The Refuge has been ravaged by the Dwellers, and Maria and John trek deeper into the woods. In the Republic Saul appears, working his games, paraded before the council of the Republic who are all to eager to dole out prizes after the greatness of ‘C-Day.’ Zeke awakens from a nightmare only to find himself in deeper…

A portion of our feature length Episode 3: The Road.

Episode artwork by Simon Adams

Dawn is a dim glow on the horizon of the Refuge when savage cries echo from the horizon. Moments later, the chalky rain-starved land turns into an inferno that David and his motley survivors must stop at all costs. Further down the river, Prophet collapses into a heap and Luke runs off looking for help. As Prophet flits in and out of consciousness, he pushes Maria to make a decision that will change the path of everything to come.

In the Republic, the fanfare of C-Day is over and Lucian, ever the loyal worker, heads back down for another day at the slag pits… But something’s not right. Saul plays a dangerous game, charming the Republic’s High Council and eeking secrets from the young boy Zeke.

Purchase Now!

For $1.99 you will get a pristine-quality MP3 with the “Director’s Cut” – the full 30-minute show exactly as producer Fred Greenhalgh originally envisioned, uninterrupted.

Listen to the snack-sized podcast installments. These are released Fridays throughout the month of May, and feature a fragmented experience rather than the original director’s vision.

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Coming May 11, 2012

Chapter 11

Coming May 18, 2012

Chapter 12

Coming May 25, 2012

Written/Directed/Produced by Fred Greenhalgh

Cast:

• Kate Gurney as Maria
• Philip Hobby as Luke
• Paul Drinan as John Prophet
• Chris Newcomb as David
• Burke Brimmer as Chris
• Pope Brock as Jonas
• Gary Dixon as Carl and Foreman
• Reggie Hodges as Lucian
• Gary Hauger as Don and Councilor 2
• Brent Askari as Saul
• Richard Mac as Richard
• William Dufris as Councilor 1
• Dylan Chestnutt as Zeke
• Nate Speckman as Republic 1
• Additional voices by Andrew Sawyer, Erik Moody, PG Lorusso and Nat Angstrom

Crew:

• Field sound:  Randall Farr
• Production assistance: David Turner and Samantha Mason
• Sound design by Matthew Boudreau
• Original score by Hubert Campbell
• Additional sound by Mind’s Eye Productions

This production was recorded on location at the North Dam Mill in Biddeford Maine and other locations in Southern Maine

Special thanks to:

Jennifer Stonehouse, Black Kettle Farm, Carolyn Gosselin, Doug Sanford, the City of Biddeford, Tammy Ackerman, Amy Titcomb, Bill Dufris, Coffee by Design, WMPG, RODE Microphones, the ZOOM Corporation

Production Photos:

Episode artwork by Simon Adams

Dawn is a dim glow on the horizon of the Refuge when savage cries echo from the horizon. Moments later, the chalky rain-starved land turns into an inferno that David and his motley survivors must stop at all costs. Further down the river, Prophet collapses into a heap and Luke runs off looking for help. As Prophet flits in and out of consciousness, he pushes Maria to make a decision that will change the path of everything to come.

In the Republic, the fanfare of C-Day is over and Lucian, ever the loyal worker, heads back down for another day at the slag pits… But something’s not right. Saul plays a dangerous game, charming the Republic’s High Council and eeking secrets from the young boy Zeke.

The Cleansed Artwork by Simon Adams

Chapter Prep: There is cheering, parading, fanfare in the streets. The Republic celebrates the downfall of John Prophet, calling him oppressor and turning on the electricity of a machine called the Citadel. In the shadows of this celebration, a dark figure has allied John Prophet’s lost soldiers to rescue Zeke. As Zeke is returned breathless to the Soup (the sewers of New York) Saul asks John’s fractured rebels to make a decision.  Meanwhile, in the woods of Maine, Luke, Maria, and Prophet struggle forward, unsure what comes next.

But on this day, no one decries the Republic. These soldiers, with their guns and ships, are turning on electricity and promising freedom. There is music, parades, fireworks. No one sees the looming shadow behind them. No one sees that behind their promises of good will, lies an iron fist.

Episode Art by Simon Adams

Episode Synopsis: Far from the safety of the Refuge lies the City of Corinth, a broken place that once called itself New York. From the ashes, John Prophet emerged, uniting disparate groups and pushing out rival gangs. The city lay in – well, not quite peace – but a state of sanctity for some years, before a new force entered: The Republic.

But on this day, no one decries the Republic. These soldiers, with their guns and ships, are turning on electricity and promising freedom. There is music, parades, fireworks. No one sees the looming shadow behind them. No one sees that behind their promises of good will, lies an iron fist.

Audio Producer Fred Greenhalgh with ZBS Foundation's Tom Lopez in Fort Edward, NY

On Easter weekend 2012, Fred headed out across two-lane roads of NH, VT and NY to visit Tom Lopez at the ZBS Foundation‘s headquarters, an 1800s farmhouse in Fort Edward, NY.

A lot of radio history was made at this unassuming location sitting on 33 acres in the heart of New York’s dairy country. By the early 70s, Lopez had DJ’ed in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Montreal, but he, along with some radio co-conspirators, were looking for a place to set down roots. That very nearly became New Orleans, but providence brought them to upstate New York instead.

In the early days, the commune hosted as many as 18 people, who lived, played, and made art on the farm. The freeform audio artistry merry mayhem resulted in the 1972 Fourth Tower of Inverness, the wildly original tale of a funky mansion that mixed up 50s radio motifs, mysticism, and gonzo gurus with enigmatic characters such as Jack Flanders, Little Frieda, Lady Jowls, and Chief Wampum.

A photo taken during Tom Lopez's adventures in the Amazon. Dumping tape somewhere in the rainforest.

Later, as Tom traveled the world collecting sounds all across the world, from Morocco to the Amazon, this was where the actors would get together to record the stories Lopez set in the exotic locales. Today, Lopez continues to create, having transitioned most of his recordings across the digital divide and experimenting with formats and distribution on the internet. As Fred arrived, Tom was in the midst of organizing the recording for Ruby 9, what will be the penultimate and final Ruby.

It was joy to soak up the radio waves (as well as to enjoy delicious victuals prepared by Tom’s wife, Marika). Among the interesting tidbits: ZBS was really podcasting before podcasting existed. Their shows, particularly Ruby, were released in short, serialized segments offered free to radio stations. Listeners would catch little nuggets of the story, and be given a phone number to call up ZBS to get a full catalog (these were in the days pre-internet). This method of giving the content for ‘free,’ while attracting something valuable – subscribing listeners – has helped keep ZBS going through the collapse of public radio funding and into today.

There’s no producer in the world quite like Tom. Not only has he released over a hundred hours of boldly original drama that pushes the boundaries of audio, he has done it without institutional support, giving him a creative freedom enjoyed by few artists on the globe. While trekking reel-to-reel and Sony Beta recorders into the Amazon might have been conceived by Hollywood sound designers, no one before Tom ever thought to go to such trouble for an audio production.

In the midst of the visit, Tom and Fred sat down for a long chat about life, the universe, and everything… All least, insofar as it relates to radio drama.

Take a listen here:

Download Interview with Tom Lopez

Photos from Our Journey to Fort Edward:

Far from the safety of the Refuge lies the City of Corinth, a broken place that once called itself New York. From the ashes, John Prophet emerged, uniting disparate groups and pushing out rival gangs. The city lay in – well, not quite peace – but a state of sanctity for some years, before a new force entered: The Republic.

But on this day, no one decries the Republic. These soldiers, with their guns and ships, are turning on electricity and promising freedom. There is music, parades, fireworks. No one sees the looming shadow behind them. No one sees that behind their promises of good will, lies an iron fist.

Artwork for The Cleansed by Simon Adams

Our sprawling, epic post-apocalyptic series is here!  Be sure to catch up what happened 15 years prior to the start of Season 1 in our Prologue Episode.

Far from the safety of the Refuge lies the City of Corinth, a broken place that once called itself New York. From the ashes, John Prophet emerged, uniting disparate groups and pushing out rival gangs. The city lay in – well, not quite peace – but a state of sanctity for some years, before a new force entered: The Republic.

But on this day, no one decries the Republic. These soldiers, with their guns and ships, are turning on electricity and promising freedom. There is music, parades, fireworks. No one sees the looming shadow behind them. No one sees that behind their promises of good will, lies an iron fist.

While dark shadows grow behind the wake of a parade, Luke and Maria find themselves headed down an uncertain path, while all is not quiet outside the gates of the Refuge.

Run time 30 minutes, or hear installments as part of the weekly podcast

Purchase Now!

For $1.99 you will get a pristine-quality MP3 with the “Director’s Cut” – the full 30-minute show exactly as producer Fred Greenhalgh originally envisioned, uninterrupted.

Prefer to listen for free? We are also releasing this Episode in 7-10 minute “Chapters,” with a new one posted each Friday.

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Written/Directed/Produced by Fred Greenhalgh

Cast:

• Kate Gurney as Maria
• Philip Hobby as Luke
• Paul Drinan as John Prophet
• Chris Newcomb as David
• Burke Brimmer as Chris
• Richard Mac as Richard
• Reggie Hodges as Lucian
• Gary Hauger as Don
• Gary Dixon as Foreman
• PG Lorusso as Rebel 1
• Nat Angstrom as Rebel 2
• Brent Askari as Saul
• Nate Speckman as Republic 1
• Adam Araujo as Republic 2
• Dylan Chestnutt as Zeke
• Samantha Mason as Woman

Crew:

• Field sound:  Randall Farr
• Production assistance: David Turner and Samantha Mason
• Sound design by Matthew Boudreau
• Original score by Hubert Campbell
• Additional sound by Mind’s Eye Productions

This production was recorded on location at the North Dam Mill in Biddeford Maine and other locations in Southern Maine

Special thanks to:

Jennifer Stonehouse, Black Kettle Farm, Carolyn Gosselin, Doug Sanford, the City of Biddeford, Tammy Ackerman, Amy Titcomb, Bill Dufris, Coffee by Design, WMPG, RODE Microphones, the ZOOM Corporation, United States Military Academy Band

Production Photos:

Far from the safety of the Refuge lies the City of Corinth, a broken place that once called itself New York. From the ashes, John Prophet emerged, uniting disparate groups and pushing out rival gangs. The city lay in – well, not quite peace – but a state of sanctity for some years, before a new force entered: The Republic.

But on this day, no one decries the Republic. These soldiers, with their guns and ships, are turning on electricity and promising freedom. There is music, parades, fireworks. No one sees the looming shadow behind them. No one sees that behind their promises of good will, lies an iron fist.

The Cleansed: Season 1 – Chapter 5

Fifteen years have passed since the “Battle of Bangor,” the brutal assault on a small Maine city that set off the shattering of Northern New England during The Breaking. Since then, David and Sam have lead a ragged group of refugees and set up home at an abandoned airforce based dubbed “The Refuge.” And far south, John Prophet has continued his battle for freedom.

But John Prophet’s luck has about run out. Even as he attempts one more daring action, enemy soldiers crowd down around him. He is forced to make a difficult decision in a train station. And then, he sets his feet northward, and comes crashing in like a lightning storm to the bucolic life David and Sam have forged in The Refuge.

Maria and Luke have grown up knowing only the austerity of The Refuge. What will they make of this mysterious stranger and the storm of danger that surrounds him?

Download Chapter 4 of The Cleansed, Season 1, Episode 1 (MP3)

Link to full page with Cast & Crew Credits

Art by Simon Adams

EPISODE 1 – PART 3 of 4

Fifteen years have passed since the “Battle of Bangor,” the brutal assault on a small Maine city that set off the shattering of Northern New England during The Breaking. Since then, David and Sam have lead a ragged group of refugees and set up home at an abandoned airforce based dubbed “The Refuge.” And far south, John Prophet has continued his battle for freedom.

But John Prophet’s luck has about run out. Even as he attempts one more daring action, enemy soldiers crowd down around him. He is forced to make a difficult decision in a train station. And then, he sets his feet northward, and comes crashing in like a lightning storm to the bucolic life David and Sam have forged in The Refuge.

Maria and Luke have grown up knowing only the austerity of The Refuge. What will they make of this mysterious stranger and the storm of danger that surrounds him?

Download Chapter 3 of The Cleansed, Season 1, Episode 1

Link to full page with Cast & Crew Credits

Art by Simon Adams

EPISODE 1 – PART 2 of 4

Fifteen years have passed since the “Battle of Bangor,” the brutal assault on a small Maine city that set off the shattering of Northern New England during The Breaking. Since then, David and Sam have lead a ragged group of refugees and set up home at an abandoned airforce based dubbed “The Refuge.” And far south, John Prophet has continued his battle for freedom.

But John Prophet’s luck has about run out. Even as he attempts one more daring action, enemy soldiers crowd down around him. He is forced to make a difficult decision in a train station. And then, he sets his feet northward, and comes crashing in like a lightning storm to the bucolic life David and Sam have forged in The Refuge.

Maria and Luke have grown up knowing only the austerity of The Refuge. What will they make of this mysterious stranger and the storm of danger that surrounds him?

Download Chapter 2 of The Cleansed, Season 1

Artwork for The Cleansed penned by Simon Adams

EPISODE 1 – PART 1 of 4

Fifteen years have passed since the “Battle of Bangor,” the brutal assault on a small Maine city that set off the shattering of Northern New England during The Breaking. Since then, David and Sam have lead a ragged group of refugees and set up home at an abandoned airforce based dubbed “The Refuge.” And far south, John Prophet has continued his battle for freedom.

But John Prophet’s luck has about run out. Even as he attempts one more daring action, enemy soldiers crowd down around him. He is forced to make a difficult decision in a train station. And then, he sets his feet northward, and comes crashing in like a lightning storm to the bucolic life David and Sam have forged in The Refuge.

Maria and Luke have grown up knowing only the austerity of The Refuge. What will they make of this mysterious stranger and the storm of danger that surrounds him?

Download Chapter 1 of The Cleansed, Season 1

Link to full page with Cast & Crew Credits

Artwork for The Cleansed penned by Simon Adams

Our sprawling, epic post-apocalyptic series is here!  Be sure to catch up what happened 15 years prior to the start of Season 1 in our Prologue Episode.

Fifteen years have passed since the “Battle of Bangor,” the brutal assault on a small Maine city that set off the shattering of Northern New England during The Breaking. Since then, David and Sam have lead a ragged group of refugees and set up home at an abandoned airforce based dubbed “The Refuge.” And far south, John Prophet has continued his battle for freedom.

But John Prophet’s luck has about run out. Even as he attempts one more daring action, enemy soldiers crowd down around him. He is forced to make a difficult decision in a train station. And then, he sets his feet northward, and comes crashing in like a lightning storm to the bucolic life David and Sam have forged in The Refuge.

Maria and Luke have grown up knowing only the austerity of The Refuge. What will they make of this mysterious stranger and the storm of danger that surrounds him?

Run time 30 minutes, or hear installments as part of the weekly podcast

Download Full Episode Now!!!

The entire director’s edition – encoded in pristine 320kbps MP3 format and presented in a full 30-minutes as originally intended, is available for $1.99. Purchase it safely and download in glee through Paypal:

… Or download it for free through our weekly podcast, wherein a different chapter of The Cleansed is released each week:

Chapter 1

Download Chapter 1 of The Cleansed, Season 1

Chapter 2

Download Chapter 1 of The Cleansed, Season 1

Chapter 3

Download Chapter 3 of The Cleansed, Season 1, Episode 1

Chapter 4

Download Chapter 4 of The Cleansed, Season 1, Episode 1

Written/Directed/Produced by Fred Greenhalgh

Cast:

• Kate Gurney – Maria
• Philip Hobby- Luke
• Paul Drinan – John Prophet
• Kym Dakin – Sam
• Chris Newcomb – David
• Burke Brimmer – Chris
• Pope Brock – Jonas
• Gary Dixon – Carl
• Andrew Sawyer – Chad
• Dylan Chestnutt – Zeke
• James Herrera – Abraham
• Richard Mac – Richard
• Brent Askari – Saul

Additional Voices:

Nat Angstrom, PG Lorusso, Matthew Boudreau, Gary Hauger, Nate Speckman, and Erik Moody

Crew:

• Field Sound – Randall Farr
• Production Assistance – David Turner and Samantha Mason
• Sound Design – Matthew Boudreau (of Aural Stage Studios)
• Original Score – Hubert Campbell
• Additional Sound – Mind’s Eye Productions

Recorded on location at the North Dam Mill in Biddeford Maine and other locations in Southern Maine in the fall of 2011.

Special Thanks:

Jennifer Stonehouse, Black Kettle Farm, Carolyn Gosselin, Doug Sanford, the City of Biddeford, Tammy Ackerman and engine: propelling the creative economy, Amy Titcomb, Bill Dufris, Coffee by Design, WMPG, RODE Microphones, and the ZOOM Corporation.

Production Photos:

This is the beginning of FinalRune’s largest audio project to date, an audio epic that follows three youths confronting a world torn asunder by a global energy crisis.

15 years after a devastating time called “The Breaking,” a haggard ex-soldier, John Prophet, holds the key to saving society from a second apocalypse. At his heels are two religious fanatics, bent on waging the ultimate war – Armageddon. John faces no welcome return the Refuge, where the people he spurned years ago have created a new society. Worse, he has new enemies on his heels, and John must quickly make new friends or face the end of all he has fought for these long years.

To celebrate the launch of the first digital download of Season 1, we’ll be having a party in downtown Biddeford, Maine, where most of the series was recorded. Enjoy free beer and wine, snacks, and an exclusive screening of a behind-the-scenes documentary and audio listening party. Many cast/crew members will be in attendance to take questions. Be among the first to enjoy this ambitious new series involving some of Maine’s finest artists.

We have Engine to thank for hosting us at their space in the heart of Biddeford, a Main Street Maine community:

Friday, March 9 6-8PM
engine: propelling the creative community
265 Main #103
Biddeford ME 04005
Free and open to the public

We hope you can come out to enjoy the festivities, or raise us a glass and celebrate by listening at home wherever you may be.

Part 1 of our series of articles on gear Fred used in his adventures across South Africa in Winter 2012

Fred recording waterfall sounds with the PCM-M10 in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa

It’s no secret that I love field recording and especially handheld flash-based audio recorders. I’ve carried a Zoom H2 since they were introduced in 2007 and moved on to try out most of the rest of their line including the Zoom Q3, Zoom H4n and the Zoom H1. However, in preparation for my forthcoming trip to South Africa for five weeks it was time to take stock of my recording arsenal and ensure I had the right tool for the job.

The core requirement of my audio gear is that it had to fit into a single backpack along with all my other belongings for the full 5 weeks. See my other article to learn everything else that was in the pack. And of course, I need to collect fantastic audio.

I had recently purchased the Zoom H4n which served me well as a backup/supplementary recorder for sessions of The Cleansed, but when I took a hard look at it and my backpack, I felt it was time to shop outside my much beloved Zoom brand.

The Candidates

You can lose yourself for weeks in web research for these types of gadgets; I cut my search short by reading some of the fantastic audio gear reviews by Jeff Towne up at Transom.org. Towne’s review of the Marantz PMD-660 led me to buying that recorder back in 2006, which still serves me well today, and I highly appreciate his hands-on, practical approach to reviewing especially considering his public radio background (NPR freelancers, while very different from audio dramaturges, look for many of the same requirements as us).

It was there I first read about what was to be my new love – the Sony PCM-M10.

I’d never had the pleasure of owning a Sony portable recorder though I’d lusted over the PCM-D50 for years. The highly talked-up built-in mics, solid mic pre-amps, tough build quality and durability were all factors I liked. However, its $500 price tag, lack of XLR inputs, and just-a-little-too-bigness kept us away.

I found that the smaller cousin, the PCM-M10, had many of the features of the D50, as well as a few others that suited my needs as a lightweight, durable secondary field recorder:

• Small form factor – Very close in size to the Zoom H2, about the smallest a recorder can be while still having a professional set of features.
• Solid built-in mics – The omni mics on this recorder get a fair amount of (deserved) cricism for their limited stereo response, more important than stereo though is usable quality and for my type of work they fit the bill (mainly recording ambiences with occasional spot FX here and there).
• Incredible battery life – This is truly legendary. I don’t know that I’ve ever had an electronic device that has performed as well on this front. I got through almost the entire 5-week trip on a single set of AA batteries. The only reason I needed to swap them out is that I once accidentally left the recorder on overnight and it recorded 8-hours straight of audio without putting up a fuss.
• MicroSD Card Support – For about $30 I purchased a 16GB SD card which allowed me around 24 hrs of 24-bit/48Khz recordings.

There are a few other things I learned to love about this recorder which I’ll talk about momentarily. These were the features which sold me on it. Within a few days of reading Jeff’s reviews I had one on the way from BH Photo/Video.

Unboxing and Beyond

The Zoom H2 and Sony PCM M10 are almost identical in size. The PCM M10 is a bit slimmer and heftier. It lacks the surround capability and computer interface of the Zoom, but offers robust professional features such as a manual input gain knob instead

My first impression with the recorder was that yes, this was in fact as small as it looked on the internet. It also feels like a professional piece of equipment; holding it side by side with my Zoom H2, the Zoom feels like a toy and the Sony like something for grown-ups.

When I first starting doing this in 2007 I probably wouldn’t have noticed (nor been able to appreciate) the differences, but at my current level of experience here are the features that really stuck out:

• Manual recording level input knob – If I could name only one feature that makes this recorder a better buy that some of its competitors, this is it. Having the ability to really control your input levels (vs. the Low, Medium, High response on the Zoom) is what separates a mainstream device from that of the audio professional.
• Mic Sensivitity Low/High – Related to the above issue. Mic sensitivity should be on high most-times, but gosh, having the option of ‘Low’ helps out a lot when an unexpected lightning storm comes rolling in overhead.
• Built-in Limiter – One of those features that you hope you never to need to use. But when you do, you’re glad you have it.
• Cross-memory Recording – This feature speaks to Sony’s thoughtfulness of the recordist. If you run out of memory on one of two sources on this recorder (built-in memory or memory card) the recorder can automatically keep recording on the other media to keep you from losing material. Less expensive recorders would just quit on you, or worse, lose the recording you were working on.

I felt pretty good about my decision. And then I packed on a plane and flew halfway across the world.

Arriving in South Africa

Lesotho's Sani Pass. Okay, so there weren't any sound recording opportunities here but it sure was spellbinding

This was my first trip to the continent of Africa and though my wife had done a lot to prep me from her previous trips, there was still a lot of not-sure-what-to-expect-edness from my end. How remote would I really be? Would I be able to buy batteries? Would I be able to upload material to the internet while traveling? What would be my backup scenario if my recorder was stolen?

Not surprisingly a lot of what I thought going into the trip turned out to be wrong and several things I didn’t anticipate turned out to be headaches. South Africa is a modern country in many parts, but nowhere was internet really adequate for me to back up any source material onto the web. Batteries, on the other hand, were plentiful and I felt stupid for carrying 30 AA’s with me.

Perhaps the most useful feature of the PCM-M10 is its size. Not much larger than a smartphone, I could easily keep it in my pocket at all times as I wandered around in order to snag random audio recording opportunities you might otherwise miss. For example, this random ice cream truck on a street in Johannesberg:

The minibus taxi rank in Maseru, Lesotho. Busier than it looks!

Practically speaking, I wasn’t going on a 20k hike with the shotgun mic nor would I travel a city street with it. Yet I could very take the Sony and clandestinely stoop in a building awning and record a busy market in Lesotho without attracting attention. Well, without attracting any more attention than you already do as a white person traveling that mountain country:

To the random passersby, the size and built of the Sony looks comparable to a Blackberry. Interesting, maybe, but not unheard of. A fuzzy shotgun mic and headphones make you look a lot more like an alien.

That being said, outside of the urban centers I was a lot more brave taking out the shotgun mic, and recorded some amazing tracks in the remote village of Malealea of their jingling-belled sheep headed out to pasture:

Monitoring levels of an approaching thunderstorm in the Northern Drakensberg, South Africa

And I did have the opportunity to pull out the RØDE to record this fantastic thunderstorm. This alone was worth bringing the mic the entire trip.

We don’t get storms like this in Maine; while I have a lot of thunder/lightning tracks in my library none were quite as clear, crisp, and missing rain as these ones.

Here’s a nice clean sound of a thunderclap (good use of the lowered mic sensitivity!)

Why this is a Love Affair

Let’s be clear: the most important thing about any recorder is the material you come home with. You can wax and wane about this feature or that feature, but ultimately what matters is that you’re comfortable with the recorder, trust it, and can use it to do your work. In the field you need to know your recorder well enough to do basic troubleshooting if Google is 8,000 miles away. You need to know what you need to pack in order to feel confident you’ll get what you came for.

It’s for all these reasons that I love the Sony PCM-M10. It feels like it was made by someone who understands audio recording. There are lots of thoughtful small features that you don’t even realize you need at first. In some review I read somewhere they talked about Sony’s robust experience making recorders from the Minidisc days back to Beta – and let me affirm, this experience shows. I do still truly love the Zoom recorders, they are fantastic for what they are, but comparing the H2 to the PCM-M10 is like comparing a point-and-shoot camera to a SLR.

Fred toasts Yuri Rasovsky at the Sani Top Chalet, the highest pub in Africa. I learned of Yuri's passing the 2nd week of my travels.

Like all love affairs, my tendency to gush shouldn’t overlook the flaws. The recorder is, after all, only $200 and cannot be perfect.

The built-in mics, while usable, are less useful than the X-Y cardioid inputs you see on most recorders of this size and, indeed, on its bigger cousin the D50.

Getting a windscreen to cover these mics is a nightmare. It’s pretty much a must to purchase a $50 windscreen to go with this recorder, but even so (at least the one I have, a Rycote) they don’t even stay on the recorder adequately without reinforcement. My solution was ultimately to hold the windscreen on using a rubber band. Surprisingly, this worked very well – but not exactly what you hope for when you spend 25% of the cost of the recorder on a windscreen.

Ultimately, what I don’t like about this recorder comes down to quibbles. For the cost, I feel I got an incredible value and can honestly say this recorder has changed my life in a small way: I’ll never be found anywhere without a portable audio recorder again. I’ve wanted a recorder that was small enough and good enough to go everywhere with me for years, and now I have it. Thank you Sony.

This is an unbiased review with no compensation offered to its writer. RØDE Microphones is an in-kind sponsor of FinalRune Productions. The author does profit for any products sold through product links embedded in this review.

Afterword

A few ‘notes for next time’ from field recording in South Africa – in case this comes in any for any other recordists out there:

• Big game animals don’t really make any noise in their natural environment, and it’s practically impossible to capture usable sound while on safari. Go to a private reserve or refuge for a particular animal instead. South Africa has plenty of rescue centers for elephants and big cats, for example.
• AA batteries really are everywhere, don’t bring too many. Only bother with specialty batteries, and even those seemed to be fairly common in South Africa (especially the touristy areas). Tourists with big digital SLR cameras have really changed everything.
• Cables and connectors on the other hand, are practically impossible to find. Make sure you have every concievable one you want before you get on the plane. And maybe some extras.
• Zip-lock bags are wonderful for packing. You don’t need any super special expensive gear bags.
• My wife laughed at me but the Cocoon organizers are a great tool for organizing cables and electronic parts.
• I did bring a Netbook with us which was a real treat to have. You would probably get a lot more battery life out of an iPad but I can’t imagine trying to do real work on one. I was worried about battery life but truth-be-told Ivhad enough access to grid power that I never needed the computer and found it impossible to get a charge. If you’re in the bush for 3 months that may be a different story.
• Bring your recorder with you everywhere. Really. The one time I left it in our tent and ran to town I missed something really special.
• Don’t let the fact that you’re recording something keep you from enjoying the place that you are. Remember that you’re a tiny fleck of dust on a gigantically massive universe and that this may be the only time in your life that you’re going to be able to record this very special moment. And then check to make sure your meters are good.

Alex wakes in a run-down New England hospital with foggy memories of a car accident. He asks nurses about his missing girlfriend, Elizabeth, but can’t seem to get any answers. In fact, he can’t seem to get anything straight from anyone. And – was that a scream in the distance?

Alex soon realizes that his condition is more critical than he first believed.  Because very, very soon, he is coming back, and he may not have such great ideas for Alex.

Play Intensive Care:

Running Time: 33 minutes
Download Intensive Care

Play 1 Min Promo:

Production Team:

Matthew J Boudreau, Samantha Mason, and Frederick Greenhalgh

Cast:

• Nat Angstrom – Alex
• Bernie Horowitz – Mrs. Lee
• PG Lorusso – Mr. Bradley
• Kristina Balbo – Elizabeth
• Dave Marshall – Doctor
• Hannah Kramer – Nurse 1
• Janice Gardner – Nurse 2
• Ashley Brooks – Nurse 3

This production was recorded on location at North Dam Mill in Biddeford, Maine, October 2011.

Location recording by Fred Greenhalgh and Michael DiAmeda
Sound Design and Music by Matthew J Boudreau and Barbara Truex
Original Art by Monique Boudreau

Special Thanks to Doug Sanford, Carolyn Gosselin, the City of Biddeford, RODE Microphones and the ZOOM Corporation

Recording Photos:

Also see the teaser for THE REFUGE portion of the story.

“It’s kind of tradition,” says FinalRune Producer Fred Greenhalgh, “Halloween always is a time of heightened interest in radio drama and we love the ritual of developing a new show to celebrate.”

This year’s show is Intensive Care, by New York playwright James Comtois. The show involves Alex, a young man who finds himself in a run-down New England hospital following a car accident. Strange conversations from patients and staff make Alex realize that no one ever seems to make it out of the hospital alive… and that his condition may be more critical than he first believed.

The show will be recorded on location at the North Dam Mill in Biddeford, Maine, courtesy of mill owners and the City of Biddeford. Stylistically, the show will mix FinalRune’s raw, field recorded aesthetic with rich digital sound design by Aural Stage’s Matthew J. Boudreau. Directed by Samantha Mason, The cast includes New York based Nat Angstrom and P.G. Lorusso, and Maine-based Hannah Kramer, Kristina Balbo, Janice Gardner, and Dave Marshall. Music by Maine-based Barb Truex and Matthew J Boudreau.

“We’re always eager for a road trip, and recording a new radio play seemed the best excuse I could imagine,” said Boudreau, who plans on packing a walker, stethoscope, and blood pressure kit among other props for the recording sessions.

FinalRune’s Fred Greenhalgh met Aural Stage producers Matthew J Boudreau and Samantha Mason at 2011′s CONvergence con, where both troupes received Mark Time Awards for excellence in science-fiction audio. The producers became fast friends, and are eager for this first collaboration.

“The world of audio production and new media is constantly evolving,” said Samantha Mason, “and this is the perfect opportunity to experiment with new styles of recording, bringing the strengths of both our companies to the table with James’ script.”

The show will be made available through the international audio collaboration Transcontinental Terror, a 4-hour listening event that streams live from 7PM-11PM EST on October 31st. Participating groups are The Wireless Theatre Company (London, England), Electric Vicuna Productions (Halifax, Nova Scotia), FinalRune Productions (Portland, Maine), Chatterbox Audio Theater (Memphis, Tennessee), Icebox Radio Theater (International Falls, Minnesota), The Willamette Radio Workshop (Portland, Oregon)

“As a community, modern audio drama producers have continued to seek ways to celebrate each other’s work and collectively build an audience,” Greenhalgh said, “To us, Halloween is better than Christmas… every year we prove that monsters created by your own imagination are just as frightening as anything produced in Hollywood.”

Tune into the show at 8PM October 31st at: http://transcontinentalterror.com/when-to-listen/ or on participating stations: WKIT and WMPG in ME, WRFA-LP in NY, WFHB in IN, and WKNO in TN. The show will also appear on FinalRune and Aural Stage’s own websites.

Some Photos from the Production:

In this teaser, we learn a little about the storyline of THE REFUGE. Maria (the daughter of David and Sam) pleads for the life of John Prophet, who has earned the ire of nearly everyone in his struggle to raise a force to fight against the Republic.

Also see the teaser for THE REPUBLIC portion of the story.

The Cleansed: Season 1 picks up 15 years after the tumultuous events in the pilot episode. A period of violent political and social turmoil has settled to a grinding, hard life for the people of the Refuge, but their bucolic existence is not to last. On one ill-fated autumn day, John Prophet, a ghost from the past, returns with ominous news.

The journey started in Season 1 will ultimately span 12 hours of audio adventure in a three-season storyline. Expect the first episodes to arrive in March 2012. But in the mean time, there is a lot of cool material to check out. See our website dedicated to The Cleansed for a trailer video, show backstory, character sketches, and more.

See you on the radio!

We’re thrilled to announce that RØDE Microphones has signed on as a supporter of FinalRune’s audio work, sending us a selection of microphones to help with our in-studio recording (RØDE Procaster), sound effects recording (RØDE NTG-2 and “Dead Cat”), and video efforts (RØDE VideoMic Pro).

The Australian audio company has a reputation for building quality microphones that sound like models that cost 2x – 3x as much. Their mics are all backed with an incredible 10-year-warranty and we have nothing but praises to sing for their RØDE NT-4 microphone which we use to record nearly all of our location productions.

Our upgraded studio set-up now with RØDE Procaster and Studio Arm

With the mics unboxed we’re already enjoying being able to record better audio in-house (Fred previously has had to borrow studio space to do voiceovers) and are gathering some excellent location sound with the NTG-2.

If you’re as much as a microphone geek as we are, stay tuned to the FinalRune website where we will have reviews of the new gear including our testimonial after having used it in real world (and fairly unique) situations. Thank you, RØDE, we’ll make great use of the gear!

FinalRune is proud to receive the Silver Mark Time Award for our pilot of The Cleansed. The Mark Time Award is given each year to honor the Best Science Fiction Audio Production, along with its sister award, the Ogle Award for Best Fantasy Audio Production (won in 2008 by our Waiting for a Window).

The awards are given out each year at CONvergence, a convention for fans of Science Fiction and Fantasy in all media held at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, and so Fred packed onto a red-eye flight June 30 to head west.

This year brought out a record attendance of audio producers, including Brian Price, Jerry Stearns and Kris Markman of Great Northern Audio Theater, Jeff Adams of Icebox Radio Theater, Matthew and Monique Boudreau and Samantha Mason of 1918, Jonathan Mitchell (who created the spectacular Moon Graffiti), Domien and Eline of The Witch Hunter Chronicles, Scott Hickey of The Grist Mill, Cayenne Chris Conroy of TEKDIFF, and even Jack Ward of Electric Vicuna/The Sonic Society (contrary to rumors, there were no brawls, though there’s an exciting interview you’ll be hearing soon over at SS).

So, what happens when you get all of these audio minds together? Well, lots of beverages (both caffeinated and alcoholic) are drunk, conversation exchanged, and invariably, sound effects recorded. We logged a number of great interviews which you’ll be hearing shortly on Radio Drama Revival, and some other completely different ones will be on The Sonic Society.

We’re very proud of the award, though truth be told the best part was to connect with friends new and old, and to engage in some delightful synergy in what is at times a decidedly surreal environment (where else can you sip tea while Han Solo encased in Carbonite walks by?).

Expect new collaborations, ideas, and audio endeavors to follow…

Here is the full list of winners:

Mark Time Awards / Ogle Awards

Winners – 2010
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Audio Production

Mark Time Award

GOLD
The Truth: Moon Graffiti
Written & Produced by Jonathan Mitchell

New York, NY

SILVER
The Cleansed, Pilot Episode
FinalRune Productions
Written & Produced by Fred Greenhalgh

Alfred ME
www.finalrune.com

HONORABLE MENTIONS

1918
Aural Stage
Written by Richard Lovejoy

Producers, Matthew Boudreau, Samantha Mason
Buffalo, NY
www.1918show.com

Brad Lansky and the Anti-Starc
Protophonic
Written by J.D. Venne

Producer, Dieter Zimmermann
Cape Town, South Africa
www.protophonic.net

Ogle Award

GOLD
Whoever Wishes

Tekdiff
Written & Produced by Cayenne Chris Conroy
Minneapolis, MN
www.tekdiff.com

SILVER

We’re Alive, Chapter 17,
"There Might Be Others"
Zombiepodcast.
Written by Kc Wayland
Producers, Kc Wayland, Shane Salk
Orange, CA

www.zombiepodcast.com

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Soul Survivor
Sonic Society
Written & Produced by Jack. J. Ward

Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada
www.evicuna.com

The Witch Hunter Chronicles
Audio-epics
Written and Produced by Domien de Groot
Deurne, Belgium

whchronicles.wordpress.com

We’ve posted earlier about our love of recording on location, but we wanted to pause to gush a little bit about our preferred kit: the Rode NT-4 loaded with the Rode Blimp and Fishpole.

We’ve been using the NT-4 since 2007, for our first field recorded production Dark Passenger, but in those days our shock-mounting came from a DIY homemade style contraption made from a pencil case holder, painter’s roll, several elastic bands and a feather boa. It looked something like this:

Mad props to sound man Randall Farr (pictured), who built the device which served us well for locations including beaches, woods, and lighthouses in Southern Maine. This wonderful prototype met its end during the recording of The Troll of Stony Brook and we found ourselves looking for a replacement.

It was actually Randy who suggested the Rode Blimp to me, and since I have a fondness for the brand (I had earlier that spring recorded some delicious M/S tracks with two NT2A’s for The War on Poverty), I began my research on the Blimp.

Reviews from Sweetwater were rave, and I found myself buying a boom kit that cost nearly as much as the microphone (~$428 with free shipping).

Two things made me decide not to go the DIY route again:

1 – The thing is backed with a ten year warranty so I consider this basically a once-for-life kind of investment (as opposed to recorders, computers, ProTools, etc. which I upgrade every couple of years)
2 – I really wanted to look professional on the set. I had some really top talent with me this time and I wanted there to be no doubt as to the professionalism of FinalRune.

To be honest, with the Rode kit and my Marantz recorder (recently upgraded with new Oade brothers pre-amps) we were recording with a very similar kit to what I had worked with on a BBC Radio 4 production a few months earlier. The only difference was that the BBC’s kit retailed for a little over $8,000 whereas ours, even after the Blimp, was around $1,500. So, I took the plunge.

Sweetwater delivered it in a matter of days with loads of candy. Yum. Now to get the thing unboxed.

While the Blimp is clearly intended for shotgun-style microphones, we find it works just fine with NT-4 after deciphering their directions (this video helped). I had to do a little hack to get the cable routed through the handle, but within a matter of minutes everything was hooked up. Then, to go out and record stuff.

Our first recording with the Rode NT-4/Blimp combo was in September, 2010, for the pilot of our new serial, The Cleansed. We were at a regional airport with steady breezes all day, necessitating the wombat to come out and play on some occasions:

I’m not sure how to vouch for the quality of this set-up other than to share some comments on our production:

“The quality of your location production is breathtakingly stunning” – Roger Gregg of Crazy Dog Audio Theatre

“Having done a few location recordings, I know how much time & effort goes into it, and all the quirks one has to deal with including unwanted extraneous sounds etc. Super job. I am impressed.” – Tom Lopez of ZBS

“In so much drama it’s just about the voices. Here you connect with the sheer physical effort. You can sense the actors sweating.” – John Dryden at BBC Radio 4

So, yeah. While we could have gotten results with inferior equipment, I was proud to run 30 hours of sessions knowing that we had real quality gear behind us.

In fact, I’ve enjoyed the kit so much that I’ve been taking it places it probably doesn’t deserve to go, such as outside of my house in the middle of a good ol’ Maine Nor’Easter this winter:

Here’s the sounds of our results:

That load ‘clack clack’ ing, by the way, isn’t the sound of handling noise, that’s pine trees snapping under heavy snow load. Awwwww yeah.

This bit of fan love was not paid for or subsidized by Rode in any way. However, we do hope that maybe one day they will send us some schwag. Like the Videomic. Or the Procaster. The BH Photo Video links will support us if you clickthrough and end up buying something. We hope you will.

If you’re looking for cool content to populate on your Cloud Player – leave it to us! Several of our shows are available for your listening delight, let FinalRune’s audio artistry break up the monotony of music listening!

Earlier this month, Portland, Maine coffee company Coffee by Design hosted FinalRune producer-in-chief Fred Greenhalgh for an evening presenting The Cleansed.

After a screening of Behind the Scenes: The Troll of Stony Brook Fred gave a short history of radio drama, talking about the significance of FinalRune and The Cleansed as our first effort to create a serialized work.

A crowd of around a dozen (which packed the back nook of CBD’s India Street location just fine) came out to hear, and pull out their wallets to support The Cleansed! Cool schwag and CDs of the pilot episode were available, as well as other FinalRune goodies.

Our next event will be coming up in April…

Want to hear more about The Cleansed and have the chance to ask any questions you have about the art of producing radio drama? Then come out Friday, March 4 from 7-9PM at Coffee By Design’s India Street location: 67 India Street, Portland, Maine.

We will be screening the Behind the Scenes: The Troll of Stony Brook documentary to introduce people to what we do, then discussing what The Cleansed is and our approach to creating the most ambitious project we’ve done to date.

A big thank you to Coffee by Design for supporting the project with a Rebel Blend Grant, and by opening up their facility to us. We promise a fun night!

The result, a refreshed, spookier than ever mix of the terrible story of a cursed house in Downeast Maine and the two teenagers who get caught in the middle.

Enjoy!

Download Dark Passenger 2011 Remix

Found at http://thecleansed.com, the new site features story information, story structure and support options for the new production. With an operating budget of $35,000 to yet be raised, FinalRune will be spending most of our effort fundraising for the new project in the year 9 months.

Meanwhile, you can enjoy the Pilot Episode as well as see this video by producer Fred introducing the new project:

Our Favorite Gift: You

Thank YOU for a year of enthusiasm, encouragement, ideas, and most of all – listening!

FinalRune has grown by leaps in bounds in 2010, starting with our production of the pilot episode of Open Season and incredible Wall Street Journal coverage.

We went on to do our second live event, a laugh-out-loud live show and bean suppah with our friends at the Mad Horse Theater Company before releasing two original productions: the feature length Troll of Stony Brook and the short, candid War on Poverty.

Finally, our production season culminated on Halloween when WKIT, Stephen King’s rock station, broadcast the pilot of The Cleansed.

After a decade of working on the story (Fred has three manuscripts and two notebooks stuffed with story notes to prove it) production has finally begun on this timely and epic tale exploring a grim but hopeful post-oil future.

With 2011 on the horizon, The Cleansed consumes us. It is a massive, epic story, one that requires resources and support far beyond what we’ve ever needed to date. On the same token, the work is further reaching – as it explores the energy, social and political problems of today’s world in a way that only science fiction can.

We hope you will support us in this next leg of the journey, and you’ll hear from us soon with word on grantmaking efforts, special events, exclusive audio, schwag, and more.

But for now, we hope you’ll join us in this time of reflection, thankfulness, and meditation to prepare for the road ahead. We’re sure excited!

I’ll Be Listening for Christmas

Over on our sister podcast, Radio Drama Revival, we’re doing our FOURTH annual holiday radio fest!

Here’s some good, completely free drama for the season:

• Twilight Zone Radio Drama – Authorized radio dramatizations of classic Twilight Zone TV episodes! The Gift delivered to humanity, and a Snow Angel and found in a mighty blizzard.
• Chatterbox Audio Theater – Hear an original Christmas fable, Snow Globe – Part 1 and Part 2. Also, don’t miss their splendid James Joyce adaptation Dead and Gone.
• Quicksilver Radio Theatre – These guys are great. Last year we featured the Sherlock Holmes Christmas tale, The Blue Carbunkle (Part 1 and Part 2). You can also hear a haunting rendition of The Christmas Carol from deep in RDR’s archives

Ideas Percolating Over an Open Fire…

Just one final thank you for your time, your attention, your advice. In today’s jaded, media-saturated, economically recessed and politically gridlocked world, the simple treasure of you making time to listen to our shows and to let us know what you think means everything in the world.

We plan to keep doing this for many more years to come, and hope that you’re as thrilled to be on this ride as we are.

Read more of our Christmas 2010 Newsletter.

Here Are Some Emails from the Archives

Some time in the not so distant future, the world as we know it is starting to unravel. The United States is mired in unwinnable wars, gas is scarce and the transportation system grinds to a halt. Homegrown terrorists take out the electric grid. Food is strictly rationed and distributed by the military. As citizens grow increasingly angry with the government, martial law is called in to maintain peace.

And then things really start to get bad.

Podcast Release Available Now!

Download The Cleansed – Episode 0 – The Breaking

For more info about The Cleansed, see our new website for the series.

Credits:

• Written, directed and produced by Fred Greenhalgh
• Executive producer: William Dufris
• Richard Fish as Comeau
• Bobby Russell as himself
• William Dufris as Stephen King and Murray
• Rylee Ann Doiron as Jenny
• Philip Hobby as Jake
• Christopher Price as Kurt
• Dave Marshall as Rebel
• Paul Drinan as John Prophet
• Kym Dakin as Sam
• Chris Newcomb as David
• Burke Brimmer as Chris
• Ben Myshrall as Kid
• Lisa Muller-Jones as Sarah
• Pope Brock as Man and Rebel 2
• Brent Askari as Sawyer and Mike
• Rebecca Myshrall as Luke
• Dave LaGraffe as Lee
• Sound recordists: Randall Farr and Jodd Bowles
• Production Assistance: Katie Freddoso

Mixed and Mastered by Mind’s Eye Productions.  Recorded on location at the Biddeford Airport in Biddeford Maine and other locations in Southern Maine. Additional sound effects courtesy of Mind’s Eye Productions and SoundDogs.com.

Music: Bad-ass rock tunes “Sailing” and “Walking Dead” by The Big Coffin Hunters, groovy funky jazz tune recorded and produced by University of Maine Augusta Audio program, and cover of “Run Through the Jungle” courtesy of Gringoman, lyrics licensed through Limelight.

Special thanks to:

• Stephen King and his rock and roll radio station, WKIT 100.3
• The City of Biddeford
• Tom Lopez of ZBS
• Rich Fish
• Amy Titcomb and Yawft Yummies LLC
• KC Wayland (Wayland Productions)
• The Dead Ford Trading Post
• William Dufris
• Anthony Marino
• You, our listener

Season 1 of the THE CLEANSED coming March 2012. For now support the project and learn about the story and characters at http://thecleansed.com

Brent Askari (left) warns Paul Drinan and Kym Dakin about rebel soldiers who are igniting jet fuel

Randall Farr records as Burke Brimmer, Lisa Muller-Jones, and Chris Newcomb rush towards an abandoned home during the apocalypse

Rylee Ann Doiron and Philip Hobby sprint for safety after a military air base is assualted by rebel soldiers.

More photos in our online photo gallery

And then things really start to get bad.

FinalRune’s newest piece of work, the pilot episode of our new sci-fi serial The Cleansed, will be debuting on Sunday, October 31st – that’s Halloween, my friends!

How to Hear:

• 7PM EST on WKIT 100.3 “The Rock” of Bangor – Stephen King’s radio station! Hit “Listen Now” on http://zoneradio.com/wkit/index.shtml
• 7PM EST on Transcontinental Terror, the international audio festival featuring 6 hours of original horror programming for Halloween.  Streams online: http://transcontinentalterror.com/
• 9PM EST on WMPG, Greater Portland Maine’s Community Radio: http://wmpg.org/ Links to “Listen to WMPG” on the right
• Miss these dates? Stay tuned for a live stream to be embedded here.  There will NOT be a free podcast version of this show due to licensing restrictions of music used in it.  So be sure to tune in when you can!

Brent Askari (left) warns Paul Drinan and Kym Dakin about rebel soldiers who are igniting jet fuel

Randall Farr records as Burke Brimmer, Lisa Muller-Jones, and Chris Newcomb rush towards an abandoned home during the apocalypse

Rylee Ann Doiron and Philip Hobby sprint for safety after a military air base is assualted by rebel soldiers.

More photos in our online photo gallery

And then things really start to get bad.

So is the world we enter at the start of The Cleansed, a new post-apocalyptic sci-fi serial penned by Fred Greenhalgh. This series has been over a decade in the works, and so it is with great enthusiasm that we announce that recording of the pilot has begun.

FinalRune assembled the best cast to date (that seems to happen on every new show we do!) for an intense, action-packed, scary and tragic story of a group of soldiers and civilians in Bangor, Maine who need to band together to survive the man-made apocalypse.

The prologue/pilot will air Halloween night on WKIT, Stephen King’s own rock and roll radio station, as well as on WMPG in Portland, Maine. If you’re nowhere near either of those two places you can stream it live during the Transcontinental Terror audio horror fest.

Mucho Gracias to the Town of Biddeford, Maine for letting us record at their Airport, as well as Man, who let us use his house.

Brent Askari (left) warns Paul Drinan and Kym Dakin about rebel soldiers who are igniting jet fuel

Randall Farr records as Burke Brimmer, Lisa Muller-Jones, and Chris Newcomb rush towards an abandoned home during the apocalypse

Rylee Ann Doiron and Philip Hobby sprint for safety after a military air base is assualted by rebel soldiers.

One of the things that troubles the NT4, and practically every mic when in the field, is handling and wind noise.  There’s a foam cover that comes with the NT4 but nothing that will protect you from even modest winds (and we’ve had this thing out on islands off the coast of Maine where it was wailing on us).

We’ve gotten this far using an improvised “blimp,” consisting of a pencil canister, a paint roller handle, rubber bands and a bunch of feather boas, but it really seemed about time to up the ante… And so we ordered two very nice new items from Rode – the Rode Blimp, and the Rode mini boompole.

We expect to really, really like these two new toys.  We’ll do a before/after comparison on the goodies once they arrive from Sweetwater.

One of the things that troubles the NT4, and practically every mic when in the field, is handling and wind noise.  There’s a foam cover that comes with the NT4 but nothing that will protect you from even modest winds (and we’ve had this thing out on islands off the coast of Maine where it was wailing on us).

We’ve gotten this far using an improvised “blimp,” consisting of a pencil canister, a paint roller handle, rubber bands and a bunch of feather boas, but it really seemed about time to up the ante… And so we ordered two very nice new items from Rode – the Rode Blimp, and the Rode mini boompole.

We expect to really, really like these two new toys.  We’ll do a before/after comparison on the goodies once they arrive from Sweetwater.

This ambitious project echoes the NPR programming of the 1980s (Star Wars, Bradbury 13, Beyond 2000, A Canticle for Leibowitz). The serial will consist of three seasons, the first featuring ten self-contained 30 minute episodes. A total of 30 episodes will be produced. Further, a large portion of each episode will be recorded on location in different areas of Maine using the techniques developed by dramatists such as Erik Bauersfeld, ZBS’ Tom Lopez, BBC’s John Dryden and Crazy Dog Audio Theatre’s Roger Gregg.

A Story of Our Times

Like all great science-fiction, the story uses the lens of an alternative reality to create a world that comes dangerously close to our own: The Cleansed is a geo-politically rooted story that takes place twenty years after the depletion of the world’s oil reserves, focusing on a group of three teenagers who have grown up together in a self-sustaining stronghold in rural Canada. Their peaceful life is interrupted when a message from a legendary rebel leader leads them on a journey into “The Republic,” a region of America where the remains of the US Military enforces strict martial law.

Simultaneously, two men appear shepherding a real apocalypse – one claims he is the antichrist, and the other, Christ reborn. As the two factions build armies and prepare for their ultimate battle, the youths unite with the rebels to wage a war for freedom that will leave no one unscarred.

Partners in Great Audio

FinalRune has enlisted help to produce this epic sci-fi tale – AudioComics, LLC will be associate producing the project and WMPG, Greater Portland Maine’s Community Radio, is acting as a distribution partner and has joitnly submitted a grant with FinalRune to the National Endowment for the Arts.

AudioComics co-founders William Dufris and Lance Roger Axt will be working with FinalRune writer and director Fred Greenhalgh on mixing and mastering the episodes and promoting the work in arenas outside that of audio. “Both FinalRune and AudioComics share the same belief: that audio dramas can and should serve as the basis for, or even pilots for, projects in the greater media just as comic books have become prime source material for television shows and movies,” says Axt. “In fact The Cleansed could become a comic book series. Or a television mini-series. Or a big-budget feature film. And why not?”

Social Media Meets Multi Media Short Form Audio

The Cleansed will be released first as 5 minute installments (ala the BBC serials of producer/director Dirk Maggs), and later in its entirety as pay-per-MP3 downloads and compact discs through both the FinalRune and AudioComics websites. In the tradition of The Blair Witch Project and Lost, the series will have an encompassing digital presence, including a website with backstory, streaming downloads, and distribution information for radio stations.

Stay tuned for behind-the-scenes footage, character story, and other goodies on social media networks including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. And in keeping with AudioComics’ committment of working with rising and established writers and artists in the worlds of comics and sci-fi, the trio are looking at potential pencillers and inkers for promotional artwork, streaming web slideshows, and compact disc/MP3 cover art.

Debut Episode Coming Soon

The pilot episode of The Cleansed is currently in the works, and will debut on both WMPG FM and Bangor’s WKIT FM (Stephen King’s rock and roll station) on Halloween night, as part of a new collaboration among audio drama producers in different countries called Transcontinental Terror. Moreover, WKIT program director Bobby Russell will play himself in the series.

In the pilot, we’re introduced to a Bangor, Maine of some thirty or so years in the future. Ongoing problems with the electrical grid and a state of martial law opens the door for extremists to siege civil society. Soldiers returning from a new war in Saudi Arabia are forced to start fighting on their home soil, while college students, radio DJs, and other civilians are caught in the crossfire.

About FinalRune

FinalRune Productions is dedicated to producing compelling original audio drama. Since their creation in 2006, FinalRune has released over a dozen original works, including the Ogle-Award winning “Waiting for a Window,” the pilot episode of “Open Season” by Archer Mayor (featured in the Wall Street Journal) and the cautionary tale “The Troll of Stony Brook.” FinalRune’s work is recorded on-location, using techniques similar to independent filmmaking for an immersive and realistic aural experience. Downloads of plays, production photographs, and articles on the craft are available on FinalRune’s website, http://www.finalrune.com.

About AudioComics

The AudioComics Company provides superior audio entertainment with its professional full-cast audio theatre adaptations of licensed and original properties from the world of comic books, graphic novels, and more. AudioComics productions of classic, contemporary and world premiere properties will reach new audiences far beyond readers and comic book fans through the universally popular entertainment medium of multi-track recorded sound and music on CD and in downloadable form, accessible in today’s market with today’s sound. The AudioComics team is working to establish relationships with comic book companies, sci-fi and comic writers, sponsors, and the entertainment industry in Hollywood and New York, and to give these audio theatre pieces worldwide exposure. http://www.audiocomicscompany.com