The Story of Sound

A 35-point extra credit assignment

Using parts of a short story or poem you will "tell" the story or poem using only sound effects and music. 

1. Review your story or poem and make a list of all the major "story beats." What happens in the story? What are the major events that set the story into motion and move it along?

2. Create a musical bed for your story using Mixcraft loops. Try your best to capture the "mood" of the story. If it's spooky, add in some scary music. Adventurous? Put an epic loop behind it. The background music can and should change as the story does, too! But remember, you might want to make it at a lower volume so that the sound effects can still be clearly heard!

   1. 1. 1. Add your sound effects in as many different tracks as needed. The categories "Sound Effects," "Sound Effects Ambiance," and "Sound Effect Tones" will be invaluable in this process. Remember, everything should be in its own track! (To add a new track, right click on an existing track and press "Insert Track," then "Audio Track"). I also have sound effects available on my Student Music Drive.

3. Render the final product as an MP3.

4. Write up a short paragraph explaining your process for things I may not have noticed.

Additional Criteria 

• • The final Mixcraft should be a minute long, at minimum, but yours may be much longer, depending on the source material.

  • The assignment must contain at least 15 samples/loops. 

  • You must have volume and pan changes (for more information about panning, please see this tutorial). Maybe two people are getting into a car, and you hear the left and right seatbelts buckling independently? Maybe a beast travels from my left to right side, and I can hear the change in real time?)

You can search online for a story/poem/song, or you may write your own. Horror and sci-fi stories work best!

Some great resources for stories:

• Daily Science Fiction

• Most Viewed Sci-Fi Stories (This page has no stories in itself; however, if you find a title that intrigues you and simply Google it, you'll absolutely be able to find it online easily.)

• Classic Short Horror Stories

• Edgar Allan Poe stories

  • AZ Lyrics (for song lyrics)

• Poetry for Students

• Aesop's Fables

Student Example: Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll (Story, Sound, Explanation)

Student Example: In The Darkness Of The Storm by Karen Conrad (Story, Sound, Explanation)

Can I do this extra credit from home?: NO WAY, DUDE (unfortunately, Mixcraft is fairly expensive.)