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music

“Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse” Soundtrack CD!!!

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If you enjoy the music that I’ve posted on Youtube and on my website, then you’ll DEFINITELY enjoy the music on the Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse soundtrack CD! It has 9 original songs that I composed, recorded, mixed… pretty much everything’d! I also did all the cover and artwork design, so it’s pretty much a complete Kaleb-made package 😀

There is a discount on the CD right now — only $5.99 for this month only, which makes it less than $.99 a song (better than iTunes!). CLICK HERE to order it or visit www.BranHambricMusic.com to listen to previews!

“Four Months” [Music]

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I wrote and recorded this song in 2009. You can download it for free at this link.

New Features And Songs And Stuff

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There are some new features to point on on my site, and a bunch of little updates that I’ve been meaning to post, but just didn’t seem to merit an entire blog to themselves! So without further ado:

– I added an entirely new Fans page, where I’ll be posting some of the awesome stuff that BranFans are making. Creative people are always sending in photos or pictures they drew, so I’ll be collecting and putting them on that page, along with all their cool fansites and videos and music,

– I now have an Official Facebook page, aptly located at www.Facebook.com/KalebNation. It is fan-run, but I will be dropping in at times to post updates,

– I have migrated the TwilightGuy.com Chatroom to jointly be a part of this site, so BranFans and TwilightGuy readers alike can hang out. I’ll be dropping in at random times and there are a ton of cool people there every day, so be sure to check it out,

– I uploaded a new song from the Bran Hambric soundtrack to YouTube, and you can also download it for free! Listen below:

bran-hambric-line-logoQuestion time! Since there are only 85 days until Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse, I’ve been trying to think of cool stuff I should prepare as a countdown to the book release. I know that Stephenie Meyer always did some type of countdown where she would give quotes from the book a week or two leading up to the release. This would be a bit difficult for me to pull off since this is a first book, and nobody really knows who the characters are or what I’d be talking about. The only way anyone would understand it was if I forced them to read the preview chapters. FOR EXAMPLE:

Oh terrible nights of woe and destruction, as I break down and blow up all forms of construction!” he screamed in delight.

If you had never read the book or preview chapters, you might think that Bran had said this under the guise of the pronoun ‘he’, and suddenly feel to your horror that the book you undoubtedly pre-ordered (because ALL GOOD CITIZENS have preordered Bran Hambric*) is actually about a fat brat who likes being brazenly destructive**. ANOTHER EXAMPLE:

“Blast the library,” Sewey said. “We’re going where we can be as loud as we want and not get thrown out!”

“Yay, the zoo!” Balder oinked.

“No,” Sewey snorted. “A bookstore.”

In this case, while the characters are obviously not Bran, you might come to the conclusion that Sewey and Balder are Bran’s pet pigs who happen to talk***, which he keeps in his bedroom closet. Or, to your utter disgust, you might assume that Sewey and Balder are two friends of Bran’s, and that the line afterward would be

“Yes! Let’s burn all the books while we’re at it, comrades!” Bran Hambric sneered, whilst throwing rocks at old ladies and bending over to punch a small rabbit.****

which isn’t at all the case, at least with the book I wrote.

I don’t even know how I got onto that tangent, but as some people have mentioned, there are some of you who would still like a quotes-countdown. You can at least be sure that I’ve got a bunch of plans together to make it lots of fun before the release date!

QUESTION FOR THE COMMENTS: What are some cool things and ideas you would like to see happen as part of the Bran Hambric countdown?

——NOTES——

*Obvious attempt at brainwashing

** No offense to those of you who are like this: I happen to have a character for you in the book, whose name also begins with the letter ‘B’.

*** Unfortunately, there are no talking pigs in Bran Hambric.

**** This does not appear in Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse. I am not barring it as a possibility from the sequel, however.

More Great Stuff From BranFans!

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branfansNow that I’ve finally slithered out of bed (after recuperating from jetlag thanks to hitting both US coasts in the same week!) I’ve been delightfully surprised to discover a whole wave of great new stuff from the BranFans! It has been a thrill seeing all the wonderful people already involved in the Bran Hambric fandom — with still just under 100 days left before the full book is even out!

For starters, check out this song from the wonderfully talented Adrienne Frailey, who wrote it as a tribute to Bran Hambric and recently recorded it between studio sessions for her upcoming album:

Not only that, but a ton of BranFans have been using music from the soundtrack in their own YouTube video creations! Here is one by HideTheMushrooms on YouTube that uses my song The Box In The Bookstore (which you can download for free) to make a music video interpretation of the song (I like how since no one has read up to the actual box-in-the-bookstore scene in the preview chapters, the video makers invented their own ending 😀 ):

I’ve been using Google recently to help keep up with the Bran buzz, and I’ve spotted a whole assortment of really cool startup fansites for the book: like the BranHambricLexicon.com, BranHambricFansite, BranHambricByKN, TeamBranFans on YouTube (complete with another original song by Ethan, inspired by The Farfield Curse!), and a couple Bran Hambric and Kaleb Nation fan pages on Facebook. I’m amazed at how much all of these sites (and any I might have missed!) are doing to help spread the word about Bran Hambric!

And as for all the music: I’m so happy that there are already so many songs inspired by the book, when all anyone has read so far is the preview chapters! If you missed it, the Twilight-inspired band Bella Rocks! also has a song called “Emry’s Farewell” based on the prologue of the book. As an author, who created these characters and names and places, it feels wonderful seeing others find creative ways to take on my world.

A lot of the art that is used in these videos and websites is available for free from BranFans.com, including special computer wallpapers, buttons and widgets. Plus, at BranHambricMusic.com, you can now download four of the songs from the Bran Hambric soundtrack (and listen to nearly all of the others!). Kudos to all the great people for using their talents to make all this cool stuff 😀

FOR THE COMMENTS: What do you think of all the great Bran Hambric music and sites that are appearing?

A Bran Hambric Soundtrack?

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Yesterday, I was cleaning up my computer and found an old song concept from months ago that I never finished. I had been having loads of trouble with a piano line in the song and had finally just given up. When I found it again, I realized the problem with the piano was that the piano just didn’t belong — I took it out, and suddenly the song came together.

A few hours of not-studying-psychology later, I might actually have another song to add to the Bran Hambric soundtrack (I promise I’ll release Astara soon, I’m almost done mastering it). If I decide it’s worth finishing, I’m thinking this new one will be for Shambles (he’s in the preview chapters if you’ve read them). Here’s a clip from the middle:

[audio:http://kalebnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/shambles-clip.mp3|rightbg=0x5b5ea4]

For this one I’m going for a very emotional, brooding sound that’s different from the rest of the soundtrack: this overall feeling of a mentally alone and tortured creature who can’t escape the voices that haunt him from within.

Speaking of the soundtrack, I’ve noticed that there are quite a number of people who want a Bran Hambric soundtrack on CD. A day ago, I posted on Twitter that I was considering it, and within 5 minutes I was inundated with replies from all over the world wanting to get it somehow. (In the midst of showing a spoof of the CD art, I might have inadvertently leaked what we might be using as the Bran Hambric logo…see what unexpected insider information you get from following my Twitter?).

My original idea for the soundtrack was to give the songs away with the book somehow, but it appears that at least with the first edition of THE FARFIELD CURSE, there will be no CD attached. Sometimes, for books that sell particularly well, there will be deluxe editions with extra material, which is the most likely point when a CD would actually come with the book; but as of now, the only way I will be able to get CD’s to the people who want them is to sell it really cheap from a Print On Demand service (most likely LuLu.com). Nothing is set in stone, but my thoughts on this plan are:

–  A CD of the soundtrack with 9-10 songs available from BranHambricMusic.com for really cheap ($8 or $9),
–  Half of the soundtrack available for free download, as before with Youtube,
–  A code inside THE FARFIELD CURSE book that unlocks bonus songs and downloads that aren’t on the soundtrack.

Since Twitter isn’t really a good place to see a show of hands on who likes the idea and who doesn’t, please do comment on this below. Your feedback on this will really be the deciding factor on if a Bran Hambric CD actually does come into being, because at the moment I’m indecisive.

By the way, I’m testing out a new and improved commenting system on my blog. Now, you can reply directly to others comments, and see my replies to you all in one place! Hopefully you all enjoy it 😀

The Box In The Bookstore [Music]

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NOTE: For two weeks, you can download this song for free. Click the link below the preview!

I always liked making songs that sounded somewhat mysterious, but as it happened most of music I’ve made so far has been slow and happy (besides the Prologue song on all the websites). On Saturday I had some free time, so I sat down with a specific part of The Farfield Curse in mind, and tried to set that part of the book to music — and surprisingly enough, the song came out all in a few hours.

In the beginning of The Farfield Curse, Bran is found locked in a vault with no memory of who he is. Years later, when he is 14, he is nearly kidnapped by someone who knows far too much about him, and he realizes there is something dark in his past he hasn’t yet discovered. Searching for the truth leads him to a bookstore, where he discovers something hidden amongst the very townspeople who try so hard to outlaw magic. This song represents the part in the book where Bran first begins to realize how big of a thing he is getting himself into: and how dark and sinister his past could be.


TITLE:
The Box In The Bookstore December 2008
ALBUM: Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse [Official Soundtrack]
ARTIST: Kaleb Nation
STYLE: Classical/Soundtrack
LENGTH: 2:33
[audio:http://kalebnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/6-bran-hambric-the-farfield-curse-the-box-in-the-bookstore.mp3|rightbg=0x5b5ea4]
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FOR FREE (Until Dec. 14)

If you like it there are plenty more on my music page (also, I have another one coming soon, so maybe subscribe in the sidebar or check back for that one). Also, check out the Bran Hambric music Myspace and as usual, if you want preview chapters, email me or check out BranHambric.com for more info on the book.

For the comments: What do you think of this song? Does it seem to portray what I was trying to show?

The Grave Of Emry Hambric [Music]

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I know that most of you have not read The Farfield Curse in its entirety yet (as it’s not out until 2009), and even those who have read parts probably do not know well enough about the characters to actually care who Emry Hambric is. I won’t attempt to explain it because I’d really have to write the whole book out for it to be understood, but hopefully my new song will help you imagine the feeling at the end of the first book:

[audio:http://kalebnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/bran-hambric-the-farfield-curse-the-grave-of-emry-hambric-end-score.mp3|rightbg=0x5b5ea4]

The ending is a mixture of hope and a little sadness, a happy ending but tinged a little, and in a way I feel this song echoes how the first book concludes.

If you like my music or my other songs, I have two that you can download for free on a hidden page at BranHambric.com. I’ll have more news on the book soundtrack closer to the release in late 2009.

There is some about Emry in the prologue of the book (and a song for the Prologue as well, on the Music page) so I can also email preview chapters of The Farfield Curse if you want to get a better feel of who she is. Email me and I’ll try to get previews out as quick as I can.

This song is a first draft so opinions are welcome!

[note: email subscribers must visit the site to hear audio]