In our last blog, we looked at the early history of storytelling audio – from vinyl to cassettes, and how narration and music combines to create immersive experiences for young readers. In this post, we share the process behind our newest sound book, Oíche Mhaith, a Ghrá.
Sa bhlag is déanaí uainn, rinneamar cur síos ar stair luath na scéalaíochta fuaime – ó thaifid vinile go caiséid, agus ar an mbealach a théann an reacaireacht agus an ceol le chéile chun eispéiris tumtha a chruthú do léitheoirí óg. Sa phostáil seo, roinnimid an próiseas taobh thiar dár leabhar nua fuaime, ‘Oíche Mhaith, a Ghrá’.
The Idea – An Smaoineamh
We’ve produced many sound books before, especially those focused on music and verse (including the Fuaimeanna series). This, however, is our first step into narrative storytelling in this format. We wanted to create something that recalled the experience of listening to story cassettes – narration, music, and tone working together – updated for today’s technology. Offline audio experiences have become much less common in an era dominated by digital streaming, which makes projects like this all the more meaningful to us.
Tá neart leabhair fuaime foilsithe againn cheana, go háirithe cinn ina ndírítear ar an gceol agus ar an véarsaíocht (mar shampla, an tsraith Fuaimeanna). Is é seo, áfach, an chéad uair againn an scéalaíocht san fhormáid seo a thriail. Bhí sé mar aidhm againn eispéaras na seanchaiséad – is é sin an reacaireacht, an ceol agus an ton ag obair le chéile – a chur i láthair arís, ach é curtha in oiriúint do theicneolaíocht an lae inniu. I ré ina bhfuil an sruthú digiteach i bhfad chun tosaigh ar mhodhanna eile, is annamh a fheicimid na cineálacha eispéireas fuaime as líne seo, rud a mhéadaíonn, dar linn, an tábhacht a bhaineann le tionscadail mar seo.
An Fhoireann – The Team
Along with renowned author Sadhbh Devlin (https://portraidi.ie/en/sadhbh-devlin/) and illustrator Brian Fitzgerald (https://www.brianfitzer.ie/new-gallery-2), we worked on an original idea and approach to formaulating such a book. Sadhbh and Brian had both worked together on Amuigh Faoin Spéir): we wanted to pair up Sadhbh’s wonderful originality along with Brian’s colourful textured illustrations again. Harpist Emer Ní Scolaí (https://www.sult.ie/about-8) would later join us, for reasons outlined later and in the next post.
After many many revisions, we were ready for design and most importantly, the studio!
In éineacht leis an údar clúiteach Sadhbh Devlin (https://portraidi.ie/ga/sadhbh-devlin/) agus an maisitheoir Brian Fitzgerald (https://www.brianfitzer.ie/new-gallery-2), d’oibríomar ar an smaoineamh agus ar chur chuige úrnua chun leabhar dá leithéid a chruthú. Bhí taithí ag Sadhbh agus ag Brian ar a bheith ag obair le chéile cheana ar Amuigh Faoin Spéir: theastaigh uainn saibhreas samhlaíoch Shadhbh agus maisiúcháni ildtaite uigeacha a thabhairt le chéile arís. Thiocfadh an cruitire Emer Ní Scolaí (https://www.sult.ie/about-8) isteach sa tionscadal níos déanaí, ar chúiseanna a mhíneofar thíos agus sa chéad phostáil eile.
Tar éis a lán, a lán athruithe, bhíomar réidh don dearadh agus thar aon ní eile — don stiúideo!
Recording – Taifeadadh
Once the text was ready, we went into the studio. Our narrators were a real-life mother and child, well matched to the characters but also ideal for all studio formalities. We had great fun in the recording session as a result.
Nuair a bhí an téacs réidh, chuaigh muid isteach sa stiúideo. Máthair agus a páiste a bhí againn mar reacairí, rud a bhí foirfe chun na carachtair sa scéal a léiriú ar ndóigh agus a chabhraigh leis na foirmiúlachtaí sa stiúideo féin. Bhaineamar an-sult as an seisiún taifeadta dá thoradh.#
Post-production – Iarléiriú
After the recording session and sound engineering, we added sound effects and background music using an electronic keyboard. We found that the effects interfered with the narration, however, so we removed them and finalised the tracks using just background keyboard alone. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until we received the blank books – books containing just the sound modules and button locations, that we realised the electronic sound was nothing in comparison to the quality of the music we had done before. Back to square one?
This blog post would be too long to detail what happened next – so we’ll hold off until the next one. Suffice to say that Emer saved the day!
Tar éis an tseisiúin taifeadta agus na hoibre innealtóireachta fuaime, chuireamar éifeachtaí fuaime agus ceol cúlra leis, agus úsaid á baint as mhéarchlár leictreonach. Chuir na héifeachtaí isteach ar an scéalaíocht, áfach, agus mar sin bhaineamar iad agus chríochnaíomar na rianta le ceol cúlra ón méarchlár amháin. Faraor, níor thuigeamar i bhfírinne nó gur tháinig na leabhair bhána – na leabhair ina bhfuil na modúil fuaime agus na cnaipí, ach gan aon íomhánna ná téacs – nach raibh caighdeán na fuaime leictreonaí chomh maith céanna leis an gceol a bhí inár leabhair go dtí seo. Ar ais ag bun an dréimire arís?
Bheadh an phostáil seo rófhada dá mbeadh orainn gach a tharla ina dhiaidh sin a insint – coinneoimid é mar sin don chéad mhír eile. Is leor a rá gur thug Emer slán muid!
#MyIrishBooks #OícheMhaithaGhrá #Gaeilge #LeabhairFuaime #ScéalaíochtNua
