Audio PSA Creation

Before I could create an audio PSA in Adobe Soundbooth, I had to think about what message I would want to send out and who my audience would be. Since I knew that the audience would be college students I thought of problems they encounter on a daily basis. Since I live in a dorm building, I have found that loud neighbors is a common issue. I wanted to send out a message of respect towards neighbors.

In order to do so, I thought about the specific problems I encounter: loud music and loud voices. To show these issues through an audio PSA, I decided to have two roommates trying to accomplish tasks despite noisy neighbors.

When actually making this PSA, I started by writing my script. I thought college students could relate to a casual conversation between two roommates who were obviously annoyed with their current neighbor situation. I also needed to show students that they could be bothering their neighbors with their noise. I accomplished this by having the roommates think about making the noise back. I did this in order to make people realize that if they make too much noise, their neighbors may retaliate and be loud back. I also ended the piece in a sort of call to action by saying "Don't let your fun impose on your neighbors. Respect your neighbors; receive it back."

The actual recording took a few tries. The first time through, while I remembered to turn the microphone pot up, I neglected to turn down the speaker which make the recording echoe. After realizing my mistake, I started recording again. Despite having the right volume levels, I encountered another issue: laughter. Trying to read a script seriously imposed difficulty in this project. The person helping me and myself finally got ourselves together and made a recording that would work.

The next step was finding music that would fit in with my PSA. I needed something party related. In the end I settled on a piece of music in Twisted Tiger that was loud and that people could dance to. Next, I explored the various sound effects to find a group of people. While I thought this part would be easy, I had more difficulty than expected. I found several large groups and singular laughter, but finding the sound of a small group (while still being obnoxious) was difficult. However, I did find the effect I was searching for.

The final step in the process was putting everything together. I went to soundbooth and put my various pieces in different tracks. When every piece was on a track, I edited the clip length, volume, and location. Then, I faded the tracks in and out so they weren't too loud at the beginning or end of the PSA. The final thing I checked was the exact length of the PSA. After making sure it was exactly 30 seconds, I saved and exported the project.

Audio PSA Draft: Respect Your Neighbors