Prologue

Over the years, I’ve worked harder and harder to find meaning in life. But the more I've looked, the more I’ve wondered if I was going about my search the wrong way.

I've been looking for meaning through experience, but I think now that I've always had it backwards. Life will never be defined by extravagant experience, but about finding extravagance in common experience. So for 2009, I'm going to focus less on living large, and focus more on living well. Each month I'll start a new month-long project (like trying to run 3 miles faster than George Bush), to find uncommon results from common experience. Each project will involve daily activity, so every day of 2009 you can check my progress on the monthly projects and see what I discover.

None of these projects will cost much—in fact, I think most will be free. So if you're looking for a year uncommonly rich, you can join me. There's no membership required, just participate and comment if you want. Either way, get ready for a year I hope is unlike any other.

Epilogue

I stumbled across the finish line, but I manage to complete 8 of the month-long projects successfully. Blogging is now over at Wonderfam!

 
 

It's September, and September was a …

A Month of Accomplishment (about)

 

~ or ~

 

Forcing myself to finish something (about)

 

02
02

The value of wise counsel

Written by Nathan on February 2, 2009 at 11:58 pm from A Month of Listening.

After so many painful pitfalls during the Month of Resolve, rooted so often in my ignorance, you would think I would’ve prepared myself well for my second project. But after wrestling with microphones and recorders, and tonight with how to create a video of a single static image, it’s apparent the obvious lessons are eluding me.

Today I sat down with Robert Andrescik, long-time friend, colleague and perhaps of any person I know the most versed in the art of the interview. Over his professional career he’s conducted or arranged interviews with too many major media organizations and prominent public figures to count.

At the risk of exposing my extraordinary novice, I thought it wise to take a few tips from a seasoned veteran. Hopefully his advice, in addition to making me generally a better listener, will also give me a bit more flair for the interviews coming up.

UPDATE: Video’s finally ready.

Year of Months / A Month of Listening Day 2 from Nathan Clark on Vimeo.

Today: Listening to Robert Andrescik, Director of Public Relations for Northland Church, former editor for New Man Magazine and long-time journalist.

(8) Comments

8 Responses to “The value of wise counsel”

  1. Big Guns says:
    February 3, 2009 at 9:57 am

    An interview about interviewing. Next we need a recording about recording.

  2. Nathan Clark says:
    February 3, 2009 at 10:16 am

    Maybe I’ll complete the meta overload and comment about the value of commenting.

  3. Leland says:
    February 3, 2009 at 10:21 am

    Great start! I think what he had to say is very helpful to everyone. I think I may be able to go a little overboard on the research. When it comes to meeting new people. It would be awkward if I knew all the places they’ve lived and what their shoe size is.

  4. ScottyA says:
    February 3, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    This is great Nathan.

  5. Geof F. Morris says:
    February 3, 2009 at 9:11 pm

    This is not at all what I expected you to sound like, Nathan. And I was confused as to why you were using Vimeo and not just an MP3 … so why are you? Is it so people can share your Vimeo videos? That seems like a nice way to pimp the site. [Like, if you interview me? I'm totally going to embed the video.]

    Also, as a recording nerd, I have to ask what you’re using for recording. I’m a MicroTrack and Tascam DR-1 user. Are you using on-board mics or what? [I think on-board, given that Robert was very much in the sound cone and you sounded distant.]

  6. Nathan Clark says:
    February 3, 2009 at 10:46 pm

    I’m working on the MP3s with a month-specific podcast. I wasn’t planning on the challenges with either the recording device or getting the files ready, so I’m behind on that. But I’ve re-recorded my interview with my wife, so tomorrow I should be able to get the podcasts with proper MP3s ready.
    As for vimeo, I thought the visual was helpful, and like you said – people can embed away.
    I think I’m using a MacMice MicFlex USB mic. Working on a replacement if I can get ahead of the game, but if this ends up sufficing I may just stick with it and save the cash. (I had looked at the zoom h2, but couldn’t find it locally…) Recommendations are welcome.

  7. Geof F. Morris says:
    February 9, 2009 at 4:36 pm

    For on-board mics, I like the old Tascam DR-1, which I know is now replaced. SoundProfessionals has the DR-07, which is the next-gen model, on sale for $199 through Valentine’s Day. They pitch it as a lower-cost H2 competitor, and I think I’d argue for that. I’ve made passable concert bootlegs with my DR-1.

    For general recording, I love the MicroTrack II from M-Audio. It comes with a single-point stereo mic that fits into the 1/8″ stereo mini input, but also has S/PDIF and two 1/4″ mono channels. You can find many adapters that convert an XLR into two discrete L-R 1/4″ outputs, including a handful designed specifically for the MicroTrack.

    I like the MicroTrack for two reasons:

    1) It uses Compact Flash, and as I upgrade my DSLR, I have a bunch of older, slower cards to use. I run out of battery before I run out of storage.

    2) The variety of inputs to the MicroTrack allows you to upgrade mics, add pre-amps, and keep your base unit. It’s like starting out with a low-end DSLR; the higher-end stuff are things like Sound Devices’ 722, which is … expensive.

  8. GFMorris.com » links for 2009-02-09 says:
    February 9, 2009 at 9:30 pm

    [...] Year of Months // February: A Month of Listening -or- 28 people worth listening to » The value of w… In which I provide Nathan a bunch of blather about audio recording. (tags: gfmorris_comment recording_equipment) [...]

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