Radio Show: The Great Escape Artist

Direct Link: http://www.radiolab.org/2012/feb/20/great-escape-artist/

The first thing I noticed about this radio show is the fluidity of the show. There were a ton of sound effects in the show. However, I must say they all flowed naturally. There were no awkward sound effects. All of the sound effects fit in perfectly and were used appropriately. This is something I can hope to do in my own radio show. As Professor Groom said in class it is very important that we layer our sounds and utilize them in a way that does not leave any awkward gaps.

The second thing I noticed in this class was the constant sound layering in the radio show. Background music, songs, and sound effects were constantly throughout the show. For example at 8:30 they used an old tv announcement to tell their story but only a few seconds later they switched to one of the narrators. Fading in, fading out, sound effects, conversations between narrators in the mix, all of these aspects were constantly used throughout the show. I found this surprisingly addicting and it kept my attention for the entirety of the show. The constant layering of sounds constantly jolted my attention and forced me to keep paying attention. It was almost as if I was sitting right next to the radio announcers in a quest to discover the origins of the great escape artist. The main thing I have taken away from this radio show is that it is necessary to constantly switch between narration and sound effects. This sort of interaction was very entertaining and I hope to make my radio show entertaining as well.