out in a tree for hours in the freezing cold with some dude she’d never met wasn’t her idea of a good time. So, she bagged that story in favor of one about Dysart’s Truck Stop.

Sara went in. Hung out. Took it all in. Then, focused — on Jackie, the waitress at the trucker’s table. Sara had no idea that talking to the burly drivers at the table would be the easy part. When Jackie got “mic fright,” Sara had to go with the tape she had — the tape rules.  Here’s what Sara came up with back in the fall of 2002.

Best,
Rob

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 10:34 — 14.5MB)

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Best New Producer 2008

November 5th, 2008 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Photo of Marisa and Andrew by Erica Burkhart, courtesy the Salt Archive.

Kudos to Erin Davis. Erin won the Best New Producer award at this year’s Third Coast International Audio Festival. The piece, “Except Me” was produced at Salt and that’s what we’re featuring on today’s Saltcast.

Erin is the third student to win this award for a piece produced at Salt. “Hard to Say” by Bente Birkland won in 2004 and “Just Another Fish Story” by Molly Menschel took the prize in 2005.

Check out all the winning pieces from this year’s Third Coast competition here.

Excelsior, Erin. Onward and upward!

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 10:28 — 14.4MB)

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Dissecting “Dead Animal Man”

October 23rd, 2008 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Probably my favorite piece to play in radio class at Salt to prompt discussion is “Dead Animal Man” by Ira Glass. It sets the bar high for feature production.

On this Saltcast, we listen to “Dead Animal Man” the whole way through then play it again and dissect it. Get out your radio notebook, this piece is full of radio goodness.

Rob

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 27:39 — 38.0MB)

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Insomnia and the Meaning of Life

October 3rd, 2008 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Insomnia and the Meaning of Life

You can find stories just about anywhere. One good place is the newspaper. In particular, look at the end of a story. Because newspaper stories are typically written with the basic information in the first few paragraphs, the ends of newspaper stories tend to have the less reported material. That’s where you can find some real gems and unique angle.

But, that’s a tried and true approach. An unusual way to find a story is with posters. Make a flyer, tack ’em up around town. See what happens.

That’s what Matt Swenson did. Matt was interested in insomniacs. To find a character for a story, he plastered Portland with flyers and in less than a day, he found Michael White. Take a listen, especially if you’re up late and can’t sleep.

Cheers,

Rob

(Update) — 10/24/08 — Well, shiver me timbers. Matt’s piece aired on Day to Day. Congrats to Matt. Thanks to Day to Day for giving air time to an out-of-the-ordinary piece. And a slap on the back, two thumbs up to Barrett Golding at Hearing Voices for making it happen.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 8:33 — 7.8MB)

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Hafid Is Free

September 25th, 2008 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Radio is an excellent way to meet people. But, all too often, on public radio we tend to only meet newsworthy people. Little time is made for an “average” person with a unique story.

That’s unfortunate because that’s most of us.

There are exceptions on public radio — Storycorps, Radio Rookies, Radio Diaries, This I Believe… But as a general rule, it’s unusual to meet a person and hear a story that doesn’t have a news hook.

(In fact, I’ve heard through the grapevine that some program directors at public radio stations complain about Storycorps saying it doesn’t fit neatly into Morning Edition because it’s a news program and the characters in the Storycorps broadcasts aren’t worth the air time.)

So, for this podcast, we’re featuring a Salt feature that’s merely about an interesting person with a unique story, a guy named Hafid. Lee Fuoco produced this piece in the spring of 2004. Lee met Hafid quite by accident and decided to produce a piece to give him some air time — simply because he’s interesting.

Isn’t that enough?

Have a listen and post your thoughts!!

Best,

Rob

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 8:56 — 8.2MB)

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Just Handover the Mic

September 8th, 2008 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

It’s so elegant. Genius really. Hand a mic to someone and let them record. In general, the tape they collect will be intimate, honest, and revealing. They will take you places few journalists can go. And, its an opportunity for people to speak directly for themselves — that’s empowering. And that, in short, is the idea behind Radio Rookies.

Radio Rookies is a project of WNYC in New York City. In short, they put mics in the hands and headphones on the ears of young people to document their lives. Obesity, immigration, violence, autism, racism… the Rookies tackle tough topics. In fact, the Rookies have produced some of the best radio documentaries in the last ten years.

On this Saltcast, we listen to “Heroin,” produced in 2001 by Janesse Nieves. This piece won the “Best New Producer” award at the Third Coast International Audio Festival.

While we’re at it, we should mention some of the other excellent radio documentaries where reporters handover the the mic. Ghetto Life 101 by Dave Isay. The Life Stories series by Jay Allison. And much of the work of Joe Richman and Radio Diaries.

Check out a slew youth radio programs at the National Federation of Community Broadcaster’s comprehensive Youth Program Directory. Another hot spot for youth produced radio is Generation PRX.

Happy listening.

Rob

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 11:11 — 15.4MB)

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O, To Be Invisible

August 27th, 2008 by Rob | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Photo of Michael Luce by Annie Reichert, courtesy of the Salt Archive.

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Megan Martin had her mic out and pointed at Micheal Luce. They were down in his cellar — Meghan was recording, Micheal was building his dead mother’s casket.

This was maybe the fourth or fifth time Megan recorded Micheal pounding nails, sawing, sanding, measuring… Because she had been there so many times she thought Micheal had probably stopped noticing her — that she had become invisible, just another object in a cluttered cellar.

Micheal stopped work for a break. He pulled out a cigarette, turned to Meghan, and said “I wonder how much you’re changing this process of mine since you’re here recording and I’m totally aware of it all the time.”

In the field, a documentarian is supposed to be a fly on the wall. You blend in so the people you are reporting on forget you are there. By blending in, the thinking goes, you are more likely to capture reality on tape.

Well, with all that gear, with all those questions, with all that tape you gather following people around, how the heck are you supposed to become part of the woodwork? And if you don’t become “invisible” then aren’t you impacting the story and the way the people behave in front of your mic?

If only we could be invisible. That’s what Meghan wished for, a cloaking device — especially after Michael completely blew her cover.

“Bringing the Work Into You” by Meghan Martin is today’s feature on the Saltcast. Take a listen to how the piece turned out. Then, post your thoughts to the blog!

Best, Rob

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 12:45 — 17.5MB)

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