With the explosion of podcasts, what separates the professional from the amateur is high quality sound and content. Understanding the basics of audio recording provides the tools to achieve good sound. With over thirty years of recording experience, sound artist Dianne Ballon will introduce the basics of audio recording and the techniques she has employed to achieve high quality productions. Students will hear sound-rich audio excerpts from stories about a cowboy’s bedroll to the sound of Arctic Terns nesting in Iceland. With humor and hindsight, students will explore examples of what works and what does not work. Students will learn the characteristics and pick-up patterns of microphones and learn the differences between mono and stereo microphones and recordings. Topics include recording basics, interviewing techniques, microphone placement, microphone and recorder handling, and ambient/background sound. Assignments will put into practice what is learned. Whether students are new to audio recording, in the early stages of creating a podcast, or never heard of a microphone pick-up pattern, this class will provide the foundation for audio recording and production. Bring your questions and your listening ear.

Zoom Meetings:

Friday, Monday, Wednesday  4/28, 5/1, 5/3 6:00-8:30 pm EST

Tuition: $395

CEUs: n/a

Instructor:

Dianne Ballon is a sound artist from Portland, Maine. Her sound works have aired on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. She was awarded a Maine Artist Fellowship from the Maine Arts Commission. Her coastal sound work was featured in Yankee magazine. During her Artist-in-Residency at Shenandoah National Park, she created a sound portrait for the park. At the Goethe Institute, she presented her sound installation Musical Instrument Dreams. She produced audio for the award winning national exhibition The Marines and Tet: The Battle That Changed the Vietnam War. For an international radio art competition, she was awarded for her field recording of boats creaking at a dock in Iceland. She produces audio for Tactile Images, a company that creates fine art for museums that is accessible to the blind through touch and sound. For over ten years, she was a member of the teaching and production staff at the National Audio Theatre Festivals. At the University of Maine at Augusta, she taught audio production and radio theatre. She taught many classes to artists, producers and podcasters. This includes: the Public Radio Exchange Podcast Garage, Harvard Sound Education conference, and at several Audubon societies for her field recordings on birds. Currently, she teaches audio production through the SALT Institute for Documentary Studies at Maine College of Art & Design.

For more about her work, visit: https://www.dianneballonsound.com/ The Listener: Maine Sound Artist Dianne Ballon

SUPPLIES • Access to an audio recording device: A professional audio recorder, OR a computer with audio recording capabilities, OR a cell phone with audio recording capabilities.

                 • Headphones (not earbuds).

                 • Optional: A hand-held microphone and a (DAW) digital audio workstation.