Knowing Where You're
At. (Part 2🎙)

General Assessment 𖡎 ↷

For this part of the assignment, I have managed to listen to at least 27 random portfolios. As I get to gauge and immerse myself in my peer’s audio tracks, I’ve come to realize that I’ve had my fair share of listening to those with excellent audio recording qualities, those with acceptable ones, and those who have not. I have also realized that several factors have contributed to this cause, such as the equipment that they are using, their working environment, and even the voice condition of the individual itself. These factors have played a great role in affecting the dynamics, crispness, clarity, and might as well tempo of the audio. Although it was certain that those who own decent standalone microphones have the closest to best audio quality vis-a-vis our F-I-C’s output, those who made use of what they currently have such as wired earphones, built-in microphones from their headsets (such as mine), and even from their phone’s microphone itself, proved that it is still possible to produce a quality sound output, amidst the concern of having limited resources.

It is to emphasize that clearly, those with cheaper equipment have to do twice as much work to mediate their set-up in the most favorable recording condition possible, as compared to those who have good microphones. These work, as I also read through their blogs and with my personal experience, include closing the windows, recording at night, going to the quietest location they can find, eliminating all unnecessary noise they have control of, etc. But to still give a fair acknowledgment, investing in good microphones would still be the better route.

One thing that I would also note, which I deduce as something that might not be focused on much, is how recording to one’s equipment would have different audio registers when listening to another piece of equipment, quality-wise. As I have read my peer’s critique on both of my audio clips, it was noted there how it would be favored that the dynamic of my work would be increased. But on my end, the loudness of my clip was just snug enough to my ears. This may be a personal experience, or a technical fault on my end, but one thing is for sure, everyone is doing their best to be critical of one’s own and other’s work, which I believe is something that I give my appreciation to in understanding the technical aspects of audio more, and be on par with producing the best possible audio output.

↶ Peer Observations

Gabriellyn Grecia

Grecia recorded her voice recording clip in her living room using a Lavalier Wireless Microphone. The dynamic of her voice started low, but immediately went a fraction higher, after the word “hello,” and was maintained throughout the clip. The dynamic was still a bit low in a general observation, where it was also compromised with the robotic nuances that wrap around her voice in snippets of the clip. This made the audio a little unclear and compromised the clarity of her voice as well. She maintained her tempo, and the audio was free from background noise which makes it clear on this specific aspect.

Jamaema Aprille Tomas

Tomas recorded her voice using a Rode NT-USB Mini Condenser Microphone in an empty room with an enclosed surrounding. The dynamic of her voice is faintly on the louder side, where we can somewhat say that this made her audio loud, clear, and audible. There was no background noise detected on her voice recording which enhanced the clarity of her voice even more. The tempo was enough and averagely paced as a normal person talking would sound like. The microphone, however, picked up extra sounds of her breathing and her mouth, but overall the quality is nice.

Kyla Yumie Abang

Abang recorded her voice recording clip in a little desk space inside her room using the built-in microphone of her Rapoo VH310 gaming headset. It was noted that she did a couple of tries to perfect her recording mechanics such as finding the perfect microphone angle and a couple of attempts. As much as she tried to perfect the audio, the noise-canceling feature of her microphone did a well-pivoting factor to reduce any background noise from her environment. No static noises were heard, the dynamic remained consistent and tolerable, and a typical tempo for casual talking was also consistent, ensuring a clear and concise audio output on my end. She also maintained a normal frequency range as one would talk in a normal conversation, with a commonly observed higher-pitched tone for women.

Genmar Carasaquit

Genmar recorded her voice recording clip using her Samsung A13 Android phone. Although it was not mentioned where she performed the recording, it would be safe to assume she did it inside her home, but may not specifically be located where she did the chopping audio for her second clip. As I have observed, the audio quality of her voice is slightly muffled which made the audio a tad bit inaudible, considering that the dynamic of her voice recording is also a tad bit low. The tempo was consistent and slow enough for a casual way of conversing, until reaching ¾ of the audio clip where dead airs and fillers such as the “uhms” started to arise—the tempo also became slightly slower on this part. Overall, the audio was still clear enough to be understood. Although there was a hint of fan/AC noise on her end, it was not bothering enough to not comprehend was she was saying.

Renz Dictado

Dictado recorded his voice using his Samsung Galaxy A14 inside his brother’s condominium unit. The audio recording had a decent dynamic and was flattering enough for his lowered-pitch voice. Although the dynamic is good, I somehow found his tempo to be commonly faster than a person would normally talk. This could possibly affect the clearness of his voice, where there is a tendency to compromise the accuracy of pronouncing words, such as in the last part where the supposed word “used” was slightly heard as “use.” The background noise also had a slight echo if listened closely, but not enough to affect the clarity of his voice. Still, it was a good and decent overall audio recording.

Self-Assesment ↷

For this activity, I would rate myself a 6/10. As I have listened to my own recordings, I can say that there are still major technicalities I have to improve on. If I would compare my own clips to professional recordings I listen to online, or even the work of the F-I-C, I would definitely say that I need to invest more time, effort, and equipment, to at least be on par with the clarity and optimal quality of their recordings. Although I can say that I somehow did a decent job of isolating as much background noise—with the help of limiting external noise I can and the noise-canceling feature of my Logitech headset, the audio quality itself could still be improved, where my speaking skills could also be changed to at least compensate with the equipment power I lack on. From this, I strive, as also suggested, to browse major tips and DIYs on improving my recording set-up, as the major effort I made during the time of recording was merely turning off my fans and recording the time of the day with the least amount of noise.

Judging from my work from a critical perspective, I could increase the dynamic of my recording and reduce any dead air which I noticed at the first part of my voice recording. There are also parts where I notice my breathing and mouth sounds which I should definitely be cautious to avoid next time. Also, as for the recording of my keyboard, I couldn’t necessarily do anything about my keyboard switches being clicky, but it somehow registers sharp-sounded on my recording. Therefore, I would ensure next time to give importance to the proximity of my microphone to the planned source of recording to have the best balance of sounds possible.

Other than that, the most important part is to immerse myself more in the course material + other supplemental resources to learn more about the theories of sound and apply them in my recording. This will help me gauge to do what’s best and worst to do when working with aspects of audio.

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Knowing Where You'reAt. (Part 2🎙)