http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Audio A listing of the most recently indexed works about Audio in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Audio http://tc.eserver.org/35833.html http://tc.eserver.org/35833.html Opportunities for voice-over (v/o) production have increased dramatically for project studios, mimicking the DIY paradigm shift that continues to rock the music industry. Increasingly, clients needing v/o talent and related audio services are bypassing bigger studios to hire more cost-efficient producers for everything from commercials to interactive voice response (IVR) systems. http://tc.eserver.org/35834.html http://tc.eserver.org/35834.html Recommendations for gear for building audio recording studios on a wide range of budgets. http://tc.eserver.org/35835.html http://tc.eserver.org/35835.html Although there are many reasons for choosing a laptop for music making, we've focused on three common scenarios: the software-only, all-in-the-box setup for the composer-performer; the songwriter's studio, which will need mics for recording voices and instruments; and the multitrack live-recording rig. Even if what you do doesn't fit neatly into one of these areas, our reasons for choosing particular pieces of gear may help you with your own buying decisions. http://tc.eserver.org/35053.html http://tc.eserver.org/35053.html In the field of technical communication, practitioners are being challenged to adapt to a completely new approach to creating documentation and user-assistance materials. In this rapidly-changing arena, traditional content production practices are being replaced with modular, topic-based content production practices that allow organizations to recombine content elements—often automatically or on-demand—into new, derivative products. http://tc.eserver.org/34808.html http://tc.eserver.org/34808.html Neil Perlin, a renowned trainer, consulter, and developer, talks about how to implement single sourcing. He includes a discussion of tools, pitfalls to avoid, and practical steps to take. http://tc.eserver.org/34794.html http://tc.eserver.org/34794.html TechSmith asked me to create a video on using Audacity to edit narrations. Since the use of Audacity will be useful to many I've uploaded it here too. The screencast covers removing background noise, breathing and lip smacks, dynamic range compression, volume normalisation, fades and de-essing using the volume control. http://tc.eserver.org/34746.html http://tc.eserver.org/34746.html You don’t have an office mate willing to read your work aloud? Don’t want to bug someone to read your two paragraph blog post? Have your computer read it to you! http://tc.eserver.org/34110.html http://tc.eserver.org/34110.html Some people call it blogging out loud. Podcasting is a fairly easy and fairly inexpensive way of presenting your ideas and opinions. But podcasting is more than a platform for reviews or polemic. It's also a powerful tool within the enterprise for training, for marketing, and for documentation. Imagine being able to carry product information or supplementary material with you and not have to worry about stacks of paper? You can do that with a podcast. http://tc.eserver.org/34071.html http://tc.eserver.org/34071.html A fluid text is any work that exists in multiple versions. What are the ethics and legality in the creation, sharing, and ownership of textual versions? What are the boundaries of textual appropriation? How does technology abet appropriation; how might it assist in the useful designation of boundaries? Is the law keeping up? http://tc.eserver.org/33510.html http://tc.eserver.org/33510.html What roles does writing play in larger communications also involving physically discrete but related texts of other media? How may the properties of what we normally consider writing be modified in such communications? The intermedial context of much workplace writing has been largely overlooked. This study of an insurance company's communication department describes how (a) three written products served as parts of larger messages in multiple media campaigns, (b) an attempt to combine composing processes for print and video failed, and (c) conflicting generic and stylistic properties of other media caused an intermedial graft to fail. The author's study shows that in the right circumstances, a multiple media "overtext" can override some of the rules that govern what and how one communicates in an individual medium. When a written text is involved, its nature may change as it forms symbiotic relationships with texts of other media. http://tc.eserver.org/32281.html http://tc.eserver.org/32281.html Audio content is becoming increasingly prevalent. But do you know how to design it effectively? Jens Jacobsen combines information architecture, journalism, usability engineering and interface design to resolve some of the issues that arise from introducing audio. http://tc.eserver.org/32001.html http://tc.eserver.org/32001.html Because of limited awareness around Deafness and accessibility in the web community, it seems plausible to many of us that good captioning will fix it all. It won’t. Before we can enhance the user experience for all deaf people, we must understand that the needs of deaf, hard of hearing, and big-D Deaf users are often very different. http://tc.eserver.org/31759.html http://tc.eserver.org/31759.html What’s the best way to handle questions from the audience when presenting? This podcast examines key things you can do to deal proactively with audience questions. http://tc.eserver.org/31639.html http://tc.eserver.org/31639.html Some advice from one podcaster to others on how to do interviews. http://tc.eserver.org/31495.html http://tc.eserver.org/31495.html Podcasting is more than a platform for reviews or polemic. It's also a powerful tool within the enterprise for training, for marketing, and for documentation. Imagine being able to carry product information or supplementary material with you and not have to worry about stacks of paper? You can do that with a podcast. http://tc.eserver.org/31441.html http://tc.eserver.org/31441.html The recent buzz regarding corporate web logs (blogs) may have deflected attention from another effective, low-cost medium: corporate web radio. The following article offers a few tips and “lessons learned” for the corporate professional who would like to start web radio within his or her firm—or for the PR agency, another value-added service for your clients. http://tc.eserver.org/31033.html http://tc.eserver.org/31033.html The post-production process known as 'Foley' refers to the art of recording 'live' sync sound effects to picture. It is akin to looping the dialogue, but instead of recording the actors performing their lines while watching themselves on screen--skilled craftspeople known as 'Foley artists' will walk, run, and act out any sync sound effects to match what the actor is seen (or implied) doing in the picture. http://tc.eserver.org/31030.html http://tc.eserver.org/31030.html Stereo is rarely recorded as such in the field. Instead, we record monaural sounds and wait until post-production is nearly complete to re-assign these sounds to the audience's left, right, and in-between. Until the film is edited, there is no way to know just where all of the audio elements need to end up. For instance, out on production, it might seem logical to record a car that passes from left to right in stereo, so that you can hear the 'pass by' in your phones whoosh from the left ear to the right ear. http://tc.eserver.org/31029.html http://tc.eserver.org/31029.html Here is a breakdown of how we might handle the typical 'low budget' television demo or competition, such as a local cooking show, sporting event, or how-to-do-it. http://tc.eserver.org/31032.html http://tc.eserver.org/31032.html Bad audio will certainly sink an otherwise good project! That being said, let's look at how other Departments can help the Sound Department improve the quality of the recorded dialogue. http://tc.eserver.org/31031.html http://tc.eserver.org/31031.html Hiding a microphone under clothing requires a great deal of attention to detail. Not only must the mic be hidden from view, but you must also contend with the problems of clothing noise. http://tc.eserver.org/30064.html http://tc.eserver.org/30064.html Podcasts aren't very good at delivering step-by-step technical information. Concepts are where podcasts excel. http://tc.eserver.org/30068.html http://tc.eserver.org/30068.html Covers the basics of good interviewing technique: making sure the show is not about you but about your guest; listening to the answers you get; sticking to a script; and, above all, preparation, preparation, preparation. http://tc.eserver.org/30070.html http://tc.eserver.org/30070.html There are a number of approaches to getting meaningful data from podcast usage, each with their own advantages and drawbacks. http://tc.eserver.org/30067.html http://tc.eserver.org/30067.html 'Writing for the ear' is an effective way of making content engaging and interesting. Examples of this are audio-based sentence structure, writing around audio clips, making informed word choices and creating a narrative arc for your podcast. Listeners, who are often occupied with other things while listening, need audio and content that transports them to another state of mind. With this in mind, Bond explains techniques and provides examples of how podcasters can anticipate what their audience expects to hear, and how they meet listener expectations while still providing something new. http://tc.eserver.org/30065.html http://tc.eserver.org/30065.html Gives a few pointers on how to give your podcast a more professional sound in addition to a number of easy-to-follow procedures for more complex functions. Though aimed at the beginner and intermediate Audacity user, anyone who wants to save time by using Audacity will find the tips and tricks useful. http://tc.eserver.org/30066.html http://tc.eserver.org/30066.html Uses several case studies of corporate podcasting to help illustrate the important points management should consider when deciding how they can best use podcasting. It is often difficult for companies to interest and capture their audience; it is crucial therefore to create compelling--and in some cases exclusive--content. http://tc.eserver.org/30071.html http://tc.eserver.org/30071.html The literature on managing virtual teams and projects across cultures and locations is primarily theoretical and not integrated with information about collaborative tools such as wikis, blogs, and project dashboards. The authors advocate choosing the best situational tool, based on team and team members' needs. http://tc.eserver.org/29198.html http://tc.eserver.org/29198.html This is a list of limitations of the types of automated audio translation offered by such services as Talkr.com. Since we do not see a list in their help center, we thought we would compile our own list and offer it as a wiki page for any customers to keep a list of limitations. http://tc.eserver.org/28897.html http://tc.eserver.org/28897.html Audio signals also help us interact with our environment. Some of these signals are designed: We wake to the buzz of the alarm clock, answer the ringing telephone, and race to the kitchen when the shrill beep of the smoke alarm warns us that dinner is burning on the stove. Other audio signals are not deliberately designed, but help us nonetheless. For instance, we may know the proper sound of the central air conditioning starting, the gentle hum of the PC fan, or the noise of the refrigerator. So, when these systems go awry, we notice it immediately--something doesn't sound right. Likewise, an excellent mechanic might be able to tell what is wrong with a car engine just by listening to it run. http://tc.eserver.org/28489.html http://tc.eserver.org/28489.html Audacity is a free cross platform multi track audio editing program from Sourceforge.net. It will let you record, edit, and mix an unlimited number of tracks. Audacity runs on Windows (98 through XP), Mac OS X, and Linux. http://tc.eserver.org/28304.html http://tc.eserver.org/28304.html I have recorded episodes with two of the writers on the Microsoft VSTO UE team (McLean and Norm), and here is the third writer, Brett Samblanet. We talked about the writing process, how Brett became a writer, how school prepared him for his work, and the importance of being able to communicate well and to take criticism. http://tc.eserver.org/28007.html http://tc.eserver.org/28007.html The AHDS made audio recordings of recent seminars with the aim of transcribing the recordings, and presented them to seminar chairs to facilitate their task of completing reports on each event. This case study looks at some of the issues that occurred as the AHDS recorded and transcribed the material from these seminars. While its findings are based on roundtable seminars, some of them may also be of use to those doing other types of audio recording - interviews, field notes etc. http://tc.eserver.org/26975.html http://tc.eserver.org/26975.html Introduces how to perform multimedia audio mixing and editing using a Behringer multitrack mixer. http://tc.eserver.org/26977.html http://tc.eserver.org/26977.html Discusses how to use Sennheiser EW112P(A) Wireless Lavalier Microphones to ensure high-quality audio in video multimedia projects. http://tc.eserver.org/26420.html http://tc.eserver.org/26420.html Traditionally, web applications are accessed via a single mode interface; information is presented and captured with text. However, one can additionally use a voice browser to navigate the Internet. One can navigate or access 'hands free' Internet applications from anywhere; you are not restricted to the desktop or a portable computer. VoiceXML is a language for Internet telephony applications and is based on the XML language. VoiceXML can 'speech-enable' an existing web application to be used through a conversational interface, providing a more natural way of interaction between users and Internet applications. http://tc.eserver.org/26378.html http://tc.eserver.org/26378.html Design can be more than meets the eyes. Denise Gonzales Crisp opens her ears to unfamiliar territory. http://tc.eserver.org/26380.html http://tc.eserver.org/26380.html When you think about sound in regard to the internet, what comes to mind? Dutch design firm LUST explores the sound of the internet with this original project. http://tc.eserver.org/26377.html http://tc.eserver.org/26377.html Understanding the dynamic qualities of typography through analogies with sound and music. http://tc.eserver.org/26371.html http://tc.eserver.org/26371.html Learn about the advantages of, as well as common tools for creating customizable sounds. http://tc.eserver.org/25969.html http://tc.eserver.org/25969.html This article discusses the various types of captions, when to use captions, as well as the various types of audio descriptions. http://tc.eserver.org/25464.html http://tc.eserver.org/25464.html Speech applications have come to be in demand with many applications, which can sound daunting to developers who have never before made provisions for speech. Don't put it off, though, believing that it means a massive rewriting of your current offerings. It is now possible to enhance current Web applications, or develop new ones, with the Voice Toolkit and Reusable Dialog Components. Learn to construct successful voice apps, and without a big learning curve. http://tc.eserver.org/25465.html http://tc.eserver.org/25465.html Become fluent in X+V, today's versatile Web markup language (WML). X+V, short for XHTML+Voice, is a Web markup language that is comprised of voice and visual elements used for developing multimodal applications. This article provides the novice developer of Multimodal X+V, Web pages, and handheld devices with a process for creating and testing an X+V application. This article uses the IBM® Multimodal Toolkit 4.3.2 running on WebSphere® Studio Site Developer (Site Developer) or on WebSphere Studio Application Developer (Application Developer) 5.1.2. http://tc.eserver.org/23610.html http://tc.eserver.org/23610.html Technical communicators are skilled listeners. Whether interviewing subject matter experts or working on teams, good communication is essential. But if you have a hearing loss, assistive listening systems (ALSs) can help. http://tc.eserver.org/23303.html http://tc.eserver.org/23303.html The effects of music on performance on a computer-mediated problem-solving task were examined. Participants completed the task in anonymous dyads as they were exposed to either Classical music, Punk music, or No Music. Results indicate that those in the Classical music condition performed better on the problem solving-task than those in the Punk music or No Music conditions. However, those listening to the Classical music offered more off-task comments during the task than those listening to No Music. Implications for website designers are discussed. http://tc.eserver.org/23010.html http://tc.eserver.org/23010.html Most developers don't think about individuals who are deaf when they think of Web accessibility. For too many developers, Web accessibility consists of adhering to a few guidelines that ensure accessibility to screen readers for the blind. On one level, this is understandable. People who are blind will have the most trouble, since the Web is a visual medium...or is it? http://tc.eserver.org/21072.html http://tc.eserver.org/21072.html Google Voice Search allows you to make a telephone call to Google with a search query and get the results on a web page. The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the user experience and investigate the usability implications of this tool. http://tc.eserver.org/20521.html http://tc.eserver.org/20521.html Bulgarian Psychologist Giorgi Lozanov, the father of Accelerated Learning, once commented, 'The language of music, rhyme and rhythm reach not only the ear, but the mind as well, via a much shorter path than logical facts and arguments.' Music’s ability to reach past the logical regions of the mind and into its emotive centers makes it a powerful learning tool. And yet, owing to a lack of familiarity with the different musical styles, many trainers do not use it effectively. This article overviews some musical styles and suggests possible applications for those styles. http://tc.eserver.org/19944.html http://tc.eserver.org/19944.html Deaf persons are not a monolithic group. Persons born deaf or who become deaf before learning the language of their environment (prelingual deafness) have a significant educational challenge as well as a communication challenge. Other deaf persons have a communication challenge. Deaf persons may be divided into five categories. For the purposes of this paper the categories are prelingual deafness, prelingual hard-of-hearing, postlingual deafness, postlingual hard-of-hearing, and presbyacusis. (oldage deafness) Each of these categories are discussed in detail including the characteristics of persons within the categories, and the nature of the problems they encounter. http://tc.eserver.org/19500.html http://tc.eserver.org/19500.html Deaf persons are not a monolithic group. Persons born deaf or who become deaf before learning the language of their environment (prelingual deafness) have a significant educational challenge as well as a communication challenge. Other deaf persons have a communication challenge. Deaf persons may be divided into five categories. For the purposes of this paper the categories are prelingual deafness, prelingual hard-of-hearing, postlingual deafness, postlingual hard-of-hearing, and presbyacusis. (oldage deafness) Each of these categories are discussed in detail including the characteristics of persons within the categories, and the nature of the problems they encounter. http://tc.eserver.org/19276.html http://tc.eserver.org/19276.html Obsolete mechanical formats forma major part of archives’ holdings, Once a format has passed into obsolescence, there is virtually no commercial development in replay facilities, and the system as such dies. The paper discusses the fundamental principles of mechanical recording and replay as well as the latest constructions for replaying historical discs and cylinders - commercial and non-commercial. An Aaliendum gives simple instructions to the archive having only an occasional need to replay historical formats. http://tc.eserver.org/18836.html http://tc.eserver.org/18836.html Children who fail hearing tests but who function in educational settings are assumed to have only unimportant handicaps. These children learn to live with their problems, but a significant hearing impairment diminishes the information such children receive. Help is available for children, but also for adults who have not fully recognized their handicaps. This paper describes the problems of people with moderate hearing loss, and provides information on what can be done to ameliorate their problems. http://tc.eserver.org/18757.html http://tc.eserver.org/18757.html In transfer from one medium to another or one format to another, the target format may be able to hold more information or less information than the original. According to the purpose of the transfer, a selection offeatures may be made as a minimum requirement for transfer. Awareness of Traceability, Reproducibility and Compatibility will ensure the fulfilment of these requirements. The dedicated transfer station approach using calibrated equipment is contrasted with the use of diagnostic signals for use with transfer stations of any standard. The advantages and disadvantages of the respective approaches are mentioed, in particular as regards long term storage. The background for creating diagnostic signalsfor transfer of mechanical recordings is discussed in depth. http://tc.eserver.org/18613.html http://tc.eserver.org/18613.html This report discusses the 'AHA' system for presenting HTML in audio for blind users and others who wish to access the WWW non-visually. AHA is a framework and set of suggestions for HTML presentation based on an initial experiment. Further experimentation and further revisions will be performed with the system. http://tc.eserver.org/18532.html http://tc.eserver.org/18532.html For a presenter, a high-quality microphone, combined with the right sound system, will give your voice a rich sound that can be heard throughout a room. Here are some things to consider if you want to add a microphone to the company conference room or your presentation traveling kit. The basics A microphone is essentially an energy converter that takes in sound waves and converts them into electrical energy. Two main types of microphones are available: condenser and dynamic. A condenser mic uses a power supply to provide a charge that works with a thin diaphragm inside the unit to create a signal. A dynamic mic creates a signal when the sound pressure moves a coil or ribbon across a magnet. Because they usually produce a richer sound, condenser mics are the more popular of the two; however, they require batteries or a power supply and are more expensive and more fragile than dynamic models. Dynamic mics are usually considered less accurate in sound quality, but they are generally more rugged and can withstand varying temperatures, humidity levels and a lot of abuse. These qualities make dynamic mics ideal for use outdoors or on the road. http://tc.eserver.org/18440.html http://tc.eserver.org/18440.html It is hard to make a hat that fits all heads. If one were made, most people would find it uncomfortable. This fact could be the realistic of the web sites design. Web developers face the same issue creating web pages for more general usage. For those deaf and hearing-impaired people, some special technologies should be applied to ease their web browsing and searching. This report will focus on such disabled characteristics. http://tc.eserver.org/14132.html http://tc.eserver.org/14132.html The long-awaited summary of Tech Writing Folklore and Minstrelsy! http://tc.eserver.org/13910.html http://tc.eserver.org/13910.html This lecture describes the need for the field to clarify how we represent ourselves and think about ourselves. http://tc.eserver.org/10029.html http://tc.eserver.org/10029.html Starting with the development of Caterpillar Fundamental English in the 1970's, industry has made several attempts to formalize and standardize the writing process, both to promote consistency and quality for the reader and to improve the possibilities for automatic text processing (e.g. translation to other languages). In this presentation, I will review the work we have done at the Language Technologies Institute on a software environment for automatic document checking, specifically to address the issue of how such environments can be productive (and hence useful) for the technical writer. http://tc.eserver.org/10123.html http://tc.eserver.org/10123.html The current proliferation of hermeneutic resources with a linguistic base--pragmatics, speech act theory, classical rhetoric theory, Burkean analysis, conversational analysis, Habermasian communicative action--is an embarras de richesse. Surely, at this point, we need, not another theory, but rather an attempt at synthesis, an attempt to turn this hermeneutic plentitude into a single theory. In this paper, we propose to take an initial step in this direction, to attempt to marry pragmatics and rhetoric. But given the theoretical exfoliation that has marked these areas, such a marriage can be managed only by imposing very strict limitations on the scope of our enterprise. We believe, however, that we can take a step in our preferred direction by addressing the more specific problem of whether the theory of Paul Grice, the father of pragmatics, is compatible with the theory of Aristotle, the father of rhetoric. We intend to do so by reconstructing Aritotelian rhetoric as a pragmatics. http://tc.eserver.org/10121.html http://tc.eserver.org/10121.html A. L. Becker’s 'modern philology' is an approach to discourse rooted in multifaceted explorations of particular texts: a line from Emerson, a Southeast Asian proverb, a Javanese shadow play. He explains 'autopoiesis' this way: 'One of the tenets of the gaggle of ideas calle ‘autopoiesis’ is that languaging is orientational, mostly. A says something to B -- and no ‘message’ is ‘transmitted’ -- rather what A says orients B (and him/herself, of course). But the orientation of A is not the orientation of B, except to the extent they have the same reactions to prior texts (lingual memories). http://tc.eserver.org/10119.html http://tc.eserver.org/10119.html A qualitative glance at how people in contemporary, heterogeneous communications environments--especially those involved in collaborative enterprises--were handling multiple communication events and the incoming and outgoing products of their communications, for example, texts, files, e-texts parked on shared file servers, e-texts parked on a user's hard-disk, web pages and useful http addresses, all of those sorts of things. http://tc.eserver.org/10036.html http://tc.eserver.org/10036.html This presentation, by one of the best-known professors of technical communication in the U.S., traces how readers have been paid increasing attention, especially as they have become more active in text-making, rather than just text-reading. In particular, it talks about the rhetorical roles that readers assume in Web documents, and how those roles contribute to the success or failure of communication.