The premise of this piece is quite good, however, in my opinion it suffered some in the execution. The first minute and half was really marred by recording people's answers in very noisy environments where you can barely hear the answers clearly. While this may add atmosphere and an edgy feel, it would make it very frustrating to listen to in the car, (and we know how many of us only listen to radio in the car.) While other folks liked that fact that the question every one is answering is never actually asked, I think it would have been nice to verbalize it at least once.
The plus side is that people gave interesting answers, and many of them had to think very hard to do so.
I just happen to think that the piece would have benefited from some technical and editing improvements to make it more "Listener friendly"...Particularly for those of us ensconced in cars already surrounded by to munch ambient noise.
What sounds like a glib parlor game or late night bar ice-breaker, becomes an aural Rorschach test for the participants who are asked the title question. They are often surprised by their own responses, like the young man who dismisses the concept of survival after death, then goes on to describe how he would have haunted his mother, "just to let her know that I was okay."
The deliberately ragged soundscape design of this narrator-less essay is one of the things that saves it from the "new age" curse. Truly contemplative and thought provoking, it maintains an unsentimental edge.
This could be the centerpiece of programs about spirituality and mortality, but it would also be an evocative and tantalizing piece to drop into the right mix of music. In any context, this is the sort of work you want coming out of your dashboard on long drives through desert nights.
Comments for How Would You Haunt?
Produced by Carolina Wheat
Other pieces by Carolina Wheat
Rating Summary
2 comments
jackie katz
Posted on October 21, 2008 at 11:49 AM | Permalink
Review of How Would You Haunt?
The premise of this piece is quite good, however, in my opinion it suffered some in the execution. The first minute and half was really marred by recording people's answers in very noisy environments where you can barely hear the answers clearly. While this may add atmosphere and an edgy feel, it would make it very frustrating to listen to in the car, (and we know how many of us only listen to radio in the car.) While other folks liked that fact that the question every one is answering is never actually asked, I think it would have been nice to verbalize it at least once.
The plus side is that people gave interesting answers, and many of them had to think very hard to do so.
I just happen to think that the piece would have benefited from some technical and editing improvements to make it more "Listener friendly"...Particularly for those of us ensconced in cars already surrounded by to munch ambient noise.
Joseph Dougherty
Posted on August 04, 2006 at 04:55 PM | Permalink
Review of How Would You Haunt?
What sounds like a glib parlor game or late night bar ice-breaker, becomes an aural Rorschach test for the participants who are asked the title question. They are often surprised by their own responses, like the young man who dismisses the concept of survival after death, then goes on to describe how he would have haunted his mother, "just to let her know that I was okay."
The deliberately ragged soundscape design of this narrator-less essay is one of the things that saves it from the "new age" curse. Truly contemplative and thought provoking, it maintains an unsentimental edge.
This could be the centerpiece of programs about spirituality and mortality, but it would also be an evocative and tantalizing piece to drop into the right mix of music. In any context, this is the sort of work you want coming out of your dashboard on long drives through desert nights.