Make your own Sonic Postcard
If all this sounds really exciting and you want to have a go at making your own Sonic Postcard straight away, we’ve compiled all the resources you need to get started.
First of all you might like to have a read through the Teacher’s Pack to learn more about the project and to try out some of the activities which will help open your ears and help you practise your listening skills!
Now, you’ll need to download Audacity from here. This is the free editing software which enables you to cut-up, re-arrange and mix sounds and also provides many exciting effects which you can explore and add to your composition.
You’ll also need to download LameLib from here. This programme allows you to convert your composition from a WAV file to an MP3 file. Once it has been compressed to an MP3, you’ll be able to e-mail it as an attachment.
OK, you’re ready to start experimenting! In case you don’t have your own recording device, we’ve compiled a library of sounds which you can download and use for your composition. We are constantly adding to the list, but so far we have a varied mix of natural sounds (for example birdsong and waves on the beach), industrial sounds (machinery and traffic) and many interesting and unique sounds too – how about making a composition using the twigs snapping along with the raindrops and seedpods!
You can access the library here. Just click on the sound you want to use and download it to your desktop. You can download as many or as few sounds as you like. And don’t forget, you can also record your own sounds and use those if you have a recording device of some kind.
Once you’ve got the sounds on your desktop, it’s easy to open them in Audacity and begin to edit and compose your own Sonic Postcard – full details of how to do this can be found in the Teacher’s Pack.
When you’ve finished working on your composition and you’re ready to share it with your friends and family, just export it back to your desktop as an MP3 and then attach it to an e-mail. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to send it to us at info@sonicpostcards.org. You never know, it may be featured in the News section of the website so that people all over the world can listen to your Sonic Postcard!
