Swallowed by the Deep

Project facts
  • Format: podcast / binaural audio story
  • Web version: binaural stereo
  • Duration: 6 minutes
  • Material: 1,020 sound clips, objects and graphic score

Listen to the binaural version

Binaural web version 6 min 00 sec Best experienced on headphones

The player uses a binaural render of the spatial audio production, so the piece can be experienced on headphones.

Project context

Swallowed by the Deep is a narrative podcast about a diver trapped inside a whale. The piece is built as a physical listening experience, using spatial movement to make loneliness, pressure and claustrophobia felt.

Spatial dramaturgy

The story follows three acts: introduction, conflict and resolution. The whale’s heartbeat, sloshing movement, blood currents and underwater space are placed around the listener, while the diver moves through the height layer inside the whale’s body.

Sonic structure

Cello fragments, breath, radio noise and whale song create the contrast between organic sound and electronic disruption. Silence and masking are used to hide, disturb and tighten the tension as the radio communication breaks down.

Result

The work ends in an explosive exhalation through the whale’s blowhole and an open cello passage. The case shows my work with podcast dramaturgy, graphic score and translation from spatial production to a binaural listening version.

Tip: Use headphones. The binaural version is made to preserve depth, placement and movement from the spatial story.

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