Volume III Kicks off Tomorrow!

The clock is ticking... When the ball drops tonight, signaling the beginning of the 2017, we will kick off the writing challenge for Silent Sci-Fi, Volume III by announcing the title of this Volume's film. At any time between kickoff and the January 31st deadline, contributors can record and submit their instrumental compositions.

See you all in less than twelve hours!

Silent Sci-Fi project, Volume III Invitation

If you are reading this, you are hereby invited to participate in the Silent Sci-Fi project, Volume III, which will take place during the month of January. 

Silent Sci-Fi challenges musicians to watch the specified film, with the sound muted, and write and record an instrumental piece inspired by the film. The finished tracks will be collected by the Organizer and released as a free compilation album during February. 

Project Timeline: 

Jan 1: Kickoff- Name of film announced 

Jan 31: Deadline for submissions

Feb 7: Album release on Bandcamp 

You can hear our previous efforts here:

https://silentscifi.bandcamp.com

If this sounds like fun to you, you can follow the project on this blog or our Facebook page to receive updates or get more information about the project:

I will also continue sending out updates via email. If you don't want to receive emails, simply reply to any email you receive with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. If you know someone who might want to participate, feel free to share this with them.

-Brian Anderson, Organizer

Coming January 1 - Silent Sci-Fi, Volume III

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mutants, Aliens, and Robots, we interrupt your festive gingerbread and eggnog to bring you these good tidings:

After two successful writing challenges, resulting in two great compilation albums, Silent Sci-Fi is set to return with a vengeance! We know that some of you may have picked up some new music gear on Black Friday/Cyber Monday. We know you might have a few musical items on your Christmas list as well. Here's an opportunity to put them to immediate use!

The writing portion for Silent Sci-Fi, Volume III, will kick off on January 1, 2017 with the announcement of our chosen film. As before, participants will watch the film without sound, and use that to inspire an instrumental track (any length, but 2-5 minutes is typical), which they will record and submit using this Dropbox link. As before, the challenge will take place over the course of a month, with the deadline for submissions being January 31, 2017.

In addition to sending out announcements via this blog and our Facebook page, for Volume III we will also be sending out announcements via email. If you want to receive updates via email, simply fill out this brief Google form. If you want to be removed from the list, simply send an email to silent.scifi@gmail.com with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.

More news will come in the next few weeks. Stay tuned, and feel free to invite any fellow musicians who may want to participate.

Volume II Album Release!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mutants, Aliens, and Robots, we are pleased to present, for your listening pleasure, Silent Sci-Fi, Volume II! It's available for free download on the Silent Sci-Fi page at Bandcamp.

Listen, enjoy, and stay tuned. Silent Sci-Fi will return, January 1, 2017...

Volume II Deadline Extension!

It has come to our attention that there was some confusion regarding the deadline for submissions. As this was likely due to a miscommunication on our part, we have pushed the deadline out to October 22nd.

Use this week to finish up anything you haven't, and submit your finished tracks to:

https://www.dropbox.com/request/OTCQ7Xbz1oFenB9Gue40

We will release the finished album on Halloween.

The Dropbox Link is Up!

The link to Dropbox is up! If you're ready to submit your recording and Artist Release, feel free to do so on or before Oct 15 by clicking the link below and uploading. If you have any trouble with the link, or any questions, as always, feel free to drop me a line at silent.scifi@gmail.com.


https://www.dropbox.com/request/OTCQ7Xbz1oFenB9Gue40

Volume II Kicks off Today!

And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for. I am pleased to announce the kickoff of the Silent Sci-Fi, Volume II. The film we'll all be watching (without sound, of course) and using to inspire our compositions is The War of the Worlds (1953)!

So, as before, rent, borrow, stream, or buy it, but most importantly - watch it, and write an instrumental piece, any length, any style inspired by what you see. Record your composition, and submit it before October 15. Good luck everyone!

Questions? Comments? As always, they can be posted here, on our Facebook page, or emailed to silent.scifi@gmail.com.

One week until kickoff!

Ladies, gents, aliens, robots, and other sentient creatures of the universe, we are only a week away from kicking off our second Silent Sci-Fi Challenge! The title of this challenge's film will be announced September 15, and after that, you know the drill! Stay tuned, and if you know someone who would be interested in participating, feel free to invite them. Questions? Comments? Post them here, comment on the facebook page, or just email us.

Volume II Starts in Two Weeks!

As of today, we are officially only two weeks away from kicking off the writing challenge phase of Silent Sci-Fi, Volume II. Kickoff will happen on September 15, 2016, with the announcement of the film title. Participants will have the whole month to watch the film, and write and record their instrumental track.

During the writing of Volume I, updates were posted on this blog, and on our Facebook page. For Volume II, we'll be doing the same, but also sending announcements out by email to whoever wants them. To receive the emails, fill out the following short Google form. To stop receiving the emails, simply respond to one of them (or email us) and let us know.

Artist Profile: Warprophet

Band Name/Pseudonym: Warprophet

Real Name: Brian Anderson

Instruments Played: Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Drum/MIDI Programming

Influences, Musical or Otherwise: The Sword, Coheed and Cambria, Thrice, Jethro Tull, AFI, Joe Satriani, Iron Maiden, Cloudkicker, Symphony X, and a whole host of other loud, guitar-driven bands that I find inspiring, Videogames, History, Nature, Comics, Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Bio: I’m from South Jordan, UT and been doing various musical things as long as I can remember. I picked up the guitar in high school and have been attempting to play it properly ever since (with varying degrees of success). I’ve taken lessons and classes here and there but am largely self-taught.

Thoughts on your experience participating in Silent Sci-Fi: This was much more fun, and more difficult than I had anticipated. In terms of my writing process, I watched the film, guitar in hand, recording software running, and played whatever came to mind over those two hours. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but also resulted in me having to divide my attention between film and guitar, which likely made me less productive than I would have been otherwise. Despite the added pressure, I still managed to get a couple of ideas I liked out of that process. I kept coming back to some of the first scenes of the film for inspiration, mentally hearing a determined, driving groove as the ship approaches this unknown planet and descends through the atmosphere.

I used Guitar Pro 6 to build the framework of the song, then imported the MIDI into Reaper, intending to use it as a scratch track that would be muted in the final mix. However, I liked the chiptune-ish sound of the synth so much that I kept it in. This was my first time using MIDI in this way in a project, and I enjoyed the way it made me change the way I worked.

Gear used included:

Brawley Threat

Gibson Explorer Gothic w/ SD Black Winter pickups

MIM Fender Jazz Bass

Egnater Tweaker 15

Fender Bassman 250

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

Contact info: The best place to contact me is through this blog, the Silent Sci-Fi Facebook page, or at silent.scifi@gmail.com.

Other projects:

See Scott Grow

Nightmare Robot Legion

A Way to Survive

Silent Sci-Fi, Volume II Overview

Ladies and Gentlemen, Aliens, Mutants, and Robots, Silent Sci-Fi, Volume II begins in just a few weeks! 

If you are reading this and are a musician, consider yourself invited to join in, whether you are a veteran of Volume I, or participating for the first time.

How Silent Sci-Fi works:

Kickoff: On Sept 15, 2016, the name of a classic sci-fi movie will be announced, via this blog and the Silent Sci-Fi Facebook page.

Once the film title is announced, participants have one month to do the following:

• Watch the film with the sound on mute.
• Write and record an instrumental piece (2-5 minutes is anticipated, but there are no hard    limits...) inspired by the film.
• Submit your piece to the organizer as a .WAV file.

Submission Deadline: All pieces must be submitted on or before October 15, 2016, and must be accompanied by a signed Artist Release. The release is essential – we can’t share your music with the world without your permission to do so.

Album Release: The submitted pieces will be compiled by the organizer, and the finished compilation album will be released for free download via www.bandcamp.com on October 31, 2016.  

Those interested in participating can follow the Silent Sci-Fi Facebook page, and/or email the organizer at silent.scifi@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for further transmissions…

Vol I Follow-up and Vol II Announcements!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mutants, Aliens, and Robots, thanks for helping make Silent Sci-Fi, Volume I a success. To those who contributed tracks, and those who streamed or downloaded the album, thank you. We’ve had great feedback on this album from both artists and listeners.

The original plan was for the Volume II challenge to take place in January 2017, with Volume II dropping in early February. Due to overwhelming positive feedback from Volume I contributors, that has been changed. Multiple contributors, when told the proposed timeline for Volume II, expressed an interest in doing something sooner. The challenge for Volume II will now take place during September 2016, with the album dropping on Halloween!

So, to recap, here's our new timeline for Volume II:

Kickoff: Sept 15, 2016
Deadline for submissions: Oct 15, 2016
Album release: Oct 31, 2016

Stay tuned, and watch the skies. The title of the film for Volume II will be revealed on September 15!