The Art Of Noise
I’m not big on silence, especially while working. That’s not to say my ideal working environment is living near an airport, just that I’m a big fan of having something to listen to while I craft press releases, do my emailing, or continue to work on The Great American (Fantasy) Novel. I love music and pretty much soundtrack my life, but there are those times when I want something different.
I’ve always enjoyed stuff like audio books and radio dramas when done right. Aural experiences can be just as powerful as visual experiences, if not more impressive thanks to what your imagination is capable of conjuring. Best of all you can have the experience while doing something else; like browsing a forum, or writing a blog post. Of course you first have to find the material, which is where Rich Carlson comes in.
Rich is one of the creative geniuses that make up Digital Eel, creators of Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space, the upcoming board game Eat Electric Death!, and other entertaining and quirky titles. Rich is also a big audiophile, and responsible for all the amazing sounds in their games. In fact, Weird Worlds took home the 2006 IGF Innovation in Audio award.
Earlier today Rich mentioned that he had just finished updating his page of radio dramas (all in the public domain), having searched out and hand picked the very best available. I’ve only had a chance to listen to a few but I’m looking forward to checking them all. Rich’s taste is impeccable when it comes to fantasy and sci-fi matters, so I have no doubt that these truly are the cream of the crop. If you’re looking for something to listen to besides the same old tunes, go check out his page and give some of the stories a spin.
Also on the subject of radio dramas I should probably also point you to my friend Ed Wier’s site. You can find some radio theater he did here. We recorded a Weird Worlds AAR done as a radio drama but his lazy webmistress has yet to post it, but when it finally gets up there I’ll be sure to mention it. While it won’t win any awards I can’t think of any other game AARs done as radio plays, so it’s at least somewhat unique.
Oh, be sure to check out some of his tunes. I would recommend starting with Ultimate Creep, which is a cover of the Radiohead song Creep but with a nice twist. It’s got doo-whopping, triangles, distortion, and even a banjo. No cowbell, unfortunately. After that give Little Soldier Girl a listen for something in the complete opposite direction of Ultimate Creep. All good stuff.