Community Media/MARAA/Community Radio/Production
MARAA - Bangalore, India
"We are part of all that we meet"
Production for community radio needs to be innovative, relevant and localized. Attention needs to be given in areas of research so that appropriate programs are produced.
Contents
Capacity Building
In our training programs, our production module is mostly hands on.
Workshop Aim
This workshop aims for participants to acquire basic skills of recording audio programs in studio and outside, and edit those programs using Audacity.
Organizational Strategy
The organizational strategy to which this workshop will contribute to is for community radio to be actually used as a conceptual and physical tool to bring the voices of the people to a public platform vis-a-vis community radio reporters and team.
Workshop Objectives
- Review of existing production skills
- Arriving at appropriate production skills
- Producing at least three audio programs and editing these programs so that they are fit to broadcast
- Assessment and next steps
Selection of participants
Participants must be carefully chosen for this workshop as a lot of technical skills will be imparted during this workshop and it should be ensured as far as possible that such skill building need not be done time and again due to attrition or any other reasons. The appropriate participants for this workshop will be the chosen members from the community who have been selected to work for the community radio as full time staff. This training can also include committed volunteers who will be based out of the community but will maintain regular liaison with the radio station to link the community to the radio. Further, these participants must have a basic understanding of the basics of the community radio in terms of conceptual understanding, so that they put the production skills to good use. They must be able to commit to full time work at the radio as well as be willing to do a bit of self learning once the production skill workshop is concluded. This will only be a basic production skills workshop and nuanced understanding of production will come from only more practice on a regular basis.
How Long
This workshop is for the duration of two to three days depending on the existing skill level of your participants. This workshop can be tweaked accordingly to the needs of the radio station, and additional modules can be added for example, hardware based understanding of a computer, the physics of radio, how a microphone works, how does a transmitter work etc. This workshop module listed below only gives a basic understanding of how to record programs (in studio and on field) and how to edit your raw audio data.
The rough flow and order of the training is as given:
Day 1
Digital Audio
- Session Chair: Participant
- Duration: max 45 minutes
- Purpose: To arrive at an understanding of various file formats and their significance while working with digital audio
| Every two participants sit at one computer
Open Audacity with one audio file opened
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Click here for a detailed description
Recording Digital Audio
- Session Chair: Participant
- Duration: max 45 minutes
- Purpose: To help participants get familiar with recording audio in the studio and on the field
You can record audio through mobile recorders and fixed recorders. A mobile recorder can be a flash recorder, mobile phone, mp3 player or even your laptop! A fixed recorder is a microphone attached to the mixing console or to your computer.
| Record sound using flash recorders and then record sound using studio microphone.
Discuss differences in sound
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Recording on Flash Recorders
- Session Chair: Participant
- Duration: 45 minutes
- Purpose: To get participants to become competent at using field recording equipment
| Record on flash recorders, try to record in different kinds of locations, noisy places, quiet places, at different distances, and at windy places. Discuss findings and share learning
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Click here for a detailed description
Studio Recording
- Session Chair: Participant
- Duration: max 90 minutes
- Purpose: To get participants familiar with studio features and competent at using these features
| Get participants to record on different kinds of microphones, different sound effects
Also experiment with speaking from varying distances to the microphone and playback to hear change in sound
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Click here for a detailed description.
Day 2
Radio
- Session Chair: Participant
- Duration: max 60 minutes
- Purpose: To get participants to understand the technical broadcast process from recording to reception
| Practical demonstration of path of sound in the studio
|
Click here for a detailed description
Editing
- Session Chair: Participant
- Duration: max 120 minutes
- Purpose: To get the participants familiar with the essential basics of editing digital audio using Audacity
| Use projector and demonstrate installation, opening, and basic features of Audacity
Ask participant groups to repeat the exercise which was projected earlier
|
Click here for a detailed description
