Amplirecathon 2011: Pillow Talk and Audiofic Lab

[lunate8]

During last year's Amplirecathon, it was cool to discover that other podfic fans besides me like to listen to audiofic at bedtime. It's not too hard for me to fall asleep on the couch with the TV on. However, I don't have a TV in my bedroom and listening to the local stations on my clock radio doesn't help me relax as easily. My mp3 player, cranked all the way up with the earbuds on my pillow (I don't want to wear them while sleeping and risk strangling myself) and playing a well-loved story, does the trick quite well.

There are two kinds of bedtime podfic that I listen to: the shorter stories (less than 15 minutes) that help me wind down, and the longer ones during which I fall asleep because I've listened to them so many times and am not worried about missing anything. So the first group of recs are three of my go-to podfics for each category.

The second group has audiofics that may be a little off-center in terms of the story the reader is reading or the sound of the final product. I love playing around with recording and audio effects, and I want to give a shout-out to these readers who also played and whose works have stayed with me.


Bedtime podfic

Less than 15 minutes:

The Way to a Man's Heart, written by merle_p, read by pennyplainknits
Leverage, Alec Hardison/Eliot Spencer; mp3, m4b

Pennyplainknits does a fantastic job with the banter between Eliot and Alec, from the snark and indignation to the frightened and sexy. She sounds like she's having a good time reading the story, and the playfulness really comes through.


Cheating the Other Guy, written by sholio, read by general_jinjur
SGA, gen; mp3, m4b

This story has less full-on action and more conversation featuring some fun bonding between Sam and Teyla. General Jinjur's tone and reading reflects the easy-going atmosphere perfectly. Both women's voices are distinct and fit the relaxed mood, and the rest of guys sound great when they appear at the end.


It's Not the Violin, written by sam_storyteller, read by pandarus/FayJay
Sherlock, gen; mp3, m4b

Okay, it's not less than 15 minutes, but Sherlock is the fandom currently eating my brain and this is an audiofic from it that I keep coming back to at bedtime. FayJay is fabulous in this, as usual, with an imperious Sherlock, a sensible John, and a great storytelling pace. The intro/outro music choice is pure gold as well.


Long form:

Junk Cheap, by devildoll, read by zoetrope
SGA, Rodney McKay/John Sheppard; mp3, m4b

Someone once described listening to this podfic as being wrapped in a comfy blanket, and I totally agree. Zoetrope's super-smoky-velvet voice sounds so comfortable, even while conveying Rodney's peevishness and a wonderfully awkward Thanksgiving dinner scene.


The Crown of the Summer Court, by astolat, read by pandarus/FayJay
Merlin, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon; m4b

This was one of the first audiofics I downloaded based on last year's Amplirecathon, and it's a keeper. The audio effect for the elves' voices works brilliantly, and I particularly love FayJay's sensible, sarcastic, and clever Morgana in this.


Odd Jobs 1-5, written by brownbetty and emeraldwoman, read by aphelant
Leverage, Alec Hardison/Parker(/Eliot Spencer); m4b

Yes, this is a repeat from my recs last year (and from today as well). But look -- three stories from the series have been added to the compilation since then! Now with Aphelant's awesome portrayal of "put-upon Alec" and "awkward-yet-caring Parker" as well as the same humorous narration!



Adventuresome Audiofic

Kowalski is Bleeding, written by cesperanza, read by darkemeralds
Due South, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Stella Kowalski/Ray Vecchio; mp3, m4b

Prior to the Podbang '10 reveal, I'd guessed that Dark Emeralds was taking on this Due South story, with its non-standard formatting and complicated POV switches, and I was looking forward to hearing how she was going to accomplish this aurally. Five minutes into listening, all that curiosity flew out of my brain as I was enthralled by her first-person Ray V. reading. She does an amazing job with all of the characters' voices, styles, emotions -- the whole shebang. Plus the way she handled the audio translation of the text using short music clips between POV switches works great.


Mostly Harmless, written by astolat, read by mific
SGA, Rodney McKay/John Sheppard; mp3, m4b, minimal pitch mp3, minimal pitch m4b

I want to give Mific a heap of kudos for this podfic -- both versions of it. In the first version, she experimented with a lot of audio processing that must have taken quite a while. She altered the pitch of her voice electronically to denote different characters in the story. When she posted the podfic she asked for feedback about how it worked. Most people thought (and I agree) that her voice was just fine as-is and suggested taking out the pitch adjustments (for the human characters, anyway; the aliens sounded adorable!). She then released a second version of the podfic with only the aliens' voices altered. I really admire Mific's spirit of adventure with her audiofic productions, and her willingness to incorporate feedback and produce a complementary creative work.

Comments

[darkemeralds]

Oh, I'm so proud to be included in your list! Thank you for the nice review!

[lunate8]

My pleasure, thanks for making such an awesome podfic! Listening to it made me long for the actual show.

[mific]

I'm feeling ridiculously happy that you've reccd this early podfic of mine. I'd more recently had quite mixed feelings about it - tending to see it as a bit of a failure overall (apart from the intro music and the aliens' voices!) and wishing I could do a complete re-record to improve the quality as I think it lost a little with the pitch-shifting back to "normal". But I'm happy that you appreciate the experimental aspect of it, even if it was in many ways a "learning experience" for me. And I've got far too many 'to do' stories on my list to be able to redo an old one, of course. Funny how this one's cropped up lately - it was mentioned on the anon meme too, though more regarding the, er, tentacle-content than any technical aspects! Thanks so much for the rec.

[lunate8]

Your reading of this podfic always makes me giggle, and then absolutely laugh out loud at the alien's suggestive "Hel-LO". :) I know "learning experiences" sometimes don't feel so successful, but I'm glad that didn't stop you from experimenting with your later podfics -- I'm SO looking forward to listening to "Birds of a Feather"!

[aphelant]

I'm glad the sequels are not terrible! I HAD FEAR. AND A LOT OF SELF-PRESSURE. Thank you, bb. <3 <3

[lunate8]

OH MY GOSH, THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN NO FEAR, SEE THE ALL-CAPS OF YOUR AWESOMENESS. IF I FAILED TO SEND YOU MEGA-<3'S ABOUT THE SEQUELS THEN I AM ASHAMED AND APOLOGIZE AND SEND THEM TO YOU NOW: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3