Module 8

00:09 Hi, welcome to module 8. My name is Hamish Sewell and today we’re looking at how invisible hotspots can support

00:16 The whole process of storytelling. We’re going to have a look at a few examples which should get you thinking creatively about your sound trail hotspots and the narrative of the story that you’re seeking to tell.

00:30 As you know, standard hotspots are hotspots play only once and then they don’t pop up again. So once they’re finished you’re pretty much in silence until the next hotspot.

00:40 So this is a really simple configuration and sometimes that works really well. But it’s where background and instructional hotspots come into the me- nicks.

00:49 And when they’re either hidden or layered that the whole storytelling experience gets a lot more interesting. Because you could say an audio walk is not just about what you hear.

00:59 It’s about walking and the time it takes to get from place to place. And this does take time. The whole creative process could be likened to a choreography of elements.

01:10 Where story and sound is tied up with movement and places and spaces. Here we are in the Miles Sound Trail in Western Queensland.

01:20 This is a hair- British walk and takes listeners through the town down to the creek or Dogwood Creek and back up to the main street.

01:28 So it’s a big loop. And as you can see from the colours on the right it’s a mix of standard and background hotspots.

01:37 Here’s the first background hotspot on the trail which starts just after listeners have crossed the main highway. It’s called Steve the Boxer.

01:45 Here it is. As you can see it occupies the area along two roads and it takes approximately three minutes. Let’s have a listen to the opening section.

01:57 We’re now going to head past Dogwood Crossing and keep walking past the old council chambers turning left into Marian Street.

02:05 Seeing as we’re passing Hall Australia the scene of many dancers. Let’s have a listen to Steve Moore talk about one dance in the late 1940s.

02:25 Along with local legend He said, I noticed you’ve had a couple of dances with that girl over there. And he said that big bloke over there, once he’s had two dances with a girl, he owns them for the night.

02:53 And he said anybody else goes anywhere near them. He said as soon as he picks him, he starts to be up and on about his cousin Peter winning the Golden Globe.

03:04 Okay, that should give you a pretty good idea there. So don’t forget that we’re walking along a fairly eventful site.

03:15 We’ve got original music. It’s quite got quite a pace to it. And the fact that the narrator knows that we’re walking past this place, which is the old council chambers called Hall Australia, and it kicks up by surprise.

03:28 It’s invisible is a real added bonus here. The second background hotspot is called Burangam, which is the get down to Dogwood Creek here to the left.

03:49 And here we wanted to slow listeners down and to recognize the country’s traditional owners and warn people also not to go down to the creek if it’s in flood.

03:59 Let’s have a bit of a listen. We’re about to head down to the Dogwood Creek and pass the old Dogwood crossing where the cattle crossed to come into town.

04:12 If the creek is flooded today you might want to turn around unless you want to be six feet under. If it’s dry and you can continue, be aware that you’re about to hear Merlene recount her memory of that day of the Drownings.

04:24 Some people may find this distressing. You might also like to know that you’re walking on Bunungum country. Early conflict in the 1840s and the influx of sheep and cattle after Lycote came through here saw the Bunungum dislocated from this land or die from European disease or be removed from their traditional

04:45 land to try to eke out a life on the reserves that to room to the north of here. The Bunungum would have camped around here, they are gone now and their language is no longer spoken.

04:57 It is considered an extinct language. All we have left are local names. The Bunungum would have camped around here or there or there.

05:06 Of plenty of white cockatoos. Dalwagan, Turtle. Julaka, Emu-Trax. Gilligulgal, Gumtree. So you should get the idea there that while there’s a bit of wayfinding there and telling people that they’re on the right path, Really what we’re doing here is it’s a sound meditation.

05:35 It’s really asking people to slow down and reflect on this deep. A connection that we all have to the land in Australia.

05:55 It’s down here before we get to what’s called Chinaman’s Lagoon. And as you can see up here as you can see it’s got a hotspot up here to the top.

06:06 And it’s got a hotspot down here to the bottom next to the lagoon. And we’ve got this big, ,big long section here which is about a three minute walk.

06:15 And it’s largely music. So while the listeners are walking the stretch, we use this opportunity to introduce them to Sam Tong.

06:25 And Sam was the last of the Chinese market. Gardeners. So the bit we’ll play just here is leading into Sam’s story.

06:33 You should get the picture and let’s have a listen. While we’re approaching Chinaman’s Lagoon, note that around here and right across Australia, those who have been over the years loosely referred to as Chinese applied their trade as market gardeners.

07:23 So we’ve talked about how we can use invisible background hotspots here for the narrative, but what we’re going to have a look at now is we’re going to have a look at the, look at combining all three hotspots together.

07:35 And here we are in the Morrie Aboriginal Diggers Sound Trail. This section of the Morrie Cemetery is where the Aboriginal servicemen are buried.

07:44 And as you can see in this mix, if we come over here to the hotspot, it’s a mix of all three different elements.

07:54 Also notice too that within this Sound Trail listeners can walk pretty much wherever they want to here. There’s no root, there’s no st- start, there’s no finish so they’re free to walk around the tombstones.

08:10 As with most of our work, we want to start the experience with a welcome to country. And here at the Morrie Diggers Cemetery, most people would access the site through the small- entrance to the right, which says path entrance.

08:24 However, we also know that people could walk in from pretty much any which direction. So to resolve this, we’ve laid a big instructional field with the welcome to country over the entire site.

08:36 Let’s have a listen. So I’ll go into introduction here and we’ll just play this one here. Nom-l-ing-da. Nom-l-ing-da. Winning-ing-da. Winning-ing-da.

08:59 Winning-ing-da. Winning-a-la-la. Winning-a-la-la-la. Yama. Welcome to the Aboriginal Digger Sound Trail. So we know basic, ,clear that no matter which direction people come from, they’re going to get this instructional field playing immediately.

09:17 Once that’s finished, then that’s over and done with. And then we’ll get the background and the standard fields, working according to their presets.
09:27 So in other words, we’ve placed this field here. We’ve placed this one this one right over the top. This is the instructional field and we guaranteed that everyone is going to get that welcome to country.

09:40 Which is a, really effective way of using instructional hotspots. Okay, you should be getting pretty good at hotspots now and have what you need to play around.

09:51 So by way of finishing off module eight, we suggest you review your project. Think about where your background, instructional hotspots could keep listeners entertained and informed.

10:01 Other gaps or opportunities to delight and surprise. Get out on site and test to see if they work and have fun.

10:09 Thank you, that’s module eight. Bye.

Access to the Soundtrails Builder

Miles Soundtrail

Aboriginal Diggers Soundtrail Moree

Aboriginal tribes of Australia

Think through your Soundtrail from beginning to the end:

• What areas are best served as background or as instructional hotspots – and why?
• Are listeners walking or standing at certain points?
• Are listeners on site walking a set route or walking freely?
• Will listeners walk a section twice and if so, how might you use hotspots so they work together?

Get out on site and test it works! Have fun.