Radio Heaven

This weekend comes as a much-needed relief for (many, if not all of) the radio kids, who are in the throes of script-writing mania: Third Coast Audio Festival, woo! The majority of us are headed out to Chicago for the next few days to simmer in the company of radio aficionados, and, with any luck, absorb some of the talent and skills of the Greats we so admire...

So simmer we shall.

I'm hoping Third Coast will help me navigate some murky genre waters— namely, the ambiguous line between sound art vs. documentaries. Is it OK to bend some rules if it makes the piece more artistically catchy? Can we create a sound to supplement for something that is "soundless," as we know it (i.e.,dreams, flashbacks, etc)? To what extent can tape be sonically manipulated before the meaning of the original content is lost, making our story "misleading?" This conversation has arisen more than once both inside and outside the classroom, so it'll be interesting to discover the approaches of other producers... Especially since some of us are itching to dive into sound art... One radio undertaking at a time, though.

But lately I've been second-guessing my decision to participate in this conference. After all, it'll be my first foray into the larger radio society, and I'd like to do it with poise and grace. I hope I'll be able to suppress my urge to behave like a 13 year-old girl at a Backstreet Boys, but my fear is that my giddiness will render me a simpering idiot... Will it be too much to ask to meet Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva in person (!!!) and leave with some integrity still intact?

I guess we'll find out.