A short update regarding the past, present, and future of the Centauri Express Audio Magazine

2019 Centauri Express Update

Since 1984, the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company has been performing, recording, and broadcasting dramatic audio -- fully dramatized, fully sound-scaped audio drama. We like to think that what we do is classic "old-time radio", as it would sound with today's technology and dramatic techniques. From our archives, we proudly present the recordings of our live performances. 

Also visit us at artc.org.

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A few extra notes for this episode. We have big changes in store for this podcast. First, we have increased the sampling rate for this episode and for all future episodes.  When we started this podcast 10 years ago we purposely made the decision to encode each episode a lot lower than we needed to because the ultimate goal was to help people understand what audio drama was. We weren’t exactly the only game in town, but we were one of only a few audio drama companies that we knew about and what we wanted to do was draw attention to the art form and also let people know about our titles for sale. What better way than to have free samples? We also had years of live performances sitting around that didn’t meet our standards for sale, but were still something we were extremely proud of and didn’t want to keep to ourselves. Today the landscape has changed. There are dozens if not hundreds of audio drama podcasts out there. Anthologies and series, ongoing and one-offs, and at least one notable podcast about how to do audio drama podcasts. After ten years, it’s time for us to get with the times. So, with all of that said, this episode, number 167 will be the last installment of what we have been so creatively calling “ARTC’s Podcast”. Next month we’re relaunching as the Centauri Express. What’s going to be different? Lots. For one thing, we’re joining the club and will begin airing studio-produced episodes of some of the various serials we’ve written over the years, starting with our 13-part expanded story of “Dash Cardigan”. We’re also working on a new show intro and will be including additional segments from time to time that will feature panel discussions, interviews, and really whatever else you’d like to hear, so be sure to let us know at podcast@artc.org. Plus there’s that improved audio quality we were just discussing. What’s going to be the same? How you get us. We’re sticking with the same publication platform and RSS feed, so you shouldn’t notice much difference except in the format of the content. Also the same, unfortunately, will be the publication schedule. I had hoped to be able to bring this to you every two weeks, but we’re still getting our studio legs under us, as it were. We’ve been performing live for so long that we’ve gotten pretty good at it, if we do say so ourselves, but adding studio work in there to go with those live shows is a bit of a learning curve. Plus, we want to be able to have a consistent schedule without any gaps in publication. We’re still shooting for that every two week mark, but we want to get there in a way that is sustainable. For those of you who were enjoying the live performances, fear not. We’ll still be bringing those to you by way of Patreon, which you’ve heard me talk about for the last few episodes. All patrons at any level will be able to hear these updates, which will become free bonus content for those folks like Caran, Matthew, Kerry, Christa, John, Donald, Jason, Chelsea, Brad, Sterling, Ben, Richard, Shael, Juliana, and Sketch. The regular episodes of the Centauri Express will continue to be free, but we’d truly appreciate your support. And the last thing I’d like to ask of you before we get into this month’s episode is for you to let us know what you’ve been doing while listening to ARTC’s Podcast. Do you listen while you drive? Just sit quietly? Catch Pokemon? Do you listen by yourself or make it a group activity? Let us know at podcast@artc.org or head over to the main website at artc.org and use the Speak Pipe to leave us a voicemail that we can feature in later shows. And now for this month’s episode, which is kind of a transition episode, as this piece was produced here at ARTC Studio and is the first in a new imprint for us. Our other imprints include things like Science Fiction by Gaslight, which features adaptations of classic horror and science fiction, Into the Labyrinth, featuring original dark fantasy, and Adventures in Sound, which features original work that doesn’t really fit into any specific category. And to that lineup we are adding The Sound of Liberty, a collection of classic science fiction adaptations and some original work that highlights the principles in the American Bill of Rights. The first installment in The Sound of Liberty is this month’s audio drama offering, The Proper Thing to Do by Brad Linaweaver and William Alan Ritch, adapted for audio and directed by William Alan Ritch, produced by David Benedict.

The Proper Thing To Do

We love all of our audiences and look forward to entertaining everyone, but some audiences have a special place in our hearts. 221B Con is one of them. Not least because we pack the house when we go there! [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Proof[/caption] It's such a ton of fun playing to these dedicated Sherlock Holmes fans. An iconic character, portayed by a variety of actors in a variety of ways, but without having to deal with all the time travel and blue police boxes. For this performance, we commissioned new scripts from Sketch MacQuinor. One was Commonplaces, by Naomi Novik (stay tuned to see if we can run that one on the podcast), and the other was The Game is Afoot: Game the Fourth - The Ultimate Ultimatum. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Pictured: A ton of fun[/caption] We also had a special guest for the show, David Nellist! [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Proof![/caption] David was such a good sport about this. We only asked him if he'd appear on stage with us a few hours before show time, but he agreed to do it readily. Right up until the show itself, we were figuring out the logistics of when to have him approach the stage, how to introduce him, and going over his role. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] And then we gave him a non-speaking part and pushed his character off a cliff.[/caption] And the fans LOVED it! Next year we hope to have him back in a more substantial (and audible) role, but for this year he honored us by appearing on stage, however briefly, and gamely played along with the joke. Thank you, David! [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Pictured: Our biggest fan[/caption] Thank you for listening! If you're enjoying the podcast, be sure to support us on Patreon! Or just tell your friends about us!

The Game is Afoot: Game the Fourth - The Ultimate Ultimatum

We're really sorry we missed our normal publication time this month! Car trouble impeded our progress. But we're back on track now! EDIT: We forgot the link to the actual audio! It's here now! Those of you looking for it can find it now! [esplayer url = "http://traffic.libsyn.com/artc/ARTC163-Rats02.mp3" width = "80" height = "20" title = "The Rats in the Walls-LIVE part 2 of 4"] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Tony Fuller practices breaking some kneecaps in case this ever happens again.[/caption] This month we continue with The Rats in the Walls from our 2012 performance. With music by The Ghosts Project, it was a really creepy experience. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="332"] Robert Drake is really creeped out.[/caption] The creepiness was enhanced by the lighting wizardry of Robert Drake. We don't always have the luxury of special lighting at our live shows. At most of our convention appearances we usually just have the ballroom lights of the room we're performing in, so being able to do a show at the Academy Theatre is a real treat. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Probably should have saved the fisheye lens for The Shadow Over Innsmouth[/caption] And don't forget, you can get this performance at a much higher audio quality from Bandcamp!

The Rats in the Walls-LIVE part 2 of 4

Well, here we are. We made it. All the way through 4 parts of Lovecraftian horror and now we're...not quite ready for the Centauri Express to launch.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="332"] Hal Wiedeman is displeased[/caption]

We were so looking forward to this being the last episode of the venerable, but generically named, ARTC's Podcast. But we just can't. We can't put forth something that's less than our best effort. We just can't do that to our listeners. So we're pushing back to August. We hope.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Paige Steadman has her doubts.[/caption]

So we'll be carrying on in our usual fashion for just a couple more months. In the meantime, won't you consider supporting us on Patreon? We just posted a bunch of really cool milestone goals to help you know what your support will mean to us, and we're working on a short video to show how we're operating, too. All kinds of good stuff going on, so remember that you can set your own budget and hopefully you can see your way clear to helping us out a bit. We'd really appreciate it!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Bob Zimmerman, Kat Nowack, and Bill Ritch are waiting for YOU.[/caption]

2019 Centauri Express Update

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