Audio Track

The last time I ever created an audio track was for my marketing class in High School. For that particular assignment I had to create a commercial and even then I remembered I was frustrated and confused. It took a lot of effort but I managed to finish my commercial. I had hope I would be able to naturally recall what I learned four years ago and transfer it into this project.

My first step was to figure out what software to use. Unfortunately, I was quickly aware that I did not remember a single thing from my marketing assignment. I am completely and utterly out of my element. What do I do when I need answers? I go straight to Google! That search led me to “Free Audio Editor.” I proceeded to download the file with caution and find some YouTube videos I could convert to MP3. The songs that I chose was “2NE1 – I Don’t Care (Instrumental)” and “Park Bom – Don’t Cry (Instrumental).” From there, it was time to figure out how Free Audio Editor actually works. I began playing around and tried to overlap the music. The most challenging part was figuring out where to cut/paste the music in order to make the smoothest transition. That took a bit of trial and error but I eventually completed the task!  Next, I added my introduction and I assumed I was all set. However to my disappoint when I played the audio track, I realized the background music was too loud. This was the part where I face palmed and realized the magical tool that is the fade in/fade out effect. I used this tool in the middle and end of my audio track. Within a few more tries, my audio file was complete and I was ready to export it onto my blog.

I recalled the Professor provided the class with a useful tip to use Dropbox. I created an account, upload the file, and copied the link. It’s a great application to use and I certainly see that I can also use it outside of class!

Overall, this assignment was definitely more difficult than Pixlr. I don’t see myself creating an Audio Track in the future or my professional career, but it was a great learning experience.

Creating the Header

Creating the header wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I had previous photo editing skills so transitioning that onto Pixlr was fairly easy. I wanted my header to be able to summarize what I wish to write about. Therefore the images I used were of cooking and fitness; both of the images I obtained were from zazzle.com. I made a collage out of the images and spent most of my time playing around with the design and effects. Did I want to use a border? Should I blur some images? Do I want to include texts? Ultimately, I decided to include words that I believe are important for an individual to be fully balanced. Health, body, mind, and soul is a mantra I like reciting. After saving the image as a jpeg, I proceeded to upload it onto my WordPress dashboard.

I would say I am not at all 100% satisfied with the header. As time goes on, I might consider changing it. The reason is because it seems too simple. But then again I may just have too high of an expectation. What I do know is that I must start looking into Photoshop. I need an image manipulation program in my life. If my classes don’t require them, my organizations and Fraternity that I am apart of certainly do. Every so often I am required to make a flyer or a banner or edit photos. It takes me longer trying to manipulate certain pictures so that they are aligned correctly. Learning how to use Photoshop would just be a more effective and efficient tool that I can surely incorporate in my everyday life. However for now, I will just have to live with using Pixlr as my go-to photo editing program. Pixlr has been of great use to me over the years, and I am excited to have the opportunity to re-familiarize myself with it for this project.