How to Turn a Voice into a Sci-Fi Sound

Kids send in sounds they record, and I get to turn them into sound effects.

Last year, as we wrapped up season one of my sci-fi serial podcast for kids, The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian, my editor sprung something on me. He declared we were going to start something called Griffin’s Sound Club, where kids would make sounds at home, send them in, and then I would put them in the show as sound effects. I should say that my editor’s name is Griffin. And he’s my 8-year-old son.

Griffin’s Sound Club is one of the most fun and challenging parts of making the show. Sometimes kids send in the perfect sound for what I need, and sometimes kids cluck like a chicken for five minutes straight. Regardless, it’s a blast, and a wholly delightful and unexpected way to have the kids involved in the show.

I’ve been getting emails from listeners asking how those sounds are made, so I put together a video showing how we go from a kid making a sound in a voice memo app, to a spooky sound from our most recent episode.