One of the ideas I have about my most recent writing project is that the end goal is not (merely) a novel.
I want to make an audio story.
Back as far a my university days I had it in my mind to try to make an audio drama in the style of H2G2[1] or Ruby[2].
I went about it completely backwards, of course, trying to improv a script while learning all the audio tools. I would get five minutes of groovy sound effects wrapped around a nothing script and then quit because I had never done any planning. I was using borrowed sounds and music in free software I had very little knowledge of how to use and making up a science fiction story on the fly. It was a recipe to accomplish nothing—except maybe learn from my mistakes.
So I’ve been working on a story first.
But also…
In the last couple years I have built on the knowledge I had around music theory and audio software and have started to learn the basics of music production. I have been acquiring the tools—mics, synths, mixers, recorders, and recently an effects pedal—to produce my own soundscapes.
And? This week I actually wrote a song. Well… actually the technical term is called a leitmotif. It is the basic building block of a recurring musical theme tied to a character, place, group, or whatever. And… I wrote one.
Terms FROm this POSt
- science fiction
- I write this stuff. Or, I try to. Putting a finger on a definition for how to define this genre that encompasses everything from intergalactic alien space battles to insidious stories of near-future techno-dystopias… well, that’s more difficult. I read and watch a ton of this though, so you’ll almost certainly get some references on this project.
- synth
- Often mistaken for a piano, especially in my house where my spouse reminds me that we already have two pianos and I don’t need a third, synths are electronic sound engines that shape primitive audio waveforms through a various processes either analog or digital for which the result is a unique pitched “note” often “discovered” by the artist, and a form of musical instrument that has become the basis of many modern forms of music.
