Road Trip Radio

by Lisa Tharpe

Follow along and discuss Lisa's travels in TALK

Why radio? I like to talk. I like telling stories. I love listening to stories. Radio seemed like a perfect fit. What I have found is that I am good at getting people to talk to me, particularly strangers. I am not so good at turning bits of sound, anecdotes, and thoughts into actual stories. I have spent the last decade drilling basic story structure: beginning-middle-end, character, problem/solution, (surprise if possible) into the heads of literally hundreds of 8 and 9 year-olds and yet I'm having an incredibly hard time practicing what I've preached. I've got the sounds but how do I turn those sounds/interviews into stories? I'm becoming more comfortable with the technical aspects, though my learning curve here has been dishearteningly steep, but the crafting of narrative and getting a piece to "flow" is daunting.

Over the past six months, drifting between family and friends and five states, I have managed to collect hours and hours of tape. I record everything that catches my ear: airport restrooms, slamming lockers, bees, trains, even my dry hands. I have interviewed anyone willing to let me put a microphone very close to their face including a large animal veterinarian, a born-again hipster artist living in the Chelsea Hotel, a philosopher, and my paternal grandmother (who I hadn't spoken to in 24 years). What I need to do now is take some of that tape and make something out of it.

I'll stay here in Ann Arbor for a few weeks then head back to San Francisco for Christmas with my mother and, hopefully, a few weeks of intense editing and story making. Then to Colorado to see my father who I haven't seen in 19 years. A trip to Europe is in the works as is a road trip through the Pacific Northwest. I'm trying to just let things happen so any or all of this is subject to change. I like the idea of virtual company so, please, come along and put in your two cents.

Thanks to the lovely people at Transom, I have the next six months to work through my audio ordeals and epiphanies in a public forum. Hopefully, I'll get suggestions, insight, and prodding from you, my readers, and some technical help from the masters at Transom. You are cordially invited to come along for what is sure to be a bumpy ride.

Tech Info

My friend Mitch has loaned me a Sharp MD-SR60, an audio-technica AT822 stereo mic, a very heavy mic stands that looks dangerous in an X-ray machine, all of the cables to hook everything together, and a lovely black bag to carry it all in.  He even threw in fifteen 80-minute mini discs.

I purchased Sony MDR-7506 headphones, a Beyer M58 dynamic mic.  My 2003 iBook died shortly after I embarked on this adventure.  So I got a Apple MacBook. I love my MacBook but I’ve had to send it back to Apple twice since getting it in late July.  I use GarageBand, which came with the computer, for editing.

About Lisa Tharpe

Lisa Tharpe

I enjoy sleeping, eating, talking to strangers, sitting in museums, roaming farmer’s and flea markets, visiting new places, and hanging out in my kayak.  I have spent the last eleven years teaching third and fourth graders in the San Francisco Unified School District.

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