Radio drama has been a huge part of Filipino media. Every morning, DZRH is heard all throughout public markets. I asked the vendors, who have become my friends since I am their suki, how much they appreciate these types of broadcasts. They often just say they enjoy it as a quiet form of entertainment while selling their products. Their radios, now looking old, kept playing in the background amid the ambiance of the market. The old ladies say it is intriguing at times—a typical Filipino drama. It is just a side street talipapa, which becomes lively from their simple entertainment.

My neighborhood is composed of old people, with houses literally from the Spanish Era that are being kept alive and active. It is also nearby a small chapel, which sometimes broadcasts the radio in the morning for the old people to listen to before their morning prayers. I grew up here and also grew up listening to the radio. I remember well having that small Nokia phone, listening to the radio when there was a brownout, especially during typhoons. It was 2013 when Typhoon Yolanda also hit Metro Manila, radio was our only source of entertainment. Riding buses, UV Express vans, or even jeepneys, there's always a radio playing. Sometimes I think how petty some of the characters are.

Creating such a drama is quite an interesting project for me, as I never imagined I would produce such an audio project, given that I have no experience in it. I did a lot of research, of course, on the topic and theme of the radio drama. Having a lack of experience does not mean I wouldn't do my best; I did my greatest to study the technical aspects of radio drama aside from scriptwriting and voice acting. That is how "Alkansyang Anak" was born.

How did I made the audio clear?

• Noise Removal

  • On Audacity, select a blank part where the noise could be heard. In my case, I always record audio 3 seconds headstart.

  • Effects ➡️ Noise Removal and Repair ➡️ Noise Reduction  ➡️ Get Noise Profile

  • Do not panic after that method, since I panicked at first but upon checking the comment section, it will really just close the window

  • Now select the whole audio, then back to Effects ➡️ Noise Removal and Repair ➡️Noise Reduction, but this time, click okay. If you want to listen to it first, click "Preview." I did not change anything in the given settings. 

• Clearer Audio

  • I followed instructions from YouTube here, and most of them just have the same setting. 

  • Effects ➡️ EQ and Filters ➡️ Filter Curve EQ

  • You can use the picture on the right for reference. You just have to click on the graph and drag those points to the designated places. 

• Telephone Effect

  • It is on the same setting on Filter Curve EQ

  • Presets & Settings ➡️ Factory Settings ➡️ Telephone

  • There are also different effects that you can experiment with. However, since my script only has one part with a video call, I added that single effect to the mother's part, as the story is mostly from Pia's point of view. 

On the embedded audio to the right, the first section after the bell is the original audio, while the second part, after the second bell, is the enhanced version, which was created using the same technique I mentioned. (It is a bit loud).

Sometimes, some noise remains, so what I did was repeat the noise removal process to clean it up further.

For the background music, I simply used the envelope tool to fade it in and out, as Audacity's built-in fade settings are not adjustable. I also created the effect of footsteps and a tricycle approaching and leaving by adjusting the volume using amplification. Additionally, I increased the bass for the slap sound to give it a more sudden impact for the listeners. The whole composition was supposed to be longer too, like almost 6 minutes or so. For that, I trimmed down some parts of the dialogue to make it just around 5 minutes. 

Speaking of listeners, I tested the audio quality on both speakers and headphones to check if it was good to hear. My first upload was a bit too loud, so I adjusted all the tracks using the Amplifier tool. After that, I tested it once again until I was satisfied.