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Name: lenora good, Guest's avatar

"singing in the key of life." Love this line.

I lived in Florida in 2005 when the Great Emergence of cicadas sang. I had my bedroom windows open all night to hear their song. I missed them the next year, it was a very small emergence, and then I moved. I miss the cicadas song, and the bull 'gators chorus, and all the wildlife of Florida, but your poem brought old memories to the fore, and I thank you. And your Grandma.

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Thomas D’Arcy O’Donnell's avatar

hoho ! Lovin this poem & the comment re Florida as well !

As a ‘collector’ & writer of yarns, tales etc this may be the first for me

re the amazing Cicada .. outstanding !

Do you know why film makers like me

do not attempt to capture ‘exterior location dialogue’

& at times ‘useable indoor dialogue’

& instead aim for & record ‘audio dialogue of guide track quality’

to facilitate Film/Video Editing & Post Production ‘looped dialogue’

for the Final Soundtrack ?

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Name: lenora good, Guest's avatar

Thomas, I have no idea the answer to your why. My brother is/was the film person, but it would be cheating to call and ask him. It could be, perhaps, all the paperwork involved in permissions?

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Thomas D’Arcy O’Donnell's avatar

Along with aircraft - the Sound Of The Cicada is impossible to remove, filter, correct from Recorded Exterior Dialogue

The sound is ‘ambient’ & underlays Dialogue & other ‘motivated ambient sound’ ‘often called Room Tone’

Thus we can shoot & record Live Action voice dialogue as ‘Guide Track Only’ for ‘Looping’

ie re-recording Dialogue in a Sound Studio & the Actor of Actress may do this.. or other ‘Voice Talent’

As well, a ‘Foley Artist’ may enact ‘Sound Effects’ ie horses hoofbeats.. or breaking glass in a bar fight etc

Punch noises are often done with a Pork Roast.. same re water sounds.. & much is done with SFX such as laughter, fireworks, geese honking.

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Name: lenora good, Guest's avatar

LOVE it. Thank you so much for the explanation. I had no idea. Especially about the Cicada. I knew about some of the sound effects from old movies of radio shows, and what little drama I took in high school. So much to learn--and only a finite number of years in which to learn it ;-)

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