Solitude: Official Discussion

[Nathan Butler]

For those who are interested in following the progress of the first Rayzur's Edge Audio Star Wars fan audio drama (heck, Star Wars fan fiction project of any kind) since 2005, I thought I'd go ahead and set up a "pre-release" thread (which can be changed to a release thread) for Star Wars: Solitude.

As of today (April 23, 2008), writing has begun on this new audio drama. It has been three years, one month, and twenty-two days since REA put out a new audio drama. Since then, I've spent my time doing voice work for other people's projects, wrapped up various podcasts, and focused on original fiction like Echoes (2006) and Greater Good (in progress). The idea behind Solitude had been rattling around in my head for years, though, so I decided I'd go ahead and finally do something about it.

The concept behind Solitude is simple in description, yet complicated in practice. This project will be an "a capella" audio drama. It will feature no pre-recorded sound effects, nor any pre-recorded music.

I will be handling my usual duties on a REA drama, which means I'll be doing the opening Narration, writing, directing, and mixing. However, this time, it goes beyond that. I'll be doing all of the voices for Solitude. Moreover, I will be creating all of the sound effects and music for Solitude by voice.

So, for example, if I need the sound of a lightsaber, I'll be recording me somehow doing that sound by generating it with my mouth/voice, then tweaking it with filters and such within WaveLab. The same goes for all of the other sound effects, music, and so on. It will be a "one man show" from start to finish.

That being said, here's what I can say so far about the story and the kind of characters we'll see:

THE STORY
Solitude will take place one year after the events of the first issue of Star Wars: Legacy. It will follow a Jedi Knight who has survived the Battle of Ossus, wherein the majority of the Jedi Order was killed. This Jedi is now in hiding, biding his time, surviving in solitude, until such time that the Jedi Order can be rebuilt to challenge the new Empire under Darth Krayt (in other words, awaiting the hoped-for ascension of Cade Skywalker into his true birthright). We will see a surprising ally, a confrontation or two, and a nice twist for our Jedi Knight. This will not, however, be a particularly long story, as it will likely run the length of (or shorter than) an episode of my Anthology series. It is, after all, basically an experiment in fan audio dramas.

CHARACTERS (all voiced by NPB)
- Jedi Knight (Korvan Helios)
- Yuuzhan Vong (Nas Lah)
- Mandalorian Bounty Hunter
- Sith
- Hutt Crimelord
- Protocol Droid
- Astromech
- Imperial Officer
- More

THE LANGUAGES
To make this a bit more complicated, the Vong, Mandalorian, and Hutt will all speak (at least a little bit) in their own languages, accurately, necessitating that I brush up on some basic Vongese, Mando'a, and Huttese as I write.

THE PLAN
So, as I said, writing has begun. The opening "crawl" has to explain the Legacy era for those totally unfamiliar with it, but I've started into the first segment beyond that, which introduces two of the characters. I am hoping to have the entire project written by the end of May or early June, so that I can begin recording and mixing in mid-June, once ConCarolinas is over.

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

Looking forward to it, Nathan. This is a historic event; Nathan P. Butler returning to audio drama producing! It's already making me excited. And, who knows, perhaps this will be the "kick" you need to remain in the audio drama-producing business for a while again I know, I know, I'm sure you've wanted to produce some stuff, but haven't had much time -- I'm sure you'd agree that that last sentence is the Understatement of the Year

Very much looking forward to it, Nathan. Let me know if you need any vocal effect consulting... although that might mess up the idea of a "One-Man Production"

[Nathan Butler]

I don't know how much I'll be returning. It's busy busy busy lately.

I plan to spend what time I can this summer producing Solitude, producing materials (both video and audio) from ConCarolinas 2008, producing commentaries for the Classic Trilogy DVDs, working on the Star Wars Timeline Gold, and writing more for Greater Good.

Oh, and rework my school's website so it doesn't drive me insane next year.

[Nathan Butler]

Oh, and, for the record, part of the impetus for this project was how Joe did so many voices himself for COTE #1 (pre-SE). I'd been considering it before, but between hearing that and performing multiple roles for the Echoes audiobook and Andrew's Marvels, I felt this could be done.

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

I was wondering. (Both about COTE and Marvels).

I've thought about doing it before, as well, especially after seeing (or should I say "hearing") Steve successfully accomplish it in The Old Timer's Tale.

[Nathan Butler]

Yep. Now I just have to get it out there totally a capella to really be another "first" for me. heh

[Alhon]

This will be fun... yet another great franchise from REA.


Next I can see it: Solitude: The Star Wars Symphonic Recordings.

[Nathan Butler]

An update:

A rough cut of the first scene, sans music and one sound effect, is done. I need to tighten up my dialogue a little in terms of pacing, and I really should re-record my lightsaber sounds to make them better, but so far, so good.

Next up for that scene will be to do the Right/Left panning, then I'll hit the other scenes.

So far, I have three characters speaking (four counting the narrator), who all sound different. I've also had to create sound effects vocally for lightsabers (activation, hum, clash, deactivation), something being thrown, something latching onto a body, a beep, an explosion (albeit small and crappy so far), a blaster being fired, and wind. I've used my regular voice, a deeper version of my regular voice, a Russian accent, an English accent, and a gutteral voice so far, and I've tweaked the pitch on the Russian and gutteral voices.

The rough cut right now is about 7 - 8 minutes long. I'm not going to go TOO far with this little project, so I expect only maybe one or two more scenes. I just want it to feel like a full story, albeit small, rather than just a couple of scenes. I know I have at least three more characters to create vocally, two Star Wars languages to briefly look into for slang in alien tongues, and probably not too many more sound effects, except if I do a crowd scenario.

The hardest part is going to be crafting the music to be recognizable, yet a capella.

I've given Bryan a test listen and he seems to think it can work, so, hey, here's hoping.

[Nathan Butler]

For those who would like to learn a wee bit more about Solitude, I've added a page for it on the Wiki . . .

[Nathan Butler]

Update:

I've learned something. I am good at saber on/off and hum sounds. I suck at saber battle sounds. Other than those sounds and the music (gulp), the first scene is complete.

It's basically a 2 - 3 scene piece, more like 2.5, so the principal writing, recording, and mixing is basically half done. It'll be the music that takes longest.