("BBC World Service - The Documentary Podcast, South Korea’s hope in hell", 2020)
Podcast Breakdown
First lets do a rough breakdown for the BBC produced podcast, "South Korea's hope in Hell"
Structure
Structure breakdown
Interesting things to note:
The podcast followed a similar structure that of an essay. It begins with an Introduction narrator introducing the topic which was "Hell Joseon".
The same music track is played at the beginning and end of an interviewee
Background atmos matches each location of the interviewees e.g classroom ambiance noises like chatter and desks shuffling were hear in the background when interviewing the female student JeeHee.
Each intermission leads with either music or Foley to relevant to the interview location
Sonic analysis of the podcast revealed the following characteristics;
Dynamics
Dynamic range averages around -14dB and stay relatively consistent with loudest peaks nearing -9dB around 20 minutes.
Loudness
LuFS levels remained at around -18 LuFS for the online Podcast
Frequency Content
Frequency content - during narration
The majority of the BBC podcast the frequency content looked like the above with little to no frequency content below 80-100Hz and an aggressive 17-18kHz roll off is observed.
"In non-tonal languages the consonants are important. The consonants (k, p, s, t, etc.) are predominantly found in the frequency range above 500 Hz. More specifically, in the 2 kHz-4 kHz frequency range."
("FACTS ABOUT SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY", 2016)
What did I learn from this:
Loudness
From conducting critical sonic analysis the average loudness levels of the BBC report were set at around -18 LuFS and a bit quieter when compared to Spotify which is -14LuFS. It is interesting to note that the podcast loudness (LuFS) limits are defined differently by each platform.
Frequency content
Since this is a podcast most people will consume this type of media will either be driving, running, walking, doing house chores or vacuuming.
My take away learning from this is that when you roll off the low end from 80-100 Hz and below will make the voices more intelligible. The aggressive high end roll off is also done to remove harshness in playback. As seen in the intelligibility diagram above the voice is most intelligible from 500 Hz to 2 - 4 kHz. ("FACTS ABOUT SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY", 2016)
Structure
After critically listening and breaking down the BBC podcast I analysed the structure as I heard it. I found that structure set out by the BBC extremely interesting because it uses sounds at the beginning of each section to prime the listener for the location that the interview will be taking place. I will keep this technique in my tool box.
Branding
The start of the podcast leads with a question on the main topic, the narrator then introduces the channel with the BBC blurb. The blurb is repeated again at the end of the podcast to tie in the podcast. This was done in purposefully to signpost the start and end of the podcast. This gives structure to the whole podcast and I will use this in my future podcast production.
Introduction
The start of the podcast uses contemporary Korean music mixed with busy street noises for 5 seconds then ducks down as the narrator starts speaking. Creatively this helped transported the listener to the Seoul, Korea. From listening to this section several times I learned that you can use the sonic content at the beginning effectively to communicate and signpost when the listener has moved to another location. I will keep this tool of knowledge for future productions.
Interview sections
The narrators voice levels are matched with the interviewee's responses. There is usually some background ambiance to match the interviewees location. For example the school student JeeHee had classroom background noises and occasional low level talking noises in the background which made it feel like we were listening to an interview at location in a Seoul high school.
The interview sections usually begin with location ambiance then ducks in volume when the narrator speaks in a clear yet dry recording with low end roll off from 80-100Hz. The narrators voice is EQ'd differently when compared to the actual interview sound. As the narrator finishes guiding the questions background ambiance level is raised again. This interplay of ducking the background sounds when the narrator speaks is a useful technique to add dimension to the interview.
The interview starts and ends with the same ambiance/music sample to bookend each section. From this analysis I learned that having the narrator EQ'd differently to the actual interview recording sets different layers to the overall mix.
For my own productions I will borrow this structure for my interviews to make it more interesting and making it feel more structured. By having each of the
Intermissions
Each intermission between interviews runs for 5-10 seconds, in this gap a mix of location sound, local Korean pop music and Foley elements introduces the listener to the interviewees world through the collection of sounds. For example again when Simon is interviewed in a bar, Korean pop music, clinking of glasses and casual Korean chatter is heard in the intermission instantly transporting the listener to the interviewees world.
From breaking down the intermission I was able to learn a few sound design techniques. Just like writing an essay you need an opening paragraph to set the tone of the essay and to set the scene for the following content. The introductory 5-10 secs will need to be mixed with an assortment of sounds that reflect the world or topic that will be discussed later in the interview. I will use this to my advantage when I sound design an introduction for an interviews.
BBC World Service - The Documentary Podcast, South Korea’s hope in hell. (2020). Retrieved 28 March 2020, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p081jwy8
FACTS ABOUT SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY. (2016). Retrieved 30 March 2020, from https://www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-university/facts-about-speech-intelligibility