HYPERTEXT PROJECT 3: The multitalent needed for multimedia
Still searching for a better instrument than the harmonica. Went antiquing yesterday and found three guitars, two autoharps, and a dulcimer. The dulcimer looked like something I could handle but it only had three strings out of five. One of the autoharps looked really promising but it was $95. Of the three guitars, the cheapest really didn’t have a great sound and when something’s marked “as is” and I don’t know what’s wrong with it, I’ll back off. Strummed a bit, but had to face facts that I really don’t know how to play a guitar and would likely be more disappointed with the plinking and strumming I’d be capable of doing in comparison to the original professional piece than with my harmonica-playing.
What new media does teach is that it is rare for one artist to be able to handle all three elements–words, images, and audio–well. New media, to be at its best, is unfortunately, a team effort. With my poem Recycling it was difficult to do the voiceover since my voice sounds like a munchkin when recorded. With the visuals, I ended up drawing each image that I couldn’t photograph (i.e., the earth, Mars, Poe, and Jesus Christ) and none is at its best.
And so my harmonica playing, well, it leaves much to be desired and am depending heavily on sound effects (like echo, which is how I “masked” my Recycling voice).
Tough to keep things original and strive for non-hokey.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology