Inscape is a multi-platform brand delivering immersive meditation and relaxation experiences physically and digitally, at their NYC studio and through their iOS app. Their concept merges tradition, modern thinking, and of-the-moment technology, helping users reduce distractions through movement and breathing, and using guided meditation and music as a vehicle to facilitate optimal meditation and relaxation.
Both in the app and the studio, sound is the main driver of Inscape’s experiences – all their experiences are guided by a voice that flows over backing tracks produced specifically to support their content. I was brought in to take care of the audio and music production aspects of the project very early on, when it was still just an idea in the making.
After the first few meetings with the Inscape team, three major challenges became very clear: (1) the need for an efficient process to handle ongoing production of large amounts of content, (2) a process to deliver content to two completely different platforms, and (3) getting the voice over talent up to speed and in shape for the amount of recording ahead of us.
THE MAGIC OF THINKING BIG
The first challenge was to embrace the size of the project. Inscape aimed to launch both platforms at the same time, with close to 100 hours of content. The subscription model required the creation of new content on a regular schedule, so we had to come up with a pretty tight production method in order not to lag behind.
I was lucky enough to be involved with the project from its early stages, allowing me to participate in the design and implementation of the content production strategy. At the same time, since the concept was still not fully developed, things kept changing and they changed FAST. Decisions made in the morning were obsolete by noon and overthrown again by night.
The content team’s answer to these two challenges was to approach content creation in a very modular and iterative way, with a strong emphasis on systematizing and documenting everything we were doing, as early as possible.
Modularity allowed us to assemble hours of content from a few building blocks, making a 100+ hours library much more approachable and edits way more manageable. Iteration and constant revision of our systems was necessary to adapt to the speed at which the concept evolved, and to ensure our ability to produce content regularly in the future.
In the audio world, this meant coming up with very clear parameters for pretty much everything – from file names to volume levels to signal chains to how many seconds of silence to include for each in and out breath. It also implied writing out very detailed and clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and scheduling regular updated and revisions.
A few of the documents created for Inscape.Flowchart of one of the sections of Inscape’s audio production process, linking to corresponding SOPs.
AND THEN, THERE WERE TWO
The second big question we had to answer was how to approach content production for two completely different platforms in an effective way without compromising the quality of either experience. We wanted users to feel at ease switching between platforms, so the core of the content had to be shared by both. But for each side of the equation, optimizing meant completely different trade offs.
For a mobile app, download speeds were a top priority. This meant that file sizes were to be as low as possible, even if that meant a compromise in audio quality. Most users would be using earbuds or playing on their phone’s speakers, so there was a lot of headroom there. But for the live studio, loaded with high-end audio equipment, surround sound and the ability to manage large files, the priority was to provide a high end experience. This meant – you guessed it – big ass data.
Solving this required a deep dive into the world of compression formats and a very close collaboration with Inscape’s tech team, who take the credit for solving this challenge by developing an amazing content management system. Starting out from our content lego blocks as a source, we were able to optimize the delivery process to churn out two different output streams: one with files small enough for a phone and the other good enough for a high end surround system.
Fun fact: Inscape’s studio has an automated lighting system that is also controlled through audio!
The main room at Inscape’s NYC studio.
THE VOICE
Many elements make up the Inscape experience, but it’d be hard to argue that the most important one is the voice that guides the meditations. After trying out several VO actresses, the team decided they needed to find a person who was close to the subject matter in a more personal level for it to work well. They made the decision to go with someone with a lifetime of involvement in the meditation field and who was very involved with he project, but who also had no previous experience doing any kind of acting or voice over. We needed to get to work!
The first part of this challenge was finding a tone and pace that worked with the brand, and then finding reliable ways to get there for each recording session. In this case, the fact that the concept wasn’t fully formed when we began work was on our favor: while the rest of the pieces were falling into place, we had time to explore in the recording studio. Eventually we identified a handful of audio references and breathing exercises that we could rely on, as well as time times of day and lengths of sessions that allowed the actress to provide a consistent and optimal performance each time.
The modular format of the content made it particularly challenging, because pieces of content were going to be mixed and matched in way that required them to flow seamlessly into each other regardless of when they were recorded. It required lots and lots and lots of listening and editing, but by using a very strict and systematic approach we were able to define very clear parameters that made this process way less complicated.
THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
Today, the Inscape app is available in the iTunes store (it was actually featured on the store’s home page during its first week), and is a great stand-alone resource for those who want to dive into meditation. The live studio is up and running in Manhattan, offering high quality, immersive and transformative experiences. Both source their content from the library and systems that the Inscape team built over the past few months, and will continue to be updated regularly.
But hey, rather than taking my word for it, you can check it out yourself in the links below. I’ll just add that I’m very proud of how it sounds!
