Jimmy and Jewel:
A Love(?) Story
Produced by Jason Rayles
Our APM cottage for artists in residence.
|
|
|
Intro by Jay Allison
Jason Rayles came to Woods Hole and did one of our unpredictable artist residencies at the Atlantic Public Media cottage. He made a piece and then, after talking to everyone around here, he made another. We're featuring both of them here on Transom and hope they give you something interesting to think about.
Notes from Jason Rayles
Jason's grandfather's car - now Jason's.
|
|
|
Here's a bit about the process:
I should say that I made the longer arrangement first. I did log all of the
audio, but I ended up making pretty much all of the editing decisions in Pro
Tools, not on paper. I used the log to help me select my favorite quotes
from Jewel and Tami, and I copied and pasted them sequentially on one track.
That was about 50 minutes of audio with no music and with no commentary. I
then arranged the blocks to form the narrative sequence that I wanted. That
exercise informed the esthetic of the long arrangement b/c I liked the
breaks between speakers, and I liked passing the story back and forth from
Jewel and Tami. Originally, there was proportionally much less of Tami, but
as I started deleting the weaker bits and the redundant bits, Tami came to
take a much more prominent role. Most of the editing decisions came down to
what should be thrown out. Just cut cut cut. Like carving out sculpture from
a rock. My final commentary in the longer arrangement was originally near
the end, just before Jewel's final speech, but when I played it for the
folks at transom, Chelsea suggested putting it at the beginning. I couldn't
get that to work, but I think that it really works well moved further up in
the piece. I like handing the story off to Jewel, and letting her walk us out.
The short arrangement was made mostly from feedback that I got from Jay on
the long arrangement. Interestingly, I played the long arrangement for Sandy
Tolan while he was here, and his comments were nearly identical to Jay's.
Jay thought that the relationship was more about me and Jewel than about
Jimmy and Jewel, and that age was an important theme. Also, when I first
described what I was working on to Jay and Viki, I said, "A woman I had
never met before handed me roses...," so that's how I started this
arrangement. I kept the writing as succinct as possible in the middle. I
don't hand the story back to Jewel; rather, she takes one of the listener's
hands, I take the other, and we walk the listener down the road, pointing
out different scenes, and in the end, I walk off in one direction, and she
walks off in the other, and the listener stands contemplating these images
and his own thoughts. I was resistant to making a final comment b/c
everything I said felt like I was imposing a weak interpretation on a story
that I think Jewel sums up so beautifully, but Jay pointed out that it was
not for me to summarize or restate what had already been said, but simply
for me to be there and reflect, however obliquely, on what was acting on me.
That freed up my mind quite a bit, and I am happy with my final comment. I
The APM cottage for guest artists. The lights are usually kept on late.
|
|
|
was tired and impatient when I made my mix, and I am grateful to Viki for
pointing out that a lot of my transitions were rushed, so we sat together
and refined some of the edits. Both of the pieces would be much shoddier had
I been working totally alone.
As for advice, I would say be absolutely sure not to use the limiter on a
da-p1. It just sounds like clipping. I didn't realize that I was using it
when I gave the interviews, so the meters never went over, but there are
loud parts that I cut b/c they sounded so bad. It ended up being a blessing
in disguise b/c it forced me to shorten the clips of Tami, which made her a
relatively minor character. Also, Alan, the singer, was late for our
recording session, which happened just before choir practice at his church.
I should have recorded the organ while we were waiting for him, but instead
Linda and I sat and talked, so that by the time I got around to recording
them, the choir was filing in, people were shuffling around and rustling
plastic bags, all of which you can hear in the recording. I should have been
more forceful in my direction with them. It was clear to me afterwards that
they were there to perform in whatever manner I wanted, and that plainly and
politely stating what I needed from them does not make me a jerk.
Tech Notes
I recorded Jewel in her carpeted living room using a Sennheiser K6/ME66 mic
Jason Rayles
|
|
|
and a Tascam da-p1 DAT recorder. I recorded my aunt in her uncarpeted living
room using the same equipment. I recorded the musicians in their church
using Sonic Studios DSM mics and a Sharp MT821 minidisc recorder. The
voiceover for the longer arrangement was recorded in Jay Allison's cottage
studio, and the voiceover for the shorter arrangement was recorded by Viki
Merrick at the WCAI/WNAN studio onto a portadat.
About Jason Rayles
I am a computer programmer and book maker living in
Boston. I sold a bicycle to Bob Boilen (director of
NPR's All Things Considered) several years ago,
and I met Jay Allison after he saw a promotional copy
of my
latest book that I sent to Mr. Boilen. I've discovered
that there are many paths to penury, and I've lately
decided that making stories for public radio is one
of the most entertaining.
Related Links
Jason Rayles Website: www.23grand.com
Jason Rayles Book "FAIR": www.23grand.com/fair/
Additional Support for this work provided by
with funding from the
|
Discuss Show
Email a Friend
Print Page