THE HOUND OF HEAVEN

I will not lie that I have not thought of shortcuts to get by with the final project. I have a friend back in Sta. Rosa who I am still in contact with, every now and then, owns a recording or gig studio. I initially thought of just going back home to have my recording session done there in his house. I mean, the guy records and produces his own songs in that same room that he releases on Spotify, and I would be lying if I said the production quality is not impressive for an individual artist. I also thought of downloading preset audio settings for free recording and editing software. I watched some audio-focused content YouTubers talk about using presets with their videos, but I never got too interested in it to research it back then. Although, and I continue to be honest, I think that is borderline cheating on this project. The whole goal of the course is for students of media production to be capable of producing quality materials on our own accord—mainly dealing with audio dynamics and movement in a recording setting—and to go to a place where the problems we were thought to solve ourselves be completely absent without applying our own understanding seems unfair, so I came up with this plan…well, sort of a plan.

Project Concept Statement: Poetry Reading

I want to do a Poetry Reading of Francis Thompson’s The Hound of Heaven. I want the final output to be like an audiobook material rather than a recording of a recital. I know it is a poem, but I see the piece closer to a prayer. Labeling it as audiobook content fits my own interpretation of the poem better. Examples on YouTube exist such as versions of Jonathan Roumie and Richard Burton, but I want to step away from their executions completely. I do not wish to recite the poem, but rather just read it as how I see it. I am not the most religious person, nor am I religious at all, but at the times when I pray, I do not recite the words in my head, I speak them. I want to showcase that part of my life through this project.

ADDITIONAL CONTEXT: Back in 2023, I watched an episode of Fleabag, written and starred by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and I am telling you folks that you should too. One particular part of the whole show is the symbolic mystery of The Fox. During an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Phoebe Waller-Bridge was asked by the host “What is the Fox?” unexpectedly, in which Phoebe replied kiddingly with “What do you think the fox is?” but Stephen took it seriously and gave an intriguing answer that Phoebe and a lot of people in the internet found amazing. Stephen, full of shame and guilt, said that he thinks The Fox is The Hound of Heaven and proceeded to recite bits of lines from the poem. By that, the piece stuck with me ever since. Maybe it was Stephen’s delivery or it was the whole conversation between him and Phoebe, but I am sure the piece is here to stay with me for a while.

Project Plan & Logistics

My project plan includes 2 parts with 3 steps each. The following is the most detailed plan I can come up with.

Part 1: The Learning

Part 1 will begin someday this week—July 17-21, 2024—as I have other assignments from different courses to do, and I expect it to end before August 4, 2024, since Assignment 3: Multitracking is due on August 5, 2024. I also plan to study and learn the following simultaneously with the materials from UNIT III in the course manual.

Step 1 of 6: Learn how to maximize my equipment, mainly my Audio Interface

             As said in previous assignments, my setup currently comprises a Dynamic Microphone with a Cardioid Pattern (Audio-Technica ATR2100X), a closed-back monitoring headphone (Samson SR950), and a cheap Audio Interface (Riworal RI-30). I mainly want to focus on maximizing the utility of my Audio Interface since it is the only product that I am least familiar with. I want to utilize my Audio Interface to reduce as much noise as possible while recording and monitoring raw audio. I plan to read online fora on Reddit and Quora, as well as watch YouTube tutorials, and might as well research on it with my own work ethic. I aim to do this within less than a week, hopefully by July 21 I get to adapt my audio equipment so that I can work efficiently using all of it.

Step 2 of 6: Learn how to use an Audio Recording and Editing Software (Audacity)

             This, I think, would be the most challenging part of the plan. I tried to study Photoshop back in 2020 and I still cannot say that I mastered it yet, so learning another digital tool in such a short period of time is something I look forward to with extreme difficulty. I might just use Audacity as Prof. Al recommended as well as the people of Reddit. I hope it is forgiving enough that the learning curve will not be as steep as I think it is. I skimmed on UNIT III and saw that the lessons might tackle more digitally-aligned subjects for audio production, so I might just start searching the web on how to use Audacity while also studying the lessons in UNIT III. I hope I can do this between July 24 and July 28.

Step 3 of 6: Do some practice runs (and make my own presets, if possible)

             From July 29 to July 31, I hope I can do some practice runs of recording my own voice. I might also try to record other stuff such as my Kalimba. This is where I need to check everything—from my audio equipment settings (the dials on my audio interface which are all confusing to me at the moment) to the settings that I will regulate in Audacity. This is a crucial factor in my project plan since this step will determine whether I can continue with part 2. I can only hope that the hard work pays off by then, and things go as smoothly as possible.

Part 2: The Execution

Part 2 of the project might just be the most taxing and intensive between the two. This is where manual labor will occur throughout the process.  I plan to start part 2 on August 6 because I want to have enough time to do Assignment 3, as well as my other assignments from other courses. 

Step 4 of 6: Practice my Speech capabilities

             I know that I do not have the most pleasing tone or best-sounding voice, but I know I can sound “good” when I try to. I want to practice my speaking abilities. I also want to memorize the poem if needed, so that when I read it for the recording sessions it would sound as natural as I would like. I plan on spending 3 hours every day for 6 days (August 6-11) reading and memorizing the piece. I think I need a lot of practice in order to execute this project successfully to my expectations.

Step 5 of 6: Invest on a Portable Sound Absorbing Panel

             This should not take that much time…well, the shipping and delivery time at least. I plan to invest in a sound-absorbing panel to contribute to solving the acoustics of the recording. I see a lot of people on YouTube, specifically those who focus on Audio as the main topic of their content, use or at least have a display of a sound panel surrounding their microphones in the background of their shots. I think this would be a good investment, but also will not hurt my pockets since I found a lot online with good reviews and affordable prices. I also think part of it being a helpful tool is that I am not quite sure yet where I will be recording my takes. My brother has a newborn and they might need my help back in Sta. Rosa with some of the chores. My sister is also married in Pampanga and we plan to visit there in the middle of August so might do the recording there inside an isolated room and just turn off the air conditioner because I know they get loud and my microphone is sensitive—also the reason why I bought it. I could also just stay here in Pasig, but still, I am not sure yet.

Step 6 of 6: Record and Review as many attempts as I can

             Now this last step is where everything will be decided. I plan to spend most of the allotted time for this project on this section of the project plan. I hope I finish most of my projects in other courses before I begin to do the recording sessions. I want to record the whole thing in one straight take, but I honestly think I might resolve to stitch parts or stanzas of the poem as I record them since it is quite lengthy. I plan on approaching this step of the project in two roles—the voice artist and the producer. I know there will be times when I will think what I recorded is good enough as a speaker, but I need to be more technical and more objective about it if I want a great output. Hence, my role as a producer. I will make myself do as many takes as possible and listen and review every single one of them to make sure the outcome is consistent and cohesive. This is where all the effort should pay off, and it is pivotal to take this with extreme seriousness and focus. I hope I finish all of it by August 24 and use the submission period of August 25-27 for finalizing the output.

Time Table

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