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The making of Sounds of the Home

May 24, 2015 Liz Donnelly
Eardrop's Journey Sounds of the Home cover

Take a peek inside 'Sounds of the Home', the 3rd Eardrops title I released. This story is popular with the very young as it reflects their home to them and they recognise a lot of the sounds even on first listening. Parents like it because there is a certain amount of silliness there in amongst all the learning ;-)

Sounds of the Home follows Eardrop and Nana as they explore the home and get ready for a birthday party. Nana's day starts about 5am with Eardrop waking her up from her (snoring) slumber and then it's all go from there. Much like it is in all those households with a 2 year old resident ... 

Sounds of the Home was a relatively straightforward record, due to the fact that my cousin (and sound engineer) and I could record most of the sounds at our houses. Roj recorded the bulk of them, and I chased up the more obscure ones.

As we had done with the other 2 stories, Roj created a background track, a quiet 'homey' track with distant insects, bumps and clangs, that plays very quietly underneath the main action.

sweeping. That's my Dad at his place in Mairangi Bay.
sweeping. That's my Dad at his place in Mairangi Bay.
one of my favourite recordings, Dad's Vecta mower. Here it is in real life - all taped together! The 'vintage' of this lawn mower made a great sound.
one of my favourite recordings, Dad's Vecta mower. Here it is in real life - all taped together! The 'vintage' of this lawn mower made a great sound.

Since Nana is a member of Eardrop's family I spent a lot of time crafting her character. She's a happy old lady, sprightly, and with a keen interest in her Grandbunny Eardrop. She's also very excited about her birthday party.

cute nana
cute nana

 Nana is voiced by the amazing Sara Wiseman who really brought the character to life with her voice skills. I was thrilled she agreed to play the role of Nana. She was brilliant to work with. We could have used any one of her takes on every line - she is very talented.

'Nana's' piano. Actually ours, with the theme tune played honky tonk style by my partner Tim (because the piano was in the garage back then!)
'Nana's' piano. Actually ours, with the theme tune played honky tonk style by my partner Tim (because the piano was in the garage back then!)

Meanwhile, graphic designer Ben Ashley set to work creating the cover, CD face, booklet and the game for Sounds of the Home. We had the style of the Eardrops brand already but each CD has its own feel. I like the photo-real floorboards underneath the silhouettes for the game.

home game
home game

Sounds of the Home is such a gentle and fun story for preschoolers. Kids absolutely love Sara's Nana character!

Eardrop's Journey Sounds of the Home cover
Eardrop's Journey Sounds of the Home cover
 

Head over to the shop to download or grab Sounds of the Home on CD.

Thank you! Liz xx

You might also like:

Behind the Scenes: Sounds of the Country
How do children learn language?
Why do we need to learn how to listen?
meet Liz Donnelly
In Producing eardrops Tags eardrops, Sounds of the Home, Liz Donnelly, audio production
← Sara Wiseman is Eardrop's 'Nana'Eardrops and speech language therapy →

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more from eardrops news:

  • Explore our world
    • 9 May 2017 Ten tips to survive a road trip with children
  • Learning language
    • 2 Aug 2017 #9. The Importance of Imitation
    • 10 Jul 2017 #8. 2+ languages; the multilingual gift
    • 4 Jul 2017 #7. Word-learning whizz-kids; 24-36 months
    • 26 Jun 2017 #6. Lovely toddler language; 12–24 months
    • 19 Jun 2017 #5. The importance of gestures
    • 12 Jun 2017 #4. The importance of primary caregivers
    • 6 Jun 2017 #3. 6-12 months. Language starting to land!
    • 29 May 2017 #2. Communication from the newborn baby
    • 22 May 2017 #1. Language is complex! Where to start?
  • Learning through our ears
    • 15 Jun 2016 Build good listening skills in toddlers
    • 3 Apr 2016 Games to develop listening skills
    • 22 Mar 2016 Listening is our access to understanding
    • 19 Apr 2015 Knowledge speaks ... Wisdom listens
    • 12 Apr 2015 The art of Active Listening
    • 5 Apr 2015 What is Listening?
    • 1 Mar 2015 How to listen with your heart
  • Learning your child
    • 2 Aug 2015 What does your child understand on TV?
    • 8 Mar 2015 What's a Learning Style?
  • Mentions in the media
    • 17 Jun 2020 Liz Donnelly writer profile, "Read NZ"
    • 14 Jun 2020 "Read NZ" review of Sounds of the Tāone
    • 30 Oct 2017 Eardrops on The Sapling
    • 25 Oct 2016 Proud to win AMP Scholarship!
    • 23 May 2016 Liz on Radio LIVE with Carly Flynn
    • 24 Nov 2015 'Always Made with Love' reviews Eardrops
    • 27 Aug 2015 Emilywrites 'Mama Said' Eardrops rules!
    • 10 May 2015 Eardrops and speech language therapy
  • Producing eardrops
    • 25 Jul 2017 Recording Eardrops in Te Reo Māori
    • 28 Aug 2016 A letter to all the Eardrops parents
    • 28 Jun 2015 Simon McKinney is 'The Postie'
    • 7 Jun 2015 Sara Wiseman is Eardrop's 'Nana'
    • 24 May 2015 The making of Sounds of the Home
    • 3 May 2015 Eardrop; the world's cutest bunny
    • 22 Feb 2015 The making of Sounds of the Country

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I strive to create simple worlds of harmony with Eardrops, where our young children can feel safe to discover. It is a joy and privilege to do this.

Another murder of another father in America by police who are supposed to protect brings a stark truth back into focus. It’s broken. Wherever we are in the world, we need to work harder. Anyone speaking to children must take extra care to disrupt the racist narratives that surround us. Listen first. I am listening. 
Thank you māmās, for all you do 🙏🏽
Liz 🧡
Where’s te ngeru? Can you see the cat? Sounds of the home/kāinga!🤦🏽‍♀️ Ned has always liked to survey his kingdom 😂 Liz xx
Muppets! Wonderful to gain insight into The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street, Dark Crystal, The Labyrinth, etc from these legends on the livestream. Grateful for their work with Jim Henson over the decades, a definite source of inspiration for eardrops. These shows were such a big influence on so many children, and they always taught peace. 
If you’re interested too, look up “Muppet Guys Talking” on YouTube. Liz 😍 #muppetguystalking
Hope everybunny’s all good in lockdown. Eardrop is dreaming up new adventures here at Eardrops central 🎈 Liz xx
mood 👊🏼 youngest child sass.
Hi Eardrops whānau 💚 here is level 4 Auckland thanks to covid-19 and 📷 @thespinofftv
 Hope you’re all going ok during these surreal and frightening times. Liz xx
Kia ora e te whānau! Recognise this wonderful wahine? She’s on our screens on the NZ bake-off ... and she is also the voice of our cute funny waiata singing & te reo Māori speaking Eardrop rapeti 😍 Naomi Toilalo you are a multitalented māmā that’s for sure. Bake hard! You have our vote 👊🏼🍸💃🏼 Liz xx

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