Category: Media (Page 13 of 45)

Snobbish Sonic

January 10, 2017 / / 4 Comments

Someone said to me recently that they felt that audio drama folks weren’t as snobby as podnovel folks.

That was a strange comment to make. Looking back, I do notice that Audio Drama has been seen as the ugly step-child of the podcast community somewhat. Through the years there’s even been some suggestions that audio dramatists could “graduate” to audio novelists if they were good writers. It made me wonder if there were similar ideas between stage playwrights and novelists. Or television writers and movie scriptwriter writers.

Is there a kind of hierarchy of writing and production?

When I think of it I have witnessed some strange behavior through the years. Now, I’m the first one to admit I’m a literary snob of some sort. I enjoy story beyond and above everything else. Good story, for me, is key to any writing in any genre.

I have heard some various forms of audio snobbery though from various quarters:

  • American audio drama is more valued than Canadian
  • British audio drama is more respected than American
  • New audio drama is accepted as better than Old Time Radio
  • Podficts is more edgy than audio drama
  • Heavy narration is worse than no narration
  • Lots of special effects (the “Every Blade of Grass” folks) is seen as modern compared to a limited soundscape
  • Horror and Comedy is more popular than drama
  • Podcast is better than radio, and streaming is better than podcasts
  • Social awareness trumps social commentary

These are the forms that come to mind for me. What snobbery do you see in the art form? Is it justified?

The Progression of Learning

January 5, 2017 / / 0 Comments

One of the benefits of being a teacher and introducing audio drama to my students, is to see how it engages them in ways that no other media does. Students in the 21st century are programmed to respond visually, but that often means not responding as critically or creatively.

Will Anderson from Central Michigan University uses his knowledge of creating radio drama to help audio drama kids with Autism. He’s not the only one. Craig Robotham from Weird World Studios has a long history of helping teachers with autistic students discover the world of radio drama.

Check out this CMU Public Radio News Article on the great things Professor Anderson is doing!

Casual Coral Saturdays

December 31, 2016 / / 1 Comment

Looking for some new audio to listen? One of the things Jeffrey Adams from Icebox Radio used to speak about was the casual way radio drama had an appointment with its listeners. With podcasting and other audio on demand, the days of must listening times have come to an end. Or have they? Sound Stages Radio and now Coral Island Adventures are some of the must listen radio for your ear. Get a chance to sneak in an episode of new Coral Island Adventures each Saturday at these locations.

Netflix of Spoken Word

December 28, 2016 / / 2 Comments

Whether you’re a fan of Moonlight Audio or Audioflix one thing is certain, audio plays and stories are on the rise. In this article from The Conversation, BBC has declared its intention to target the world as the new “netflix” of audio. The question is, who will eventually reign as king?

BBC Radio has declared its intention of targeting an international audience with a “Netflix of the spoken word” with the intention of finding ways to better exploit it’s vast archive of professionally produced audio.

By George We’ll Miss You!

December 27, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Chances are the name George S. Irving isn’t rolling off the top of your brain as quickly as George Michael but one day after the Wham! star passed, a giant in the area of character acting took his own last bow. And it was grand life on film, screen, stage and through voice work. Winner of Tony Award in 1973 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, you might remember him best however as the voice of the embittered Heat Miser, in a Year Without Santa Claus animation.

Go check out the Playbill for a more detailed list of his long accomplishments.

There Is a Great Disturbance in the Force…

December 27, 2016 / / 0 Comments

If you grew up in the seventies or eighties, you couldn’t avoid the iconic presence of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars. Many post modernist reviews of perhaps the first modern blockbuster series in movie history dwell on the dearth of women in the original trilogy. The fact was, it would have been hard to share screen time with Fisher who commanded the screen despite her inexperience beside veteran actors Harrison Ford and Sir Alec Guinness.

Princess Leia was, perhaps, for many kids growing up the first truly strong female character who was also a sex symbol solidifying the understanding that women were as capable as men in driving the story and holding their own.

She died today, ostensibly from a heart attack that occurred a few days previously. The world mourns her loss, but not just as Princess Leia, but as a powerfully established novelist and screenwriter. Her book Postcards from the Edge became a hit movie of its own, and her battles with addiction and depression echo the human struggle. A struggle that has now sadly ended.

I’m going to go for a walk and listen to The Princess Diarist, something I’ve put off for far too long. And while she’s not featured in it, I’m going to relisten to The NPR Star Wars because I’ll always see Princess Leia- my princess- when I’m hearing the series. Just as I would watching it.

May the Force be with you… all.

Bored House-listeners

December 25, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Using the illusionary trick of two microphones to create a surround sound playback, Mills & Boon intend to take their romance novels into the audiobook world. We’ve long lamented in the Sonic Society that while there’s no end to speculative fiction, horror and mystery shows (and we’re fans of all those), there aren’t a whole lot of new romance audio dramas out there. It’s our eclectic nature that wants to hear every genre in the sonic rainbow.

So maybe someone can take a cue from Mills & Boon and as this Telegraph article suggests mine the rich resources of ready-to-listen housebound lovelornaphiles (okay maybe that wasn’t a word but it is now! TM)

 

Why Love Audio Drama?

December 24, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Reginald Nelson wrote a perfect post about his love for Audio Drama that mirrors many others, including this author. His show The Primordials sounds like a phenomenal story we’d love to hear on the Sonic Society someday. Audio Plays have the distinct ability to be the closest sibling to movies, or to stage plays, or even novels. There’s something incredible about how radio drama sparks the most vivid pictures in the mind. Mr. Nelson’s article in The Medium does better justice of his experience. Go have a read as we approach the end of the year and consider what your reasons are for the love of “the medium”. Make sure you let us know at the gmail sonicsociety email account for episode 500!

 

Digital Digressions

December 21, 2016 / / 0 Comments

The Nepascene has a series of digressions in this article which thrills in the memories of old time radio. Among the great musical hits the author, Tim Thumb,  remembers, there’s these fine gems of OTR:

Then, in junior high at a brand new apartment building my mom and I moved into, I discovered “CBS Radio Mystery Theater,” with host E.G. Marshall.

You can listen to many episodes (of varying quality) here. I highly recommend that you do.

Having listened whenever we could find a classic radio show with my gramps – “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” “Fibber McGee and Molly,” “The Shadow,” “Buck Rogers” – I’d already developed a pretty intense love of radio plays.

But “CBS Radio Mystery Theater” was new! It was a first-run show and current! It featured stars like Fred Gwynne (whom I knew from “Car 54, Where Are You?” and “The Musters” and you’ll know as the judge from “My Cousin Vinny”), Ed Ames, Ralph Bell, Joe Campanella, Richard Crenna, and tons more as voice actors. It was a glorious discovery, and the station it was carried on was a country format in the evening leading up to the show, which aired at midnight (I’d have that earphone in, sneaking a listen to avoid an ass whoopin’, and fully prepared to be draggin’ ass the next morning!). Since I always tuned in early so as not to miss the creaking door and “BUM BUM BUMMMMM” opening, radio is also where my love for outlaw country was born.

This and so much more in the Nepascene story. What are your remembrances of days of yore when we prepare for Christmastime?

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 The Sonic Society

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑