Documenting the Big Red Cycle

Martina Callanan, spokesperson for Galway Cycling Campaign asked me to record vox pops of the attendees of the Big Red Cycle in support of a trial cycleway in Salthill. As an avid cyclist in firm support of improved cycling infrastructure, I was delighted to oblige. I had also attended other Sunday morning Galway community cycles before.

Using a Zoom H1n (I prefer to use the smaller Zoom instead of the H4n, as it’s less intimidating than the larger device – people nearly ignore the H1n), I interviewed 30 attendees, ensuring a mix of genders and ages. After this I thinned the 30 snippets to 20 quality responses and edited them in Adobe Audition CC, processing the audio and arranging an arc of statements in a way that flowed.

I took the mixed down piece (2 minutes long, so it could be easily added to social media posts), and I used Headliner to create and audiogram video, correcting the auto transcription for local vernacular and separating out sentences. The subtitles were key for sharing on social where people don’t have audio enabled, but also for accessibility. I shared the transcript with Galway Cycling Campaign too, so they could pick out quotes to share.