Natural Sound

I enjoy natural sound stories because they let the subjects speak for themselves, and I usually find this to be more captivating in human interest pieces. When we watched the story last week about the insects all over that minor league ballpark, it made me appreciate just how many different types of sounds and sources can be used, edited, and fused together to create such a good piece. The how-to guide, like the photography guide before it, gives alot of practical information and tips that I feel like should be obvious - but of course in hindsight I failed to do many of these things when trying to get my radio piece done. I'm starting to notice a trend here.

Watching some winter olympics coverage got me thinking. It would be fun to do one of these types of stories about a unique niche sport that not many people know about, like curling. Following a team for a few days during practices and games could be quite enlightening. What is the crowd like at say, a college-level curling showdown? Are there any countries where fans paint their faces, have coordinated chants, and buy overpriced beer/food/souvenirs for their favorite curlers? Can I get a pack of curling cards? Curling replica jerseys? But I digress...

- Justin Ray