The Sound of… BLUEY!!!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Twenty Thousand Hertz – "The Sound of… BLUEY!!!"

Introduction

In the October 9, 2024 episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz, host Dallas Taylor delves into the intricate world of sound design behind one of the world's most beloved children's shows, Bluey. Known for its heartwarming narratives and engaging characters, Bluey has captivated audiences globally. This episode explores how sound plays a pivotal role in bringing the animated series to life, featuring insights from the show's sound designer, Dan Brum.

Overview of Bluey

Bluey is an Australian animated series that has gained international acclaim since its debut in 2018. Broadcasting in 160 countries and dubbed into 20 languages, the show has become a staple for parents and children alike. As Dallas Taylor mentions, by 2023, Bluey ranked as the second most streamed show in the United States and held the 14th position on IMDb’s highest-rated TV shows of all time[^02:10].

The series revolves around Bandit and Chilli, two dog parents, and their energetic children, Bluey and Bingo. Each episode, typically around seven minutes long, showcases the family's imaginative adventures, often embedding subtle moral lessons without being overtly didactic. The show's appeal lies in its realistic portrayal of parenthood, where parents juggle endless games and activities while maintaining a loving and supportive environment[^02:13].

Interview with Dan Brum: Crafting the Sounds of Bluey

Dan Brum, the sound designer and mixer for Bluey, shares his journey and the challenges faced during the show's inception. As the sole sound person for the first season, Brum had the monumental task of gathering, crafting, and mixing all sounds to complement the animation and dialogue[^04:00].

The Guerrilla Beginnings

Brum recounts the humble beginnings of Bluey as a "guerrilla operation" with a low budget and a team of fresh animators[^03:42]. The project's nascent stages were fraught with uncertainty, leaving Brum to independently manage sound design amidst personal and professional pressures. Reflecting on this period, he admits, "season one was hard," highlighting the intense workload and the personal toll it took, including battling stress-induced alopecia[^04:28].

Originality in Sound Design

Contrary to the common reliance on pre-recorded sounds, Brum emphasized creating original audio elements to ensure the show's authenticity[^04:36]. He ventured into Brisbane's suburbs, recording ambient sounds like bird chirps and creek noises to embed a genuine auditory landscape into the series[^05:06]. This dedication to originality is evident in scenes where nature sounds persist even indoors, maintaining the show's connection to its Australian setting[^05:50].

Challenges and Creative Solutions

Recording specific sounds required inventive approaches. For instance, capturing the sound of a supermarket trolley colliding with aisles led Brum to physically replicate the scene in a real store, often risking confrontation with store management[^09:21]. Similarly, obtaining the authentic noise of a Brisbane council bus involved spontaneous recording sessions, sometimes resulting in unintended humorous situations[^07:14].

Brum also navigated the delicate balance of realism and children's perception. In episodes featuring formidable characters like dragons, he layered intimidating footsteps with toy squeaks to maintain a sense of comic relief, ensuring the sounds were impactful yet not fear-inducing[^16:54]. This nuanced approach extended to filtering audio frequencies, applying low pass filters to soften harsh sounds and create a more rounded auditory experience[^16:54].

Key Episodes Highlighting Sound Design

1. Magic Xylophone: Brum considers this the turning point where Bluey’s sound truly resonated with the episode's narrative[^12:42]. The episode features moments like Bingo adjusting a hose to prevent Dad from spraying her, where subtle sound cues enhance the storytelling without overwhelming the dialogue[^12:42].

2. Sleepy Time: This emotionally charged episode exemplifies the culmination of meticulous sound and music integration. With minimal dialogue, the episode relies heavily on ambient and orchestral sounds to convey Bingo's journey through dreams and her longing for independence[^26:46]. Brum describes working on this episode as a profound experience, where the music and sound design seamlessly blended to support the narrative's emotional depth[^27:34].

The Role of Music in Bluey

Composer Joff Bush plays a critical role in shaping the show’s musical landscape. The theme song, characterized by its playful pauses, has intrigued audiences and commentators alike. Bush revealed that the pauses follow a specific pattern: the first rest is three beats long, each subsequent rest decreases by one beat, culminating without a rest at "Bluey"[^23:27]. This precise timing contributes to the show's rhythmic and engaging introduction[^23:04].

In Magic Xylophone, Bush adapts classical pieces like "Infernal Gallop" to match the episode's vibrant energy, illustrating how music underscores the storyline's emotional beats[^24:25]. Brum emphasizes that the music is integral to the viewing experience, stating, "The music is just meant to hug you basically for the whole episode"[^25:14].

Conclusion

The Twenty Thousand Hertz episode on Bluey offers a comprehensive exploration of the show's sound design and musical composition. Through Dan Brum’s dedicated efforts and Joff Bush’s evocative music, Bluey achieves a rich auditory experience that complements its visual storytelling. This meticulous craftsmanship not only enhances the show's appeal but also underscores the importance of sound in animated narratives.

Notable Quotes

• Dallas Taylor ([00:39]): "This show has made me laugh out loud and sob uncontrollably more times than I can count."

• Child ([00:51]): "Kind of like an ordinary, not ordinary family who like go on big adventures, except not too big."

• Dan Brum ([02:44]): "Parenting is a very unique adventure."

• Dan Brum ([04:36]): "I tried to record my own sounds because I wanted this show to feel original and I wanted it to feel natural and warm and organic."

• Dan Brum ([12:31]): "Magic Xylophone was the first real episode, I think, where I was really happy with how the sound communicated with the episode."

• Dan Brum ([16:54]): "Bandit is a big, heavy, stomping male adult... Bingo was a tiny little four year old girl."

• Dan Brum ([25:14]): "The music is just meant to hug you basically for the whole episode."

References

[^02:10]: Dallas Taylor discusses Bluey's popularity metrics. [^02:13]: Description of Bluey's portrayal of parenthood. [^03:42]: Dan Brum explains the show's early production challenges. [^04:00]: Dan Brum outlines his responsibilities as the sole sound designer. [^04:28]: Brum reflects on the personal toll of the project's initial phase. [^04:36]: Emphasis on creating original sounds for authenticity. [^05:06]: Recording ambient sounds in Brisbane. [^07:14]: Capturing the sound of a local council bus. [^09:21]: Brum shares the experience of recording in a supermarket. [^12:42]: Discussion on the "Magic Xylophone" episode. [^16:54]: Balancing realism with children's perception in sound design. [^23:27]: Explanation of the theme song's pause pattern. [^24:25]: Adapting classical music to match episode energy. [^25:14]: Importance of music in shaping the viewing experience. [^26:46]: Overview of the "Sleepy Time" episode. [^27:34]: Emotional impact of integrating music and sound in "Sleepy Time".

Transcript

[Dallas Taylor]

You're listening to 20,000HZ. I'm Dallas Taylor. As the father of three young daughters, I end up watching a lot of kids shows. Now, some of these shows are clearly just meant to appeal to kids, but there's one kids show that I like just as much as my girls do, if not more. This show has made me laugh out loud and sob uncontrollably more times than I can count. It's an animated series from down under called Rodney. Can you tell me what Bluey is about?

[Child]

It's about a family of dogs living together in Australia.

[Dallas Taylor]

That's my 11 year old.

[Child]

Kind of like an ordinary, not ordinary family who like go on big adventures, except not too big.

[Dallas Taylor]

My oldest daughter is now a few years older than the kids in Bluey, but she still loves the show, as does my 8 year old.

[Child]

My favorite character is Muffin because she's crazy like me.

[Dallas Taylor]

Crazy like you. And there's the youngest, my four year old.

[Child]

I like it because I watched Bluey when I was born.

[Dallas Taylor]

My family and I discovered Bluey about four years ago and we've been obsessed with it ever since. If you're a parent of a younger child, you probably know this show too. Since its debut in 2018, Bluey has been broadcast in 160 countries and dubbed into 20 different languages. In 2023, it was the second most streamed show in the US and over on IMDb, it's the 14th highest rated TV show of all time. The show is about two dog parents named Bandit and Chilli and their kids, Bluey and Bingo. The episodes are usually only seven minutes long and the stories typically center around the imaginary games the kids invent. There's often a small moral or message, but it's never really heavy handed. Great works are performed not by great strength, but by perseverance.

[Child]

Hang on, are you trying to teach us something?

[Dallas Taylor]

One must persevere. Aw, he is for me. I love how Bluey shows a version of parenthood that's sweet, but also very realistic. Bandit and Chilli often have bags under their eyes as they try to keep up with their kids. Endless games.

[Child]

Can we play delivery chair?

[Dallas Taylor]

No, no.

[Child]

Oh please.

[Dallas Taylor]

Oh, don't use your please face. Oh, right, yeah.

[Child]

Bingo. Delivery chair.

[Dallas Taylor]

The please face gets me every time.

[Dan Brum]

Parenting is a very unique adventure.

[Dallas Taylor]

That's Bluey's sound designer and mixer, Dan Brum.

[Dan Brum]

It's tough and it's really emotional and you love these kids but you also sometimes you're a bit tired and the games are crazy and the adventures are wild. And that's just represented so sincerely on screen.

[Dallas Taylor]

Dan also happens to be the brother of Bluey's creator and main writer, Joe Brum.

[Dan Brum]

A lot of the games were straight out of games my brother created to play with his kids. He came back to Brisbane and started a family and he had young kids and he realised just the absurd games that you play with these young kids to keep them entertained and to have fun with them. And so he thought that that would make a great kids show. And you know, he was obviously right.

[Dallas Taylor]

But of course it takes more than just a great idea to get a show off the ground.

[Dan Brum]

This all started off as a fairly guerrilla operation. A small production company, ragtag new animators. A lot of them were straight out of university and it was very low budget because it was such an untested, unproven show. So low budget that I was the only sound person involved.

[Dallas Taylor]

That means one person to gather all the sound, carefully craft it for each episode and then mix it in with dialogue and music. On top of all that, Dan's also a parent of young kids himself. Let's just say it was a lot to juggle.

[Dan Brum]

Looking back now, it's crazy. There should have been a team of me because it was such a hectic schedule as 52 episodes in that first season, one per week for sound design, music mix and final mix and corrections.

[Dallas Taylor]

With that kind of time crunch, you might think that Dan relied on a lot of pre recorded sounds, but he actually took the opposite approach.

[Dan Brum]

I tried to record my own sounds because I wanted this show to feel original and I wanted it to feel natural and warm and organic. So that on one hand you've got a stylised picture and the second hand you've got realistic audio.

[Dallas Taylor]

Dan still remembers when he first saw the show's animation.

[Dan Brum]

It's so beautiful, the art is so amazing and they've represented my city so well.

[Dallas Taylor]

Bluey is set in Brisbane, where Dan and Joe grew up.

[Dan Brum]

So I feel this duty to embellish that with as beautiful an audio background as I can. So I. In the early days I would go around my city and my suburban, recording all the different atmospheres, like the nice bird sounds. Then I would work those into the backgrounds of the show.

[Dallas Taylor]

You sure you don't want some help?

[Child]

No.

[Dallas Taylor]

The sounds of Brisbane are so important that even when the characters are inside, you can often hear birds chirping and bugs buzzing in the background.

[Child]

Daddy, you didn't come and see the walking leaf.

[Dallas Taylor]

Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.

[Child]

That's okay.

[Dallas Taylor]

What is your favorite sound from Bluey?

[Child]

Um, just like the nature sounds.

[Dallas Taylor]

The nature sounds.

[Dan Brum]

In regards to the nature sounds, that's a really big thing for me because Brisbane is such a beautiful sounding city and it doesn't sound like any other city because we've got this wild array of unique Australian birds, including the kookaburras. So now crows and magpies. There's this one bird called a cockatoo which is this beautiful white kind of parrot with these yellow. It's like a yellow Mohawk. But the sound they make is the most prehistoric dinosaur like screech. If you can't see one on screen. It's a really terrifying sound to be in a kids show.

[Child]

Ooh.

[Dallas Taylor]

The kids in Bluey also like to play in the creek by their house.

[Dan Brum]

And I've recorded a lot of the creeks around my place. Like in the episode Creek. That's me down splashing in my local creek.

[Dallas Taylor]

Still looks the same.

[Child]

So what are we supposed to play?

[Dallas Taylor]

Ah, don't know.

[Child]

It's the creek.

[Dallas Taylor]

You just sort of muck around. Oh yeah.

[Dan Brum]

And in Grandad, that was all the local creek. Here.

[Child]

Do you want me to do it, Grandad?

[Dan Brum]

Okay.

[Child]

My tongues play up a bit these days. Is that why mum wants you to rest so your thumbs get better?

[Dan Brum]

Yeah, probably. It's the most calming sound and it's so beautiful. I love the idea that people from around the world just fall in love with how Brisbane sounds.

[Dallas Taylor]

But achieving that level of detail wasn't easy.

[Dan Brum]

The first few episodes that was. It was a hard time in my life. Everyone was trying to figure out what the sound of this show would be. I was given a lot of free rein to take it in a certain direction. But then it wasn't quite how my brother was hearing it in his head. He has a really phenomenal grasp on sound for animation. And sometimes it's a hard thing to describe how you want something to sound because that's such an emotional, feeling based thing. So that led to, yeah, a few terse arguments and fairly stressful situations of these deadlines. And it was, you know, 10 hours in the studio of just trying ideas that were some were getting across and some weren't. And then it was going home and trawling my neighborhood and local schools for different sounds that I could record to use the next day and then coming home and sort of editing them. All the while I've got a four year old and a two year old and then you go to sleep, but you're just thinking about this show. I was probably sleeping about two hours a day in those first few weeks just out of sheer stress. And it actually weirdly led to alopecia in this weird spot on my neck and my head where I noticed these bald spots from stress. So I kind of grew my hair long for season one and grew a beard to kind of hopefully mask all of those. And yeah, that's season one was hard.

[Dallas Taylor]

Imagine this sleep deprived, haggard looking man wandering around parks and playgrounds with a strange electronic device in his hand. Suffice to say, he landed himself in some pretty hairy situations.

[Dan Brum]

There's an episode, Kids, which is set in a supermarket and Bluey and Bingo are like ramming a shopping trolley into an aisle. There really is only one way you can capture that sound is to go to a supermarket and ram a trolley into an aisle. So I did, I went down with my microphone and I found like an empty ish aisle and I just was ramming this trolley into the aisle while recording it, trying to just get the sounds as quickly as possible before management came and asked me what I was doing.

[Dallas Taylor]

Now that Bluey's an international phenomenon, Dan could probably tell the employees that he's recording sounds for the show and the manager would ram carts into the shelves for him.

[Dan Brum]

But back then he just kind of looked like a bit of a crazy person. All the scenes at playgrounds where the kids are going down slides or playing on the monkey bars, I go to playgrounds and I record the slides and you know, often I actually have to go down a slide myself with the microphone, which is pretty awkward and weird as a 40 year old at a playground. But you have to get those sounds right because kids play in playgrounds and they're so intimately familiar with how the slides sound. There's another time for Shadowlands. There's a scene where a council bus goes past. So I wanted that sound of a Brisbane council bus driving past. And I was driving home from the studio one day and I noticed that there was a bus driving alongside me. I went, oh great. So I went down the window and put my mic out and started recording and the bus just slammed on the brakes really suddenly and I went, oh, why did that happen? Then I realized that my mic is on a pistol grip and it's a long shotgun microphone. So it literally looked like I was pointing a gun out the window at this bus driver who's just freaked out and slammed on the brakes. So yeah, I was sort of a little bit more careful with where I waved that thing around. In the future episodes.

[Dallas Taylor]

Dan would Take these recordings back to the studio and then start cutting them into the scenes. It was an exhausting process, but the whole crew was in the same boat.

[Dan Brum]

This whole show was in its infancy, so everyone was working as hard as they could to figure out what the show would look like and, for me, sound like. But they just loved the show so much that you wanted to. You wanted to pour your heart into this show.

[Dallas Taylor]

For Dan, a big motivator came from the work that the animators did.

[Dan Brum]

It's just so precisely animated. The beat of a joke or the beat of a certain sequence, and then if I could sync up the sounds and punctuate those different beats, it suddenly just brought it all to life.

[Dallas Taylor]

Eventually, Dan started to find that rhythm. A good example is an episode called Magic Xylophone. There are lots of great little sound design moments in it, like when Bingo finds the magic xylophone in the toy chest.

[Child]

Bluey, look.

[Dallas Taylor]

Or later in the episode when Bingo cinches up the hose so that their dad can't spray Bluey with it.

[Dan Brum]

Magic Xylophone was the first real episode, I think, where I was really happy with how the sound communicated with the episode.

[Dallas Taylor]

If you watch Bluey, in order, Magic Xylophone is listed as the first episode, but it was actually the fifth one they made.

[Dan Brum]

The previous four, I think, ended up in really good places as well. But from sort of 5 on, we basically landed on what the sound of the show was, and I started sleeping a little more after that.

[Dallas Taylor]

Good sound design is like a conversation between audio and picture. And for Bluey, that conversation conversation starts before the animation is even complete. When Dan first sees an episode, it's in the form of something called an animatic. It's got all of the dialogue in place. Meanwhile, the pictures on screen are rough black and white sketches of what will happen in the scene. But while the animatic may look simple.

[Dan Brum]

It'S in that first stage where you get all the performances, you get the timings, and you communicate the story. So a lot of effort is put into getting that stage right, and then everything flows on from there.

[Dallas Taylor]

Once he gets the animatic, Dan notes down every moment that needs a sound.

[Dan Brum]

If something moves, you can tell that it's been very specifically done by the animators. So any kind of movement I track a sound to. Certain sounds are to tell a joke or they're to tell part of the story.

[Dallas Taylor]

Let's do this.

[Dan Brum]

But lots of incidental things like footsteps, which obviously are very important, but in Bluey, they're really important. Because kids, when they're playing a game and they're running, they are running back inside.

[Dallas Taylor]

Lingo. Bluey, come back here.

[Dan Brum]

And it's this thunderous sound and it's this calamity of footsteps. But also a standard footstep is kind of heel to toe. But dogs are dogs, right? They've got paws. They need to be really quick. So I just did a lot of one shot sounds. So it's just a heel sound and that really helps give that staccato speed of someone just running across a room as part of a game.

[Dallas Taylor]

No, no, no.

[Child]

Quick, quick. Aw, mum, you're making it harder.

[Dallas Taylor]

But these staccato running sounds aren't all the same.

[Dan Brum]

Bandit is a big, heavy, stomping male adult.

[Dallas Taylor]

Ah, maybe they went downstairs.

[Dan Brum]

Bingo was a tiny little four year old girl. So we tried lots of things and I think we landed with Bingo. Even tapping on the back of a guitar for that really light pitter patter of wood. And it's such a subtle thing that most people would never notice. But it really sells the movement in the show and communicates so much that you don't quite notice. But I think you feel as the audience.

[Child]

She'S trying to stop us from getting to Chloe's party.

[Dallas Taylor]

Great sound design isn't something you're meant to notice if it's doing its job right. It just immerses you in the scene.

[Dan Brum]

Joe's point of view is not just what would it sound like, what would it feel like to the kids. So that was a really important thing that I had to switch gears a little and I wanted to keep the realism of the sounds. But you also had to communicate those feelings in the sound without scaring kids. Like if there's a dad falls over heavily on the stairs, you want to thunderous sound that's sort of impactful of the dad kind of hurting himself. But at the same time you don't want the kids freaking out. And it's those little moments like in the episode Dragon, the big dragon that stomps on at the end, you want that to sound big and ferocious and huge and scary. But it's also a kid's picture so it's gotta sound comic. So while you've got these thunderous footsteps, you blend in a little toy squeak on each step so that it's suddenly it's kind of oddly comic.

[Dallas Taylor]

Here it is in the episode I see it's eyes.

[Child]

Here it comes.

[Dan Brum]

So there's realism and then there's kids realism. It's this fine dance of sort of having these big sounds that also are quite soft in their way. And particularly Joe didn't want any really harsh sounding sounds. So often everything from an audio geek point of view, everything is sort of rolled off from about sort of 8k onwards. So you don't get those really bright sort of hissy sharp elements to the sounds.

[Dallas Taylor]

What Dan is talking about is called a low pass filter. Essentially it cuts out the higher frequencies while leaving the lower ones intact. For example, here's the sound of a gift being unwrapped without any filter. And here it is with a low pass filter on it.

[Dan Brum]

If you take that out, it just kind of, particularly in Bluey, it just gave everything a more rounded sound.

[Child]

See ya mom.

[Dallas Taylor]

See ya finger.

[Child]

See ya, have fun.

[Dallas Taylor]

What do you think about the sound of Bluey?

[Child]

Well, some of the sounds are very cool. There's like super duper sweet music.

[Dan Brum]

I've heard the music in these shows so many times, but I'll still listen to them and go, my God that is beautiful music.

[Dallas Taylor]

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[Dan Brum]

The holidays are here.

[Dallas Taylor]

At the Home Depot, so let's get to decorating. Find your perfect tree in our huge.

[Dan Brum]

Assortment of shapes, sizes and styles.

[Dallas Taylor]

Like the easy to assemble Jackson Noble fir with pre lit branches perfect for styling with all your favorite ornaments. Or the Flock Starry Light Frasier fir with over 1900 pre lit memory wire branches that keep their shape so it's ready right out of the box.

[Dan Brum]

Ooh, find the perfect tree now at the Home Depot.

[Dallas Taylor]

Since Bluey began, Dan Brum has been the show's main sound designer and mixer. But another crucial component of the show's sound is its incredible music, which is created by composer Joff Bush.

[Dan Brum]

Anything musical in the show is Joff. He is just beyond talented. It was just week by week he was just coming up with these pieces. Whether they were kind of reorchestrations of classical pieces or mostly his own compositions.

[Dallas Taylor]

Of course, one of Joff's most well known pieces for Bluey is the show's theme song. During the intro, the characters dance along with the music. Whenever it stops, they freeze and shout out the name of one of the characters.

[Child]

Dad.

[Dallas Taylor]

These little pauses vary in length, so if you're trying to sing along, it's really hard to get the timing right.

[Dan Brum]

Bingo.

[Child]

Rolly.

[Dallas Taylor]

Now, the Internet has had a field day trying to figure out if there's an actual pattern to these pauses or if it's just random. And on a radio show called Up Late With Zach and Dom, composer Joff Bush gave a hint. Three, two, one, Bluey. That's the design.

[Dan Brum]

I won't give away any more sequences. It's like the Da Vinci Code. Oh, I feel so much pressure because I don't want to stuff this up.

[Dallas Taylor]

But in other interviews, Joff has explained what he means by 3, 2, 1, bluey. Essentially, the first rest before they shout mom. Is three beats long. Then each rest gets one beat shorter than the one before it. So by the time you get to Bluey, there's no rest at all. It's not as complicated as it sounds. Here, I'll show you. One, two, three. Mom. One, two. Dad. One. Bingo. Bluey. From the very beginning, Bluey's creator, Joe Brum, told his brother Dan to be pretty heavy handed when mixing the music.

[Dan Brum]

Music always had to be loud and as loud as you could kind of get away with. In one episode, particularly Shops, it was already loud. And right at the very end when the big music comes on at the climax of that episode, I remember Joe just going, push it up even louder.

[Dallas Taylor]

In the episode, the kids and their friends are trying to play an imaginary pet store game. But Bluey keeps coming up with new ideas and stopping them before they can start playing. The kids get more and more impatient. And to match that pent up energy, Joff Bush adapted the classical piece Infernal Gallop, better known as the can can song.

[Child]

Is anyone gonna stop me? No, Daddy. Hi, I'm here to buy a lead for my other kitten. Certainly, customer. My assistant will get that for you.

[Dan Brum]

And there's been a couple of times I've watched that where I thought, ooh, maybe that was too far. But the music is so carefully considered and it's so important to telling the story and the emotion of these episodes that to have it just sort of low down in the mix would be a real waste of its power. The music is just meant to hug you basically for the whole episode, and hopefully that's what it does in the mixes.

[Dallas Taylor]

There's one episode in particular that really shows the lengths the creators go to finally craft the musical palette. It features several reimagined classical pieces woven in seamlessly with original music. The episode is called Sleepy Time. It barely has any dialogue in it, but the story arc is a beautiful metaphor for growing up in it. Bluey's little sister Bingo is struggling to sleep through the night in her own bed. She wants to be a big girl, but she always gets lonely and ends up going to cuddle with her parents. As Chilli puts Bingo to bed, the music is sweet and gentle, like a lullaby.

[Child]

Mom, I want to do a Bingo sleep tonight and wake up in my own bed.

[Dan Brum]

You do your best, honey, but remember.

[Child]

I'm always here if you need me. Sweet dreams.

[Dallas Taylor]

Then Bingo has a dream where she hatches from the Earth like it's an egg and floats through space with her stuffed rabbit.

[Child]

Ooh.

[Dallas Taylor]

The music becomes dreamy and ambient with modern electronic. Next, Bingo visits different planets, and the music becomes playful and orchestral. For this sequence, Joff adapted three pieces from Gustav Holst's orchestral suite, the Planets. The three pieces we hear are called Jupiter, the bringer of Jollity, Venus, the bringer of peace, and Saturn, the bringer of old age. So the music that plays as Bingo visits each planet is actually a classical piece named after that same planet. This is Bingo playing on Jupiter.

[Dan Brum]

You got the impression right from the start that Sleepy Time, it was a layer above again, like, everyone was just really working on this episode. And then eventually I get the music, and you're already so attached to the story by this point.

[Dallas Taylor]

At one point, while she's sleeping, Bingo loses her blanket and her stuffed rabbit. Chilli notices Bingo alone in her bed, crying, so she goes and lays next to her. In Bingo's dream, she zooms toward the sun and experiences her mom as the sun itself, bathing her in warmth and light. The music in this section is a refrain of Holst's Jupiter piece.

[Dan Brum]

Suddenly, I'm hearing that piece of music for the first time over those visuals of Bingo being enveloped by the warmth of a mum. It was a really beautiful experience.

[Child]

I have to go. I'm a big girl now. Remember, I'll always be here, even if you can't see me, because I love you.

[Dallas Taylor]

As a father whose kids are growing up faster than I can believe, this episode really gets to me. Just the credits are, like, the most emotional credits I can imagine. It's just the music is huge. It just grows and grows. My kids are looking at me like, oh, that's a really good episode, huh? And I'm just like. Like, every time I tell, they know dad can't watch Sleepy Time. It's too much for me. I love it though.

[Dan Brum]

Yeah. And even us working on it. Like, I've seen these episodes a million times, but Sleepy Time. Yeah, and Bumpy and the Wise Old Wolfhound and Cricket and Grandad. I could go on and on like the episodes that just emotionally affect you despite how many times you've seen it.

[Dallas Taylor]

For me, Sleepy Time is the perfect encapsulation of what makes Bluey so special. The brilliant writing, the vibrant animation, the precise sound design, the gorgeous music. It all comes together to take me on this nine minute emotional journey that's just as powerful as some of the best films I've ever seen. Crafting something like that takes a ton of passion and a ton of hard work.

[Dan Brum]

There's nothing that's appeared in this show that was just a throwaway thing or just, ah, that'll do. Every single element of this show, whether it's animatic, recordings, sound design, music, every single element is just pored over.

[Dallas Taylor]

One of the elements that gets poured over is the show's incredible voice acting. Bluey features some truly stellar performances from both the adult actors and the kids. And just like the crew of Bluey, the cast is a tight knit family, often literally.

[Dan Brum]

And then I saw a script which was Horsey Ride come across my desk and I thought, great, I think that character might be written for me.

[Dallas Taylor]

That's coming up next time.

[Child]

20,000 Hz is produced out of the sound design studios of Defacto Sound. Hear [e-mail] this episode was written and.

[Dallas Taylor]

Produced by Nicholas Harder and Casey Emmerling with help from Grace East. It was sound designed and mixed by.

[Dan Brum]

Brandon Pratt and Jade Dickey.

[Child]

A huge thanks to sound designer Dan Brahm.

[Dallas Taylor]

I'm Dallas Taylor. Thanks for listening. Over at our sister company, Defacto Sound, we mix and sound design tons of advertisements. And for some of the more ambitious ads, refining just the sound can take weeks of work. Then here at 20,000 hertz we produce our own ads and we spend a lot of time crafting them to deliver the most powerful message in just 30 or 60 seconds. The point is, making good ads takes a lot of care and effort. Fortunately, there's a whole podcast dedicated to the art and craft of audio advertising. It's called Ad Infinitum and it's hosted by my good friend Stu Redwine. The show is thoughtful, insightful and a great way to stay informed about the latest innovations in the world of audio ads. As it happens, I was actually a guest on Stu's very first episode, which is called starting right. Here's a clip right now.

[Dan Brum]

I think something you're seeing a lot.

[Dallas Taylor]

Of is a lot of people are using synth voices. What I want to play for you. Okay. Can I. I know this is. How patronizing is that to a human? Like, how patronizing is that? Like, step back for a second and. And making a synth voice ad. How patronizing is that? Like, on a fundamental level? Subscribe to Ad Infinitum right here in your podcast player. And be sure to start with episode one, featuring yours truly. That's Ad Infinitum.