The Once And Future Nerd

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Audio Bonus Content #10 - How We Made The Singing Sister Jul 17, 2016

Show notes

Remember the song that Arlene sang to Gwen back in Chapter 6 and again in Chapter 9? We know at least some of you do, because you wrote in to tell us how much you loved it, and to ask whether it was available as a standalone track.

Well…it is now! We re-recorded it with a new arrangement and live instruments. Head over to onceandfuturenerd.bandcamp.com to purchase it for $1 (or more if you’d like to be very kind. Patreon subscribers, check your Patreon feed for a coupon code to save 50¢.)

And for today’s bonus content, we talked to the talented folks involved for insight into making the song.

Keep reading for full credits and attributions.

“The Singing Sister”

Lyrics by Zach Glass & Christian T. Madera, based on a traditional folk song
Music by Anya Gibian

This version arranged, orchestrated, and produced by Tom Lee.

Recorded and Edited by Justin Tricarico at Studio 302, Queens College, Queens, NY.

Performed by:

Anya Gibian – Vocals

Emily P. Dana – Harp, Violin, Viola
Simona Donova – Flute
Zach Glass – Trumpet
Tom Lee – Percussion programming
Kelsey Sheldon – Cello

Mixed by Chris Montalbo of The Last Alliance.

Executive Produced by Zach Glass & Christian T. Madera

The Making-Of Featurette:

This episode is heavily inspired by Song Exploder, which we highly recommend.

Music used:

Audio Bonus Content #9 - Book 1 Special Edition & Retrospective Jul 03, 2016

Show notes

We’re really excited to announce that the Special Edition of The Once And Future NerdBook 1, is now available through Audiobooks on Tape. (They make these really cool USB flash drives that look like old cassette tapes!)

The Special Edition includes:

Full chapter files with credits only once per chapter for maximum bingeing (previously only available to Patreon subscribers)
Bonus interviews
TOAFN artwork in 4K Ultra HD, including our new map, and several never-before-seen character designs.

All proceeds from the Special Edition will go towards funding Book 2 (which we are currently writing!), and are also a great gift for anyone who loves Fantasy or Audiodrama, but doesn’t do podcasts.

Purchase at AudioBooksOnTape.com (just search for ‘Once And Future Nerd’).

And in honor of the Special Edition, we sat down for a conversation with Ian Harkins (the Narrator) looking back at Book 1. Think of it like a free companion piece.

We’ve also got some limited-time-only coupon codes for fans who want to purchase the special edition, so keep reading for those.

£1 off the Special Edition USB cassette with coupon code iorden.

33% off the Special Edition USB cassette by becoming a supporter on Patreon.

20% off of a novel by D.N. Frost, the Fantasy Cartographer who created our map: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=DLMP8DZV8PPEL

Audio Announcement: Update February 2016 Feb 22, 2016

Show notes

Hey guys!

A lot of you have been writing in to say how much you miss the show and wondering when it’s coming back – and it’s really great to hear from you and to know we’re missed! The short answer is: Book 2 is coming – just not yet. We took a break after Book 1, and now we’re getting back into it. That said, making The Once And Future Nerd to the level of quality you’ve come to expect requires a big metaphorical machine with lots of moving parts, so we can’t responsibly commit to any kind of release date at this point, but we can promise that the show is moving forward!

What can you do to contribute to Season 2? We have some ideas:

Keep sending us positive messages – that really encourages us!
Draw some fan art and put it on Tumblr (we’re looking at you, artsy people!)
Tweet about us and the awesome fuck-yeah-once-and-future-nerd.tumblr.com (also – a huge thanks to whoever made that!)
Get redditing! Participate on the subreddit, discuss your theories about season 2, tell your friends, and get them to start listening and discussing too.
And last but not least, if you haven’t yet, please consider buying some merchandise or pledging on Patreon. The truth is, so far we still lose money in creating each episode – and our brilliant actors are still by and large compensated in pizza. Any money we receive from Patreon will go towards offsetting the production costs of the show, and if we ever were to break even on production, it would go towards compensating our cast and crew. And if you are not in a position to contribute, don’t worry, we pledge that our podcast will always be free to listen. But if you are in a position where you could comfortably contribute, each dollar pledged (or piece of merchandise purchased) will help to grease those big machine gears and smooth the process towards creating Book 2. And as a reminder, no matter what you pledge on Patreon you won’t be charged for it until we put out an episode.

So do we have anything for you in the meantime? Well, many of you have been nice enough to tell us how much you liked the song that Arlene and Gwen sing to each other, and you asked whether we could make it available as a standalone release. Consider yourselves heard – we went into the studio with an improved arrangement and real instruments. We’ll need a little time for pickups and mixing, but as soon as that’s ready, the song will be available for sale, and a making-of featurette will be available for free on our feed!

Also want to call out a few great iTunes reviews we’ve had since the last episode. Deepschwag says “Kind of Vincent Price meets Buffy.” High praise indeed. User Thousand Things says “I emerge, after a weekend that started with thinking “hey, this looks like an interesting podcast…” and ending with having binge-listened to the entire series. Considering forcing my husband to sit and listen to the whole thing again while I enjoy it a second time through. In other words, AMAZING. YES. LOVE. Listen to this podcast!” And Jesse W Jackson says “Found this through a search and I’m very pleased. A nice story with a just the right amount of naughtiness. I like the characters and the story is easy to follow. My only suggestion, more titles based on Bruce Springsteen songs!” Noted, Jesse, and thanks. Glad someone caught that. So those are all greatly appreciated.

That’s all we’ve got for now. Thanks for your love and support and patience, and keep subscribed to this feed for all future updates.

We’re Finalists in the 2015 AudioVerse Awards! Nov 01, 2015

Show notes

Thanks so much to everyone who voted in Round 1 of the 2015 AudioVerse Awards. Thanks to you, we are now FINALISTS in EVERY CATEGORY for which we were eligible.

Best Original Composition in an Original, Short-Form Production – Tom Lee
Best Audio Engineering for an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production – Brian Forbes, Sam Palumbo, Christian Madera, Josh Perault, and Sandra Ramirez
Best Writing of an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production – Zach Glass & Christian Madera
Best Actress with an Ensemble Role in an Original Serial Production – Rhiannon Angell
Best Actress with an Ensemble Role in an Original Serial Production – Lily Drexler
Best Actress with an Ensemble Role in an Original Serial Production – Anya Gibian
Best Actress with an Ensemble Role in an Original Serial Production – Julie Reed
Best Actor with an Ensemble Role in an Original Serial Production – Garrett Armyn
Best Actor with an Ensemble Role in an Original Serial Production – Dan Dobransky
Best Actor with an Ensemble Role in an Original Serial Production – Ian Harkins
Best Actor with an Ensemble Role in an Original Serial Production – Frank Queris
Best Ensemble Cast in an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production
Best Original Short-Form, Serial Comedy
Best Original, Short-Form, Large Cast, Serial Production

But there’s still one more round of voting to determine the winners. So please head to www.audioverseawards.net any time before November 9 to cast your vote.

Thank you as always for your support. And be sure to follow this feed for some exciting announcements coming up around the New Year!

Audio Announcement: 2015 AudioVerse Awards Oct 08, 2015

Show notes

We’re so pleased to be nominated for the 2015 AudioVerse Awards amongst an extremely wide and formidable field of contenders. We’re up for:

Best Original Composition in an Original, Short-Form Production
Best Audio Engineering for an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production
Best Writing of an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production
Best Actress with an Ensemble Role in an Original Serial Production (x4!!)
Best Actor with an Ensemble Role in an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production (x6!!!)
Best Ensemble Cast in an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production
Best Original Short-Form, Serial Comedy
Best Original, Short-Form, Large Cast, Serial Production

The Awards are open to a public vote, and voting for the first round (which determines Finalists) closes on October 20, so head over to audioverseawards.net to cast your votes!

And don’t forget to check our sweet, sweet merch.

BOOK 1 FINALE: The Evening Redness in the West, Pt. 4 Sep 16, 2015

Show notes

CONTENT NOTE: The violence in this episode gets particularly graphic. Listen with care.

The First Book of our Tale comes to its bloody close at the Battle of Freehold.

Our deepest thanks go out to everyone who has tuned in along the way. We never would have gotten this far without you. We’ll see you again for Book 2, release date TBD.

If you’re enjoying the show, please consider becoming a patron at Patreon . The more patrons we have, the easier time we’ll have getting up and running for production of Book 2.

The Evening Redness in the West, Pt. 3 Aug 16, 2015

Show notes

In this, the penultimate episode of Book 1, Julius Mooncrest mourns his nephew Antonin. But all is not what it seems with the young lord’s apparent demise. Meanwhile, at the Horse’s Head Inn, a terrible discovery threatens to cut short Gwen and Arlene’s newfound romantic bliss. And our stalwart Narrator confesses that he has run out of events with which to delay the recounting of the Battle of Freehold and its aftermath.

The climactic conclusion of Book 1 is coming next. Be sure to subscribe, and tell your friends so they won’t miss it. And hey, have you seen all the exciting news lately about merchandise, free full-chapter downloads, and awards?

Audio Bonus Content #8 – Book 1 Roundtable Aug 14, 2015

Show notes

For today’s bonus content, Christian (director, co-creator), Zach (co-writer, co-producer), Anya (Regan, Arlene, various female), Ian (Narrator, various male), Dan (Ardel, Traft, various male), Paul (Nelson, Antonin) and Lily (Gwen, Ry’y, various female) sat down with Matthew of the Audio Drama Production Podcast to talk about the highlights, challenges, and strategies that went into creating Book 1 of THE ONCE AND FUTURE NERD.

Show notes are below.

Awesome things the Cast & Crew are up to:

The New York Fringe Festival (http://fringenyc.org/) includes SOLINA (http://www.eventbrite.com/e/solina-fringenyc-tickets-17728346963), staring Anya, and FUENTE OVEJUNA (http://www.eventbrite.com/e/fuente-ovejuna-fringenyc-tickets-17728291798), featuring Ian. Performances through the end of August
Dan performs at the Magnet Theater (http://www.magnettheater.com/) in Manhattan and posts news about his other projects at http://ddobransky.com. You can also find him on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MrBrodansky).
Lily and her twin sister Michelle list their projects at http://drexlertwins.com.
Paul’s production company can be found at http://themillennialgroupllc.com. And get updates from the Notice Blog on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/thenoticeblog) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheNoticeBlog).
Follow Christian on Twitter (http://twitter.com/ctmadera)

Voting is open for the Geekie Awards! Aug 11, 2015

Show notes

As we mentioned before, we are honored to nominees for Best Podcast in the 2015 Geekie Awards. Well, the Awards are now open to a PUBLIC VOTE to determine who gets to take home a statue.

If you would like to vote, just go to http://vote2015.thegeekieawards.com/ . No sign-in required or anything. It’s designed so that each voter can vote once per day per category, from now until Noon Pacific on August 31.

The Geekie Awards are doing an awesome thing by increasing exposure for independently-produced content, and we’d love to return the favor by supporting them. So vote early and vote often! We’re nominated alongside some truly excellent content, so vote as you see fit. But if you think we deserve some extra recognition, votes for us would be a great way to support our show and costs you nothing but a few seconds.

We’ll keep you posted on any future developments.

Thanks!
-The Producers of THE ONCE AND FUTURE NERD

The Evening Redness in the West, Pt. 2 Aug 02, 2015

Show notes

As they wait for the rendezvous with Ry’y lo-Th’yyt (and hopefully the fulfillment of her promise of assisatnce), Nia and Regan consider the wages of their struggles so far. But far away, in the icy seas of the south, a spurned foe plots his next move. (Spoiler: It’s Renault. That dipsh*t).

There are only TWO (2!) episodes left in Book One. The next episode will be released on August 16. And be sure to like/follow/subscribe for some very exciting upcoming announcements. And check out the awesome updated logo artwork by the brilliant John Flanagan!

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