Alternative Stories and Fake Realities

In part 3 of our series on creating audio drama we discuss sound design and music with guests Hedley Knights from We Fix Space Junk, Daniel French from Fishbonius Sound Design and the Chronosphere Fiction Podcast, Richard Campbell from Red Valley, John Bartmann of the How I Make Music podcast and Chris Gregory of Alternative Stories and Fake Realities.

If you've ever wanted to get into creating audio drama this podcast will help you master the basic skills of sound design and editing you'll need to learn. We also hope that established sound designers and composers will find plenty to enjoy and learn in this podcast.

You heard clips from the following shows in this podcast

We Fix Space Junk
Red Valley
Chronosphere Fiction
Alternative Stories and Fake Realities
You also heard the track " Heart of Acceptance" by John Bartmann

All extracts and clips are provided by the contributors and are used with their permission. They may not be reproduced except with the owner's consent.

Follow our contributors on social media and listen to their shows here

Hedley Knights https://twitter.com/Hedley_K
Hedley's production company : Battle Bird https://twitter.com/BattleBirdProd
and We Fix Space Junk https://twitter.com/WeFixSpaceJunk
Listen and by We Fix Space Junk merch here https://battlebird.productions/

Daniel French https://twitter.com/Fishbonius
Chronosphere Fiction https://twitter.com/ChronosphereFi1
Listen to Chronosphere Fiction here http://chronosphere.podbean.com/

Richard Campbell
Red Valley Podcast https://twitter.com/RedValleyPod
Listen to Red Valley here https://pod.link/redvalley

John Bartmann https://twitter.com/johnisthemusic
Website and podcast http://johnbartmann.com/music/

Chris Gregory
Alternative Stories and Fake Realities https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

Sound design and mixing in this edition were by Chris Gregory
The Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Theme music is by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music
The presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler

Selkie is an original audio drama by Signe Maene. Selkies are mythical creatures from northern European folklore. Seals that can transform to human form by shedding their skin they are particularly prevalent in Scottish folklore . In our story, Andrew discovers a selkie whilst walking on the beach near his home. He immediately falls in love aiming to make the selkie his wife.

In Selkie by Signe Maene the parts were played as follows

Sophie Macnair as The Selkie
Lewie Watson as Andrew
Simone Low as Andrew's Mother
Kelsey Griffin as a Selkie and singer of Ae Fond Kiss
Stevie Skinner as a Selkie

The music is arranged and performed by John Spiers based on the traditional folk tune "The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry"
"Ae Fond Kiss" (trad. with lyrics by Robert Burns) is performed by Kelsey Griffin
Additional music and soundscapes are by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music

Sound effects are from Freesound.org
Sound mixing and editing are by Chris Gregory
The presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler

Signe Maene is a Belgian writer, academic and folklore specialist. You can follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/MaeneSigne and view her website at https://signemaene.com/

John Spiers is a folk musician and player of many squeezebox style instruments. You can follow him on twitter at https://twitter.com/squeezyjohn and view his website here https://squeezyjohn.com/. Follow John's YouTube channel to see and hear him in action https://www.youtube.com/user/squeezyjohn1

Follow Alternative Stories on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
On Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
And contact us directly via [email protected]

In this short bonus edition we preview our forthcoming audio drama Selkie by Signe Maene. We talk to Signe herself and to Sophie Macnair who plays the selkie in our story. We also hear from John Spiers, the folk musician who performs the theme music for the drama.

In this edition you heard the voices of
Signe Maene
Sophie Macnair
John Spiers
Simone Low
Lewie Watson
Kelsey Griffin

If you would like to find out more about Signe Maene and her other work please visit her website https://signemaene.com/
You can also follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/MaeneSigne
and on instagram https://www.instagram.com/signemaene/?hl=en

If you'd like to find out more about John Spiers and his various projects please visit his website https://squeezyjohn.com/
follow him on twitter https://twitter.com/squeezyjohn
and subscribe to his YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHIyrMTAG9ZiE_AtnJRcZg

You can follow Sophie Macnair on twitter here https://twitter.com/liloldsoph

If you'd like to see the video version of the trailer included in this podcast you can visit the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKUqSlCAsOnOWU0eIMANScA

In this edition, the second in our series featuring women poets from Cornwall in the South West of England, we feature the work of Mary J Oliver. We also look at Cornwall itself and its enduring influence on artists, writers and poets with presenter Hollye Sangster.

The poems featured in this podcast are

"To the uninhabited Island of Cara" read by Tiffany Clare with music and soundscape by Chris Gregory
"Torso to Torso" read by Tiffany Clare
"Undressing the Dead" and "Play to Win" both read by Piers Owen with music by Judith Bailey performed by Deborah Came (piano)
"NGO Lunch Break : Accra" read by Jade Matthew with music and soundscape by Chris Gregory

Some of the poems in this podcast are included in Mary's 2019 book "Jim Neat : The Case of a Young Man Down on His Luck" which is published by Seren Books

We would like to thank Mary J Oliver for her help and cooperation in the making of this podcast and for her ongoing support of our podcast.

The presenter in today's edition is Hollye Sangster with additional contributions from Kelli Winkler

Sound effects used in this podcast were from Freesound.org

If you would like to find out more about Mary J Oliver please follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/mjoliver4

and to read more about Mary and her book, "Jim Neat" (the subject of a previous Alternative Stories Podcast) please click here https://www.jimneat.com/

You can purchase "Jim Neat" directly from Seren Books by clicking here https://www.serenbooks.com/

A Memory of Robin is an audio drama from writer David Green. It tells the story of Gem, the daughter of a woman called Robin whose last few days of life we follow through extracts from her voice diary as she seeks to escape the confines of an increasingly oppressive and totalitarian government.

In A Memory of Robin by David Green characters were played as follows:

Robin - Jackie Jorgenson
Gem, her daughter - Abby Hilden
The Voice of the Nation - Kelli Winkler

A Memory of Robin was based on the short story of the same name by David Green. Additional material and adaptation were by Chris Gregory.

Original music was composed and performed by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music
Sound design ,editing and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory
Sound effects were from Freesound.org

The presenter was Kelli Winkler

Find out more about David Green by following him on twitter https://twitter.com/DavidpGreen83
And visit his website www.davidgreenwritercom.wordpress.com
And facebook https://www.facebook.com/davidgreenwriter/

Be Warned: Episode contains swearing and references to suicide

In the first of a series of short podcasts featuring female poets from the county of Cornwall in the extreme south west of England we feature Sarah Cave and her poem cycle The Eidolon Triptych. Poems are read by Jade Matthew with music and soundscapes by Chris Gregory

The Eidolon Triptych is written by Sarah Cave and performed here with her full permission and cooperation.

The soundscapes used in this edition are published by Scared Crow Music and sound effects are from Freesound.Org.

The presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler

If you would like to find out more about Sarah Cave please follow her on twitter where she posts as https://twitter.com/campanilecave

You can find more of Sarah's work at https://www.knivesforksandspoonspress.co.uk/ and, as mentioned in the podcast, at https://www.guillemotpress.co.uk/

We'll be featuring more women poets from Cornwall on the podcast soon. These will include, Mary J Oliver, Ella Frears, Lesley Hale and Angela Stoner. Please subscribe to hear these editions and our other content.

In this special edition presented by Amy Forrest we look at the techniques, equipment and training you'll need to make a career as a voice actor by talking to a number of actors who have made the switch successfully. Our actors come from a variety of backgrounds ranging from stage and screen to podcasts and commercial voiceover work and each provides insight and advice for prospective new voice talent. We particularly hope that actors whose careers have been put on hold by coronavirus, like our presenter Amy, can find useful advice to set themselves up to do voice work.

Our guests are :

Amy Forrest https://twitter.com/amyforrest26
Kirsty Woolven https://twitter.com/kirstywoolven
Jade Matthew https://twitter.com/jade_matthew
Alan Mandel https://twitter.com/alan_mandel
Saya Zahawi https://twitter.com/SayaZahawi
Maddy Searle https://twitter.com/maddy_abstract
Tiffany Clare https://twitter.com/TiffanyEclair
Charlie Richards https://twitter.com/CharlieDTR
Sarah Golding https://twitter.com/SarahofGolding
Kelli Winkler https://twitter.com/KelliWinkler

A number of podcasts are mentioned in the show and here are links to a selection of them

https://twitter.com/Y2Kpod in which Kirsty and Maddy both appear
https://twitter.com/ArrivalsPod created by and starring Kirsty
https://twitter.com/PrickwillowPod created by and starring Maddy
https://twitter.com/RedValleyPod which features Alan Mandel
https://twitter.com/MadivaP is Sarah Golding's podcast about voice acting
http://quirkyvoicespresents.buzzsprout.com/199207 Sarah Golding's podcast about women's health

Amy, Kirsty, Jade, Saya, Maddy, Tiffany. Charlie and Kelli all appear in Alternative Stories and Fake Realities

You heard clips from Alternative Stories and Fake Realities, The Prickwillow Papers and Red Valley. We would like to thank Maddy, Alan and the creators of Red Valley for allowing us to use these clips.

All recommendations for equipment, software, courses and teachers are the preferences of our guests and do not necessarily represent the views of Alternative Stories and Fake Realities. This podcast cannot be held responsible for these recommendations and individuals should always do their own research before purchasing any equipment mentioned in this podcast.

In this edition we explore podcasts producing historical audio drama. In a medium dominated by Sci Fi we look at some podcasters telling stories from the past and their inspiration and methods for doing this.

We feature Jill Korn from L'Histoire Audio, Christopher Knighton and Debbi Christophers from Lottie's Diary and Jackie Jorgenson of Shared Manifest Entertainment, the production company behind Tales from the Aether.

You can hear original music by David Simpson (theme to Confessional) and Chris Gregory (Kyna's Theme from The Witch of Rockwood Cove)

In our trailer for the upcoming Alternative Stories and Fake Realities audio drama "Selkie" by Signe Maene you heard the voices of Sophie Macnair, Lewie Watson and Simone Lowe with music by John Spiers.

The Presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler

To listen to L'Historie Audio please visit https://www.jillkorn.com/audio-drama
And follow Jill and her team on social media at https://twitter.com/LHistoireAudio

To listen to Lottie's Diary you can visit https://anchor.fm/lottie-fisher
And say hello on social media https://twitter.com/LottieSdiary

And to listen to The Witch of Rockwood Cover go to https://anchor.fm/talesfromtheaether
and to follow Jackie Jorgenson and Shared Manifest on twitter https://twitter.com/SharedManifest

Very Short Stories : A Microfiction Special With Charlotte O'Farrell

Very short stories and microfiction are terms for tiny pieces of writing that can tell an entire tale in a small number of words. On twitter the hashtag #VSS365 is used to signify these stories told in a single tweet. A skilled proponent of VSS is British writer Charlotte O'Farrell who joins us on the podcast today. We have worked with Charlotte to turn some of her stories in Alt Stories episodes for the Listen Rinse Repeat podcast which is promoting handwashing during the Covid 19 crisis by putting out tiny episodes timed to ensure a good handwash (20 - 40 seconds) and to keep listeners entertained while they clean. Charlotte talks about the VSS phenomenon and why she loves it and provides some tips for writers wishing to have a go. We also feature writing from Victoria J Price, Lena Stone, Mark Anthony Smith and Natalie Reilly Johnson

In this edition you can hear the voices of
Saya Zahawi
Maddy Searle
Daffyd Morse
Joy Hayward
Simone Lowe
Annabelle Broad

Our presenter is Kelli Winkler and our special guest is Charlotte O'Farrell

If you'd like to find out more about our writers please follow them on social media Charlotte O'Farrell. https://twitter.com/ChaOFarrell
Victoria J Pricehttps://twitter.com/victoria_jprice
Natalie Reilly Johnsonhttps://twitter.com/nreillyjohnson
Mark Anthony Smithhttps://twitter.com/MarkAnthonySm16

if you'd like to know more about the Listen Rinse Repeat podcast follow it on social media here https://twitter.com/Podcast_LRR
And Listen/ subscribe here http://listenrinserepeat.libsyn.com/website

We would like to thank all our contributors and especially Charlotte O'Farrell for their time in helping to make this podcast.

This week we bring you comedy sketches and conversation from Phoebe and Miztli of the acclaimed sketch comedy duo Ladylikes. Recording separately in lockdown they talk cats, shopping, growing vegetables, working from home, daytime TV and the best and worst aspects of lockdown.

Ladylikes in Lockdown is written and performed by Phoebe Batteson Brown and Miztli Rose

The presenter is Annabelle Broad and sound mixing and editing are by Chris Gregory

If you'd like to find out more about Ladylikes please check out their website https://ladylikescomedy.wixsite.com/ladylikes

And their youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcsGb6376GeVJLrqVx1QfkQ

And follow them on twitter https://twitter.com/LADYLIKESCOMEDY
and facebook Ladylikes - Home | Facebook