image via pixabay.com
Rhaomi posted about Google's NotebookLM (AI-powered research and writing assistant), and its interesting "unassuming" option of turning your uploaded texts, links, docs, audio clips, etc., into source material for an extremely convincing virtual podcast with the surprising "Audio Overview" tool. Read all about it ... or, in fact, listen to the podcast about us reading all about it. Amazing.
umbรบ asks "How can I translate my hearing test results to a music player's graphic equalizer so that I can boost certain frequencies to match how a recorded music track is meant to sound?" and flug replies, "Hmm, just by complete chance I've spent the past several days messing around with just exactly this ... and the end result is, my $20 or $40 headphones end up sounding as good as $200 or $400 models." Tons of great info here!
Homage to Shaun Tan by AlyZen Moonshadow (cc by)
Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful, but Inside Itโs Even Worse ... Hallelujah! GenjiandProust has posted another stellar compilation of weird audio dramas, with descriptions, helpful sorting info and links for all.
Anna's Hummingbird is one of the top species on BirdWeather
"BirdWeather is a visualization platform that... is continuously listening to over 200 active audio stations around the world and is actively plotting their results in a user-friendly map interface..." jessamyn posted about the birbs, and it is super cool.
13 - Foggy tracks by m_arty_c (cc by)
"... observed from a little yellow room hanging inexplicably alone in the atmosphere of Neptune." The only thing better than reading this warm, evocative (and sometimes shocking!) reminiscence by sonascope of falling in love with audio stories would be to hear the tale told in sonascope's own voice.
What music for New Year Party? by margycrane
I fucking love ranting about this topic because it makes me feel smart and it's taken me decades to learn a lot of this stuff and debunking audiophile woo. Loquacious with an epic "extended play" on music audio.
The Whisper by Brian Smithson (Old Geordie) (cc by)
Are Siri, Alexa, et al, relaying your private conversations to advertisers? Kadin2048 on why this isn't the case, why the truth is actually more nefarious, and why the distinction matters.
Leftovers by JD Hancock (cc by)
GenjiandProust's Increasingly Strange Stories for an Increasingly Strange Year is another faboo roundup of weird audio dramas, again with tons of info and links to each one ... And for yet more weird and wonderful, PussKillian has posted NPR's excellent list of the best Science Fiction and Fantasy books of the last decade. Cheers! ๐พ
Statue of Liberty by Stina Stockholm (cc by-nc-nd)
Halloween Jack on the Statue, amid many other unsettling thread remarks (brrrr!) in signsofrain's post reminiscing about how we worshipped the husk.
Enjoy! Or dip in as a palate cleanser between y2karl's Gorgo 2049 video post (SCP alert!) and GenjiandProust's โI Wear No Maskโ and Other Horrors newest weird audio dramas post.
Photo by Karolina Badzmierowska on Unsplash
Fantastic in-depth post by AgentRocket on Suzanne Vega and Tom's Diner ๐ฝ, plus more assorted autumn audio on mefi:
Ad for Argo's Book of Dreams featuring Nandi Bushell ๐ฅ; meet John Farnham, Australia's famed "Whispering Jack" ๐ฆ๐บ; the global, omnivorous sonic diet of SVBKVLT ๐; U2 Joshua Tree tour fan edit video ๐ผ; songwriter (and Oscar-winning actress) Mary Steenburgen ๐ข; poet, musician, activist, Moor Mother๐ค; true stories from Martin Simpson in his "Rooted" album ๐; Great Chafing Moonboots, it's Friends Again!๐ป; 1980 Concert by Young Marble Giants ๐ต; Mercedes de Sosa and Gracias a la vida ๐; Wendy Carlos' Switched-on Bach, 1968 ๐น; Maestro: animated woodland creatures perform a gorgeous Bellini opera aria ๐ผ; The World According to Sound podcast ๐; Dylan Tallchief made a drum machine in Excel ๐ฅ; Sounding off, an appreciation of and guide to nautical noises โ๏ธ; Honeyland Happy Honeybee Harmonies (animation) ๐; Sudan Archives, North African style violin + West Coast RnB, funk, soul ๐ป; Indigo Girls' Swamp Ophelia ๐ฅ; open-source Spleeter audio separation library ๐ง; Lucy Dacus seasonal covers for Halloween and Christmas๐; "Let It Go" in Klingon โ๏ธ; recovering Native language for the indigenous community๐๐ฝ; 1979-1983: A very abbreviated musical history โฎ๏ธ; Air Safety Video, K-pop styleโ๏ธ; Kesha, Raising Hell with Big Freedia ๐ฅ; Blade Runner Esper Edition soundtrack fan-made bootleg ๐; restored classic and lost punk films ๐ฝ; acoustic version of Ministry's "Everyday is Halloween" ๐; and finally, an alter of sound for Day of the Dead ๐
Soul train by Go-tea ้ญๅคฉ (cc by)
If you haven't seen it yet, check out Iridic's post on Fourble: Point it at some audio files hosted anywhere online, and it'll turn them into a podcast feed.
The Tapestry of the Search for Terrestrial Intelligence at the Science Gallery Dublin
If an alien civilization picked up one of the Voyager probes a million years from now, what would they make of the information on the record? They probably wouldnโt think they way we do.
The Tapestry of the Search for Terrestrial Intelligence: MetaFilter's own moonmilk took a copy of a copy of the audio data on Voyager's Golden Record, and turned it into a 40-meter-long tapestry of human images-as-sound. (w/bonus Peter the Morkie!)
Tackling the important questions: What is this voice saying?
"I Dream - Ice Cream" [front] by Boston Public Library (cc by)
Who's the model on this sewing pattern?
Do you remember a poster with a towering stack of ice cream scoops from the 1980s?
What were the white long-handled wands used for museum audio tours in the 1980s?
Did you have one of those tape recordings of a barking dog that you could play for home security?
MetaFilter started as a community weblog in 1999, later added question and answers, then music by members, jobs, projects by members, a podcast, and finally an area dedicated to meetups.
