Audiobooks and Soundtracks - Nick Cave reinventing things?
Rebekah Send a noteboard - 13/10/2009 10:38:07 AM
Or so the BBC seems to think.
Tonight Camilla, Tor, Tim and I will be listening to Mr Cave read from his new book The Death of Bunny Munro and play music. We'll let you know how amazing that is (it will be) so you can decide whether you want to buy this audiobook. I know it's on my Christmas list...
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Saviours of the audiobook?
Have you ever found yourself reading a book with a certain CD playing and found the experience instantly enhanced?
We take it for granted that the soundtrack of a film is a central part of the viewers' enjoyment.
But the idea of a soundtrack as you listen to an audio book has barely been explored - until now.
"I just thought something remarkable could be done," says musician and author Nick Cave, who with his long time collaborator Warren Ellis has composed a complete score to the audio book of his latest novel The Death of Bunny Munro.
"I'm a huge fan of the audiobook, I listen to a lot of audiobooks, but I've found them largely disappointing," he says.
"It is this wonderful art form that is never exploited in any interesting way."
Cave laments the lack of a commercial market in audiobooks, but accepts that there are certain dangers to his project.
Just as with film scores there is a fine line between the right kind of emotional manipulation and an "overly manipulative" soundtrack.
"What you don't want is for the music to distract you from the story, but that is exactly the same thing with film," he says.
Just to make sure, he has gone to great pains to ensure the music slots into the background, having the soundtrack "spatialised" in three dimensions at a production house in New York.
"The book is like a hallucination anyway, but this is psychedelic," he says.
Tonight Camilla, Tor, Tim and I will be listening to Mr Cave read from his new book The Death of Bunny Munro and play music. We'll let you know how amazing that is (it will be) so you can decide whether you want to buy this audiobook. I know it's on my Christmas list...
.
Saviours of the audiobook?
Have you ever found yourself reading a book with a certain CD playing and found the experience instantly enhanced?
We take it for granted that the soundtrack of a film is a central part of the viewers' enjoyment.
But the idea of a soundtrack as you listen to an audio book has barely been explored - until now.
"I just thought something remarkable could be done," says musician and author Nick Cave, who with his long time collaborator Warren Ellis has composed a complete score to the audio book of his latest novel The Death of Bunny Munro.
"I'm a huge fan of the audiobook, I listen to a lot of audiobooks, but I've found them largely disappointing," he says.
"It is this wonderful art form that is never exploited in any interesting way."
Cave laments the lack of a commercial market in audiobooks, but accepts that there are certain dangers to his project.
Just as with film scores there is a fine line between the right kind of emotional manipulation and an "overly manipulative" soundtrack.
"What you don't want is for the music to distract you from the story, but that is exactly the same thing with film," he says.
Just to make sure, he has gone to great pains to ensure the music slots into the background, having the soundtrack "spatialised" in three dimensions at a production house in New York.
"The book is like a hallucination anyway, but this is psychedelic," he says.
*MySmiley*
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
