Multitrack Masterclasses

A group of people in a classroom-like setting. In the foreground, a smiling woman holds a pen to paper, while looking at someone else in the room. In the background, more smiling people are looking in the same direction.

Listen, talk, be inspired

Multitrack masterclasses offer an intimate insight into one audio producer’s creative process.

What are Multitrack Masterclasses?

 
A group of seven people standing in front of large glass windows. There are microphones on a table. People are smiling, chatting, laughing or just standing.

In 2024, for the first time ever, we opened up part of the Fellowship training programme to the public.

Multitrack Masterclasses are online sessions that are part listening event, part Q&A.

In each Masterclass, a producer shares up to 30 minutes of audio from one of their projects. After the listening portion ends, attendees have a chance to take part in a discussion with that producer about their work.

Masterclasses were part of the 2024 Fellowship training curriculum, and we’re really excited to also open these sessions to the public on a pay-what-you-can basis.

Below, you’ll find recordings of each of the Masterclasses from 2024.

If you found these Masterclasses useful, please consider supporting Multitrack with a donation here

Masterclass recordings

Structuring for Surprise with Thomas Curry

Award-winning producer Thomas Curry shares an extract from his Love + Radio piece, Journey Into Manhood, a story about a man who wasn't happy with who he was, and the extraordinary steps he took to become someone new.

Thomas has produced stories for Apple, Criminal, Spotify, and Wondery among others, and he currently works as Head of Production at BBC Studios. Recent highlights include: Split Screen: Kid Nation for CBC, Exposed: The Ashley Madison Hack for Audible and Operation Morning Light for Imperative Entertainment.

Building Station Sound with Wisebuddah’s James Kenny and Matt Podd

In a world where there’s more audio than ever before; it’s essential to put together a strong audio brand in order to stand out from all the noise.

From audio brand theory to creative choices and technical tips; James and Matt will give a small introduction on how to create a big impact. Including insight on Wisebuddah’s recent work for BBC Radio 1 and other pieces for a range of European audiences.

Wisebuddah is the UK’s leading specialist in the production of sonic branding, imaging and radio jingles, where over the last 20 years; they’ve built up an international client base which includes producing flagship branding for the BBC, Bauer, Talpa (Netherlands), German state radios and the Nova network in Australia.

Big story, medium story, little story (somehow all at once?!) with Arlie Adlington

Learn how to structure a narrative that operates at 3 different levels through an example from the series, "A Positive Life”

In this masterclass focused on non-fiction storytelling structure, Arlie will share one episode of the 8-part podcast series "A Positive Life: HIV from Terrence Higgins to Today" (presented by Sam Smith). Arlie was the series producer and sound designer for this show, which won Podcast of the Year at the 2023 British Podcast Awards.

One of the biggest challenges on this project was figuring how to structure a narrative that operated at three different levels - Arlie had 8 episodes to tell the story of the last 40 years of the HIV epidemic in the UK, as well as the life story of Terrence Higgins (one of the first British people to die from an AIDS related illness), and an array of personal stories from individual contributors. How do you approach structuring such a complex series? What do you put in and what do you leave out? And how do you do justice to all the history contained within a huge, on-going event like the HIV epidemic?

Arlie Adlington (he/him) is a queer audio producer, sound designer and mix engineer based in London. He's made documentaries, podcasts and other audio fun stuff with clients like BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, VICE, Tate, Serpentine, Dementia UK, The Barbican, The Allusionist and Scottee. Arlie likes working on projects where the sound really matters, projects that serve a community, and just making things that feel meaningful in some way.

The Secret Ingredient with Tommy Dixon

This masterclass focuses on how your personal experiences and authentic connections to stories can help you creatively explore subject matters A.K.A. your secret ingredient. Tommy felt like British history is often told from a limited lens, as a result important stories and pivotal figures are often left out. So, he set out to uncover stories of both well-known and lesser-known Britons of colour and showcase how their culture shifting actions and influence have shaped the country we live in today.

Tommy will be sharing an episode from his ARIA Gold winning-series Colouring In Britain.

Tommy Dixon is an award-winning podcast producer, presenter and member of the Radio Academy’s 30 under 30 class of 2023 based in London. He has produced programmes for BBC Sounds, BBC World Service and Roundhouse London.

Tommy’s Instagram.

Tommy’s X.

Trauma Informed Documentary Making with Christina Hardinge

This session will ask:

What does it mean to be trauma informed when telling other people's stories?

And how can the documentary process be a helping one - rather than harmful?

Christina Hardinge is an audio artist who has been researching these questions, exploring what happens when we integrate trauma-informed counselling tools as part of the documentary process. Out of this research a personal methodology has been created which she puts into practice as the foundation of all the work that she makes, which recently won Third Coast Award for Best New Artist 2023 and has broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and World Service.

Christina will be sharing her piece Understanding Gwyn with us as part of the session; a short documentary that brings to life one woman’s experience of grief as a living breathing relationship.

Expect many questions about what it means to be trauma informed across the entirety of the documentary process, and some tools and techniques to take away with you that can be applied to your own work.

Socials:

Twitter: @christinahardi_

Instagram: @christinahardinge

Growing Your Podcast: 101 with Lauren Passell

Lauren will be sharing a 30 minute presentation on podcast marketing and growing podcast audiences, followed by a Q+A.

Lauren Passell (she/her) is the founder of Tink Media, a podcast growth company. She is the editor of Podcast the Newsletter and Podcast Marketing Magic and writes about podcasts for Lifehacker. She has spoken about podcast marketing for Radio Bootcamp, SXSW, Podcast Movement, Podfest, London Podcast Festival and more. She is a judge for The Webbys, Signal Awards and the International Women's Podcast Awards. Follow her on Twitter and IG @laurenpassell.

https://tinkmedia.co/

https://podcastthenewsletter.substack.com/

https://podcastmarketingmagic.substack.com/

https://www.instagram.com/laurenpassell/?h...

https://x.com/laurenpassell

The Lake's Deepest Point: Diving Deep into Personal Narrative with Ariana Martinez

Ariana Martinez (they/them) is an artist making objects and time-based works that investigate processes of sensory perception and spatial navigation as through a queer and disabled lens. They have produced radio features for BBC Radio 4's Short Cuts and BBC Radio 3's Between the Essays. They have worked as a sound designer and engineer for Magnificent Noise and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Audible Originals, and elsewhere. Currently, Ariana is the art director and among the founding editors of Sound Fields, a new publication dedicated to audio documentary theory and practice.

Ariana will share two related projects: FIELDS (BBC Radio 4, Short Cuts) and PARESTHESIAS + PETRICHOR, a choose-your-own-adventure audio work designed for live performance. Both works explore the relationship between personal, internal experiences of chronic illness as related to one's external, ecological context. This session will explore how asking ourselves intimate questions can still orient us outward into compassionate relationships with the wider world.

Audio Fiction- Show don't Tell: World Building in Audio Fiction with Eira Major

Eira is a writer and audio drama creator. He'll be talking about how to build worlds, scenes and stories in audio fiction

Eira will be playing a 20 minute section of the Season 3 Finale of Not Quite Dead. Just like set pieces on a stage, every sound in audio fiction can be picked, chosen and controlled. This fragment of Not Quite Dead contains monologue; dialogue; action; and suspense. The sound design is built of over a hundred separate elements, each one chosen for a different reason, and used in different ways to establish character, mood, story, and world.

Eira grew up in North Wales surrounded by sheep and other small mammals and started writing as a way to invent better company. He’s written and sound-designed over 150 episodes of audio drama across four shows. His one-man audio production house 'Hanging Sloth' started as a lockdown project and his shows now have tens of thousands of listeners every month.