Several months ago, I had to complete a project which required creating an educational podcast and posting it on YouTube. The subject was left to my discretion! – Scary thought isn’t it! However, it had to be educational. I decided to do my project vis-à-vis Iranian music, a totally new chapter for me! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy music. Nonetheless, it’s rather foreign to me.
The background research for the project was the most difficult part; yours truly studied for hours to learn about the different types of music and all the details that went along with it. The technologies that I selected for the project were as follows: Audacity for the narrative sections, MSWord for keying in the story, Windows Live Movie Maker, and finally YouTube server was used to post the completed project. Once I had the technology all selected, I had to decide on what kind of music to play for my classmates’ and instructor’s listening pleasure. After all, it’s difficult to listen to lyrics in a foreign lingo, especially, the traditional music of a foreign country. While searching for different types of music, I came across a YouTube video of a music ensemble called Shams. The song that I selected was so happy and cheerful and the instruments that the group used were aligned with my research project. The search for music had finally paid off. Although, the project was successfully completed, I still have nightmares about it!! Just Kidding! :0
Just Recently, I had the opportunity to take my parents to see the Shams ensemble live at a concert in Irvine. The expression on my parents' face was incredible. It was an opportunity to relax after weeks of hard work in graduate school and a chance to spend time with my loving parents.
