Yo-Yo

No, this week of blogging isn't brought to you by the letter "Y". The fact that two consecutive entry titles began with the letter "Y" is just a freak coincidence. Really. On with the entry...

I picked up some classical CDs at Borders this weekend (I love their value bins). I needed to expand my collection and I wanted some more instrumental things for my writing soundtracks. That and I need to get some cello specific stuff because one of the twins in my romance trilogy plays the cello. Hence the title of this entry. I picked up two of Yo-Yo Ma's CDs and I've been listening to them in the car. Good stuff. But it reminds me why classical music often frustrates me. Dynamics. Don't get me wrong. Dynamics are a good thing (wish my chorus would wise up to that - they think that pianissimo means average volume and fortissimo means screaming volume). But classical music dynamics run such a gambit of volumes that it's hard to listen to it in my car. I turn it up to catch the quiet sounds only to be blown away by the loud sections. I guess classical is best listened to at home where the speakers aren't a mere two feet from your ears.

I tried to start constructing consonant sounds for Mayj last night. Goodness, this could take a lot of time and effort. But my brain is sort of teasing me with vague ideas of making this fantasy trilogy into a long running series and I'd rather spend the time now and make it all accurate and cohesive and reproducible and such than try to make it work later down the road when I've already established this world in a couple books. So I'm sticking with the detailing. I've been meaning to sit down with headphones and my classical collection to help me come up with sounds that I want to replicate. And I'd like to listen to some Eastern languages and European ones to mix and match sounds for the normal "old tongue" (really need to name that) of this world. I'm sure it will be lots of fun once it stops giving me a headache.