Posts: 27,174
Threads: 2,254
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
21
Looking for Examples
03-03-2012, 03:02 AM
I'm working up a new fanfic trope for the TVTropes wiki, and I just had my memory short out on me; I'm hoping folks can come up with a few more examples for me, as I know I've forgotten at least two that I intended on adding to this. Here's the proposed trope:
Quote:Virtual Soundtrack
The distant cousin of the SongFic, this is the practice of
annotating a FanFic with music cues in such a way that, if
followed, produces the rough equivalent of a motion picture's
soundtrack for that fic. Very often these are same pieces of
music that inspired the author as he or she was writing.
Regardless, they are intended to provide extra atmosphere and
drama to the written material.
The cues themselves can range from inobtrusive citations styled
like pullquotes and set off from the story text proper, to
elaborate instructions as to where to start playing on the track
and for how long, often delivered by the narrative voice as part
of the story.
Some authors may provide soundtrack listings in separate files,
but these qualify more as [[AllThereInTheManual supplemental
material] than examples of this trope.
One key element which defines a Virtual Soundtrack is that it is
''optional''. You can ignore a Virtual Soundtrack cue without
losing anything in the story, unlike the SongFic, where you must
wade through the lyrics to extract the story. Also, if the
music is part of the ''action'' -- for instance, in the
description of a concert -- it does qualify as this trope.
(Although a listing of all the pieces played at the concert would
be a good candidate for supplemental material.)
This trope is usually limited to larger pieces of {[fan fiction}},
on the order of a novellette or longer.
-----
!!Examples:
* The "pullquote" version is a common feature in stories produced
by EyrieProductionsUnlimited, although it is by no means universal.
It is particularly prevalent in the Future Imperfect era of
''UndocumentedFeatures'', especially works written mainly by
Gryphon.
* Chapter six of Eric Hallstrom's epic ''Ranma And Akane: A Love
Story'' begins with the explicit note, "By popular demand, the
majority of this episode should be read to Fortuna Imperatrix
Mundi from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana" and offers a (long-defunct)
link to an [=MP3=] of the piece. When the great battle in
Hell begins, the narration pauses to specifically inform the
reader to start playing it, and much later bookends the action
with the note "You can turn it off now."
** ''RAALS'' verges on this trope elsewhere, as well, with a
large number of songs, often from British/Irish/Scottish folk
music tradition, that are sung throughout the story by the
various characters. [=MP3=] links were provided for these as
well. This only edges up to the trope because the song lyrics
are provided whole within the story, and are ''part'' of the
story rather than supplemental atmosphere. In this regard,
''RAALS'' is much like a {{musical}} rendered in text.
Can anyone think of any other good examples? (And no, DW is not one.)
Thanks.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Posts: 2,238
Threads: 136
Joined: Dec 2008
Reputation:
0
Admiral Tigerclaw's My Little Blackbird had some music links, IIRC.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
Posts: 4,916
Threads: 196
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
2
I know I've seen a few, but I can't recall any offhand...
Oh, and Ranma was the only one who did the singing thing in RAALS. Love that story.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
Baen has just released an anthology constructed around that concept:
Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero
Posts: 3,314
Threads: 306
Joined: Feb 2004
Reputation:
0
A lot of recent Ponyfic has links to youtube clips for music. I can't recall titles right off... but still.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
Lemon Sherbet by John Biles was well-known to have a bunch of those.
-People may die, but ideas are forever. Je suis Charlie.
Posts: 27,174
Threads: 2,254
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
21
Thanks everyone!
ECSNorway Wrote:Oh, and Ranma was the only one who did the singing thing in RAALS. Love that story. Actually, I just got finished rereading it -- it's one of the reasons I wrote up this trope suggestion -- and there are multiple duets between Ranma and Akane.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Posts: 7,151
Threads: 561
Joined: Apr 2003
Reputation:
5
I've done it myself in Bubblegum Disaster Ch5b with "Shock the Monkey." Given how early-UF-inspired the whole thing is in general, this should be no surprise.
- CD
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
Posts: 27,174
Threads: 2,254
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
21
Quote:Admiral Tigerclaw's My Little Blackbird had some music links, IIRC.
Mm. A quick look doesn't reveal any, unless they're buried in the text and hard to see. Maybe you're thinking of another story?
Quote:Lemon Sherbet by John Biles was well-known to have a bunch of those.
It was? I didn't remember that... I'll have to go look.
Again, thanks!
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Posts: 1,576
Threads: 94
Joined: Oct 2002
Reputation:
0
Bob, ATC's music links are typically an inline text link or an embedded youtube clip at the appropriate points.
Posts: 8,933
Threads: 386
Joined: May 2006
Reputation:
3
Yeah, with FiMfiction you may need to enable scripts in order to see them. The site runs pretty heavily on them for (as far as I can tell) aesthetic purposes.
Posts: 2,238
Threads: 136
Joined: Dec 2008
Reputation:
0
This post.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
Posts: 2,603
Threads: 109
Joined: Oct 2002
Reputation:
2
It's not fanfic, but every one of the Shadow Unit episodes has a playlist that the author(s) used while writing them. Links to them (and other easter eggs) are hidden in the source code for the story pages. Please note that these are for each "episode" (full-length stories) rather than the "DVD extras" (vignettes).
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com
"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
Posts: 588
Threads: 48
Joined: Apr 2010
Reputation:
0
Break down that Undocumented Features example for the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. I feel like there are a bunch of others that I've forgotten about, but it might just be the fact that every UF story ever except for Core seems to exemplify the trope.
Posts: 27,174
Threads: 2,254
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
21
In case anyone's interested, the trope's been launched, pretty much exactly as it was posted above.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Posts: 7,151
Threads: 561
Joined: Apr 2003
Reputation:
5
Quote:Very often these are same pieces of music
I think that should be "some pieces" or possibly "the same pieces," no?
- CD
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
Posts: 27,174
Threads: 2,254
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
21
"The same", yes. Funny how no one at YKKTW noticed that...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
|
