The Penguin Mix

Three months ago I purchased my first Mac: a G4 Powerbook.  I’m still getting to grips with its intricacies but am already converted and will never go back to PC.  One of my favourite applications is  Garageband, which, as users will know, is an addictive and simple programme for anyone interested in creating music.

So I was very excited when I heard the news that Penguin had released thirty of their best spoken word samples from their popular audiobooks, and are inviting people to download and remix into new audio tracks.  Here’s the blurb:

"Simply download the samples, use one or more in a track and submit that track to the penguin remixed website to stand a chance of winning publication in a Penguin digital audiobook later this year. This audiobook will be available from the audible.co.uk digital audiobookstore and via the iTunes UK site. Other prizes, including MP3 players, sets of Penguin Books and subscriptions to audible.co.uk will also be up for grabs."

Yes, it’s an obvious marketing competition but also another example of a brand/company creating opportunities for people (not just their customers) to engage with their products.  To get involved, to mash it up, to be creative, to invest and participate…

Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor did a similar promotion in releasing a downloadable version of "The Hand That Feeds" through his website, in a format that allows Mac-using aspiring producers the freedom to manipulate the song’s various parts, using GarageBand.  Like he said:

"It’s fun to mess around with. I’ve now heard a country version of the track as well as an abstract Latin interpretation. I’m interested to see what comes of it, what issues are raised and what the results are."

So here is my submission for the Penguin competition, created from the downloaded sample of Richard E Grant reading an excerpt from Bram Stokers Dracula – enjoy…I’m sure I’ll be knocked off the ‘most popular’ spot soon!

Penguin Remixed Site