I really enjoyed this radio show hosted by Orson Welles, the juxtaposition of dramatic piercing strings. There are SFX throughout, the sounds of Orson picking up the objects. Also there is a hall reverb on the vocals when shifting to the characters in the drama. The sound effects do a great job of punctuating points within the dialogue and tension is built through icy strings. A really engaging fast editing style. It’s punchy, pulpy.. and just a very engaging listen. Produced in 1951.
You can really see the development of audio quality as well as sound effects when comparing the previous drama to this War of The Worlds audio play from 38′. We have reverb in 51′ and the understanding of microphone placement and the microphone quality to capture acoustics. Foley sounds are beginning to get used and the general quality of the broadcast is much improved. There is a clear shift in the War of The Worlds production of voice to sound to voice. Almost like two separate channels. Whereas The Black Museum has sounds crossing over other sounds and a sophisticated blend of Sound Effects, Character voices in environments a clear voice over and music punctuating dialogue and SFX cues.
Ten years later from The Black Museum, we see how the BBC Radiophonic Workshop begin to push the envelope of synthesis through broadcast. Pulsing low end drones, theremins and other sounds are unanimous with horror and sci-fi movies of this era and from the previous videos you can hear how different the mood is, it’s far less theatrical and more insular and psychologically unsettling.
I really like the sound design in this advert by Daphne Oram. It shows how the range synthesizers had, even in their earliest and simplest forms as tools for composition.