THE NEW AURAL ACTUALITY: AN EXPLORATION OF MUSIC, SOUND AND MEANING IN THE COMPOSED FEATURE DOCUMENTARY PODCAST by Benjamin Richard Phillip Horner Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2019 Abstract This practice-led thesis explores the creative techniques and philosophies used in composing feature documentary podcasts and how listeners engage with the material and make meaning from it. Podcasting as a medium presents a new and so far unexplored way of interfacing with audio documentary and this study works to demonstrate crucial differences from radio practice in terms of intention and expression, how material is made, consideration for its audience, and how its programmes are distributed. Using post-structural theory, specifically Deleuze and Guattari’s ideas on interconnected networks of affective transmission, podcasting’s relationship to radio is explored, as is how listeners make meaning through their interaction with both the heard material and the devices upon which it is accessed. These theories are then applied to the characteristically open remit of the audio documentary to study how speech, music, sound and silence may be understood to generate meaning, emotion and a sense of immersion in the listener. It is suggested that modes of programme access, listening customs, and interpretational symbolism work together to impart information vital to the ability to connote and denote what is being heard, and that in this way the composed feature can be situated very closely to musical practice and engagement. Taking cues from musical and cinematic analytical practice three podcast programmes are closely scrutinised for an understanding of their constituent material, structural shape, and potential affective transmissions, before interviews with their producers are presented to discuss conceptual intentions and execution. Six programmes are presented as the practice component of the thesis, each made to experiment with and reflect upon different aspects of creative or listening practice, with conclusions drawn concerning their implications and effectiveness. 2 Acknowledgements I am wholly indebted to the following people without whom the completion of this thesis would not have been possible. For providing their thoughts and voices: Nadia Bailey, Sam Bailey, Brendan Baker, Rose Beer, Sarah Brand, Nick Burchell, Stephen Elliott, Lucy Felgate-Baumberg, Laurence Grissell, Magz Hall, Polly High, Joseph Hill, Sam Hughes, Tom Jackson, Peter Kelly, Donna Langford-Hodges, Karl Langford-Hodges, Vanessa Lowe, Danny Martin, Neil McCarthy, Jon Mills, Madeleine Perris, Oliver Perrott- Webb, Joy Perry, Sophie Perry, Lauren Redhead, Sam Simmons, Dave Stafford, Marie Stokes, Colin Stokes, and Peter Weatherall. For providing music: Sam Bailey, Sarah Brand, Morgan Guberman, Dan Herbert, Joe Inkpen, Tom Jackson, Oliver Perrott-Webb, Lauren Redhead, Sophie Stone, and Bog Bodies. And for providing much needed supervision, support, guidance and assistance: Sam Bailey, Magz Hall, Matthew Horner, Verity Horner, Martyn Knox, Reid Dudley Peirson, Oliver Perrott-Webb, Sophie Perry, Lauren Redhead, Matt Wright, and Canterbury Christ Church University. I wish to dedicate this text to my endlessly patient partner Sophie, and to those seeking to engage with audio documentary in the most creative, unique and expressive ways possible. 3 USB flash drive contents and portfolio podcast feed ‘Podcasts’ folder 1. Goodwin Sands Radiogram: Is It In My Head? (2016) 2. Seaside Towns, Seaside Frowns: Margate Twenty-Seventeen (2017) 3. Nota Bene: Canterbury Christ Church University and the CPBRA (2018) 4. Hibernus Opus Continuum (2019) 5. Goodwin Sands Radiogram: Transmission (2017) 6. Goodwin Sands Radiogram: Magical Mystery Tour (2019) These podcasts can all be found on iTunes-powered podcast distribution apps such as Podcast Addict, as well as TuneIn and Podbean. Search for ‘The Audiosphere’, the name taken from my corresponding portfolio website (http://theaudiosphere.com), and subscribe and download as per normal podcast acquisition. Please note that for copyright reasons this feed is not available through Spotify. All files are mp3 format as appropriate for podcast distribution. ‘Practitioner interviews’ folder 1. Brendan Baker, Love+Radio producer (interview undertaken on 23rd Nov 2018) 2. Neil McCarthy and Laurence Grissell, Wireless Nights producers (16th Jan 2019) 3. Vanessa Lowe, Nocturne producer (8th Aug 2019) ‘Analysed podcasts’ folder 1. Love+Radio: Jack and Ellen (2013) 2. Wireless Nights: Night Manoeuvres (2015) 3. Nocturne: The Dream You Should Be Having (2017) 4 5 Abstract (p. 2) Acknowledgements (p. 3) USB flash drive contents and portfolio podcast feed (p. 4) Introduction (p. 9) Chapter 1: Definitions and boundaries of research (p. 17) 1.1 Stockpiled air: towards a definition of the podcast (p. 19) 1.2 Current practices in audio documentary and a definition of the composed feature (p. 29) Chapter 2: Literature review (p. 41) 2.1 Situating the podcast: Contemporary analogue, digital and Internet radio (p. 41) 2.2 Virtual worlds: Media, music and meaning (p. 48) 2.2.1 Sound (p. 49) 2.2.2 Speech (p. 58) 2.2.3 Silence (p. 60) 2.2.4 Music (p. 61) 2.3 Curious acoustics: Listening habits, sound perception and the subjective experience (p. 71) 2.4 The transmission, reception and embodiment of audio media (p.79) 2.5 The sound of/as music: The composed feature as media entity (p. 88) 6 Chapter 3: Case studies (p. 94) 3.1 Jack and Ellen (2013), Love+Radio podcast episode (p. 96) 3.1.1 Close analysis of Jack and Ellen (p. 99) 3.1.2 Interview with Brendan Baker, producer (p. 114) 3.2 Night Manoeuvres, (2015), BBC Radio 4 podcast (p. 122) 3.2.1 Close analysis of Night Manoeuvres (p. 125) 3.2.2 Interview with Neil McCarthy and Laurence Grissell, producers (p. 142) 3.3 The Dream You Should Be Having (2017), Nocturne podcast episode (p.150) 3.3.1 Close analysis of The Dream You Should Be Having (p. 152) 3.3.2 Interview with Vanessa Lowe, producer (p. 162) 3.4 Case study conclusions (p. 169) Chapter 4: Practice commentaries (p. 175) 4.1 Goodwin Sands Radiogram: Is it in my Head? (2016) (p. 177) 4.2 Seaside Towns, Seaside Frowns: Margate Twenty-Seventeen (2017) (p. 182) 4.3 Nota Bene: Canterbury Christ Church University and the CPBRA (2018) (p. 186) 4.4 Hibernus Opus Continuum (2019) (p. 190) 4.5 Goodwin Sands Radiogram: Transmission (2018) and Magical Mystery Tour (2019) (p. 194) 4.6 Practice conclusions (p. 202) 7 Bibliography (p. 206) Appendices (p. 226) A: Full transcriptions of programmes analysed in chapter 3 A1: Jack and Ellen (p. 227) A2: Night Manoeuvres (p. 245) A3: The Dream You Should Be Having (p. 260) B: Email correspondence with Goodwin Sands Radiogram musicians B1: Email enquiry from myself as producer (p. 270) B2: Sam Bailey (p. 273) B3: Tom Jackson (p. 276) B4: Oliver Perrott-Webb (p. 278) 8 Introduction This is a practice-led research thesis investigating the audio feature documentary, the mechanisms by which it imparts information to its listeners, and its form within the new medium of podcasting. Traditionally an entity of radio, the podcast iteration of the feature format exhibits subtle but telling differences which speak of the socio-technological characteristics of podcasting, an entertainment genre in its late stages of formation but still malleable due to the egalitarian principles of the Internet upon which it is built (Spinelli and Dann, 2019: 200). The study is composed of four sections, three of which constitute theoretical background investigation informing the fourth, which is the realisation of six podcast feature documentaries constructed in response to the contextual research. The three theoretical components consist of a literature review, close analysis of some exemplary programmes (accompanied by interviews with their producers), and a commentary section describing the intentions of the audio pieces produced for this research thesis. Together these components work to answer the following questions: § How does the creative deployment of audio material in a documentary feature context work to impart meaning for the listener? § To what extent has the democratisation of the creation and distribution of the audio feature influenced its form? § What are the distinctions between podcast feature documentaries and their radio counterparts, and how might these affect listeners' reception and understanding of their content? § How can answering the above questions improve my practice as a creator/composer? This research is timely not only because of podcasting’s status as a newly recognised and codified form but also because of its perceived closeness to radio. The study of radio is still 9 considered somewhat fresh and scholarship of the audio documentary form even more so (Lindgren and McHugh, 2013: 102), with podcasting only receiving its permanent name in 2004 (Berry, 2016: 662) and academic recognition in 2006, two years later (Berry, 2006: 143-162). Like television and film, radio is now subject to scrutiny and problematisation through its relationship to the Internet, with scholars mostly considering these forms ‘remediated’ – a process which describes the changes a medium undergoes as it is reshaped by external socioeconomic forces brought about in response to online and/or digital opportunities and challenges (Bolter and Grusin, 1999: 44-50). The podcast, by contrast, can only exist because of and upon the Internet – radio is a precursor by nature of its audio-only substance