A selection of audio stories, interviews and radio documentaries.

FOTW Highlights

This is a mix of various winds and waterways - continual white and pink noise that occur in nature.

If you suffer from tinnitus (which is a perpetual ringing in your ears) it is believed that these white and pink noise sounds are a good way to mask the ringing and help you sleep.

Even if you don't have tinnitus, it is also found in scientific studies that pink noise is useful for slowing down brainwaves, putting you into a much deeper sleep - which in turn helps restore your nervous system.

You can download this mix and play at night (but don't fall asleep with your phone next to your head!) A better option might be burning it to a CD and playing it back this way.

And if you find this helpful - or find that certain sounds in this mix are not helpful - please let me know at ijaywilson@fotwaudio.com

Image by Kevin Fitzgerald (https://unsplash.com/@lespaulster11)

Relaxing Wind and Water - a mix for masking tinnitus (free download)

"Out of the night that covers me,
      Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
      For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
      I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
      Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
      Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
      How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
      I am the captain of my soul." 

-- William Ernest Henley

This is from a commercial project I worked on for Blenheim Partners and RadioHub. Paulo Jose is a senior partner with Blenheim, but he has a wonderful baritone voice, and he recorded this poem for a social media video made by RadioHub. I did the sound design, adding in some weather sound effects, as well as a drone originally designed by @Willswills. I added it into a sampler, which allowed me to lower the pitch of it, and use it to create the final chord at the end.

RadioHub make a regular podcast for Blenheim Partners, called No Limitations, where CEOs and industry leaders talk about their careers and outlook: https://apple.co/3jM8rzb

The photo of the tiger is by Mike Marrah/Unsplash (https://bit.ly/3jMFEuo) and the idea came from Camille Pingul of Ngulpi Designs (https://bit.ly/3jSzQj7) who used a tiger in the video version of this.

Thanks to https://blenheimpartners.com and https://radiohub.com.au for letting me share this.

Invictus by William Ernest Henley (Read by Paulo Jose)

Roll up the door of the dusty garage and join me for a strange tale . . .

Featuring 'Graveside Wisdom' by @formlessvoyager

Extra background radio tracks by Simon Figliuzzi and Concierge via Melodie Music

Opening drone by @willswills

Special thanks to Yohann Le Meitour of @synthwavecafe

Jeep photo courtesy of Thomas Tucker

Made for the Halloween Listening Party on FOTW Radio
https://www.halloweenlisteningparty.com

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Graveside Wisdom

The Night Jeep - a Halloween treat from FOTW Radio

Did you ever wonder what that little burst of bright sound was at the beginning of an audio cassette?

It's called the XDR Toneburst - and it was used by cassette duplication machinery to self-test the magnetic tape for any defects. It's a quick run from the low frequency of 50 hz - right up to 18300 hz (which most of us can't hear anyway!)

Each tone runs for 0.127 seconds with a gap of 0.023 seconds between, creating intervals of 0.15 seconds. The whole thing lasts only for 2.2 seconds.

I have used information from the Wikipedia page to recreate it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XDR_(audio) Thanks to hackerb9!

I've actually created it for a cassette version of my horror audio story GPS, which I hope to put a batch of up in Bandcamp end of Jan: https://halloweenlisteningparty.bandcamp.com/album/gps-some-places-are-best-left-unmapped

But if you are making a tape project, it's okay to download and use it as well. (Click "More" button, and then download from the drop-down menu.)
 
Image courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@floschmaezz

XDR Toneburst for Cassette Projects (free download)

Here are some of the important locations that form the backdrop of GPS: Some places are best left unmapped! - as well as some of the awesome accompanying music!

Abhinanda

Buy on cassette

GPS - Places Of Interest 2 📍 The Creepy Terrace at Gardenia (music Machine Gewehr + Gees Voorhees)

Tech Scavengers

GPS - Places Of Interest 1 📍 The Flyover of James Ruse Drive (music by Irving Force)

Halloween Listening Party 2022

Goth Days Revisited - A Spooky Halloween Story

This November marks the 60th anniversary of the much-loved Dr Who television series.

Ten years ago, for the 50th anniversary, I made this radio documentary for ABC Radio's Into the Music program. It explored how the music of Dr Who, and the Radiophonic Workshop, influenced a whole generation of musicians, and helped to kick off new genres like Detroit Techno.

The program features music by Pink Floyd, Belbury Poly, Pet Shop Boys, Howlround, Peter Howell, Dalek I, Ray Cathode, the Delia Darlings, and Model 500, as well as original interviews with workshop members, music writers, and the 'descendants' themselves — musicians creating music in the spirit of the workshop.

Narrator/Host: Robbie Buck
Writer/Producer: Iain Wilson
Executive Producer: Cathy Peters
Sound Engineer: Mark Don/Louis Mitchell

Image: Workshop member Maddalena Fagandini recording a steel-string guitar (courtesy of Ray White archives).

*The voice of Delia Derbyshire comes from the Sculptress of Sound documentary.

This is for research purposes only, no distribution.

Into The Music

That Dr Who Sound: Descendants of the Radiophonic Workshop

The voices you hear in this audio clip are: Merv Riley, Tyson McEwan, Rach McPhail, Ryan James, Aunty Nellie Mooney, Uncle Noel Butler, Kirli Saunders. The music is by James Henry. The original recordings have come from an Uluru Statement of the Heart campaign.  https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement/view-the-statement

Why Vote Yes

Uluru Statement From The Heart - Medley Of Voices

This is was an audio review I made back in 2010 for the Gropiusstadt 12" release by electronic musician Roland Sebastian Faber. It was released by the small but brilliant Dusseldorf electronic music label Aube run by Michael Kunzer.

It was one of the earliest things I had made as FOTW Audio Productions. At the time I was using my blog for writing music reviews, and it was giving me a chance to practice writing for a specific audience.

This was recorded and edited on a tiny Netbook, and I was amazed that it was possible to even do this much audio production on something so small and not especially powerful.

I came across it again recently, and thought that it was worth putting up again. 

Alba was also a performing group of Michael Kunzer, Keen K, and Roland Sebastian Faber.

The Aube label no longer releases music -- but there are still many of their great releases floating around, like this one 'Hold Me' by Fred Ventura and Jupiter Black.

https://youtu.be/lHXJQ5rFlWI?si=L0FbHfQMk8LUoiXJ

ROLAND SEBASTIAN FABER TRACKLISTING

Intro/outro:

Title:		Eisengard
Artist:		Roland Sebastian Faber		
Album:	        Wettkampf Der Moleküle EP
Label:		AUBE005

Main::

Title: 		Hommage I
Artist:		Roland Sebastian Faber
Album: 	        Hommage An Die Jugend Europas EP
Label: 		AUBE002	

Title: 		Wettkampf Der Moleküle
Artist: 		Roland Sebastian Faber
Album: 	        Wettkampf Der Moleküle EP
Label: 		AUBE005

Title: 		Löffelkinder 
Artist: 		Roland Sebastian Faber
Album: 	        Gropiusstadt EP
Label: 		AUBE009

Title:		Gropiusstadt
Artist:		Roland Sebastian Faber		
Album:	        Gropiusstadt EP
Label:		AUBE009

Title:		Morgengrau
Artist:		Roland Sebastian Faber		
Album:	        Gropiusstadt EP
Label:		AUBE009

Title:		Winter of Ice
Artist:		Starcluster		
Album:	        Starcluster EP
Label:		AUBE003

Preview of Gropiusstadt EP

The Music Of Roland Sebastian Faber

A little birdy told me that Spooky Season starts on the first of September. Is this true?

Photo by Casey Horner.

Welcome To Spooky Season . . .

George Streicher is the composer of 'Music of the Macabre' - a special Halloween tribute album, which he wrote and funded the recording of completely off his own back, working with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra and Choir - and the album is absolutely amazing!

This was recorded and produced for the Halloween Listening Party on FOTW Radio: www.halloweenlisteningparty.com

More about George and his work: www.georgestreicher.com

'Memories of Halloween': An interview with composer George Streicher

The Hawkesbury Show is an annual event at Richmond, NSW, where the town and country come together. This is an interview with fruit and vegetable grower Don Webster about the best conditions for growing prize winning pumpkins.

Hawkesbury Show 2025 - Interview with prize winner Don Webster

Sound recording from the 2025 Hawkesbury Show

Ghost Train - Hawkesbury Show

http://ow.ly/UAKxu

In 1989 Australian filmmaker Robert Alcock made a documentary about a plane and pilot that went missing eleven years earlier. While flying over the Bass Strait from Melbourne in a Cessna light aircraft, Frederich Valentich reported seeing lights in the sky, just before he broke off radio contact. Despite a lengthy search, he or the plane were never recovered.

Because of its sensational nature, this story went all around the world, and attracted great speculation about whether or not it was connected to UFOs. It was also in the same year - 1978 - that Steven Spielberg's 'Close Encounter of the Third Kind' had come out.

Growing up in Queanbeyan, Canberra, Robert Alcock had developed a love of the stars as a kid, as well as a fascination with Unexplained Mysteries. His first creative success was for a school project about the Bermuda Triangle, for which he received high marks.

Robert was 18 when Fredrich Valentich went missing - and it became a case he followed with great interest. After attending the prestigious Sydney film school, AFTRS, he began to work for SBS television, Australia's multicultural broadcaster. And after working on a few different projects, he found himself pitching his long-held interest, an idea for a documentary called 'Something Shining' that would delve deeper into the Frederich Valentich story.

But his focus would be not just on the case, but that the Valentich family were also migrants to Australia from Italy - and also how the media had responded to this story, blowing it up into something sensational that caused the Valentich family lots of additional heartache.

In this interview, which took place in a Turkish cafe in innercity Newtown, Robert talks about his experience of making this film; but also about some of his life's philosophy about the unexplained, and the place of family too, in understanding life's mysteries.

This feature was first broadcast 31st October, 2015 on FOTW Radio for the Retro Halloween Listening Party.

Music: 'Empty Runway' by The @Soulless-Party from 'Electronic Encounters: A Tribute to CE3K'; 'Silly Confusion' by Boney M remixed by George Hysteric and released through @Mysidian.

Photo by Papier Mouse 'Cape Otway Lighthouse, Victoria' - a memorial plaque to Frederich Valentich is located nearby.

No Such Thing as a Coincidence: An Interview with filmmaker Robert Alcock

The best of 'The Retro Halloween Listening Party on FOTW Radio'. 
#Halloween2016 sprouting Oct24: www.halloweenlisteningparty.com

Tracklist:
Vertigo Theme - Bernard Herrmann
Fright Night - J. Geils Band
Zombie - The Harlem Wildcats
Il Fantastico Viaggio del Bagarozzo - Goblin
Wombie Zombie - Billy Taylor
Tenement-White Tiger (from Big Trouble in Little China) - John Carpenter and Alan Howarth
Ikeya Seki - Kano
I was a Teenage Creature - Lord Luther
The Gnome (from Pictures at an Exhibition) - Modest Mussorgsky
SPECIAL FEATURE: No Such thing as a Coincidence
Bela Lugosi is Dead - Bauhaus
G3000 - @Floydshayvious
Good Times Don't Carry Over - @Chinawoman
Overture from I Walked with a Zombie - Roy Webb

The Retro Halloween Listening Party 2015

This is a section that had to be abandoned from my documentary, That Dr Who Sound, because the narrative shifted from being first person (me talking) to an omniprescient third person voice (someone else talking and not referring to themselves). 

But it was still a very important part of the story, and I felt happy with the way sound engineer Mark Don had mixed it. This section was pointing back to what had set me off on the path of wanting to make the documentary. Interestingly, Andy Meecham, who is the man behind @TheEmperorMachine had also appeared in a documentary about the VCS3 synthesizer and it's creators Peter Zinoviev and Tristam Cary.

Anyway, it's only a short section. Here's the full version (without this section): ow.ly/10e7L4

That Dr Who Sound Outtake No. 2: The Emperor Machine!

Thanks for listening to the showreel of FOTW Audio Productions. 

Here is a list of what you are hearing:

1. The Cocktail Witch for the Halloween Listening Party radio show
Played and recorded by Belinda Hoare
Written, edited and mixed by Iain Wilson

2. That Dr Who Sound: a radio documentary for ABC Radio National
Written and produced by Iain Wilson
Sound Engineering, Mark Don // Executive Producer, Cathy Peters

3. Interview with film composer Alan Howarth for Extended Play, 2SER
Recorded, edited and mixed by Iain Wilson.  

4. E. A. Poe and the Krautrock Connection: an original audio story
Written, read, recorded and mixed by Iain Wilson

5. No Such Thing as a Coincidence: Interview with Robert Alcock
Recorded and mixed by Iain Wilson

Full versions available on Soundcloud (except for That Dr Who Sound)

To get in contact with Iain, email: info@fotwaudio.com

FOTW Audio Showreel

Full version @out-of-the-fog-audio-stories

Music by @FragileTom (https://fragiletom.bandcamp.com)

Peter didn't usually come home this late from work on a weeknight – but his girlfriend Anna was away overseas at a conference – and so he was dragging his feet, stopping in town to grab something to eat, and borrow a book from the library about Backpacking in Malaysia.

But now, as he walks down Terminus Street, not far from his flat, something horrible falls down out of the tree beside him. And he is shocked to find that it might be related to a woman who went missing the night before.

Should he stop and have a look? Or follows his instincts and keep walking?

Find out now on It's Worth it to Stay Positive, the latest audio story from FOTW Radio. 

Available now from halloweenlisteningparty.bandcamp.com

It's Worth it to Stay Positive

It's Worth it to Stay Positive [trailer]

This special audio feature celebrates the Godfather of Zombies, George A. Romero, who sadly passed away in July 2017. It looks at his early influences as a kid growing up in the Bronx, the son of immigrant parents, to becoming a Pittsburgh legend, a creative powerhouse working nearly two-and-a-half thousand kilometres from Hollywood. Full story here: http://bit.ly/2t0iIiH 

This was first aired on the Halloween Listening Party, 31 October 2017. (Not available as a download, as some of the music is under copyright).

A Guiding Light: tribute to George A. Romero

Lemmings is a two page short-story by the late, great Richard Matheson. It was one of the first audio stories I recorded about 9 years ago.

Richard Matheson passed away in 2013 at the ripe old age of 87. He was one of the greatest writers of magical realism, fantasy, horror and science-fiction of last century. His name has never been that well-known outside of the fandom community as he was quite a private person, but I can absolutely guarantee that at least one film or TV show that you like is either by him, or has indirectly been influenced by him. For example: if he didn’t write his 1954 book I Am Legend, then you wouldn’t have the ever-popular genre of the zombie survival horror story. And that is only one of his contributions to the world of creative storytelling.

Anyway, Lemmings came from an old Alfred Hitchcock anthology, and was a great one for me to test out. I thought it would be easy, because it was short!! Haha — that was my first lesson!

Read by ijwilson, music by Olmec Head.
Photo by Sander van der Wel (Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Follow on FB

Lemmings by Richard Matheson

Is it possible to tell a horror story in something shorter than a haiku? @fotwradio and @Cathedralsounds thought they would try. Have a listen — see if they give you the creeps in just four little words? Written and read by IJ Wilson / Music by Kimberly Henninger and Shawn Parke. 
More at www.4wordhorrorstories.com

4 Word Horror Stories - Bath Time!

More at bit.ly/2hr5PGD

Composer and sound effects designer Alan Howarth talks about working with film director John Carpenter on the soundtracks to Escape from New York, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Big Trouble in Little China, and They Live.

Music cues:

The Duke Arrives / Barricade – Escape from New York
Halloween Montage / Opening Theme – Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Abduction at the Airport – Big Trouble in Little China
TV Broadcast / Back to the Street – They Live

Not intended for re-broadcast (at the moment) and is for research purposes only.

An Interview with Alan Howarth

Peter didn't usually come home late from work . . . but with his girlfriend away overseas, he was dragging his feet, stopping in town to borrow a book from the library, and grab something to eat in Chinatown.

But now, as he walks home alone down Terminus street – not far from his flat – something sinister falls from a tree. Should he stop and have a look, or keep walking?

Music by @fragiletom 

Produced for the @halloween-listening-party 2017

It's Worth it to Stay Positive (Audio Trailer)

It's Worth it to Stay Positive trailer [music by Fragile Tom]

Peter didn't usually come home late from work . . . but with his girlfriend away overseas, he was dragging his feet, stopping in town to borrow a book from the library, and grab something to eat in Chinatown. 

But now, as he walks home alone down Terminus street – not far from his flat – something sinister falls from a tree. Should he stop and have a look, or keep walking?

Produced and broadcast as part of the 2017 @halloween-listening-party

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Out of the Fog

Spectrumite is a new Australian autism podcast that looks at what life is like for high-functioning adolescents and young adults on the autism spectrum - as well as offering help for the families that support them.

To get in touch, give feedback, or suggest future episodes, visit Haydn at www.facebook.com/SpectrumiteHP

Spectrumite teaser - we spectrumites are a tribe!

Coming this Halloween . . . John Harrison and the Music of Creepshow . . . playing on the @Halloween-Listening-Party
www.halloweenlisteningparty.com

Coming this Halloween . . .

In the Western suburbs of Sydney, three young guys are led astray by a faulty GPS - and end up where no living person should.

GPS is a new horror audio story featuring the music of @Guy-tallo, @dancewiththedead, @irvingforce, @machinegewehr, @dynatronsynth, @deru, @europaweite-aussichten, @Daniel-deluxe and an original soundtrack by @cathedral-sounds

Available on Bandcamp: http://bit.ly/36JahrL

Trailer music by @Daniel-Deluxe
Artwork by Brett Anthony Moore

(If you'd like a review copy email me at info@fotwaudio.com)

Wasteland

GPS - a horror audio story trailer

A peek behind the curtain of a classic horror soundtrack!

From an original interview, hear how John grew up watching movies at the local cinema, toured with rhythm and blues legend Roy Buchanan, connected with George Romero in Pittsburgh - and almost completely by accident - came to score one of the most exciting soundtracks in horror film history.

Originally broadcast as part of the Halloween Listening Party 2019 (www.halloweenlisteningparty.com)

John Harrison and the Music Of Creepshow

This is an extended interview with composer Peter Howell who was a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the 1970s-80s. Responsible for creating the brilliant theme music for the Horizons-PBS Nova 'The Case of the Ancient Astronauts', Peter also reworked the Dr Who theme for the Peter Davison era.

This extended interview was part of the demo for the radio documentary, 'That Dr Who Sound' made for ABC Radio National in 2013.

Interview with Peter Howell (Extended Version)

Audio stories, podcast editing, Halloween radio
For October: www.halloweenlisteningparty.com
Rest of the year: www.fotwaudio.com
~ info@fotwaudio.com ~

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