Written by: Fatima Ismail
Hello everyone, I’m back again with a new article. After sharing with you my journey in the previous article about the project “Voices and Rhythms Lost,” today I’ll share the role I played in producing the second episode of the “Voices and Rhythms Lost” project. It was a foundational moment in my podcasting journey. After focused training in podcast production, I was able to take on my role as a podcaster. The journey began with thorough research on forgotten female artists in Yemen, to identify the ideal candidates—those whose artistic careers were overshadowed due to social and cultural factors.
Creating an episode for the “Voices and Rhythms Lost” project was not easy, especially considering the cultural and societal differences across each governorate. However, the research phase was the most crucial step in the project. I was able to connect with the Ministry of Culture and received numerous nominations for potential artists. In the end, we chose the artist “Alya,” who is one of the artists unjustly overlooked both by the media and the arts.
I then moved on to the second phase, which was crafting the episode template. After extensive discussions with the project supervisor, Ms. Feryal Magdy, we wrote the script and directed the episode. In this phase, I unleashed all of my skills as a writer and tried to make the narrative accessible, ensuring it could be understood both within and outside Yemen.
The recording took place in a professional studio to ensure high quality and precision. The artist was very cooperative, and the recording lasted for three hours. I was behind the microphone with Alya, trying to delve deeply into the corners of her life, as this is essential for documenting oral history.
Then, I moved to the sound engineering phase, which was the next major responsibility. During this phase, I restructured the interview, built the vision for the episode, chose songs and sound effects, condensed the three-hour interview into one hour, and finally recorded the narration that would accompany the interview.
The role I played in the “Voices and Rhythms Lost” project is one of the dearest to my heart. I learned so much and produced an episode that helped highlight a forgotten Yemeni artist. Through the training and guidance I received, I was able to stay on the right path and achieve a result I am proud of as a podcaster.
