All posts by Leo Cosh

#AudioDramaSunday: Audiobooks, fear, and you!

Hey folks! Time for another #AudioDramaSunday post.

This time, I want to talk about how to record audiobooks. In particular, on our Survival Horror anthology Life On Gaia (https://erascapes.com/product/life-on-gaia-audio-book/) – there were a lot of lessons I learned during and after recording!

Preparation is key!
Warming up is ideal to set the scene. Vocal warmups can help with your overall headspace as well – plan for it every time and recording will go more smoothly.

Pacing takes practice.
In a sequence of short stories, like Life on Gaia, every story will have a different feel. Remember that you’re not just a narrator and there are different characters to get across to your listeners. Characters have different pacing to each other at times, and reading any dialogue once as a narrator and then again ‘in-character’ was a big help for me!

Pickups happen for a reason!
Sometimes you know you want another pass at that last sentence, or the director knows your rhythm is off. Rushing through will just mean you miss stuff, so never be afraid get another take just in case.

Pause when things get heavy.
Sometimes stories go into dark places, and there were times during Life on Gaia where we finished one story and knew we were either done for the day or needed a few minutes to change perspective. Emotions will leap from the page and affect you, it’s part of great storytelling, so know when to take that break.

I hope these four Ps are helpful! If you’d like to hear the results of these and more lessons, be sure to check out Life on Gaia, available on our website right now: https://erascapes.com/product/life-on-gaia-audio-book/

– Leo

#AudioDramaSunday Music: How to work with it and where to find it!

Hey Folks!

Last week, I talked about the sound design of A Titan’s Rise. Today, I want to dive into how music can make your world pop. We’ve used music to boost our Audio Dramas since before we had brilliant composers on the Erascapes team – I want to show you how we found them by looking at the original Radio Free Taranis episodes.

Our podcast set around Midnight Terry’s anti-establishment rants needed music to break things up, so the writers’ room started by talking about what genres would best suit the mood and then I went on a journey!

Enter http://dig.ccmixter.org/

This fabulous network of Creative Commons musicians and remixers created a full genre archive that lets you search by instrument, mood or theme! No matter the size and scale of your ideas you’ll be able to find something to get creativity flowing.

One piece of advice – Make sure you check the full terms of the Creative Commons usage license on the track, as it varies depending on the creator and even the track sometimes!

If you want to hear what we built by doing this, you can check out Radio Free Taranis on audible right now! https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B07XVT4X1J/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-164477&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_164477_rh_uk

– Leo

#AudioDramaSunday Spotlight: The Sounds of A Titan’s Rise

Hello everybody!

Now that the Kickstarter is funded I wanted to dig a little deeper into a few aspects of A Titan’s Rise (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/erascapes/a-titans-rise-a-cyberpunk-full-cast-audio-drama?ref=1tx0ci)!

Did you know that we recorded our own sound effects? We felt it was important to fully craft the unique nature of the Consortium setting and give extra support to our fabulous voice actors.

We spent two days recording SFX that included combat, footsteps and even machine parts for the tech, appliances and vehicles that you hear as we explore the Consortium. From USB Fans and smoked salmon, to combat boots and watermelons, we used a huge variety of props in surprising ways!

Here are my top tips for those of you starting out in sound design:

– Sounds are deceptive!
As long as you reach your end goal, you don’t necessarily need to replicate ‘accurate’ noises (I know this will come as a shock, but we didn’t have a faster-than-light engine core lying around to record!).

– Use your space!
Take your time as you set up each effect. Position your mic carefully and don’t forget that, sometimes having your artist change position can give you more variety.

– Always have a back-up!
If you’re recording object damage or using fragile props make sure you have an extra or alternative – only having the ability for one take is a recipe for disaster!

– Be a team!
You need at least one person to monitor your recordings as they to make sure things come out alright!

You can hear what these basic approaches and more brought to life in our samples on the Kickstarter and through the full version of A Titan’s Rise, available here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/erascapes/a-titans-rise-a-cyberpunk-full-cast-audio-drama?ref=1tx0ci

– Leo

Spotlight: Era The Empowered – Artemis

Today we’re taking a dive into the Era: The Empowered universe and learning about Artemis – the supposed leader of the Old Gods. This group awaken to “reclaim” Terra.

Before engaging in battle with the hero team Aegis, the ‘Goddess of the Hunt’ makes herself known with a live broadcast over Terra, and a challenge to her foes.

Introducing of the core events in the Empowered timeline, Artemis’ reveal leads to An awakening of more Gods for Aegis to overcome: you can learn more about them in the Era: The Empowered RPG.

Interested in hearing more? Artemis’ arrival is one of our first EraScapes that you can listen to right now! https://soundcloud.com/erascapes/era-the-empowered-artemis