Cassette_001 : "Empyrean" / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page Cassette_001 : "Empyrean".

Author's Post

UncertaintyCrossing 24 Mar 2024 13:35

Listening to an old cassette while on a road trip, my interpretation of the prompts leftover + construct.

A continuation of the Ghost Record series. While it isn't necessary, reading Past the Witching Hour and Nearer my Death to Thee can provide additional context.

Many thanks to fellow co-author and voice actor Sebarus for making this possible! It was fun working on the script and recording with you, your experience was super helpful.

+ Credits

Richard Shooter : Sebarus
Stanley Caldwell: UncertaintyCrossing
59_VHS_casette_in.wav by PanZen — freesound — License: Creative Commons 0
60_VHS_casette_out.wav by PanZen — freesound — License: Creative Commons 0
REAL RADIO WHITE NOISE.wav by metrostock99 — freesound/ — License: Creative Commons 0
In Car Room Tone.wav by danhelbling — freesound — License: Creative Commons 0

Links to the freesound clips can be found in the Youtube description since Wikidot blocks those.

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But the time flies, irretrievable.

Last edited on 24 Mar 2024 13:51 by UncertaintyCrossing Show more

FleshMaddAvalon 24 Mar 2024 14:10

Immediately plugging this into pipe so I can download it to my aesthetics playlist. What a gift you have granted us today.

The writing on this is stellar. I love, love, LOVE it when we see audio stuff from the WL. This is obliquely tasty, filled with flavor and mystery. I love it.

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I watch the yonder hills
See foodwrenches toil in dust
Let their cacophonous calls
Rend our bodies to rust

Last edited on 24 Mar 2024 14:33 by FleshMaddAvalon Show more

Stygian Blue 24 Mar 2024 16:29

Excellent work! No clue the context. I was confused for a bit, because I habitually watch videos on mute, and thought that the work was just the visuals. And then I reached the end, went, "That's it?" and then realized, oh, there's probably audio. Thank goodness, because yes there was and it was wonderful — loved the part about the co-host who used to be in the air force, because that let you work in so much naturalistic exposition. Overall beautiful, very atmospheric, sound effects and voice filters on point. Gorgeous. Tastes like a rye bread bahn mi: crunchy, savoury, delicious.

-Styg

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What is life if not the contrast between what has been and what will become?

Spoddetman 29 Mar 2024 12:01

It's rare to see an audio work on the WL, much less one as fantastic as this work. I only have the barest inkling of context, but that just makes the content itself more unsettling and mysterious? What's happening? What happens to our radio hosts? I don't know, and I love it. Phenomenal multimedia work as always, Crossing. Give my regards to your co-author too.

Staticky +1.

Rounderhouse 01 Apr 2024 04:22

Huh! This is interesting. You don't see a ton of purely-audio work on the site, but this is fun — a nice mix of atmosphere and characterization, like Styg said. The underlying writing is strong, dripping with vibes, and brought to life by the voice work and editing. It's fun, mysterious, and heavy with atmosphere and Weirdness.

Snapdragon133 01 Apr 2024 18:00

Personal ComboCon Reading(?) Progress: #7

GHOST RECORD WOOOO YEEEAAHHG

I am very excited to see the return of GR, and hope this a sign of more to come! The slow reveal (or maybe presentation? Reveal feels too grand) of the city in the video is mwah chefs kiss, and while at first I was unsure I do quite like how normal the audio is here. Just a couple of out-of their-depth radio hosts wondering what the hell the government's up to - a very relatable experience.

zipzipskins 01 Apr 2024 19:54

i think this piece does a lot right: it's ambitious, with excellent sound and visual design. the atmosphere is spot on and so cohesive from a complete multimedia standpoint, so hats off on that achievement. it's very well-written, and despite not knowing any of ghost record it is enough to hook me very strongly and want me to read more. i will say that i had only one sticking point, which is comparatively quite minor, in that i'm not always fully sold on the voice acting through the entire thing. there were a few points when the writing was much more free and conversational that it still felt like script-reading to me. all in all though it's an easy upvote for ambition, vibes, strength of writing, and design. excellent work!

TopHatBionicle 02 Apr 2024 00:22

Love me some good analog horror! (Although I'm no 100% sure that's quite the right label. Still love it!) I will certainly be checking out the rest of Ghost Recordings!

-THB

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-T.H.B.

Last edited on 02 Apr 2024 00:24 by TopHatBionicle Show more

NotAnOligarch 03 Apr 2024 18:24

Echoing Mr. Skins. While I appreciate audiovisual works, and think we need more (this gets my +1 based on that alone), the voice acting in this sometimes feels off both emotively and purely in the writing. The lines can be, at places, stilted and phrased too much like they're dialogue on the page instead of words in the air. Similarly, there were places where the dialogue was well written, but the feeling the voice gave off didn't give it the gravity it deserved imo. But that's relatively background to the very intriguing feel this gives.

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Fires rage just below the surface of the ice.

Maxyfran73 04 May 2024 17:32

Hmmm. Bit torn on this one. Love the way you decided to tell this story; the audiovisual media is often underrepresented on this site, so it was nice to see the video slowly change as we got closer to the 'city', and the audio itself was neat, but I can't help but agree that it felt stilted and that, having read the other ghost record pieces, felt somewhat devoid of content. It doesn't really say much, and there is very little personality weaved within the convo itself, which left me rather disappointed. So yeah, despite the novelty of the medium, can't say I felt too enticed by the content itself. Novote.