So, what kinds of stories are good for audio? There is a common misconception that an audio story needs to be about something “audio rich” – like a story about a rock band or a the history of a noisy factory. It’s not true. As long as your story has character, emotion, or an element of surprise – its already audio rich!
Take some time and secret yourself away – put on a good set of headphones and explore these links. Think about the story YOU want to tell, an idea that YOU may have always wanted to investigate.
What are the voices, scenes, environments or spaces where your story unfolds?
Neil's curated playlist for 1/30/2018
Examples:
NPR Podcasts
WNYC Podcasts
https://www.wnyc.org/podcasts/
RadioLab
*The hypnotist and the warts
https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/299045
Memory Palace
*Natural Habitat
http://thememorypalace.us/2016/07/natural-habitat/
Radiotopia
*Project Cybersyn
https://radio.radiotopia.fm/?utm_campaign=passive&utm_source=radiotopia.fm&utm_medium=Navbar
*Dumb shit we do
http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/strangers/dumb-sh-t-we-do-3-stow-away
This American Life
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/241/20-acts-in-60-minutes
(Great show – but the stories are longer format)
Storytime at the apes nest
Sci-gasm Podcast
Transom
Example story http://transom.org/2014/bringing-wes-home/
Example of a story http://transom.org/2014/the-texture-of-glass/
*Example of a story http://transom.org/2014/how-to-be-a-girl/
Now, let me introduce you to THE godfather of podcasting; radioartist Joe Frank - Listen to k2, Bliss and an Existential Journey - https://www.joefrank.com/listen/
Sadly, Joe died in January of 2018 - This segment of "on the media" is a tribute to his work. https://www.wnyc.org/story/joe-frank-known-unknown/
Here are a few long format examples of Joe's art:
https://www.joefrank.com/shows/unfictional/
://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/unfictional/joe-frank-reality-check
http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/unfictional/joe-frank-a-conversation
Here be monsters - https://www.hbmpodcast.com/
Unorthodox - "Unorthodox is a smart, fresh, fun weekly take on Jewish news and culture" http://www.tabletmag.com/author/unorthodox
Just for fun - The Golden Age of radio!! – Before television superseded radio as the medium of choice
https://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio
100 outstanding pieces of audio from 2017 selected by Bello
://bellocollective.com/100-outstanding-pieces-of-audio-for-2017-c328b3cae530
Finally - Here are some examples of student work.
Here are 2 examples of student projects that don’t quite make the cut. There’s nothing “wrong” with this work – But you should aspire for to do MORE with your project.
Example 1 - This piece relies an awful lot on one element – a song – which is very strong – but the audio program itself is not evocative … at least not to me. It relies too much on work that someone else created.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx8tLuopgaw
Example 2 - Consider the way the music and sound design works, or doesn’t work with the piece. How would you re-edit this piece? What would you add, change, omit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcIMNDBfHO0