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New Tool:
Pro Tools Shortcuts
If you work in audio production, you end up having some kind of relationship to Digidesign's ubiquitous software, ProTools. Generally, the relationship is dysfunctional. We at Transom are
no exception and we asked our TOOLS Editor to come up with a set of ProTools tips specifically for the public radio producer.
So, now we bring you the result of years of conversation and complaint about this powerful, troublesome software in a single guide, Jeff Towne's "ProTools Shortcuts," which comes with its
own handy print-out to keep by your bedside. You know you need it.
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In Memoriam:
Studs Terkel 1912-2008
Transom is again featuring Studs Terkel's Manifesto from 2001, his
conversation with Sydney Lewis on radio, improvisation, fireside chats,
ineptitude, jazz, Vox Humana, and dozens of other notions his mind
leapt to.
Studs remains an inspiration to us--always listening, sending out stories.
When asked what his ideal broadcast day would be, he said, "I'd want the
human voice. Expressing grievances, or delight, or whatever it might
be. But something real." Something Real.
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New Show:
A Trio of Podcasts
To complement Curtis Fox's current Manifesto on Podcasts, we're
featuring a few interesting examples of the genre submitted to
Transom over the past year or so.
- "Frickin Circus" by Frick is part audio blog, part travel
show, part behind-the-scenes look at The Circus.
- "Dial-A-Stranger" by Zachary Kent and Mercedes Martinez takes
questions from random strangers (like you), and poses them to
other strangers (like you) on the telephone.
- "Love & Radio" Produced by Nick van der Kolk is somewhere
between NPR and a shockumentary special. It's a surreal journey
into a confusing world of ex-lovers, ex-cult members, and fruit.
Lots of fruit.
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Other Recent Updates by Category...
Fake City, Real Dreams
Zak Rosen is a radio producer. Neil Greenberg is a map-maker. They're both from Detroit, but their hearts are in a different city, a city they think is possible--at least in the imagination and maybe in reality.
The radio piece they made together treats this place as if it were real. It is a creative exercise that hints at a plausible future. Fake City, Real Dreams is unlike any "arts feature" you've heard before.
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The SELF CINEMA Project
Transom, in association with Flik International Movie Festival, is seeking multi-media self-portraits to be featured at the festival and on the site. We'll offer honoraria to those we put on Transom. All stories must be non-fiction, under five minutes, and include both audio and visual components. The visual can literally reflect the story, or complement it – your choice. Along with your soundtrack, you can use photo slideshows, cut up old films and videos, animation, footage of locations or related imagery, or even a series of hand drawings. Whatever works for the story.
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Curtis Fox
Curtis Fox runs a small podcast production company whose main clients are The Poetry Foundation, The New Yorker, and Parents Magazine. He comes out of public radio, where he contributed to many shows, including All Things Considered, Studio 360 and On the Media. He worked on staff for a now defunct show called The Next Big Thing, producing radio drama, cultural journalism, interviews and personal essays. He lives in Brooklyn with a his wife and two young daughters.
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Jesse Hardman
Producing in a war zone, editing in a foreign language, circumventing censorship, collaborating with Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, and Catholic staff, making radio far away from here. Jesse Hardman and his team from Sri Lanka have been on Transom for the last month or so. They've left wonderful comments about their work, full of an intensity about the importance of radio journalism. Come be re-invigorated about what we do and its possibilities, however difficult to realize, around the world. Our downloadable issue of The Transom Review is ready.
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Elizabeth Arnold
Now you can download Elizabeth's frank and useful Manifesto "On Interviewing," along with her dialog with Transom users. Elizabeth talks about interview situations from Alaska to Sri Lanka to Mongolia to Capital Hill. "I don't think being dispassionate necessarily translates into fairness or even objectivity. Often it translates into a boring story where you can actually feel the distance between the reporter and the subject and even more troubling to me, the reporter or host can often sound downright condescending. I hate that!"
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...more reviews »
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HHb FlashMic DRM85
Continuing in Transom's tradition of reviewing the new digital
field gear for radio reporting, our Tools Editor Jeff Towne has
just finished testing the HHb FlashMics, in both cardioid and
omni versions. He posits, "What if you could have a good
interview mic, and not worry about cables, or phantom power, or
whether the mic is compatible with your recorder? What if you
could hold it and operate it with one hand? Well, you can." This
is a unique field recorder, albeit expensive and with a few
other downsides--but, depending on your requirements, certainly
a tool you should check out.
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Olympus LS-10
TOOLS Editor Jeff Towne has been living and working with another of the new little digital recorders and just added his review to our roster. Like all Jeff's reviews, it approaches the machine from the radio producer's perspective, complete with lots of photos, sound tests, and a comparision chart. The Olympus LS-10, depending on your needs, is pretty close to the mark... and it's cute, especially when it's wearing its little earmuff windscreens.
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Sony PCM-D50
Transom is committed to testing new tools for public radio producers. To that end, our TOOLS editor Jeff Towne has reviewed a lot of the new small digital recorders. They're getting better. In fact, of the Sony PCM-D50, Jeff says, "Among all the small handheld flash recorders, the Sony D50 certainly is near the front of the pack. It does most things right, with only a few minor problems, and no tragic flaws." So, it's not quite perfect, but if you're in the market, you should check out this review.
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...more tools »
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