24-Hour Radio Challenge
Down the Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit Hole
Or: Listen on Met Radio
The Project:
Synopsis:
On the first day of every month, I say "Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit." It’s a simple superstition, but people around the world use it to ring in a month of good luck. Why do we say those three words? And where did the phrase even come from? This is a brief dive into the rabbit hole of the phrase and what silly superstitions can mean to us.
Why me, and why this story?
As the sole producer of Down the Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit Hole, I researched, wrote, hosted, and mixed this episode. This piece was completed as part of Met Radio’s 24 Hour Radio Challenge, where participants had exactly one day to make a 3-6 minute audio piece based on a prompt. This piece won the first place prize.
The prompt for this challenge was the phrase “Down the Rabbit Hole.” Other than incorporating the prompt, we were free to take the piece in any direction we wanted. I decided to use a documentary podcast style to explore the origins and meaning behind the phrase “Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit,” a common good luck superstition. I went down the “rabbit hole” of the phrase, uncovering its historical origins and what it means to me personally. Throughout the process, I even ended up learning something about my own family history.
Of course, the most exciting (and stressful!) part of the process was the time limit. Only having 24 hours to research, script, record, and mix an entire audio piece was a unique challenge and a great lesson in efficiency, time management, and understanding my own limits.
The Process:
Here's a look into the whirlwind 24 hours behind this piece. In total, the process took me about 15 hours: 4 hours for research and scripting, 2 hours for recording, and about 9 hours of editing.
The prompt for this challenge arrived at 10AM. I immediately got to work on brainstorming what story I could tell with the phrase.
I knew within a few minutes that I wanted to explore the phrase "Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit." My next step was figuring how to do that within six minutes. This is the first step of my creative process- jotting down any ideas that come to mind. While many of these ideas didn't make it into the final product, they all contributed to the development of the piece.
For the interview, I wanted to make myself sound like a different person. To do so, I recorded my audio on my iPhone microphone (instead of a professional one) and added an FFT filter, made my voice sound like it was coming through a phone receiver. The lower-quality microphone and voice effect made it sound like I was actually talking to myself through a phone or video call.
The prompt for this challenge arrived at 10AM. I immediately got to work on brainstorming what story I could tell with the phrase.
The Results:
Down the Rabbit, Rabbit Rabbit Hole in the real world!
Down the Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit Hole won first place in the 24-Hour radio Challenge.
You can listen to Down the Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit Hole on Met Radio's Soundcloud account.
Met Radio announced the win and featured the piece on their Instagram account, @metmusic1280.
Down the Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit Hole won first place in the 24-Hour radio Challenge.
Credits:
This piece featured a brief interview with Margaret Yamamoto. Music was sourced from DeWolfe Music. Sound effects were sourced from WeStar Music. The 24-Hour Radio Challenge was organized and judged by the team at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Met Radio.