Voice clips in Horroretc

[mundays]

I wasn't sure whether or not to bring this up becasue my suspicions are that I'll be in the minority here... But what the hell, this is a friendly board, nobody is going to shout at me...are they?

I don't like the phone line! Or rather I don't like clips of the phone calls being played on the show! I've abandoned other podcasts because of the heavy feedback segments and though it's unlikely I would ever do that to horroretc (cerebral and witty horrorpods aren't that easy to find) I am finding myself groaning a lot when they come in.

So I was just wondering what other people thought. I think a great deal of this is down to my own issues, I hate certain voices hammering my ears and I think I've gotten lucky with Horroretc in that Tony is a professional broadcaster and by good luck Ted and Doug seem to accidently be ones too... but some people are bloody awful at it and the phone line segments are giving them an opportunity to nuke my ossicles! Stop nuking my ossicles! You know who you are!

I think the real problem I have is that I listen to shows for dialogue exchanges and not monologues - a few selected ones would be okay but some are really long and painful. Perhaps contained in their own segment and at the end would be prefferable for me so I can easily just stop when they arrive (as for example I always did with that... ahem... 'great' band that the transmission podcast would play each week) but scattered throughout the show they're too fiddly to avoid, especially if you have a deformed thumb like me (seriously, it looks like a toe).

So... Yeah... That's that... am I alone in my curmugeoness or is anyone with me?

By the way, if you are reading this and one of your calls to the show has been played - I...er... I wasn't talking about yours, no, yours was great, I was talking about the one after yours. okay?

x

[saltychuck]

Honesty is the best quality when the hosts ask a question such as this. And you sir, were certainly honest, which I found brave momentarily until I realized that you were commenting on a pretty non-controversial topic and nobody would have the means or desire to persecute you because of your beliefs. Still, it is good that you expressed your opinion.

I'm in favor of the voiceline, but I don't really want it expanded beyond the hold it already has on horroretc. It should be relegated to the end of the show, after everything but the goodbye, so that listeners who are uninterested in the voicemail can simply stop listening at that point. That seems to be a fair compromise to both parties.

On the topic of "professional" sounding voices, I can personally profess that when I called in, it was in no way shape or form an effort to sound good on the air, which was likely a mistake on my part. With no time to prepare, I have to continually stop so that I do not stutter, also causing my voice to be quite, low pitched, and droning. Basically a Ben Stein version of what I actually sound like.

Course, I wouldn't know if you actually disliked mine in particular or not, mr. curmudgeon, but still. Another issue was the quality of the phone call, because I don't exactly have the greatest service in the world where I live. All in all, it was still enjoyable enough.

Just keep it at the end of the show, and everybody's happy!

[Captain Midnight]

I have to agree with you, Mundays. Take Mail Order Zombie, for example. The second half of the show is Derrick and Bren listening to phone calls telling them how great they are and Bren saying, "Awwwww." The first half of the the show is excellent. I just skip the rest.


I have enjoyed the audio misterd has sent in to Horror Etc, but he is the excepton as his clips have a purpose and are well structured as opposed to the rambling circle jerking people mostly send in to podcasts.

I listen to Horror Etc to hear Ted, Tony and Doug, because I enjoy listening to what they have to say, even when they are wrong ;D

[Scary Gary]

I do like hearing from my fellow listeners, especially the ones I know from the forum. But I do see the point that the show takes a major shift from the normal dialog to the monologue when the voice mails are inserted. I agree that the suggested structure would serve as a compromise between those who like the voice mails and those who do not. I would hope that if Ted and Tony go that route, that they continue to respond between clips and not worry about limiting their response knowing that some listeners would have bailed at this point.

[Deleted]

I don't mind the voice clips being integrated into the show as long as they're contributing to the topic the current episode i.e. if Tony or Ted could say what the topic of the next episode is and ask for the contributions first. If they are in response to a previous episode(s) you could just play them all at the end of the show. Does that make any sense?

[Stuart]

I’ve no objection to hearing some feedback. A show can become kind of sterile without listener contribution. Too many MP3s or voicemails can be tedious, though, as can long rambling ones.

I think T&T have got it about right. They generally avoid those awful gushing, congratulatory, back-slapping calls (“way to go guys…you rock!!!!!!”). Most feedback they play is short and worth listening to. My only peeve is that the sound quality of voicemails irritates the crap out of me. I prefer the MP3 contributions. Plus, people are rarely spontaneously erudite or succinct on the phone. Recording an MP3 gives contributors the chance to polish and tighten up their monologue.

[hammermancunian]

HELLO
Im in the middle of putting together an mp3 audio contribution but i didnt get to finish my dialogue as the program im using expired and will not save.Im going to download another tonight and paste it onto that and round it off with some extra comments.
All i need to know is as i want it to be ready for the Doctor Who show..whats the deadline?

[kingstownted]

Not sue if Anthony got back to you on this but if not...
all I can say is I would recommend sooner than later as pressure was most definately applied to get this episode up (from me...I need a week off )

[hammermancunian]

Cheers Ted
Ill have it sent off by tonight.
I had to tweak the mix a little with this new program.

[hammermancunian]

Well its sent,i dont know if it will be good enough for the show.
No worries.Next time ill do one sober.

[deckard]

I would say that the best approach is that which was suggested by sanwh1; Provided the number of clips is kept low and they are relevant to the topic in discussion, I don't see where there is any problem.

Clearly, since the voice mail line has begun, the number of submissions has increased and surely that is what was always wanted: more community interaction. However, as Stuart says, although the mp3 submissions were relatively small (and now considerably more so), the nature of the medium meant that they were more fluent and not as meandering in relation to the topic.

Unlike the podcast itself .

[misterd]

Jun 19, 2010 11:16:05 GMT -5 Captain Midnight said:

I have to agree with you, Mundays. Take Mail Order Zombie, for example. The second half of the show is Derrick and Bren listening to phone calls telling them how great they are and Bren saying, "Awwwww." The first half of the the show is excellent. I just skip the rest.


I have enjoyed the audio misterd has sent in to Horror Etc, but he is the excepton as his clips have a purpose and are well structured as opposed to the rambling circle jerking people mostly send in to podcasts.

I listen to Horror Etc to hear Ted, Tony and Doug, because I enjoy listening to what they have to say, even when they are wrong ;D

I has a fan! ;D

Seriously, I enjoy hearing what everyone has to say, so long as it is more than just "I luves you guys!" I'm sure that makes T&T&SD feel good (and it should), but it doesn't really add anything for us spectators.

If a viewer has a recommendation, feedback, etc, so long as it doesn't take away from the body of the show, I'm all for it.