JulES Bradley

This is a non-exhaustive list of things that helped me get started in audio/radio! I am still learning from all of these resources today and I wanted to put them in a place for others to access. Also, so many of these resources were shared by others, so please let me know if you have something you think I should add to the list. 

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***Check out audio producer Talia Augustidis incredible list of resources here

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[ Read these first ]

• 7 Q's to narrative audio people who want (need) to do better by Bethel Habte

• A thread from Gimlet Union

• A thread by Ariana Martinez

• A thread by Brittany Luse

• A thread by Eric Eddings

• A thread by Kelsey Padgett

• A criticism by C.C. Paschal

• A piece by James T. Green

• Another piece by James T. Green

• *** so many more -- read comments and re-tweets​

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[ Great places to get started! ]​​​

• Transom

• Audioplayground

• WYNC Radio Rookies

• Third Coast Festival Talks

  • ​Under the Skin: Making Audio Visceral - Eleanor McDowall 2016

  • Sound Design 101 - Brendan Baker and Kaitlin Prest 2014

  • Experiments in Generative Sound Design - Stephan Moore 2017

  • So much genius!!! So many more amazing talks!!

• NPR Training​​

• ​Association of Independents in Radio (AIR)  - check out their mentor match

• This American Life - Make Radio

• Join Listservs (email me to be invited to ladio or gaydio)

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[ Newsletters ]

• Belo Collective - just ended! But you can look thru archives

• Starting Out

• Earbuds Collective

• The Audio Storyteller

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[ Workshops and Classes (some free some not) ]

• Salt Institute for Documentary Studies (workshops and 15-week intensive)

• SoundPath

• Union Docs

• Podcast Garage

• Your local library or community media center (how I got started)

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[ Podcasts about making podcasts ]

• HowSound - Transom

• Re:sound

• Telling Stories - (My favorite!)

• Tape

• Out on the wire - a book! But is amazing!! 

[ Sound/Sound Design ]

• Third Coast Talk with Kaitlyn Prest and Brendan Baker

• Constellations: platform for sound design-rich audio with a lot of resources and amazing pieces to listen to

• Let’s Learn About Waveforms: very basic, easy to understand basics of sound

• Sound Basics: basics of EQ, compression, reverb, delay (short but pretty useful)

• In the mix: Youtube channel with a ton of videos about mixing and sound design

• I also love watching music producers work through mixes!! I learn a lot about plug-ins, building a session, building layers etc

• Play and have fun with sound design it's like doodling!!!

[ Sounds and music ]

• Freesound: database for free and downloadable sounds

• Archival Tape: A list of a few the places to find archival tape (a lot on youtube)

• youtube --> mp3: strip sounds/news clips off of youtube

• Create your own sound library! Record your own sounds the way you want to record them they may come in handy

• My Youtube Playlist

• Copyright free music 

[ Recording and Editing ]​

Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) aka editing softwares: 

• Reaper: less expensive, open source, very malleable (I use this and really love it and have a millions reasons why )

• Pro Tools: expensive, but has a student discount, industry standard (bleh)

• Hindenburg: used in a lot of journalism, cool shapes

• Audition: Adobe’s editing software, a lot of student's get it for free

• Audacity: Free and pretty simple

• Garage band: free, simple, built into Macs

*The basic editing functions are pretty similar in each software! It’s more a matter of capacity and the extent of sound design you want to include ( you can make something just as good on garage band as on protools )

[ Editing videos/resources ]

• Videos:

  • Reaper for Radio

  • Brendan Baker on Reaper

  • In the Mix

• A ton of the resources I listed above from NPR, Transom, and my youtube playlist

*There are plenty of others online. There are also a ton of music specific editing resources that can translate to podcasting​

[ Recording equipment ]

• Your phone is great! Expensive equipment is not a necessity for excellent audio storytelling! But, if you are interested I've listed some equipment below ( I didn't get all this right away, you can take your time to pull together you kit)

• Standard field equipment: (Mic, recording device, headphone, windscreen, cables)

  • My equipment (in case you want to ask questions about)

  • Microphone  (Took me a few years to get this)

  • Headphones

  • Recording device

• Standard studio (at home) recording: (Mic, mic stand, pre-amp, headphones, soundproofing)

• Resources:

  • Transom gear guide (pretty outdated, but good resource to learn about mics etc.)

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[ Finding work/freelancing ]

*I am no expert and this is different for everyone but here are a few resources to help with logistics around freelancing, being paid fairly, and finding work. I wish I could put more here but I'm still learning.

• AIR's rate guide (a bit out dated but a good place to start)

• Tax info 1

• Tax info 2

• Contracts

• A lot more on Air's freelancer tools

• Upwork - some short term editing/production gigs to start out!

• Listervs (Ladio, gaydio, PublicradioNYC, Sonicesoiree, etc)

• Newsletters - Belo Collective, Studyhall etc

• Email people! Connect! Connect locally too! Collaborate! Twitter!

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[ Pieces, sounds, stories, sounds and shows I love and you may too (I add to this alot) ]

• BBC4 Short Cuts 

• BBC4 Lights Out

• Bats by Jesse Lawson

• This Moose Might Survive by Andrew Schwartz

• Perfect Love by Ariana Martinez

• A Walk Through My Cũcũ's Farm - Nyokabi Kariũki

• PMHx by James T. Green

• A Tree is Not a Forest by Ray Pang

• The Last Morning Was a Sweet One by Alix Blair

• Afterwords: Mary Oliver by El McDowall, BBC 3

• Lay My Body Right Here by Julie Conquest

• The Last Taboo by Redzi Bernard and Phoebe McIndoe (TW: CSA), for Lights Out BBC4

• MOONFACE by James Kim

• Finn and the Bell by Rumble Strip

• Divesting from People Pleasing by NK, the Heart

• Deep Time and the Sparrowhawk by Jaye Kranz for Lights Out, BBC4

• SoundHouse: Listening rooms curated by Ariana Martinez, Axel Kacoutié and Arlie Adlington

• So many more, I add to this periodically 

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*non-exhaustive list, I will continue to add to it!

Email me at jules.g.bradley@gmail.com if you have something for me to add to the list!

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