All audio files taken from https://www.zapsplat.com/
Included is an image of the audacity project, a playable exported mp3 file, a SOURCES file, 3 key moment screenshots, and this README file
My soundscape narrative follows the events taking place at/outside a bar during a stormy day. The main idea was to include multiple "events" that take place during this mostly ambient soundscape, such as cars driving by, birds chirping, the ambiance of the bar goers, and the doors opening. The soundscape begins inside the loud bar, so the "listener" leaves the bar to stand outside in the rain, there are some serene moments, but there are increasingly worrying moments as well, such as a car skidding out and distant ambulance sirens. Overall, I am really happy with how the soundscape came out and I feel that I have achieved my goal. Each event becomes more and more perilous leading up to the car crash at the ending, but these events are interspersed with the ambiance of the birds and the people at the bar, giving a false sense of security, especially when the bar audio fades out and the birds take over.
The process for creating this soundscape was surprisingly not too difficult, as most problems I came across could be googled if too complex or, for simpler problems, I could find a solution pretty quickly with what I already knew. I opted to only use pre-recorded audio files from ZapSplat, since I figured the quality would be better than if I recorded my own audio. This was especially helpful, since most of my sound effects would be very difficult to create on my own, since many have a level of spontaneity to them, such as the thunder claps and birds chirping. Going into this project, I knew I wanted to do something relating to the rain. When I started this project, I was also writing a poem for another class about the ambiance of the rain, which included a lot of audio imagery. So, this soundscape project seemed like a good opportunity to explore the ambiance of the rain even more, with a complete soundscape. I also really wanted to attach a story to the soundscape, so that it wasn't just all ambiance. This narrative can be fairly easily traced throughout the narrative, but the idea is that the "listener" is overwhelmed by the noisy bar and escapes by standing outside and listening to the rain. However, while the rain is serene to listen to, there are moments in which we see the danger that rain can present, such as with the thunder and the car crash.
The first screenshot I have taken focuses on the beginning of the soundscape. The "listener" is inside of the bar at this moment which is why the bar ambience is much louder and clearer. The rainfall also is louder inside; however, it is muffled. After a few seconds the door opens and the listener escapes to the outdoors which flips the effects on the audio, with the rainfall now being clear and the bar ambience now muffled. In order to make the audio sound muffled, I used the Low-Filter Pass effect. To make the transition more seamless I used the Cross-Fade effect and Amplify Effect to make the audio louder or softer as needed and smoothen the transition between the indoor and outdoor tracks. I also made certain to add a diegetic cue for whenever the door was opened in the form of the door opening and closing sound effects, as well as the bell ringing effect.
The second screenshot shows another moment in which the door opening/closing combination of effects is employed, however this time I have given it a second appliance. Prior to the door opening, the bar ambience can no longer be heard and is instead replaced with the sound of birds chirping. This is meant to heighten the serenity of the rain and shift the listener's focus to the birds and away from the bar purposefully. The door opening and closing immediately cuts off the bird chirping and starts the bar ambience up again. This is meant to act as a snap back to focus on what is immediately around the listener as opposed to the serenity of the rain.
The third screenshot included highlights a minor problem that I creatively solved. In between two loops of the rainfall audio there is a light pause in which the rain temporarily subsides. This was an issue, since it made the looping point of the rainfall very obvious and broke the immersion of the soundscape. To fix this problem, I included two new sound effect of thunder claps, which perfectly cover up these quick pauses in the loops. While I could have just made certain that the audio simply did not pause by changing the length of the audio clip itself, I did not want to do this, because I already had everything set up and timed properly, so shifting the rain audio at all would cause the rain track to be shorter than the length of the entire soundscape. I had already planned anyways to add a few extra thunder claps to really enhance the danger feel of the soundscape, so this solution tackled two issues at one time, which was an added bonus.