For the collected sound that I decided to use was the shower sound. The sound simply consists of a shower going off in a steady stream. For a scene that I could imagine this sound being apart of would be a hot metal object being submerged in cold water or snow, resulting in a sizzling type of sound. This could be apart of a really dramatic scene that is set during the turn of the century when branding was still a popular practice. The scene could consist of a brander going to brand a horse or some sort of animal. And as the the brander goes in to brand the horse, a really intense animal activist, which aren’t highly popular at the time, comes bursting through the doors and begins fighting with the brander. They begin fighting and it gets really intense. Meanwhile, there is snow outside. As the fight begins to escalate, they push through the doors and end up outside. While the fighting is in progress, the branding iron is in the hand of the brander who tries to brand the animal activist. Once they hit outside, the animal activist ends up flipping the branding iron out of the brander’s hand and it goes flying into the snow. This creates a sizzling sound, aka the shower. Throughout the scene, there is screaming and some exchanging of words. Also, there is really dramatic music playing in the background to balance out with the other sounds of fighting. Majority of the sounds throughout the scene consist of shuffling, the sound of metal banging, a fire, and screeching sounds. I think the shower sound would compliment the sound of the hot iron spinning into the air and landing in the snow.

I really enjoyed the opening scene of Limetown. With the layering of the helicopter noise and radio signals I was able to immediately make an assumption about: where this is taking place, what this is about and what people this could involve. Before the man even began talking I pictured a big news coverage event. Either a car crash, a house fire or a murder scene. Once the man began talking I was pleased to find out that what he had to say was going to be negative, because that is exactly what I had imagined from the brief sounds prior to his introduction of the Limetown event.

For me, the most interesting part of the clip was about half way through at 16:30. This is when the woman introduces a “montage of voices.” With a subtle music soundtrack playing in the background, a voice begins by saying where he was during the event. Immediately following, a girl’s voice comes in, next an older woman; continuing, a variety of voices are placed next to each other. What’s interesting is that every blurb a person is saying seems to be layered under the blurb following. By this I mean that there is no pause in-between voices. Only the very ending of each voice recording seems to be slightly layered underneath the very beginning of the following voice recording. This presents a very smooth and interesting perception of what the woman originally introduced as a “montage of voices.”

Prior to hearing this I was only familiar with montages being used in a visual setting. Whether it be a montage of pictures, for example a bar mitzvah slide show; or a montage of scenes, for example a recollection of past events in a movie, I never considered a different media could attain a similar effect. The “montage of voices” in Limetown made me feel emotional. Hearing personal accounts back to back of the hardship these people faced made me realize something. The tones in the different voices were very telling of how the person has mentally and emotionally dealt with losing their loved one. Some had a stern and steady voice; others portrayed a shaky and teary voice in their blurbs. Being introduced to a montage in a audio setting was an eye-opening experience for me.

I listened to Limetown, and what I first noticed were the different layers of sound during the introduction, specifically in the news broadcast recreations. I really liked the sequence starting at 2:55. The blending in and out of different news anchors speaking reminded me a lot of the title sequence from the movie Miracle. The variety of the sequence, especially in broadcast languages, gives the listener a good idea of how far reaching the news of this event was. I don’t think the technique is very hard (I could be wrong), and it adds a great effect to the realism of the podcast.

Another interesting sound I noticed was the clicking of cameras in the background. The first occurrence at 2:38 was very hectic. The clicking sound was constant, and I thought it seemed a little unrealistic at first, like there were too many cameras. However, as the episode went on and worldwide interest was established the intensity of the clicking track made sense. The camera click returned around the 12 minute mark during the congressional hearing. This time it was much less intense, and seemed much more appropriate. It was a definite choice made by the producers to have the same sound tweaked for different situations. An outdoor press briefing would be a lot more chaotic than a smaller, more private hearing.

Creating an engaging podcast creates a unique challenge: finding a way to engage an audience purely through audio without the beats and melodies that typically make music interesting.

Limetown relies on the same concept that originally made Orson Welles’ radio broadcast The War of the Worlds so sensational, making fiction seem authentic. Dropping a narrative that relies on a traditional narrator (“X saw Y and said hello. X and Y walked down the street”) and instead utilizing audio from “real” people makes a listener doubt if what they rationally know to be fiction, really is. The audio recording of the 911 call between operator and caller makes listeners question its authenticity. The lack of clarity of the audio lends itself to making the podcast seem authentic. The orchestrators of Limetown recognizes that just as there are certain benefits to utilizing clear, easily understandable audio, clouded, “chaotic” audio can also help create a certain mood and atmosphere. The difficulty understanding the 911 caller causes a listener straining to hear what’s wrong, just as an operator would. We’re desperate to understand, both as an intrigued audience member and as the 911 operator as we put ourselves in their place. It’s a moment that has us looking over our shoulder as we listen to make sure everything is as it should be.

In contrast, Radio Lab utilizes not a contrast between clarity and chaos, but an insertion of additional sound into dialogue to maintain the listeners attention. What could be a dry retelling of a political tale is instead the adult version of a children’s picture book with sound effect buttons. Radio Lab uses sound to contribute to the narrative, in Limetown the sound is the narrative. Radio Lab makes the use of outside sounds obvious, while Limetown tries to integrate the sound. Ultimately, Limetown’s method proves most advantageous. It creates a stark realism that sets it apart from other podcasts.

Radiolab’s central goal is to rethink the way people receive education. Storytelling and science are fused together in this podcast. The sound design of Radiolab is multilayered and uses these different types of sound to create the most dynamic story possible. The podcast is able to balance the central story, the background facts, and the educational aspect well, while also remaining entertaining. The narrative style of the episode “I Don’t Have to Answer That” is what is most important to the maintenance of this balance. The interviews used to recount Gary Hart’s story are not presented in a traditional back and forth fashion and instead are interwoven together to create a chronological narrative. The hosts provide structure and summary to the narrative. They give the bigger picture story and introduce the journalists who were involved in Hart’s story. The fast edits between the narrating hosts and those being interviewed keep the momentum of the story and provide tension. Music in the background of the narration also assists in changing the pace of the story. A good example of this moment is when the one journalist explains how he cornered Gary Hart. The chase is accompanied by fast paced music, but when he explains actually coming to face to face with the senator, the music stops and a dramatic pause heightens the tension of the moment. This moment is the climax of the story and is a perfect example of using sound editing to change the narrative speed. In this particular moment, the clarity of the storytelling, the music and the absence of sound are combined to put the podcast listener in the story. Overall, moments like this one place the listener closer to the story.

Radiolab used sound throughout the entire podcast to really emphasize the story that was being told. There were a few moments I particularly enjoyed.

I really appreciated how they took parts of clips and put them together. This occurred multiple times in the podcast, but I think it was done best in the beginning when it keep switching from bits of news clips about Gary Hart’s campaign to bits where the radio hosts/guests were speaking. The sound clips were short and, even though they were spoken by different people, mashed up extremely well and sounded like they were meant to be put together. It was a much more interesting way of introducing a person than just listing some facts.

I also really enjoyed how they used music and sound effects to emphasize the words being sad. One particular instance of this was when they were talking about Gary Hart entering a vortex, and then they played an audio clip of him talking mixed with an eerie, swirling noise that imitated his words being lost in a vortex. They also did this at a point where they were talking about how the reporters were lurking around (they played creepy, slow music in the background while this part of the story was being described) that made the story much more exciting. Whenever there was language that could be enhanced with sounds that are popularly associated with those words, the podcast took advantage of it and added the sounds.

Overall, I think the sound design really added to the podcast and helped to keep it interesting. I think that the story could have ended up being really boring if it wasn’t for the use of sound to keep people actively listening. In fact, the parts without sound effects really didn’t grab my attention like the parts that did.

The first real audio editing moment that really caught my attention was at 2:50. The word “gone” is obviously edited. Furthermore, right after the person says “gone”, the rest of the sentence is completely cut off. “Gone” is edited by allowing it to echo almost as if it is in a long, dark hallway. It allows the listener to imagine an extremely creepy scenario as if they are there by themselves and left with no answers. What really striked me even more was that, beforehand, there was a lot of noise. There were reporters talking, cameras flashing, and many other things.

The second one i found very interesting was another audio editing at 10:31. It starts with the narrators voice in very dark voice going into a high pitched piano note. Both of these allow for an even more creepy, dark tone. After a couple of seconds, the inaudible audio is cut to an interview that sounds like it is cutting off but has not completely yet. Then after the audio is not even finished yet, it completely cuts out. After the audio is cut out, it is followed by multiple low notes. These notes further add to the extremely creepy, ominous tone of the entire podcast.

Another one that caught my ear was at 16:42 after the girl says “I still see her face everywhere”. The piano is slow and somber. All of the reports are sad and the piano in the background furthermore adds to the sad tone of this section of the podcast. It cuts to many different interviews on what they miss and their reactions to it. Unlike most of the creepy tone of the podcast, this allows for sadness to come in, rather than just the creepy tone of most of the podcast.

Both of the assigned podcasts were very interesting, in very different ways. The one thing that I noticed the most is the contrast from an audio book to a podcast. I have recently been listening to Emma by Jane Austen on Spotify and find it tedious to listen to for a long period of time. These podcasts, especially Limetown were much easier to listen to. The added music and transitions are much more pleasing than listening to voices alone. AT 11:52 in Limetown, this is one of the first music inserts that i noticed. The music itself was pleasing to listen to, but it is its purpose as a transition that stood out to me. It gave something to occupy my mind while i was thinking about what i had just heard. It was beautifully crafted to not distract me from my thoughts, but allow me to fall into the story. for an audio book on the other hand, it was a constant stream of text, as it would be if i were actually reading it, but manages to make it easy to listen to the speaker(s).

I am doubtful that my pwn voice is as soothing as all of the voice actor associated with these podcasts. The voices are not unpleasant to listen to, but offer no distraction from their intended message. Pod casting is really a form of writing, although  I had never thought of it that way before. I thought it was just like talking on the phone and telling  a story, but it is a pre-written piece of writing that also gets edited after the initial recording. I appreciate the added element of background noise and interviews that accompany these types of podcasts.

While listening to Limetown, it quickly became obvious that this podcast would not be the same without the use of sound effects. If it was just a person narrating the story, the effects and feel of this podcast would be very different. One particular moment where I thought the sound design was especially well done was the minute from 2:50 to 3:50. At around 2:50 the person speaking says “gone” and the word fades and echos into the distance. This is a very haunting moment followed by another well-done moment. After the narrator says, “The story exploded, gaining international attention”, there is a series of newscasts in different accents and different languages. I like the way these clips overlap with and fade into each other. There are English clips alternated with clips in different languages, because the podcast is in English and the intended audience understands English, this technique allows the listener to understand what is going on in these series of newscasts. After this, the narrator says, “It evaporated back into the 24 hour news cycle” and followed by this is a list of newscasts about different topics. This list is accompanied by background noises that relate with what the narrator is saying. For example, when she says “war in Iraq” there are gunshot noises in the background. After explaining what happened to the story of Limetown, there is complete silence. I think this silence is very powerful and it shows that silence can be as important as sounds. I think this minute as a whole is a great example of the use of sound design through voices, sound effects, and silence.