[V]

Sometimes when I am reading I also listen to music, and sometimes the mood of the music that happens to be on fits the mood of the passage I am reading and it is amazing. I have always wondered if there was ever a way to make a soundtrack for a book?

Jeff B has postulated this as the 'new media' that devices like the Kindle may spark. To some degree it's not a bad idea, I mean there are times when illustrations themselves provide essential mood to a piece, especially in architecture, and even in my own writing there are times where I've spent an insane amount of copyspace trying to get the right mood, or right sounds, or how a song sounded (hands-down the hardest thing I've ever tried to do and in the end it was still a god-awful poor substitute for what 4 seconds of audio would have done) or something. In my head, things are so precise and rich and detailed that I want to bring that environment to the reader...and it's a cast-iron bitch to find the right balance, and even then you know you haven't given them the scene well (but at least you didn't bore them to tears w/ details).

At the same time, I've read through books that really impressed me in the mood they set and later I'd read the "Author's Inspiration" and be spectacularly unimpressed as what I had in my head was so much more powerful and richly textured. And, other times, though rare, their inspiration has helped get their point across.

There are some web-serials that imbed this type of data to create a mixed media but at some point it really becomes a question of 'if you have the imagery, make a movie; if you have the song, make a musical' when the 'book' just becomes an extended voice-over.

It's really a mixed bag with more potential problems than benefits, imho.

 

[Anju]

Thank you, Al. Thought I'd spilled the beans or something worse.

I don't do meds, Dona, but I occasionally do scotch when the sun is over the yardarm. Cheers.

Actually I was joking but went back and changed my post to "pie" was not a nice post I made

BTW I am absolutely enthralled with the Treasure and am not too far in it - so good!!!!!!!! Just wait until I get further in it and post on the recommended thread

 

[Jeff]

BTW I am absolutely enthralled with the Treasure and am not too far in it...

It's a very long book. By the time you slog your way to the end of volume 2 you might decide that a not nice post is more appropriate than recommended.

 

[Ignatius]

It could be done, certain passages could trigger a song. You could have it loop until they reached the next change, which could get annoying, or just fade as it comes to an end and pick up again when you hit the next track. That would be very cool.

If done right, a looping soundtrack shouldn't get annoying (though, of course, as with everything, depends on the person). I'm thinking of video games in general, but the Myst series in particular. The soundtrack for the game is short two-minute or so pieces that loop as you're in different areas, and as anyone who's played the games knows, you spend a hell of a lot more time than two minutes in each area. I love the music for these games and listen to a playlist of all the soundtracks on random all the time as I'm working. Perfect "in the zone" music, which is where I guess they were trying to get you while playing the game, too.

 

[Jeff]

In case anyone's interested, these are the MP3 files that are used for my book trailers:

Gone For a Soldier MP-3

The Treasure of La Malinche MP-3

 

[MAGreen]

If done right, a looping soundtrack shouldn't get annoying (though, of course, as with everything, depends on the person). I'm thinking of video games in general, but the Myst series in particular. The soundtrack for the game is short two-minute or so pieces that loop as you're in different areas, and as anyone who's played the games knows, you spend a hell of a lot more time than two minutes in each area. I love the music for these games and listen to a playlist of all the soundtracks on random all the time as I'm working. Perfect "in the zone" music, which is where I guess they were trying to get you while playing the game, too.

I agree! I was thinking more of the suspense passages when the music is designed to highten the tension, or of when the authors music clashes with your tastes, but you still want it in the background. I figure it could be a choice anyway, for the music to loop or finish and stop. Plus, if you are a really slow reader, you might be listening to the same piece for a long time!