kylie grace snyder

audio engineering, technology, and miscellany . . .

recording

MDIA / WOUB Radio Drama Internship Students Record Ransom of Red Chief & Win Awards

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Over the past year I’ve posted frequently about an exciting partnership between Ohio University Media Arts & Studies students which has continued this Spring Semester of 2012 – 2013 and provided an internship / independent study opportunity to complete an exciting audiobook / radio dramas, an ongoing content initiative of the WOUB Public Media.

I’m pleased to report that our amazing team of students have completed production on The Ransom of Red Chief by O Henry and the results are amazing (yes, we have audio)! We’re particularly pleased as this project won a prestigious First Place award within the Media Arts & Studies Category at the Ohio University Student Expo 2013.

Karen Chan producing vocal tracking with Tristan Olson. Click for more pictures!

Cast & Credits:
Joe Balding as Bill Driscoe
Aaron Deuschle as Red Chief
David Jay Whealey as Ebenezer Dorset
James Euto as Snake Eye

Audio Engineering:
Collin Dewalt
Elaine Hurd
Andrew (AJ) Montesano (Student Project Manager)
Tristan Olson
Brianna Simons
Amy Sullivan
William Truax

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Artistic Director:
Karen Chan

Executive Producers:
Kyle P. Snyder and Mark Robinson

Top Left: Elaine Hurd, Kyle P. Snyder, and AJ Montesano accepting the First Place award
at the Ohio University Student Expo 2013. Above: The prize-winning expo display.

MDIA Summer 2013 Audio Course Opportunities

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With spring break rapidly approaching, registration for summer session courses is currently open at Ohio University with advising season just about to kickoff. I’ve always been a major proponent of summer courses. They give you the opportunity to focus on just a few courses at a time, many which may be electives that focus on a particularly interesting area of research or study that may not be offered again. This summer the School of Media Arts & Studies is offering several interesting courses and I’m very excited to be teaching one of the offerings in second summer session.

I’m particularly excited to be teaching Recording Music on Location in the second summer session. It’s a course that I feel audio students of all levels can benefit from which will include approaches tailored to both modern and classical genres for interested students. The only requirements are a basic understanding of audio (which can always be waived) and a desire to record great audio in often challenging settings (this is required). We’ll be working from the excellent Recording Music on Location by Bruce and Jenny Bartlett and there will be several independent projects that will be enjoyable for students at every level of ability. I don’t know about you but suddenly I’m excited for the summer!

Download Poster (pdf) 

Snyder Coordinates Central Indiana Audio Student Workshop 2013

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On February 16, 2013 the Central Indiana Section of the Audio Engineering Society hosted the Second Annual Central Indiana Audio Student Workshop. The event was hosted by Section Chair Fallon Stillman, and coordinated by Workshop Advisor Kyle P. Snyder with great assistance from the Executive Board of the Central Indiana Section as well as the faculty and staff of the Indiana University Department of Recording Arts. The Central Indiana Audio Student Workshop 2013 was held on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington, in the Department of Recording Arts studios and related facilities.

Like other regional events, the Central Indiana Audio Student Workshop was modeled like a mini-convention. The goal was to provide an intimate learning environment, open to anyone interested in audio, including local professionals, university students, and high school students. The Workshop provided attendees the opportunity to improve their skills with some of the best in the business, who presented on topics in recording, mixing, live sound, and acoustics.

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Snyder addressing hundreds of attendees during the Regions & Sections meeting. Click for more pictures.

In planning for the event, Snyder and the Central Indiana AES Executive Committee also wanted to provide the Workshop free of charge, to give students of all means equal access to the audio instruction we were providing. Also, not only did they strive to provide high-quality instruction for free, but wanted to incentivize attendance with useful giveaways from sponsors.

Finally, they wanted to ensure that an acceptable student to teacher ratio was achieved, so that students felt less like they were part of a crowd and more like they were in a small classroom where they could ask questions.

The events pre-registration topped out at over 250, and they saw physical attendance at over 200 including numerous walk-in’s, reaching a group of audio students and professionals from every corner of the state and many from neighboring territories, who were appreciative beyond words. Snyder and his team couldn’t have been more pleased with how the event turned out.

For additional information on the event including sponsors, posters, artwork, schedules, and much more please visit the official event site.

Additionally, the official event report is available for download (pdf).

Press:

Continued Radio Drama Internship at Ohio University in Partnership with WOUB

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In the fall of 2012 I was privileged to lead a group of very skilled Ohio University Media Arts & Studies students in an internship / independent study opportunity to complete several radio dramas, an ongoing content initiative of WOUB Public Media. I couldn’t be more pleased with the results achieved last fall, which is why I’m thrilled to be heading a similar opportunity this spring with an amazing group of MDIA juniors and seniors!

Karen Chan producing vocal tracking with Tristan Olson.

For those not familiar, there was a time, before images graced our televisions (or televisions even sat in our living rooms), that radio dramas were the primary source of entertainment throughout the land.

These dramatic performance included an array of music, sound effects, and dialogue; the actors themselves conveying the writers intent in lieu of visual elements. Today, these dramas are an incredible way to stay connected with our audio heritage as well as a wonderful way to teach audio mixing and editing.

I’m pleased to report that the WOUB internship students have already wrapped up vocal tracking on The Ransom of Red Chief by O Henry and will soon be starting on the music, sound effects, and Foley tracking. They’ve been working tremendously hard, and the results are looking great!

Joe Balding (Bill) and James Euto (Snake Eye) tracking vocals, also pictured above.

For all my other fans out there, I hope to be sharing some of this great student work with you via WOUB.org in the very near future, and it will also be featured April 11 at the Ohio University Student Expo.

Options for Students Seeking Seasonal and On-Campus Opportunities

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Once production students reach their junior or senior year (at the latest), it’s time to be thinking about ways to best-utilize the summer to prepare to step in to the professional world. Personally, I encourage you not to wait that late but opinions vary. Summers are the perfect time to gain more of that on-the-job experience you’ve been craving throughout the regular semester, and there are countless avenues through which you can pursue this experience.

All that said, it’s that time of year where I’ve been getting numerous questions regarding summer / seasonal / on-campus opportunities, so I thought it might be easiest to write up a comprehensive list which can be shared (and updated). Given my personal expertise, this list focuses largely upon opportunities which cater to various art and music organizations. So, if you’re looking for recording studio, music business, or live sound internships this article will be far less useful. My apologies, it’s just that this specific topic needed some fairly specific explanation. For those areas, just swing past my office, or you can always try a little creative Googling. Of course, to all my audio educator and recording industry friends who are reading this, you’re more than welcome to chime in with suggestions in the comments to make this lengthy list more well-rounded.

Some Brief Advice

Before you head out in search of that perfect job / other opportunity you can expect to need at least three basic things. While you might already be prepared, these seem worth mentioning:

  • Samples of your work
    • For audio, I can’t recommend SoundCloud enough.
    • I’ve had amazing luck with Vimeo. Please don’t use YouTube.
    • If you have production or other documents that you want to share, be sure to give Scribd a look.
    • At the end of the day, you may want to create a professional place for all your work. I love having my own webpage, but it’s a lot of work. If that sounds like something you’re interested in then I’d consider a WordPress site hosted with a company like a FatCow, as they treat their customers well and are very inexpensive.
      • As an alternative, for a very clean and professional landing page, check out About.me which makes it possible to create a professional homepage in a matter of seconds.
  • Professionalism
    • Please make certain that you have an email address that conveys your professional status, like FirstMiddleLastname@gmail.com. Also, some free business cards from VistaPrint won’t hurt you either (or punch it up with something from Moo!)

Now, without further ado, all those possibilities!

Ohio University On-Campus Opportunities

  • PACE Jobs
    • There are several great audio-related jobs available in PACE (Program to Aid Career Exploration) with several WOUB staff members and programs. If you’re eligible, just search for “audio” or “production” and you’ll find them. These are great opportunities to add to your reel while getting paid!
  • School of Music Recording Engineers
    • These students record performances for the School of Music. The jobs are only posted when there are openings and there are usually only 4 on staff including the head engineer. However, this is the type of job that gave me my start, so when positions are available I’d urge you to take advantage. If you’d like more information, I can put you in touch with the appropriate person.
  • Audio Engineering Society Student Section
  • Other
    • If you found this article and you’re not and Ohio University student, that’s ok too! Your school might not have opportunities that are exactly the same, but if you try looking for the same kinds of jobs in similar places, that will give you a great start!

Summer / Seasonal Opportunities

When it comes to summer or seasonal opportunities, it pays to plan ahead if you want to land a specific placement. I’m personally a huge proponent of The Banff Centre Work Study programs, as well as the University of Stavanger post-baccalaureate program, and the opportunities offered by the Interlochen Center for the Arts. However, there are countless opportunities available depending upon your interests.

Below, I have focused primarily upon art and music organizations who offer internships or other employment opportunities. These links could become outdated quickly, but you can always start searching again via the organization link . I’ve also included below several lists of festivals and summer programs which can be a handy way to start any search.

  • Continuing Education Opportunities
    • The Banff Centre – (direct link) (organization link)
      • The Banff Centre is a great opportunity for students wishing to further both their education and their career though their acclaimed work study program in areas like audio engineering and post production. For more information, please contact me.
    • University of Stavanger – (direct link) (organization link)
      • A unique post-baccalaureate program, this affords students the opportunity to further their studies outside the USA and their comfort zone tuition free. This highly competitive program accepts applicants each winter, typically though mid-December.

Other Employment Resources

If you’re looking for general internships or freelance work, here are a few sites that you should definitely check out.

Hopefully, you’ve found this useful and have made it this far! The process of finding the right opportunity for you can be daunting, however don’t forget that we’re always here to help. If you’d like recommendations on which opportunity might be the best fit, or want to talk all of this out in general, just swing past my office or send me an email.

Snyder Moderates Successful Focal Press Author Panel @ AES 133

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This year at the 133rd Audio Engineering Society Convention, Focal Press hosted an Author Panel on the main Project Studio Expo Stage where Focal authors discussed whether “project studios can really get pro results?”

The panel featured the likes of Mike Senior (Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio), Will Pirkle (Designing Audio Effect Plugins in C++), Jay Kadis (The Science of Sound Recording), Dr. William Moylan (Understanding and Crafting the Mix, 2e), and David Miles Huber (Modern Recording Techniques, 7e). I’m very grateful that Focal Press asked me to moderate this panel, which truly was a wonderful session for all in attendance.

Though we had only an hour, the panel engaged in an amazingly lively discussion which ran the gamut from engineer training and experience to distribution and equipment quality  today. We truly could have talked for hours, thanks in part to the fabulous questions submitted by our audience members ahead of time (thank you!) and were very privileged to speak to the sizable audience on Saturday, October 27. With any luck, we’ll see the Project Studio Expo as a permanent fixture at AES Conventions from now on so look for us to return next year. For now, I leave you with a few images from our panel.

As always, if you have questions that we didn’t get to as part of the panel, I’d invite you to leave them in the comments below reach out or via twitter @KylePSnyder.

Student Project Progress in Sound for Moving Image

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Over the course of the semester I’ve been particularly impressed with how my students in Sound for Moving Image (MDIA 3303) have been developing their sound design skills. Their first introduction to sound synchronization (Project 1) saw them cutting stock effects from our Central SFX Server to a 1-3 minute video of their choosing. Several of the students performed exemplary on Project 1, however it was almost more fun to see some of the source files chosen!

Some of my favorites:

Recently in Sound for Moving Image we’ve been studying Foley which has produced some truly great results. Once the class split into groups and created cut sheets, they had the opportunity to record in MDIA Control B to complete Project 2; a 23 second clip of Parkour running from the intro to Casino Royale. It was immensely gratifying seeing the students across my two sections of 3303 work together in the studio to act out and record Foley.

From our 1 1/2 weeks of recording sessions, below is a gallery of pictures of the engineers and Foley artists in action, as well as a compilation of some of their complete Foley projects. I hope you enjoy their final results as much as I do!

 

An Update on the Ohio University Radio Drama Internship in Partnership with WOUB…There’s Audio!

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In September I posted about an exciting partnership between Ohio University Media Arts & Studies students this Fall Semester of 2012 – 2013 that provides an internship / independent study opportunity to complete several radio dramas, an ongoing content initiative of the WOUB Public Media.

I’m pleased to report that the students are currently working hard on wrapping up Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll and will soon be starting on Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie. They’ve been working tremendously hard, and the results are looking great!

In my last post I mentioned my hope to soon be sharing some great student work with you via WOUB.org / WiredForBooks.org in the very near future, and while Through the Looking Glass isn’t 100% ready for WOUB.org I’m pleased to share Chapter 7 of Through the Looking Glass with you.

Narrated by Karen M. Chan with the Wired for Books Players. 
Produced by Kyle P. Snyder and Mark Robinson.

I know I’m pleased with the results thus far, and I hope you enjoy it too. The students hope to have Through the Looking Glass completed in the coming weeks and Peter and Wendy completed by the semester’s end.

Photo: Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Updated: Snyder to Moderate Focal Press Author Panel @ AES 133

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This year at the 133rd Audio Engineering Society Convention, Focal Press will be hosting an Author Panel on the main Project Studio Expo Stage where Focal authors will discuss “Can project studios really get pro results?”

The panel will feature the likes of Mike Senior (Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio), Will Pirkle (Designing Audio Effect Plugins in C++), Jay Kadis (The Science of Sound Recording), Dr. William Moylan (Understanding and Crafting the Mix, 2e), and David Miles Huber (Modern Recording Techniques, 7e). I’m particularly pleased to announce that Focal Press has asked me to moderate this panel of great authors, which I think will be a great session for all in attendance. I’ve worked with Focal Press for some time now and have always been impressed with the immensely high level of technical expertise that their authors bring to the table, and this panel is sure to further that reputation.

If you have questions for these authors, either for someone specific or in general on the topic of the author’s panel, I’d invite you to submit your question using this web form as I absolutely welcome suggestions from our audience. Of course, suggestions are also welcome in the comments below (or via twitter directed to @KylePSnyder).

I hope to see you at the AES Convention, and I’d invite you to join us on Saturday, October 27th at 10:00am. We are the first ones up! For more details, be certain to consult your AES program.