This week on the Department of Nerdly Affairs, Jack is a guest while the regular hosts Rob and Don talk about death and the way it affects all of us nerdly folk.
Subscribe today and get prepared!
Page 87 of 177
This New York Times article answers the age long question every audiophile says after hearing their voice: “Do I really sound like that?”
According to William Hartmann, a physics professor from Michigan State University, there’s multiple ways you get to hear your own voice. More often than not, you sound higher. Check out the original article and see how many parts of our ears and noggin bones (that’s a technical term) affect the way we hear ourselves.
With Sonic Society Season 11 looming next week, David Ault hosts a special Summerstock extra- Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” an OTR short directed and starring David Ault, edited and co-starring Jack Ward, and special guest stars David Cummings from The No Sleep Podcast, and showcasing the heart-stopping terror-filled of Sharon Bee.
The incredible Snow White from Voices in the Wind Theatre has gotten a fantastic reception south of the border. Chatham This Week reported:
There’s nothing quite like closing your eyes and feeling yourself swept away by the sounds of wind and trees and birds chirping, as two people race along on horseback through dense underbrush.
It’s the kind of all-immersive production you can lose yourself in.
That was the feeling the producers of Snow White were going for when they released the hour-long audiobook in late 2016, the latest offering from Chatham’s Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre. Only a few months after its release the production was featured in AudioFile Magazine, a bi-monthly publication out of Portland, Maine, with rave reviews echoing online sentiment.
“Snow White is our first review in AudioFile Magazine,” said David Farquhar, producer with Voices in the Wind. “I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out, and then the reaction you get, especially when you get a really good review … it makes it worthwhile.”
The new adaptation of Snow White goes further than the classic Disney version, adding tidbits about the time period itself. One reviewer said it had a “geopolitical background to it”, even though the audiobook is accessiby for children and adults alike.
The AudioFile review specifically singled out Chatham’s Mary Ellin [Herder] for her part of the Evil Queen, saying her “harsh voice and disturbing crackle are spot on.”
It was Herder’s first voice acting role in years. According to the actor, who also runs the local Take a Bow Productions, she was not entirely intending to get back into audio.
Then she saw an audition notice for Snow White in a local paper.
“This is a role that I’ve always wanted to voice,” she said. “Years back we produced Snow White with Take a Bow Productions … I knew then, and that was ten years ago, what I wanted. If I was not directing I would have gone right in for it.”
“The audition was great,” she added. “I thought if I get the part, bonus. If not, just to do it [would be enough].”
The audiobook was adapted by London’s Diane Vanden Hoven and directed by Laura Van Veen. It starred Herder as the Evil Queen, James Hebblethwaite as Udo the Huntsman, Brady Van Vaerenbergh as Ragnar the Raven, and Georgia Lee Schultz as Snow White.
It was not the first time Farquhar had worked with Schultz. The Toronto actor played the lead part in Voices in the Wind’s 2013 recording of Alice and Wonderland, also adapted by Vanden Hoven.
Voice actors recorded separately for the most part, except for Schultz and Herder.
“It’s really neat to work with actors that have that ability, where you can just … give them a little push and let it go,” Farquhar said.
Snow White is available as a physical disk or digitally. It can be found on iTunes, on Amazon, and in Chapters and Indigo locations. For more information go to voicesinthewind.ca.
Tonight David Ault is on the road to Boston with The No Sleep Podcast Live, and back in the Society Jack introduces two episodes of Mad Mel and the Marradians with a special listen to audio actor auteur Carlos Mendoza reading of a Rudyard Kipling classic If.
Long time listeners of the Sonic Society (and a fair number of new listeners) will recognize that if there’s one spiritual mentor that guides my writing, it’s Rod Serling.
Thanks to a society fan I’ve discovered and have been catching up on Tom Elliot’s excellent Twilight Zone Podcast.
Tom’s dedication to the show and Mr. Serling’s work is simply glorious. Any true TZ fan needs to subscribe and catch up on two seasons that are chock full of interesting commentary, critical analysis and enthusiasm for this classic show. Since I’ve been listening, I’ve returned view some episodes with a fresh perspective, and furthermore the TZP is inspiring more great tales of mystery and imagination for my own anthologies. Keep it up Tom. Join it up everyone else!
As a young lad just developing my love for Audio Drama, one of the fun CBC shows I listened to was Johnny Chase- Secret Agent of Space. It ran weekly for a time on Saturdays. Johnny fought all kinds of evils and even set a kind of Battlestar Galactica like fleet quest to look for a new Earth for humankind to settle on. But no hero is complete unto themselves and Johnny had Dante- his insufferably brilliant computer voiced by the incredible Chris Wiggins. Chris had the kind of singular voice most actors dream of. While voice acting was certainly a skill, it wasn’t his only. He also played the father in the Canadian series of Swiss Family Robinson in the seventies. Furthermore you might remember him in his later years in the Canadian X-files like series Friday the 13th.
Since Mr. Wiggins had settled in my old hometown of Fergus in his retirement, I tried through many channels and his personal email to arrange an interview for the Sonic Society to no avail. Apparently, his health has not been the best in the last ten years.
According to a recent post from Bloody Disgusting Mr. Wiggins passed yesterday at the age of 87. What a huge loss to Canada, and to drama. According to the article:
Of course, we’re barely scratching the surface of Chris Wiggins’ contributions to the entertainment industry by focusing on “Friday the 13th: The Series.” He has over 142 acting credits on his resume, appearing in countless television shows and TV movies dating back to 1956. Just a small handful of the shows Wiggins starred in and lent his voice to include “Mighty Thor,” “Spider-Man,” “Swiss Family Robinson,” “Star Wars: Droids,” “The Care Bears Family,” “The NeverEnding Story,” and even the animated series “Tales from the Cryptkeeper.”
Rest in Peace good sir, we barely knew you.
From copyblogger we get the incredible story of the growth of podcast.
If you asked us 13 years ago whether we believed this would happen, we would have told you absolutely. If you asked us seven years ago, we would have said “unfortunately not”. New Media takes a while to get going but when it does, it does!
Tonight with David Ault performing Live for the No Sleep Podcast, Jack flies solo and introduces the show that- began it all- “Breathing Space” audio produced by Umberto Lenzi. Check out the alternate version produced by Peter O’Malley at evicuna.com!
Extras: Phone call from Matt Leong and promo from Audioblivious Productions.
This Valentine’s Day, why not take some time and listen to some great non-romance Audio Drama? Tonight David helps out while poor Jack is hopeless writing away at NADSWRIM while we listen to another great double feature with the Steam Punk series Sage and Savant– Episode 8, and the classic Edgar Allan Poe short adapted for audio by Scott Mosher, The Tell-Tale Heart!