Now, Penguin Random House are releasing an audiobook of George Saunders\u2019s Booker Prize-winning novel <\/span>Lincoln in the Bardo<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/a> with an A-list Hollywood cast of 166 different narrators, while Audible has just released a version of <\/span>Sleeping Beauty<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/a> with Stephen Fry<\/strong><\/a> and a full cast, with music from the London Symphony Orchestra. Podcasters are being commissioned to write memoirs and novels in their droves, with publication in audiobook format being favoured over ebook and hardback equivalents. Many of these releases offer bonus audio content and, in the case of successful podcaster Adam Buxton, exclusive music and jingles<\/strong><\/a>. The advent of high\u2011budget audio drama and the growing interest in true crime and narrative-led podcasts means our standards have been raised. We now expect stories to be much more\u00a0immersive. <\/span><\/p>\n For one tiny record label in rural Scotland, the intersection between music and storytelling has provided an opportunity. \u2018Soundtracks for books on tapes \u2013 that\u2019s what we do. That\u2019s it really. There\u2019s no grand scheme or marketing ploy. It does what it says on the tin.\u2019 That\u2019s Stuart McLean, the founder of Bibliotapes, a project which commissions composers to write new scores to classic novels. Each soundtrack is released on cassette, packaged in the style of a 1960s Pelican paperback. Despite having no website, glossy PR campaign or highly curated Instagram account, the label now has a cult following, with every limited run of cassettes selling out within just a few days.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not surprising, seeing as we\u2019ve enjoyed film scores for the best part of a century. You\u2019d be hard pressed to find a child who couldn\u2019t sing you the theme to <\/span>Harry Potter <\/i><\/span>or hadn\u2019t dreamt of battling with lightsabers to the sound of John Williams\u2019s <\/span>Imperial March<\/i><\/span>. After all, many of the most famous scores were written for film adaptations of novels. The success of Stanley Kubrick\u2019s film adaptation of the Steven King novel <\/strong><\/a><\/span>The Shining<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/a> was matched by the popularity of its music. Wendy Carlos\u2019s haunting score was reissued this year on vinyl for the first time in over 40 years, reaching a new generation of fans. <\/span><\/p>\n McLean\u2019s investment in Bibliotapes is on a slightly smaller scale. \u2018I used to sell them in runs of 50 tapes, but it started to get a bit popular, so I pushed it to 75,\u2019 he says. \u2018I do everything myself from home. I buy the blank tapes and cases from Merseyside and then send them to the printers in Newton Stewart. They\u2019d never printed a cassette tape before I came along.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n Since its launch in 2019, the label has produced soundtracks for books including Kurt Vonnegut\u2019s <\/strong><\/a><\/span>Cat\u2019s Cradle<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/a>, Frank Herbert\u2019s <\/strong><\/a><\/span>Dune<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/a>, CS Lewis\u2019s <\/strong><\/a><\/span>The Magician\u2019s Nephew <\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/a>and Anthony Burgess\u2019s <\/strong><\/a><\/span>A Clockwork Orange<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/a>. Many of these novels also have highly successful film scores to their name, but these played no part in the composers\u2019 processes. \u2018I was very conscious of the <\/span>Nineteen Eighty-Four <\/i><\/span>film and the fact that artists like David Bowie had also been influenced by the novel,\u2019 says Neil Stringfellow, composer of the Bibliotapes soundtrack to the George Orwell novel. \u2018I didn\u2019t want to hear any other sounds associated with it. I had to steer away from those other representations to create my own.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n For Eoin Mac Ionmhain, composer of Bibliotapes\u2019s <\/span>I Am Legend<\/i><\/span>, there were not one but three existing film soundtracks to compete with. \u2018I purposely didn\u2019t watch them,\u2019 he says. \u2018Instead, I looked at key episodes within the book and came up with different approaches for individual parts of the narrative.\u2019 He admits to having turned to other musical styles and practices for inspiration. \u2018I love Vangelis\u2019s score for <\/strong><\/a><\/span>Blade Runner<\/strong><\/a><\/i><\/span>, but I wanted to have folk horror elements, like the soundtrack to <\/strong><\/a><\/span>The Wicker Man<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/a>. I was also influenced by the weirder side of bands like Led Zeppelin and more experimental 20th-century styles like <\/span>musique concr\u00e8te<\/i><\/span>.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Dystopian fantasy worlds seem to be popular with the Bibliotapes composers, but Stringfellow admits there are issues with this. \u2018It\u2019s difficult to create a dystopian score because we\u2019ve already got an idea of what it sounds like in culture, thanks to films like <\/span>Blade Runner <\/i><\/span>and <\/span>Mad Max<\/i><\/span>.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n Rather than creating a literal interpretation of a dystopian world, his creative process began with a page-by-page analysis of the text. \u2018It\u2019s amazing how many references to sound and music you\u2019ll find in a book once you start looking,\u2019 he says. In his score, he brought together conventional instruments and household objects, with strings playing against the sounds of doors banging or the clock striking thirteen. Some novels are more easily soundtracked than others. Stringfellow initially tried to write a score to accompany WG\u00a0Sebald\u2019s novel <\/strong><\/a><\/span>The Rings of Saturn<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/a>, which follows an unnamed narrator on a walking tour of Suffolk. \u2018The narrator goes on so many tangents in the novel that it made it hard to create a clear line in the music,\u2019 he says.<\/span><\/p>\n Regardless of the perceived popularity of a novel, <\/span>many of Bibliotapes\u2019s customers <\/span>are coming to the texts for the first time. \u2018People often listen to the cassettes without having ever <\/span>come across the book and will subsequently go on <\/span>to read it, joining the dots together based on what they\u2019ve heard,\u2019 says McLean. <\/span><\/p>\n Others will listen as they read to create an immersive atmosphere. This way of consuming book soundtracks might be more of a natural step for lovers of audiobooks, a form that has been transformed in recent years and now also places a sharper focus on music and sound effects. One company that has tapped into this growing trend is Booktrack. Having started life as a mastering and mixing service, the production company has added a soundtracking element to its offerings, providing full-length musical accompaniment for audiobooks of novels by James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks and even a 28-hour autobiography by Nelson Mandela<\/strong><\/a>. \u2018Storytelling and soundtracking have a long history together,\u2019 says Mark Cameron, Booktrack\u2019s co-founder. \u2018Think of the success of Prokofiev\u2019s <\/span>Peter and the Wolf<\/i><\/span>.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n His company takes a very different approach to Bibliotapes, with the score providing a backdrop for the narrative rather than acting as a standalone product. Plus, the work is being carried out by engineers rather than composers. \u2018We initially commissioned new scores and even worked with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, but it just wasn\u2019t practical or economical,\u2019 he says. \u2018We\u2019ve now paid for a licence for about 10,000 audio cues, which include sound effects and ambient sounds.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n With an intricate tagging system, engineers work through the novel, syncing up pieces of relevant audio, which are matched based on mood, context and era. Ambient sounds and stock music are phased in and out behind the narration. It might sound less romantic than the Bibliotapes model, but this is an affordable, viable option if you\u2019re after something more longform. <\/span><\/p>\n With Amazon\u2019s introduction of 3D spatial audio in its podcast and audiobook offerings, listeners are expecting more from their stories. \u2018Younger listeners have almost come to expect a soundtrack,\u2019 says Cameron. \u2018They have multidimensional media habits.\u2019 Whether it\u2019s offered to the listener as an ambient backdrop to an audiobook or as a standalone soundtrack, delivered to your door on a limited-edition cassette, music is transforming the experience of reading novels. Just as we all know John Williams\u2019s two-note motif for <\/span>Jaws<\/i><\/span>, perhaps one day we\u2019ll all sing along to the theme tunes for <\/span>Wuthering Heights<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/a> and <\/span>To Kill a Mockingbird<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019ve combined my love of storytelling and books,\u2019 Dolly Parton recently tweeted to her fans\u2019 delight. The country legend\u2019s debut novel,![\""MagiciansNephew_cmyk"\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/24\/2022\/02\/MagiciansNephew_cmyk-17a52b7.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C1006"\" "\\"\"MagiciansNephew_cmyk\"\\"\/")
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nDolly Parton brings books and music together<\/h3>\n