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In this episode, Mark interviews Gary Morris, Head of Production at the South African-based company VoiceMap. VoiceMap takes stories beyond the screen. It papers them to walls, hangs them over statues, and plants them neatly in public parks. Then, when you come along, there they are: reflections on the soul of LA, murder on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, nostalgia for the vanishing hutongs of old Beijing, and much more, by storytellers and passionate locals all over the world.
The episode opens up with Mark’s Voice Double from Descript’s new beta program welcoming people to the podcast. He then shares a bit of information about this new opportunity for authors, which he thinks is idea to talk about during the opening of this particular interview.
Mark then shares a word about this episode’s sponsor, Findaway Voices.
ou can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.
In their conversation, Mark and Gary talk about:
- Gary’s background as a creative person in audio, his early experiences with musical instruments, and the path that led to a role in sound engineering as a music and audio producer
- Joining VoiceMap two and a half years ago as an audio tour editor
- What VoiceMap is and how it works
- The underlying passion of VoiceMap which involves walking along while sharing a story
- Partnerships that VoiceMap has with various tour and tourism organizations
- How, while walking tours are the most common, there are also bicycle, driving, and boat tours
- Some examples of popular tours, such as the one of the theatre district of London with Sir Ian McKellen
- Specific techniques that need to be employed on a walking tour, including timely silences, directions, and reminders
- How authors can set up at VoiceMap account and set up their own tour
- Logistics of creating a tour map and crafting a script based on timing (word count and estimated time) to walk from location to location on a tour
- VoiceMap being in a 158 different countries at this point
- The types of tours that VoiceMap is looking forward to seeing authors create
- The use of VoiceMap to share fictional tales
- Different ways that authors can leverage promotion for the VoiceMap tours they have created
- Where people can find out more about VoiceMap and download the free app to their smartphones
After the interview, Mark talks about how excited he is about the emerging audio opportunites for authors and storytelling in brave and bold new ways.
He then shares a couple of examples of the sound-track to his Downtown Hamilton Ghost Walk tour from VoiceMap.
Links of Interest:
- Voicemap.me
- Mark’s Downtown Hamilton Ghost Walk Tour on VoiceMap
- Link to YouTube video of Mark presenting on Storytelling 360
- The official Haunted Hamilton Website
- The Ghost Walks: Hamilton, Niagara & Toronto
- Mark’s book Haunted Hamilton
- Descript (Audio Company with advanced audio editing, transcription and a beta Voice Double program)
- NaNoWriMo
- StoryBundle
- Mythulu Writing Binge Survival Pack 2019
- WMG Publishing Business Masterclass
- Findaway Voices
- Patreon for Stark Reflections
VoiceMap takes stories beyond the screen. It papers them to walls, hangs them over statues, and plants them neatly in public parks. Then, when you come along, there they are: reflections on the soul of LA, murder on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, nostalgia for the vanishing hutongs of old Beijing, and much more, by storytellers and passionate locals all over the world.
All you need is our mobile app for iPhones and Android devices. It uses your location to play audio automatically and includes offline maps. Just put on your headphones and you’re ready to explore.
If you’d like to tell a story of your own, you can start right now, for free. Our publishing tool is easy to use and our team of editors delights in bringing new stories out into the world.
So many possibilities with the voice doubling as the technology improves – your clips had a bit of reverb to them that initially had me thinking you were recording on the road.
I also like the potential the location-based apps provide for authors to share stories beyond those offered by the pricey commercial walking tours… “You are now passing the alley where Evil Vampire Chick feasted on a team of rugby players. Walk quickly – she likes to lurk in these shadows, and is almost always hungry….”