It's something I've toyed around with, an album of sorts with maybe 15-20 songs summing up the first three volumes. The songs wouldn't be intended to play perfectly 1.1 with the scenes, like you're supposed to finish reading a chapter just as the song finishes, no. Everybody reads at their own pace, after all. I mean more atmospheric pieces that would create a mood for a character or a portion of Minnow's life and leave it at that. David Arkenstone made an album with this philosophy inspired by Middle Earth. This was released around the time the Peter Jackson films were, but the feel is completely different than the movies' music, really just what reading the books made him feel and how he imagined places like Moria. Give it a listen if you can, it's a fascinating alternative take on the story. Anyway, this would be that kinda deal, more symbolic than a panel-to-panel play-by-play.

At first I figured I'd compose this music myself. I'd heard of some music editing programs that make it... easy-ish, so I downloaded some of this software and gave it a few tries.

It was hell. Watch from 1:50

Yeah, basically that.

After about... a week, I was able to put together some basic beats, but when I tried to change the pitch or length of the notes, distorting them to sound less stock, more unique, the changes didn't just carry over and I wasn't able to make anything too inspired. I realized the particular programs I was trying out were made specifically for trance music, beats you'd hear in a nightclub. Try to branch into any other genre, and you're just not using these programs correctly.

Anyway, the amount of time and energy it would take to master this stuff would interfere too much with... you know.... actually making the comic? No use making promotional music if I have nothing to promote because I spent too much time on the music itself. So I'm going to need somebody else to do it.

I don't expect them to do it for free, but I am not a wealthy guy, so I can only spare so much. I've seen some peoples' rates, and they tend to average about $500 per minute (yes, that's a MINUTE of a song, not the entire song) or a dollar per note. I can't afford that. But Let's say... $100 per song, and they can be kinda short. That I can afford, to dripfeed those tunes out over the course of a year or so. Also, I would be releasing this music for people to listen to for free, so the composer wouldn't make any royalties and the starting price would have to be enough. I know that's not great, I know that's going to turn some musicians off, but it's all I can afford. Everything else I make has to go into the books themselves or it's just too much trouble to be worth doing.

It's also monumentally important that whoever it ends up being is actually familiar with the comic, so they can really channel their own personal feelings about it into the melodies. Fortunately, the entire first volume is here for free, so I figure that should be enough for them to get a feel and make at least one solid tune. If they whip up a quick demo inspired by the comic just to show me what they're capable of composing and I really like how it sounds, I'll pay them to do other songs, and provided they live in the US, I'll ship them the other two volumes. If they live in another country... I'll find some way to get in front of their eyes, to draw further inspiration from.

As for the actual sound of the music, I think it should be a mixed bag. Halo (specifically the first two entries) are a good example of genres being blended together in simple but memorable ways. You have your more industrial, militaristic sounding tunes, but then you also have calming, new-age pieces like "Under The Cover of Night," and then the iconic chanting that sounds alien yet soothing. That said, I don't have a chance in hell at ever hiring Marty O Donnel, but I hope people see what I'm going for. I'm looking for versatility. I'm not saying I want Halo sound-alikes, just a similar feel of genres being blended together appropriately for a story about cyborg pirates and mermaids.

Does anyone know a good site to try to reach people through? Something like CastingCallClub but for aspiring, talented musicians?

Last but not least..... I'm exhausted, guys. Between Beast Wars Future and catching up on old commissions, I'm completely drained and I really can't take doing any more right now, and like I said, I'm putting as much as I can of what I have left into supporting the books themselves. So anything on top of that would have to be a donation OR a commission people would be willing to wait for... for a while. I figured I'd just be transparent about needing help and... see if people are okay with supporting this endeavor as long as they know what the money would go towards. I feel kinda pathetic bordering on e-begging, but I've done everything else I can already. And if people aren't interested in there being a Planet Ripple-inspired album, if they think that's a goofy idea... well I guess that's that.