Welcome to Ping and Echo, a daily newsletter that links to one amazing podcast episode that is guaranteed to be a great listen for kids and their families. Each newsletter includes links to articles, videos and activities related to the podcast so you can turn every episode into an adventure.
Today’s podcast episode is from 99 Percent Invisible and focuses on the design of sound, specifically the sound of sports on TV. Most people watching sports on TV - from soccer to rowing - assume the sounds they hear are coming from the action they are seeing on the screen. However, in fact, many of the sounds you hear while watching sports are pre-recorded and designed by expert sound engineers who jump through remarkable hoops to get amazing audio of different sports and use them to make live sports on the screen feel all the more real. For all of you who are missing your weekend dose of live sports maybe this episode will help.
Podcast: 99 Percent Invisible
Episode: The Sound of Sport
URL: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/episode-38-the-sound-of-sport/
Length: 9 minutes
(This episode is short and it goes really well with another 99 Percent Invisible episode on the sound of the artificial world which is only 7 min long. You can listen to both and the activities below will fit for both.)
🧐 You Should Know
I’ll always give you a heads up if there is anything in the podcast that might surprise or worry kids. Nothing to worry about here.
💡 Try This
After you listen to the episode you can try to collect the sounds of the world around you with the links and activities below:
Try collecting the sounds around you - check out this video for inspiration.
Watch and discuss this animated short about Leonard, a 6-year-old boy who collects sounds.
Use Radio Rookies DIY Toolkit to learn how to do Vox Pop
🔎 Explore More
Read up on audio design and more with these links:
This 9 minute segment is part of a much longer 60 minute audio documentary which is really good. Listen to the full Sound of Sport episode here.
Check out the Museum of Endangered Sounds
Learn more about the art of sound design from this Wired magazine video.
The name Ping and Echo comes from sonar technology which relies on sending out “pings” and receiving back “echos” to discover the world around you. You can send us pictures of the art and activities created by your kids. Email them to pingandecho@gmail.com and we’ll post all your echos on our Instagram and our Twitter page.
Thanks for lending us your ears and your inbox.
Toby, Josh, and Ruby