George Seibold

The Invisibilia episode “True You” is an exemplary podcast in terms of it uses music and sound to convey the ideas presented over the course of the episode. At the very beginning, as soon as the narrator mentions a plague, there is the sound of someone clearing their throat and rifling through papers. This instantly sets the aural seen of someone preparing to read from something very old. The podcast then transitions to someone reading a section from Exodus that details the plague of locusts. This instance of sound setting the scene for what the audience ought to be visualizing during the podcast is repeated in different ways over the course of the episode. The cheery music when the grasshoppers were introduced, the sounds of an electric toothbrush and running water when Tanya was getting ready to go to bed, and the “meow” that played when Chad talked about when he found the drawing of the cat are all examples of how the podcast used sound effects to illustrate the image that the scene was trying to convey. The use of sound in this way provided the listener an extra dimension of engagement so that they could better picture the narrative and stay immersed in the story.

Another way in which sound was used was to give the podcast “space” for the listener to consider the story. If the entire episode was just a sequence of people talking from start to end, there would be no room for the listener to breath, contemplate the story, and give proper consideration to the ideas presented. However, if there was just silence between the big ideas, the podcast would sound strangely choppy and unfinished—and while it can be used effectively in certain circumstances, silence is generally pretty boring and would quickly get listeners to lose interest and immersion. Ambient sounds and simple music strike a balance between uninterrupted speech and silence, because it allows the listener to reflect on what they’re hearing without completely taking them out of the podcast. As an added benefit, sound and music can also orient the audience’s emotions, due to the fact that they can influence our mood. There were some significant instances throughout “True You,” often no more than a few seconds, where there was nothing but ambient sounds or light music. These instances were often at transitional points in the two narratives, such as when Tanya’s dream persona was introduced, or immediately after the story of Chad’s first F-word.