I took a class in college called Radio Play. It was probably one of the most fun I’ve had for a semester. It was not a class that was required for my major or minor, and about half the people in the class were good friends of the theatre organization which I was a part of.
In the class, we learned about creating audio stories or, as the title of the class indicated, “radio plays.” With this, we became familiar with both the technical aspects of this – working with DAT recorders, various microphones, and learning how to use multi-track audio mixing software – and tips on how to create compelling narratives through sound.
I was remembering this today because Katie and I went to see This American Life Live tonight and I was reminded how much I love the idea of telling stories on the radio. Sure, the actual event was in movie theaters and had visual elements, but I always fancied that I would be a good fit at WBEZ Chicago, palling around with Ira Glass.
Back around the tail years of college, I remember looking over the WBEZ website several times, contemplating applying for the This American Life internship, but ended up not going for it because it required a lengthy time commitment in Chicago and was based on skills that I hadn’t been honing for four years – only in one small semester.
Although it’s probably too late now to apply for the This American Life internship, I’m sure that if I was motivated enough, I could find work within the expanding field of audio work within the video game industry and use that as a launching pad. If I didn’t already like what I was doing so much, it’s something I would seriously consider.
I like working with audio, being a part of that interesting mouth-to-ear relationship (although, when I put it that way, it sounds a little creepy), and working late into the night to get the right edit points to make a piece sound natural.
If I had time and access to solid recording equipment (but more so, time), it’s a hobby I’d consider as well: creating my own sporadic series of radio stories, both fictional and non. But, we all know that probably won’t happen, just like my oft-mentioned but completely unstarted Youtube series.
In the meantime, you can check out one of the pieces I created in Radio Play, which is a bit of a This American Life-style story that I’m relatively proud of. It’s about 10 minutes and speaks for itself.
[audio:TheLittleGuy.mp3]