The Sound Design is Freaking Awesome!

**Eviebae** · Jan 13th, 2012, 01:33 PM

The whistling of the wind and all the background sound effects. People seemed to move closer and further apart. It really gave it an atmosphere and gave me a clear mental image of where they are.

**DeeKay86** · Jan 15th, 2012, 03:40 PM

Same here, was amazing!! This podcast never ceases to amaze me.

**wh33t** · Jan 15th, 2012, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by Eviebae

The whistling of the wind and all the background sound effects. People seemed to move closer and further apart. It really gave it an atmosphere and gave me a clear mental image of where they are.

Agreed. It's all of the background stuff on We're Alive that really permits this radio drama to tell such a familiar story but make it so seem so alive and immerse.

**DeeKay86** · Jan 17th, 2012, 02:38 AM

I just have to say that the music and sound from 11 minutes 48 seconds was...

SO F*CKING EPIC IT HAD MY HEART POUNDING!!!!

Honestly, Chapter 25 part 3 is a MASTERPIECE! - the music reminded me of Halo! LOL - Seriously, oh my GOD it was EPIC!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE INVOLVED in producing this, you guys are LEGENDS!

**Litmaster** · Jan 18th, 2012, 06:03 PM

Yep. It's amazing what audio technology can do nowadays. This is basically a movie with everything but the picture.

If you ever listen to any Old Time Radio shows, the sound effects are, of course, not nearly as good. But aside from that, the sound effects were used much more sparingly, and for different reasons. Back in the day, a door hinge sound or footsteps were used to give a sense of action, but the FX were more or less like audio punctuation, and the listener had to fill in a lot of the blanks with his/her mind. Those shows, however, lacked much of the immersive quality that some modern audio dramas like WA have been able to achieve.

A lot of things are really tough to convey with sound--like an entire building collapsing under its own weight. Other sounds are pretty specific and not freely available (helicopter with engine trouble, water pumping station, zip-line, etc). I'm curious to know how often Kc has to go out and do field recordings to get a certain sound that he doesn't have in his library...

I love how the little details add to the soundscape... even small things that you would hardly notice if you weren't paying close attention. For example, one that I remeber was back in 9.3 when Angel and Reilly are just emerging from spending the night in the walk-in fridge full of rotting meat, and Angel calls Reilly out to "come out and breathe some of this air" and you can hear the tone quality of their voice change as the characters come out into the kitchen from the fridge. A small thing, of course, but it is details like this that contribute to the overall vividness of the production.

So keep it up, KC! Don't ever go half-assed with the sound quality!

**nikvoodoo** · Jan 18th, 2012, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by litmaster

A lot of things are really tough to convey with sound--like an entire building collapsing under its own weight. Other sounds are pretty specific and not freely available (helicopter with engine trouble, water pumping station, zip-line, etc). I'm curious to know how often Kc has to go out and do field recordings to get a certain sound that he doesn't have in his library...

I know of two instances right off the top of my head that Kc recorded content for. Marcus' dog pack (he posted a youtube video of him trying to get his dog to bark....it was kinda awesome!) and also some cast members let slip during the WA Live event last April that Kc was out recording helicopter SFX leading up to the birds flying last season. I'm sure there are more examples too.

**Eviebae** · Jan 24th, 2012, 11:04 PM

I wonder how he gets the clarity of sound in his field recordings? I know the equipment is better now a days but it's also skill and perfectionism (the good kind). I listen to an old time radio horror podcast and the level of effort or skill varies a lot. Granted, some of them are as recent as the 70's.

**Litmaster** · Jan 25th, 2012, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by nikvoodoo

I know of two instances right off the top of my head that Kc recorded content for. Marcus' dog pack (he posted a youtube video of him trying to get his dog to bark....it was kinda awesome!) and also some cast members let slip during the WA Live event last April that Kc was out recording helicopter SFX leading up to the birds flying last season. I'm sure there are more examples too.

I just saw the Youtube videos... love that behind the scenes stuff!