Proposal

 

For the first Experiment, I am proposing to do a “sound essay” that captures the first-day-of-high-school experience of the narrator and protagonist of my origin piece (which is a comedic middle-school-reader-targeted novel about high school drama, romance, and dealing with bullying, titled It’s Pronounced “Pegasus”). This sound essay, first proposed to me by my professo, was a completely foreign concept at first, but I have taken a liking to the idea of it, as it is unlike anything I have experienced before and thus would probably be something most of my audience could consider a novel treat, too (pardon my pun).

 

A “sound essay,” as I am choosing to call it, has no “true name” that I can find, but it sounds like exactly what it is. The general idea of a sound essay is that it imitates the storytelling aspect of an audio essay, but instead of using words with occasional sounds embedded in for effect, it uses sounds to tell the story with occasional words utilized for plot details that can’t be conveyed otherwise. Therefore, nearly the entirety of the story is told merely through a sequence of sounds. Cool, right?

 

Other than the coolness factor, I want to try this experiment genre because it seems challenging and unique to complete properly, and I think that process can teach me a lot of skills that might also be applicable to audiovisual projects in the future. Not only that, undertaking a sound essay seems like a stimulating new interpretation of a story I’ve already told, and I think that could help me better understand the original story. In other words, though I already have the majority of Logan’s (the narrator/protagonist’s) first day of high school recorded in novel-form, the nearly audio-only constraints of a sound essay will force me to summarize the story in slightly new ways and directions than exactly what is written in the novel. Additionally, with everything moving so quickly and matter-of-factly in the sound essay compared to the novel, I will be forced to think about the story’s plotline and the necessity of various parts in new ways.

 

Hopefully, the sound essay can also help my audience think of the novel in a new way. In some ways, this sound essay will act as a summary of the first few chapters of my novel, but it will be delivered in a more abstract, imaginative manner than reading a paragraph would entail. Ideally, then, the audience of this sound essay would be both readers who are already familiar with the novel and those who are thinking about reading the novel. This sound essay would help each of these groups further conceptualize what this book will be about and how it all started. Furthermore, my plans for the sound essay include a little bit of backstory that the novel does not include about Logan’s first day of high school, so it could almost be like a bonus feature/extra for anyone who does read the novel at some point.

 

In many ways, the sound essay seems to be like an audio essay and an audio book combined. It tells the story of an audio book, but in the format of an audio essay, and using sounds instead of words. In this way, I think this project matters so much to me because it is something hybrid and unique, much like my protagonist and her story, and in that way, it seems like the perfect first experiment for exploring all that my origin piece has to offer.

 

 

Genre Analysis + Research

 

In general, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of information on the “sound essay,” as I’m calling it. A lot of research exists on audio essays, but audio essays are decidedly different from sound essays in that they tell a story from a script that is read verbatim, while sound essays tell a story from a script that is enacted.

 

Even though sound essays and audio essays are not entirely the same, they do share several important features that help make some of the conventions of audio essays applicable to sound essays. For instance, author and former college professor Amy Goodloe describes the importance of painting a vivid picture and using vivid details to help audience members follow along (Goodloe). Katherine Heenan, another college professor and writing tutor, expanded upon this point by offering some practical tips for “help[ing] listeners imagine the scenario in their minds,” including “use details that appeal to the senses” and “create a plot for your stories, with a narrative arc that builds tension and leads towards conflict and then resolution” (Heenan). In addition to tips about content, Heenan provides some basic tips about audio production that apply no matter the content of the audio. For instance, Heenan suggests “recording in a location that has good sound absorption, to reduce the chance of echoes,” as well as leaving “plenty of silence at the start of your file as well as between each major section” to help with editing later (Heenan). In addition to learning about the conventions of the genre of audio essays, I also learned a little bit about how sound is used in storytelling.

 

Even though audience members may not think much of any audio track in media they consume, several sources pointed to sound design as both vital and complicated. One blog that I visited, written by sound designer Dallas Taylor, seemed to be a first-hand account of the role of audio in media. As Taylor writes, “Most people don’t realize that in the real world, their brain is constantly mixing the audio around them […] What we try to do in an artificial way with sound design is provide focus and guide your eyes around the screen” (Taylor). In other words, sound shapes what you’re seeing and experiencing by focusing your attention on certain aspects of the scene. In this way, my experiment can focus the reader’s mind on certain aspects of the plot that, because they are so familiar (like the sounds of footsteps or running showers), will form a coherent narrative when strung together.

 

Another blog post I visited introduced me to the idea of Foley Artists, or “people [who] actually spend their days in a studio capturing and enhancing the sounds that make a movie scene come alive”(Dagani). In other words, as a YouTube video showing Foley Artists at work exemplified, a lot of the transporting “sounds” created in Hollywood are actually created by Foley Artists to be as perfect a sound as possible (Great Big Story). This means that some sounds (like trees blowing in a hurricane) might actually be created by something else entirely (like two feather dusters rubbing up against each other), which I find an inspiring alternative for creating sounds for my sound essay (Great Big Story). But beyond the conventions and creation processes of my sound essay, I also did a bit of research on the subject matter of the story, which deals with how a young girl is impacted by bullying.

 

While personal experience/knowledge tells me that bullying and cyberbullying are still relevant topics for middle schoolers and high schoolers (and society in general) to be thinking about, I thought it couldn’t hurt to do a quick search on the subject to see how my experiment fits into the current cultural picture. What I found was that I was right; there are numerous websites about what bullying is, how teachers and students can spot and prevent it, etc., including one by the U.S. government (“StopBullying.gov”). As such, I believe that this experiment can enter the cultural conversations around bullying by drawing attention to the prevalence and harm of bullying/cyberbullying, thereby indirectly encouraging others to spot, report, and address bullying of any kind. Additionally, it may also help kids who are bullied to feel recognized, thereby opening an avenue that they can use to begin talking about their experiences. These claims might be a bit optimistic, though, and more centered around the novel itself rather than this experiment. Accordingly, this experiment probably needs to be viewed in the wider context of understanding bullying and its harmful effects before it could really cause any change, since this experiment would not elaborate on the bullying behavior or admonish it as harmful.

 

All in all, then, while there was not a lot of information on a “sound essay” specifically, I think research on the conventions of an audio essay, the art and importance of sound production in storytelling, and the subject matter of bullying have prepared me to successfully complete Experiment 1.

 

Works Cited

 

• Dagani, Mary. “Sound Stories: How to Tell Stories with Sound.” STEAM Portal, EducationCloset, 16 Nov. 2017, educationcloset.com/2017/12/01/sound-stories/.

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• Goodloe, Amy. “GUIDE – Writing Process for Audio Essays.” Digital Writing 101, 2017, digitalwriting101.net/content/guide-writing-process-for-audio-essays/.

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• Great Big Story. “The Magic of Making Sound.” YouTube, YouTube, 12 Jan. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=52&v=UO3N_PRIgX0.

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• Heenan, Katherine. “Planning an Audio Essay.” Digication e-Portfolio, 2015, asu.digication.com/katherine_heenans_portfolio/Audio.

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• “StopBullying.gov.” StopBullying.gov, Department of Health and Human Services, www.stopbullying.gov/.

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• Taylor, Dallas. “Storytelling with Sound Design.” Musicbed Blog, Musicbed, 06 Mar. 2015, blog.musicbed.com/articles/storytelling-with-sound-design/36.

 

 

Sketch

 

For the entire audio sound essay, I am planning to do a “day-in-the-life-of-Logan” (my narrator/protagonist) that will summarize her first day of high school. This “day-in-the-life” will feature audio clips (recorded by me, whenever possible, but possibly found from Creative Commons or some other source if I’m not able to get those types of sounds) that are able to tell the story of Logan’s life using primarily sounds, with only occasional use of dialogue where appropriate. Each clip will be anywhere from two seconds to thirty seconds, and some clips may be layered over each other. In total, I would aim for the full version to be around five minutes. The following paragraphs are an outline of how I imagine the audio sound essay sounding:

 

Part One: At first, just silence. Then, an alarm goes off. It blares for a few seconds, then we hear a groan. There’s some tapping around on the nightstand, and the alarm turns off. We hear the shuffling of Logan getting out of bed. A yawn and footsteps walking toward the bathroom. A shower curtain being drawn and the shower turning on/running. Logan’s quiet humming in the shower. Shower bottle sounds. The shower turns off. A blow dryer runs for a few seconds. There’s the sound of hangers clacking. Several seconds of teeth brushing sounds. A toilet flushes. We hear Logan’s footsteps in a hallway, then footsteps on the stairs. There’s the clatter of dishes being moved around, cereal being poured into a bowl, and maybe some milk added. A spoon rolls around the bowl. Lots of chewing. Then, Logan’s mom’s voice, distant as if called from another room: “Logan, honey? What are you still doing here! You’re going to be late for school!” A gasp! The frantic sounds of a backpack being zipped up, followed by running footsteps inside, a slamming door, and running footsteps outside. Heavy breathing. Then, the unmistakable sound of a bus pulling away. Part One concludes with one big, long sigh.

 

Part Two: More running (inside). A door opens. A teacher who has been talking stops. Hurried footsteps followed by the sound of someone tripping and falling. A thermos/water bottle falls on the floor and rolls around. We hear the scrambling of someone getting up and sitting down at a desk (maybe chair sounds, etc.). “Logan?” from the teacher. “Logan Ceallaigh” from Logan. The sound of the Jeopardy theme song played on the piano. The school bell rings. Everyone scrambles to leave in a flurry of papers, chairs, zippers, footsteps, etc. “Logan?” from the teacher. “Yes?” from Logan. “You’re late and you didn’t take notes. You have detention” from the teacher. A sigh from Logan. Sudden hallway banter. Lockers slamming. Things quiet down and Logan sits in a desk. “Logan Seal-Agg?” from a different teacher. Twittering laughter. “Logan Seal-Agg?” again from the teacher. “Um…I think that’s me” from Logan. Laughter from the class. Laughter intensifies to become out-of-mind/out-of-body stuff. Descending piano notes until a big, discordant crash of banging on the piano at the end. The Jeopardy theme starts to play but ends abruptly. The bell rings. Sounds of people leaving. Hallway chatter and lockers slamming. “Hey, Logan Sea Hag!” a girl sneers. A bunch of people start to chorus “Sea Hag, Sea Hag” in singsong voices. Logan sighs/groans softly, and Part Two ends.

 

Part Three: Lunchtime chatter. Some chewing. No direct talking or near voices. The Jeopardy song plays, followed by a bell, followed by the Jeopardy song followed by a bell, followed by the Jeopardy song followed by a bell. School bus sounds. More chatter. Getting off the bus. Footsteps on sidewalk. Opening the door, dropping backpack on the ground, and falling into a chair with a big, heavy sigh. Logan’s phone buzzes. Finger tapping noises on the screen. Small gasp. More buzzing. More buzzing. Logan groans. More buzzing. Logan’s mom calls from another room: “Logan! You’re home already? How was your first day of high school?” Logan lets out a big, pained groan that says it all, and Part Three concludes.

 

Sample

 

For the Sample, I made a sound essay of Part One of the Sketch. Accordingly, this Sample follows Logan through her morning routine until it is revealed to Logan that she’s going to be late for school, at which point she tries and fails to catch her bus. I have entitled the sound essay “Morning Blues.” The Sample is approximately two minutes long. It is meant to be played as a video, but, in order to highlight the sounds, most of the time the screen is plain black (with the exception of the first few seconds, in which the title flashes). To view the Sample, click the box below!

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“Morning Blues”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection

 

At first, I was really overwhelmed by the idea of a sound essay. I had never heard of this genre before, and I was worried about how I was going to record all the sounds in the time allotted for the project. My worry only grew when I realized that there is extremely little information about sound essays on the Internet, including almost no examples from which to draw inspiration (after extensive searching, I only managed to find one example).

 

Despite my initial fears, my sound essay ended up being a lot of fun to make. Once the research portion of this project was behind me, I got to do one of my favorite things: create! With some careful planning (and the help of a few friends), I was able to record all of the sounds I used for my Experiment 1 in less than a day. Some of them were genuine sounds, and others were fabrications I staged for the recording, but all were ones I was able to capture myself, so I didn’t have to use a sound library like I thought I might. While recording the sounds myself, though, I realized that some sounds would be harder to capture satisfactorily – and difficult to accurately identify as a listener – and so I chose to deviate slightly from the script in the Sketch and instead adapt it for the best audience experience.

 

Overall, I’m happy with the way things turned out. Using iMovie was stressful at first, but, once I figured out how to properly layer audio tracks, it ended up being a simple and effective platform for a project like mine. Additionally, I’m thrilled that a piece of Logan’s story now exists outside of the novel. Not only that, this specific section of story is especially exciting as a sound essay because Part One of the Sketch is the only Part of the three parts that takes place before the novel begins. As such, this sound essay serves as the story for this part of Logan’s life, not just a representation of the already-existing novel. I think that’s a pretty cool thing to have made, and I’m excited to see what other fun things I’ll dream up for my future experiments.