Welcome to the first Friends of In The Dark Newsletter!
First of all a huge thanks to all of you for showing your support and becoming a Friend. In The Dark has had a brilliant first year and a half in which we have grown into a handsome (says I) team of ten volunteers and countless supporters and regular contributors.
We launched in January 2010, setting out to hold regular listening events throughout London, inviting some of the world’s finest radio and audio producers to present their work in front of live audiences.
The events were a great success and since then we have branched out , with aim of creating new creative opportunities for producers. Most noteworthy is our Sound Bank scheme which provides small funds for adventurous audio projects. The Sound Bank is currently in its second round.
But by far one of nicest things about In The Dark has been the community that has grown up around it, not just in London, but around the world. We have seen this in the number of you that have shown your support through this Friends scheme, which is helping us to keep things ticking over and to develop new and exciting projects.
With this newsletter we hope to keep you informed about what we’re up to behind the scenes, as well as giving you a few special features that we think you’ll find of interest. We also hope that through this Friend scheme we can help bring everyone a little closer. We will be publishing the newsletter every few months, with the next one in mid January. Please do let us know of any news that you think might be of interest, and we will try to help spread the word.
In the meantime, grab your In The Dark mug of tea and get comfortable!
[Article] The Sound Bank 2
Since the Friends scheme launched in July, a whole Sound Bank round has been announced, judged and grants awarded.
In a round that pitted established producers against a host of first time and emerging producers all looking for support for passion projects, ITD Director Nina Garthwaite was forced to question who and what the Sound Bank grant scheme was really for… and ask herself what on earth “adventurous” audio is anyway? Read more >>
[Audio]… with Subtitles!
When thinking about what wild and wonderful gifts we could give you in return for your support it occurred to us that despite our initial foray into the world of subtitled radio (one of our very first events featured subtitled Norwegian radio) our pioneering march has stalled completely.
You’ll therefore be pleased to know that we will be dedicating one part of each newsletter to spotlighting some non-english language audio – which we will bring to you …with subtitles!
Because it’s never been posted before we thought it would be fitting to start things off by offering you a piece from the In The Dark event archive.
It was nearly a year ago that Tim Hinman from Denmark’s Third Ear came to the Whitechapel Gallery in London and presided over one of the most memorable In The Dark events we’ve had. During that event he played us his piece The Garden, which appeared with subtitles for the very first time. It was a great night for group listening – the first time any of us had heard an audience laughing – infectiously – while listening to audio. It remains one of Director Nina Garthwaite’s firm favorites and we’re delighted that Tim has given us permission to share it with you here >>
And if you want to hear more about Third Ear you can listen to Tim Hinman’s reflections on the project below!
[Audio] Tim Hinman on Third Ear and the future of online audio
For the past two years Third Ear has produced interesting and engaging internet audio of the kind that would have been unlikely to have existed had it been tied to a big broadcaster. For an example of what we mean, you need only take a listen to The Garden (above).
On that night in Whitechapel in November 2010, the room was packed and there was a real sense of hope that small creative online projects such as Third Ear were emerging and getting financial support. Sadly, a year on and Third Ear has hit rocky times. We’re hoping it’s not the end, but for the time being, the project is taking a well earned rest. In the meantime, it remains a model of what independently produced internet audio has to offer.
We caught up with Tim earlier this month to find out how and why Third Ear came about and to hear his thoughts on the future of online audio. Hear >>
[Audio] Dispatch from Down Under
As some of you may know a second In The Dark has popped up on the other side of the world after a pretty great guy called Mike Williams got in touch. Disappointed at being unable to attend our London events he gave us a call and suggested he set something up in his home town.
In The Dark Sydney launched in June with a tribute radio documentary producer, film-maker and writer Tony Barrell who sadly passed away earlier this year. Tony had an incredible career covering a diverse range of stories from across the globe. Tony was recently described as, “wickedly funny, deeply serious and highly intelligent”. He leaves a remarkable and highly influential legacy which In the Dark was proud to share and celebrate on June 17.
Mike was kind enough to record the audio from his Q&A with Russell so that we could share it with you here >>
[Article] In The Air
Anyone who knows In The Dark Manager Connor Walsh knows that there’s not a man alive that knows more about what’s going on in the world of audio and radio, so we thought it only right and proper to make him share his up-to-the-minute audio news with you. This Autumn he’s been judging at the Prix Europa, helping radio producers fix their telephones and interfering with the natural order of things on Twitter… Here he is with the latest! >>