Invention idea for book and music lovers.

[SageRose]

I've had this idea since this summer I think or maybe even before that. I'm pretty sure I've never seen something like that on the market or even the web so just thought I'd post it on here, in case someone with tech abilities could try it out.

So you know there are those kiddy books that often include pre-set music pieces that you get to hear if you press a little button on the book page or if you turn a specific page,etc..

What if, this technology trick was adjusted in adult books as well? ex. you're reading a mystery book and you're into a very interesting part or at a part where the suspense is at its peak...imagine that specific line or paragraph or even page, having a certain pre-set music piece just for it, which you could start by pressing a little button on the page. Imagine reading a heartbreaking novel and hearing several fitting songs in each chapter,page,etc..

I can just picture this making the reading experience all the more amazing.
What do you think?

 

[AGXStarseed]

An interesting idea - reminds me a bit of those books you can get now which involve you using your smartphone/tablet to show sign language animation for kids who are deaf.

I'd be interested in this idea.

 

[Mr Allen]

I hate to be pedantic but it's kind of been done, Audiobooks anyone?

 

[Catana]

I'd avoid it like the plague. The only thing amazing about it would be how it interferes with my immersion in the book. If I want music with my plot, I'll watch a movie.

 

[Nervous Rex]

I'd avoid it like the plague. The only thing amazing about it would be how it interferes with my immersion in the book. If I want music with my plot, I'll watch a movie.

I agree with this. When I get really into reading, I don't even perceive that I'm reading - I'm just experiencing the story. Having to pause to press a music button would ruin that for me.

That said, I think there's a niche for this in the "one-time gimmick" category. It's a novelty item that will sell very well for a short time (like Billy the Big Mouth Bass). Imagine a horror book that plays tense or creepy background music at a barely-perceptible volume. I think that would sell.

 

[Tom]

There are musical greeting cards, like ones that have people singing the Birthday Song. It is an interesting idea. Perhaps you could have a recorded scream when you turn a certain page. Kind of like a jump scare.

 

[SageRose]

I hate to be pedantic but it's kind of been done, Audiobooks anyone?

No it's not the same with audiobooks. Audiobooks simply have a voice reading you the story, what I meant is pre-set music pieces in an actual book, sort of like what some children's educational books are like.

 

[SageRose]

An interesting idea - reminds me a bit of those books you can get now which involve you using your smartphone/tablet to show sign language animation for kids who are deaf.

I'd be interested in this idea.

Yeah, I'd like to see it happen too Would be interesting to combine music and the reading experience and leave it to the reader's choice.

 

[SageRose]

I agree with this. When I get really into reading, I don't even perceive that I'm reading - I'm just experiencing the story. Having to pause to press a music button would ruin that for me.

That said, I think there's a niche for this in the "one-time gimmick" category. It's a novelty item that will sell very well for a short time (like Billy the Big Mouth Bass). Imagine a horror book that plays tense or creepy background music at a barely-perceptible volume. I think that would sell.

You don't ''have'' to pause and press on anything if you don't want to. The point of the existing music button would be for those who would want to combine their reading with music. It's an extension to some people's enjoyment, not an obligation.

 

[AGXStarseed]

There are musical greeting cards, like ones that have people singing the Birthday Song. It is an interesting idea. Perhaps you could have a recorded scream when you turn a certain page. Kind of like a jump scare.

That'd be a fun moment to witness. Kind of reminds me of the opening to Chocky - I nearly spilled my cup of tea down myself because I wasn't expecting this:

 

[Tom]

That'd be a fun moment to witness. Kind of reminds me of the opening to Chocky - I nearly spilled my cup of tea down myself because I wasn't expecting this:

Has that 80's feel.

 

[Fino]

I don't know why I never thought of this, because I've thought on many occasions about how I would like to write (I like writing) a story which involves a pianist, but it's a bit lame to describe a pianist playing something beautiful. It'd be amazing if they could hear it!

My first thought was what many said, probably because your example was a scary book, and the book would have one of those cliche "scary" sounds, so it might be why many thought it was silly, but for books that involve the use of music in the book that you can't hear, I think it'd be fantastic!

 

[Nervous Rex]

I don't know why I never thought of this, because I've thought on many occasions about how I would like to write (I like writing) a story which involves a pianist, but it's a bit lame to describe a pianist playing something beautiful.

Unsolicited tangent! Robert William Service described some very emotional piano playing in The Shooting of Dan McGrew:

...
His eyes went rubbering round the room, and he seemed in a kind of daze,
Till at last that old piano fell in the way of his wandering gaze.
The rag-time kid was having a drink; there was no one else on the stool,
So the stranger stumbles across the room, and flops down there like a fool.
In a buckskin shirt that was glazed with dirt he sat, and I saw him sway;
Then he clutched the keys with his talon hands — my God! but that man could play.

Were you ever out in the Great Alone, when the moon was awful clear,
And the icy mountains hemmed you in with a silence you most could hear;
With only the howl of a timber wolf, and you camped there in the cold,
A half-dead thing in a stark, dead world, clean mad for the muck called gold;
While high overhead, green, yellow and red, the North Lights swept in bars? —
Then you've a hunch what the music meant. . . hunger and night and the stars.

And hunger not of the belly kind, that's banished with bacon and beans,
But the gnawing hunger of lonely men for a home and all that it means;
For a fireside far from the cares that are, four walls and a roof above;
But oh! so cramful of cosy joy, and crowned with a woman's love —
A woman dearer than all the world, and true as Heaven is true —
(God! how ghastly she looks through her rouge, — the lady that's known as Lou.)

Then on a sudden the music changed, so soft that you scarce could hear;
But you felt that your life had been looted clean of all that it once held dear;
That someone had stolen the woman you loved; that her love was a devil's lie;
That your guts were gone, and the best for you was to crawl away and die.
'Twas the crowning cry of a heart's despair, and it thrilled you through and through —
"I guess I'll make it a spread misere", said Dangerous Dan McGrew.

The music almost died away ... then it burst like a pent-up flood;
And it seemed to say, "Repay, repay," and my eyes were blind with blood.
The thought came back of an ancient wrong, and it stung like a frozen lash,
And the lust awoke to kill, to kill ... then the music stopped with a crash,
And the stranger turned, and his eyes they burned in a most peculiar way;
In a buckskin shirt that was glazed with dirt he sat, and I saw him sway;
Then his lips went in in a kind of grin, and he spoke, and his voice was calm,
And "Boys," says he, "you don't know me, and none of you care a damn;
But I want to state, and my words are straight, and I'll bet my poke they're true,
That one of you is a hound of hell. . .and that one is Dan McGrew."
...

 

[Graphin]

That idea is pretty old.

Doing that for electronic books would be magnitudes better.

The hardware is already there (phones and tablets, ebook readers that work with bluetooth headphones or have headphone jacks)
Including that in software would be a rather small undertaking, and has already kinda been done. I actually kinda thought of trying to do that with tachiyomi which is actually a manga reader app.

Compare that to embedding loads of electronics on every book page, and thinking about sound quality and the ability to use headphones and the fact that you would likely need to charge it, maybe just include a headphone jack in ebook readers instead? Oh, and it would also mean it is very easy to for example use some community made sound set.

 

[SageRose]

That idea is pretty old.

Doing that for electronic books would be magnitudes better.

The hardware is already there (phones and tablets, ebook readers that work with bluetooth headphones or have headphone jacks)
Including that in software would be a rather small undertaking, and has already kinda been done. I actually kinda thought of trying to do that with tachiyomi which is actually a manga reader app.

Compare that to embedding loads of electronics on every book page, and thinking about sound quality and the ability to use headphones and the fact that you would likely need to charge it, maybe just include a headphone jack in ebook readers instead? Oh, and it would also mean it is very easy to for example use some community made sound set.

Old? I haven't even seen this idea being applied. Only in children's books. Anyways, what you describe is more high tech, I prefer the physical book version because I'd like the combo of the book in my hands and the choice of music to go with, maybe it;'s because I work with a more vintage based taste in my mind xp

 

[SageRose]

I don't know why I never thought of this, because I've thought on many occasions about how I would like to write (I like writing) a story which involves a pianist, but it's a bit lame to describe a pianist playing something beautiful. It'd be amazing if they could hear it!

My first thought was what many said, probably because your example was a scary book, and the book would have one of those cliche "scary" sounds, so it might be why many thought it was silly, but for books that involve the use of music in the book that you can't hear, I think it'd be fantastic!

That;'s actually a wonderful idea Fino. I used to write a lot too in the past, kinda got bored of it later though xp Do you still write? Do you write stories, poems or both?

 

[BlueSky Aozora]

I think i've read some similar thing in some mobile apps. Usually it's a short story with sound effects.

And another type is visual novel - the kind that comes from japan. Maybe this one is somewhat more advanced, because it includes character's pictures, but more to short novel and comic in-between.

Another kind is webtoon. Mostly comic, but sometimes they insert music. But they cant control when the music ends because scrolling speed of everyone is not the same.

Edit: oh you mean physical book like the books in our physical bookcases? No, i dont know that. The book might be heavier or bulkier than usual then maybe, but why not, nice idea. When you said tech, i assumed it'll be more towards ICT.. Like computer/mobile apps. But you want physical electronic/mechanical book. Sounds nice to read.

In the future, there might be holograms, so we can have pictures dancing when we open a book maybe. And there'll be the era of internet of things (iot), so maybe you can connect the pages with your music player somehow.

Still, i dont know how to do that with paper-based book efficiently though. Or do you mean, you want to make it the SAME as the kids books? When you open a page, music automatically comes out?

 

[Fino]

That;'s actually a wonderful idea Fino. I used to write a lot too in the past, kinda got bored of it later though xp Do you still write? Do you write stories, poems or both?

I had stopped for a while when I was in school for my music degree and started again recently! Just stories. Poems have never quite made sense to me, except for a few small number. How about you?