new media

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Kilo-vox

October 31, 2007 in ipod, new media, podcasts, web | No comments

This just in from our friend Hugh at Librivox:

LibriVox makes it to 1,000!

LibriVox, the free audio book project has just cataloged it’s 1,000th
book: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” by Edgar Allan Poe (read by
Reynard T. Fox).

LibriVox.org started in August 2005 with a simple objective: “to make
all public domain books available as free audio books.” Thirteen
people collaborated to make the first recording, Joseph Conrad’s
“Secret Agent.”

Two years later, LibriVox has become the most prolific audiobook
publisher in the world - we are now putting out 60-70 books a month,
we have a catalog of 1,000 works, which represents a little over 6
months of *continuous* audio; we have some 1,500 volunteers who have
contributed audio to the project; and a catalog that includes Jane
Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice,” “Moby Dick,” Darwin’s “Origin of the
Species,” “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” Einstein’s “Relativity:
The Special and General Theory,” Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason,” and
other less well-known gems such as “Romance of Rubber” edited by John
Martin. We have recordings in 21 languages, and about half of our
recordings are solo efforts by one reader, while the other half are
collaborations among many readers.

We are always looking for new volunteers! Come join us.

Best,
Hugh McGuire
http://librivox.org
info@librivox.org

Congratulations, Hugh, and everyone involved with Librivox. You’re what the interwebs is all about.

On great podcasts (wuz radio)

October 30, 2007 in new media, podcasts, radio | No comments

Whenever I find myself talking about great audio, usually with people who are passionate about radio and podcasting (like the other evening at the Ottawa Podcast meetup), a few great resources come up time and time again:

“Radio: An Illustrated Guide” by Jessica Abel and Ira Glass. This is a comic book on how the This American Life team produces the best damned radio show going.

Ira Glass on Storytelling (a 3-part YouTube video). Glass is the genius behind TAL.

“From Idea to Air“ by Tod Maffin. An e-book by the CBC’s Tod Maffin on what makes compelling audio and how to get it to air.

And of course the seminal …

“Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting” by Robert McKee

All great sources for starting discussions around engaging audio.

The Levelator and the very live interview

October 19, 2007 in applications, new media, os x, podcasts | No comments

At the National Arts Centre we usually record our podcasts in a space we like to call Studio P3. (P3 because it’s in the NAC underground parking garage; level 3). The space, aside from the occasional Harley-Davidson rumbling through the parkade, offers a relatively controllable studio environment.

More and more though, we’re trying out different locations and situations to record our shows to mix things up a bit. For instance, we’ve received great feedback on our NACOcast Live shows, where Chris Millard conducts interviews with guest artist either before or after an NAC Orchestra performance — Recorded in front of a live studio audience, as the pros like to say. A very recent example is the interview show with Pinchas Zukerman and soprano Measha Brueggergosman.

We’ll likely do more of these types of shows as the orchestra programmes more interviews and presentations as part of their audience enrichment initiatives. They’re fun to do and they make for great podcasts, but we’re finding that post-production of live audio can really stretch the boundaries of the time we have for post-production. The problem is that essentially, we’re in a cavernous lobby, using lapel mics, with multiple voice types and levels. We’re also mixing for the live audience through the PA as well as for the recording — Lots of stuff to juggle.

One could spend hours and hours in post-production, compressing, limiting, adjusting EQ and applying a myriad of audio plugins to make listening to 45 minutes of audio enjoyable to the podcast listener. Or, one could use The Levelator.

The Levelator is a free drag and drop application for MacOS, Windows and Linux. Without getting too too geeky, it performs a series of adjustments including gain optimization and RMS normalization. The results are quite surprising and extremely expedient. While we would never use a tool such as The Levelator for a studio recording — and definitely never on anything that included music — for live interviews, Skype conversations, re-purposed or archival audio, The Levelator can be a very effective time-saver.

Have you had experience with The Levelator? Leave a comment with your experiences and thoughts on the subject.

 
 NACOcast Live: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Ottawa Podcast and New Media October Meetup

October 18, 2007 in new media, podcasts | No comments

The second meeting in a new season of meetups organized by the indefatigable Mark Blevis. ‘Looking forward to hearing Jeff Parks speak tonight, and having a pint. I don’t get out much.

When: Thursday, October 18, 2007, 7:00 PM
Where: Clock Tower Brew Pub
Guest speaker: Jeff Parks

Presentation: Pay It Forward - Mentoring and Podcasting
Jeff will discuss his philosophy on mentoring and podcasting, and how this approach can be a model of behaviour for business and government around the concept of “community”.

[event link]

NACOcast interview at Polyphonic.org

May 21, 2007 in internet, music, new media, podcasts | No comments

Ann Drinan interviewed Chris Millard and me a few weeks ago on the subject of the NACOcast and other the NAC Orchestra electronic outreach initiatives. The article now appears at Polyphonic.org, “the orchestra musician forum”, a great site for lovers as well as players of orchestral music:

Orchestras are constantly exploring new technologies that can enhance the audience’s appreciation of their concerts, from multi-media concert experiences and digital program notes to new web experiences. Since February 2006, the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa Canada has been producing bi-monthly 30-minute podcasts featuring their upcoming programs.

Full article

Ron Sexsmith @ NAC for Music Monday

May 8, 2007 in diversions, internet, music, new media, video | No comments

It’s been a while, so here’s a special entry … Yesterday NAC New Media had a hand in helping produce this year’s edition of Music Monday, a great national initiative spearheaded by the Coalition for Music Education.

One of the highlights of the hour-long show was a cameo performance by Ron Sexsmith. Here’s a QuickTime stream of Ron’s tune, “Former Glory” recorded live at the NAC’s Fourth Stage.

[Ron Sexsmith clip]

[Full Music Monday webcast]

Kenny Barron masterclass: April 11, 12:00 - NAC Fourth Stage

April 10, 2007 in hexagon, internet, music, new media, video, videoconference | 2 comments

Caution: Shameless NAC New Media plug …

Kenny BarronWe’re producing the last in our series of four broadband videoconference jazz masterclasses tomorrow at Noon at the NAC’s Fourth Stage. Famed jazz pianist Kenny Barron will be at Manhattan School of Music in New York City and four talented piano students (from Humber College, the University of Toronto, Carleton University and McGill University) will be here in Ottawa.

The session will explore advanced jazz piano technique with one of the truly great jazz pianists and educators of our time. The connected session should be of interest to seasoned jazz enthusiasts, music students as well music lovers in general.

This final edition of the 2006/2007 Manhattan on the Rideau series will employ the very latest in broadband video conference technology to connect Mr Barron with the students at the NAC. The connection will be made using next-generation Internet: Internet2 in the US and CA*net4 in Canada.

If you’ve got some free time tomorrow over the lunch hour, swing by the NAC’s Fourth Stage to hear this giant of jazz piano mentor up-and-coming talents from across Ontario and Quebec.

Sound Opinions on streaming audio royalties

April 3, 2007 in internet, music, new media, radio | No comments

Sound Opinions this week looks at the recent ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board in the US that would dramatically increased royalty rates for streaming music on the web, a decision which may in fact put many internet radio stations out of business. Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot explore the issue with John Simson, the Executive Director of SoundExchange, artist Jonatha Brooke, and owner/operator of Radio Paradise, Bill Goldsmith.

 
 Sound Opinions Show #70: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

NAC New Media at public board meeting

February 16, 2007 in new media, podcasts | No comments

I’ll be making a 15-20 minute presentation on new media projects at the National Arts Centre this Saturday, February 17, at 9:30am as part of the NAC’s annual public board meeting.

It’s an honour to be chosen as the featured NAC producer this year. I’m still unsure of what exactly I’ll be presenting but I’ll definitely spend some time on our podcast projects as well as our work in broadband videoconferencing. I’ve got some compelling video to share from our Hexagon project.

If you have nothing planned for a cold Saturday morning swing by the NAC’s Fourth Stage for a coffee and muffin and then continue on to Winterlude right next door.

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