Does Your Blog Have a Soundtrack?

Maybe the poker sites should use a death-march theme.......

There is one big difference between video and text: while, with video, you can synchronise the audio to get a certain effect: that is impossible with text. This doesn't make it impossible, but it does mean you will have to choose the music to fit the entire page. Then again, blog posts are not that long, so that shouldn't be a problem.

And I wonder... would it be possible to mix the music while you are scrolling up and down the page? That would be really cool :D

I'd love to see the difference in comments on an article if the "read with soundtrack button" randomly returned one of two different scores (Diff'rent Strokes or Disturbing Strokes).

James,

Aside from valhallasw's correct observation that much of the power of music in movies and television comes from its precise synchronization, there's a more fundamental problem: reading is active while watching is passive. Have you tried reading with music on before? One of two things happens, either you are distracted by the music and can't read, or you tune the music out so that you can read. In neither case does the music amplify the experience.

Thanks,

nate

Nope, doesn't work the same when you're reading. There's a complicated visual connection. One theory is that the "music instinct" emerged from the way we closely couple sound with action (ie, voices communicating while hunting, setting up camp, etc). So a soundtrack works for driving, dancing, drama, etc -- all of which involve action and have a strong visual component.

...the visual component makes the action more concrete. Reading by itself doesn't do the trick.

...maybe motion in general, with human motion (action) being the most significant case.

Does your poker bot have a soundtrack? Da da dadaaaa, automate...

Actually, edit that:

Does your poker bot have a soundtrack? Da da dadaaaa, automate... I have this one young Skywalker!

Awesome idea... make it happen. I've actually thought about what songs would I include in the sound track of my life? The list is long but distinguished. I think most bloggers would skip this cause it might add too much to think about when posting. I've seen where people include the "what am I listening to now."

I agree with what Nathan said: reading is active, watching is passive. OTOH I've seen YouTube videos which are mostly text on a dark screen with a music accompaniment and in those cases the music does seem to add something...

Interesting idea.

Music, I'm not so interested in. But a blog that could pour me a beer...that would be something. The real question should be does your blog have a bartender?

That would be cool.

[quote]The default state of the "read with soundtrack" button should be OFF[/quote]

There's your problem; since sites don't adhere to this rule, people have come to see music as invasive. From the General MIDI file played on Geocities sites to the atmospheric soundtrack for some Flash-based design site.

I always liked this quote : "Music is the soundtrack of our lives".

Since our lives are finite, the music we listen to is the soundtrack. Your blog has a life span. That music you included, is the soundtrack of your blog, and to a larger extent, the soundtrack of your life, and mine now.

A Zen perspective from one of your Zen Readers...Something to think about.

I heart this idea! :-) I started using Myspace because of the profile songs. Music is very important to me!! This would also be a great way for bands and musicians to get their songs heard! If you do this, plz post it as a widget so other people can use...

Have you not seen "No Country For Old Men" ??? There's not one note of music in that and some would say the film is better because of it!

I imagine lack of music is difficult to pull off in a film. Most movies are enhanced by there soundtrack, though I hate seeing music used a crutch. This is usually done in studio crap aimed at a younger movie-goer. How many times can they regurgitate "Time to Pretend".

Parts of Watchmen are guilty of this, such as when Rorschach and Nite Owl are flying to Antarctica with Hendrix's version of All Along the Watchtower playing. I liken these short little half-song music videos to playing the first 20 seconds of a high energy song--over and over again--at a sporting event. They at least could have used the Dylan version, since Dylan is credited in the book.

No Country for Old Men -- good point. I think the music has to REALLY fit in order to overcome the distraction element. Hitchcock had to be talked into adding music to the shower scene in Psycho. But look at [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz46qS38OgM]Vertigo[/url].

I actually like this idea, but I can't resist pointing out that one of your favorite shows -- The Office -- has almost no music whatsoever!!

The only music you'll hear in The Office is a) the opening theme and b) incidental music such as when Michael tries to turn the downstairs closet into a disco cafe.

"Change the music, keeping everything else the same, and a Rosemary's Baby-esque tale of murder or supernatural malice emerges: Disturbing Strokes."

This might be a tad anal, but Diff'rent Strokes and Disturbing Strokes are two completely different videos (visually as well as musically).

Love this idea. Unfortunately, like someone up there pointed out, the original wave of Internet lusers ruined this for us with crappy websites with embedded music that can't be turned off.

Interesting idea, I must admit. But I didn't quite get one part, why add music to articles and news? Isn't the soundtrack primariy supposed to raise emotions in the person watching the movie (or reading the text)? Just go back to see the binary sunset if you don't get me. News and scientific articles, if properly done, should not try to make us feel and emotions. I guess white noise could be objective enough soundtrack for those.

Love that video. Hate the idea. But I think the younger generation will be more amenable to this.

Love that idea! At least very interesting ;)

I've experimented with music for my posts [url]http://activeengine.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/faith-the-time-is-now-again/[/url] but not with automation. I started doing this on a whim since it was a song that on many occasions inspired me to write.

I like you idea of an icon indicating that the post is best experienced by pushing play first.

I loved this post so much I submitted it to Digg. This was great. Keep it up!

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