Background Conversations & Walla

Background Conversations & Walla

Author: UberDuo Podcast Network August 19, 2015 Duration: 22:50
Background conversations are an opportunity to subtly fill your story with bits and pieces of information, as unnamed characters chat amongst the dips in your main dialogue. Master this art and you can further reduce the need for narration and over-expositional discussion.

We had an email in from listener Klim asking about the best way to record some background ambience for his rowdy medieval tavern. In this episode we discuss background conversations as part of the layers of your soundscape. We also give examples on how to create crowd walla and background conversations, and direct you to some written resources such as The Sound Effects Bible & Audio Theater.

For anyone who has ever been captivated by a story told only through sound and wondered, "How do they do that?"-this is for you. The Audio Drama Production Podcast, from the UberDuo Podcast Network, is a deep, practical dive into the craft of building worlds with audio. It moves beyond simple advice to explore the entire process of bringing fictional narratives to life in your ears. Each episode tackles the specific, often unspoken challenges of writing for the ear, directing voice actors, designing immersive soundscapes, and weaving it all together in the edit. You'll hear about the technical choices behind convincing ambiance and the narrative techniques that make characters feel present in the room. Whether you're a writer curious about scripting without visuals, a producer figuring out remote recording sessions, or a creator wondering how to distribute your finished work, this podcast serves as a constant workshop. It’s a resource for making any form of audio fiction-call it a radio play, an audio drama, or a fiction podcast-focusing on the tangible skills and creative problem-solving required from initial idea to final master. The discussions are grounded in real production experience, offering a clear path through the complexities of this unique storytelling medium.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 97

Audio Drama Production Podcast
Podcast Episodes
089 - Running Audio Drama Workshops [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:17
On this episode we’re joined by Zoe and Leon from WordPlay. I’ve been keen to get them on the show for a while to talk about the audio drama workshops they’ve been running in schools, bookshops, and community centres. Th…
087 - Episode Lengths - How Long Should My Audio Dramas Be? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:45
Episode Lengths – How Long Should My Audio Dramas Be?It’s a frequently asked question in Audio Drama, and an interview with Brian and Jerry at Great Northern Audio Theater (which can be heard in the second half of this e…
084 - Making an Audio Drama Sitcom - Wooden Overcoats [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:43
Wooden Overcoats – a story of two rival funeral directors on a small fictional island – is a Audio Drama series that ticks all the boxes. Brilliantly written, with a talented cast, and first class studio quality sound, t…
082 - Audible Commissioning Revisited [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:47
Big thanks to Joseph Tucker, creator of The King Strikes Back, who sent us a great interview with Chris Winstanley. Chris recently pitched an audio comedy series to Audible and was commissioned by them to make a pilot ep…
081 - Finding Your Style. With Tumanbay's John Dryden [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:59
John Dryden is the man behind the Audio Drama that’s taking the world by storm at the moment. The epic Tumanbay.I wanted to ask John his thoughts on ‘Audiblegate‘, as well as find out exactly what he’d do if he was back…
079 - Writing for Audio Drama: Adaptations [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:03
Bryan Lincoln returns with another Audio Drama writers roundtable. He’s joined by Jay Smith and Chris Jarvis as they discuss how to execute the adaptation of an existing work for Audio Drama.What considerations do you ne…
078 - Doing It All Yourself [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:05
If you’d really like to start making your own Audio Drama, but you have 101 reasons why you can’t just yet, then this episode is for you.We’ve got two guest segments. The first is from Brian Mock who has literally just s…
077 - What Can We Learn From Film Sound? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:42
Some of the most famous and classic examples of sound being used to tell stories come from the world of cinema. On this episode we’re joined by Dr Kenny McAlpine of Abertay University as we take a look at what we can lea…