I've used media to shame people into proper behavior. -Tony Schwartz

It is the end of a typical day here in Portland, Maine. Many of you call and leave messages, wondering how things are going and often I find it very difficult to produce succinct and revealing answers by phone. For some reason, my descriptions cannot describe the week I have just finished, my first week here at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies (www.salt.edu).

Located at the end of Congress Street, Salt is about a 30 minute walk from my little rented apartment on the third floor of a Victorian home. So far, I walk with my flatmate Tommy, another Salt student, and we recap our days in the darkroom (tommy) or in radio class (jessica). We flesh out story ideas and reveal insecurities….it is a cathartic way to start the day.

This week has been cold.

My water bottle's contents froze on the way to school this morning and I lost feeling in my right hand (despite two layers of gloves). My face is covered in a ski-ish mask and together the two roommates push through the wind, heads down and backs arched. The coffee run is always required and the heat of Portland's tiny cafes (of which there are many) breaks up our 30 minute trek. We continue the walk, enter our four story building, and eventually part ways. I head to the radio room.
We start each class with a good listen. "Some of the best audio you'll ever hear," according to Rob Rosenthal, one of our radio teachers. Rob's humor is sometimes acerbic, always pointed, forever honest. He wants us to learn to listen actively but mostly, he wants our ears to distinguish new sonic elements. We discuss sound (today we talked about "nat" or natural sound) and Rob explains the best way to record waves from a local ferry. We discuss the tones of different situations: popcorn popping, someone swallowing. We debate the challenges (and brilliance) of recording conversations with very young children. Eventually we break up into even smaller groups and reveal our story ideas (all of which must be about the state or the people of Maine). My classmates are playing around with myriad concepts: nighttime coyote hunting, drag king shows, the cloning of beef, record (as in the kind you listen to) collectors, female herbologists, and Chinese acunpuncturists working in rural areas. My story ideas are many and currently I'm playing with the following: child pageants (specifically for boys), Evangelical Christian maternity homes for pregnant teens, elementary-school-girl-jump-rope-songs, cloistered nuns, and insomniacs. By May 19th, we must create two 6-minute pieces (one narrated and one un-narrated). It is amazing what people can do in 15 weeks; I just hope I can do it too.

I think I may have found my niche in this big, wide world. We talk about documentary all day. About stories and the people who tell them, about arcs and climaxes, clichés and leading questions. We discuss our goals and the possible pitfalls, realistic expectations and likely disappointments. What does it mean to tell a story through sound? It includes an entirely new interaction with street noise, ambience, nature, ambulances, trees falling, buses whizzing, snow crushing under feet encased in enormous rubber boots…...I've never heard the outside world so sharply as I do after class.

I hope to send you occasional emails with updates on my stories (whatever they may be) while also including links to some of the best radio docs we listen to in class. Know that there are many each day but I will include only a few for your listening pleasure. I hope you might take some time to stop your day whether you are studying or tax-paying or researching stocks or cooking or cleaning or even reading (!) to listen to the ones I recommend….not only will it give you a better idea of the craft I am learning, it will also increase your documentary listening-literacy (something that never hurts, right?).

Tomorrow we head to Gardiner, Maine. Leaving at 6am, we head into what Rob Rosenthal calls "East Jesus." Basically we're driving into the middle of nowhere to find a story and document it within an eight-hour period. Each group has one writer, one radio person, one photographer. We'll have to negotiate storylines and space….we'll have to walk down Main Street and look for that story waiting to be told. I think we'll hit the funeral parlor first…I really want to chat with the resident make-up artist.....

For today's clip, I want you to listen to the work of the incredible "Kitchen Sisters." Working as a duo, Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson are based in California. They started a series called "Lost and Found Sound;" some of you may know it very well but some may not. No matter where you fall, check out this fantastic story they did on sound pioneer Tony Schwartz. It will blow your mind and make you think differently about all things audio..

You'll need to download real player (www.real.com) in order to listen to this. It is free so there is no excuse. Let me know what you think when you have a chance to listen (even if it is in 12 months).

Link:

http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/990226.stories.html

Once you download "real player" you may need to click on "G2 Sure Stream" in order to get the clip to start.