Bonus Q&A: Jay's Audio Journey

We recently shared our first quarterly update, where we brought our supporters behind-the-scenes to share what we've been up to when we aren't releasing a new season. 

Part of this update includes a Q&A with Jay Avery, who joined the team in March as our new producer (and is currently hard at work for a new season of Threshold). Today, we're sharing a bonus question from that Q&A with our Base Camp community.

~

Q - Up until joining Threshold, you’ve primarily worked in written journalism. What have been the biggest challenges in learning how to use the equipment and unique strategies that come with audio journalism? What have you enjoyed the most about this process?

Jay - When I’m interviewing someone for a written piece, I don’t have to concern myself with how the audio sounds. I just need to capture their words. The most difficult thing about audio journalism has been creating the circumstances in which the interviewee sounds the best, taking into account the environment, extraneous noises, volume levels, and a host of other things involved in working with a sensitive recording device!

But it’s so enjoyable and rewarding to listen to the audio I’ve captured. In writing, you can’t capture a person’s cadence, the rises and falls of their vocal tones, or the passion behind their words. You can describe these things, but it hits different to actually hear it from the person’s mouth. An elder that I interviewed instinctively lowered her voice to almost a whisper when saying the words “white person.” When she was my age, she could have been lynched for talking about a white person aloud, and so, this lowering of the voice comes from her understanding of how to survive in America. Instances like this is where audio storytelling really shines, because it allows listeners to hear the nuance for themselves.

~

For the rest of Jay's Q&A, and what else our team has been up to, you can read our first quarterly update here! And keep an eye out for the next one (coming your way in January)!