Why I Created Muse Realm Radio | Update

I CREATED A STREAM CALLED MUSE REALM RADIO. The idea stemmed from my love for the radio shows in Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. Three Dog and Mr. New Vegas? My DJ spirit animals! Which branched out into mods that played old-time radio shows like The Weird Circle and The Creaking Door. Which led me to listening to music from that era on Spotify, and listening to old-time radio show playlists. I fell in love with the vibe and the idea.

I STARTED LISTENING TO this style of music in my everyday life. The Andrews Sisters. The Ink Spots. Sid Phillips. Billy Holiday. Bing Crosby. I’d have 50s cafe jingles, old-time radio shows, and the like playing during the day as ambience. My mom heard it and thought it was weird and interesting that I would listen to such things unprompted. It settled my thoughts in a time when I was always anxious, always depressed, and irritated; this music calmed my soul. Eased my mind. I also listened, and still listen, to a Fallout 3 Galaxy News Radio playlist on Spotify.

“MUSE REALM RADIO was initially just a stream where I could write. It was a Write with Me stream where I would just vibe out and create.“

I WILL ADMIT I HAVE NO IDEA OF THE ERA. I know names and a rough idea of the songs being from the 20s to the 50s, but I couldn’t give you a specific date. You’ll also notice that I say “this era” instead of the actual year. Cause I truly don’t know. I just refer to this music as “old timey” or “Fallout” music. Some may say if I loved the music, I’d learn the year and the history. I really don’t care. The music speaks to me, I enjoy it, and that’s all that matters. It’s inspiring. It’s my muse.

How Muse Realm Radio Started

THE INITIAL IDEA WAS STREAMING. I wanted to stream, and I first had the idea of being a Let’s Play streamer. Since I love video games. But that fizzled out quickly. Then I tried my hand at being a Vtuber, streaming video games, draw with me segments, and write with me content. That lost steam as well. Mainly because I just wasn’t very entertaining, and I’m also not very good at video games. I love them, don’t get me wrong. But I play on easy mode, I play for the story, and I am not there for the challenge or skill. Which is what most people are there to see for Let’s Plays.

I STILL WANTED TO STREAM. But I also wanted to write. At the time, I was pulling my creativity in too many directions. I was writing songs and creating music in SUNO, doing Let’s Plays, no commentary gameplay, planning animation, making shorts and TikToks for keymailer games, while doing speed drawings, write with me, and fan art. On top of being a homsechool teacher, a stay at home dad, husband, and dealing with a lot of just bull sh** adulting crap, living in an RV, struggling financially, and living with a toxic family. And I wasn’t really creating that much.

MY MAIN GOAL IS TO WRITE. To finish my Adventures of Rel Rel novels. I did want to stream, but no one would come for my write with me, speed drawings, or Let’s Plays. I eventually realized that I was just doing too many things, chasing views, and all the while, my work was going nowhere. I was trying so many things, but I wasn’t growing at all and accomplishing nothing. Just throwing a lot of work into the ether. And for what? So, I focused and decided what I really want to accomplish before I die. What is my dream? My God-given purpose?

TO FINISH ADVENTURES OF REL REL. I still wanted to create content, but I wanted to do it from a creative first focus, based around my novels. And I figured I could stream while I wrote. If no one watched or followed? I’d still get work done on my story. And if they did? Sweet!  

Rule One: No AI To Write

I DO NOT USE AI TO WRITE. I believe AI is a useful tool, but not for my craft. I’m a writer and an artist. I write, and I draw. I will, however, use AI like ChatGPT to check for grammatical errors, and I will generate AI to use as art reference. It’s fun to write a prompt based on what I want to see, like a “clown character with butterfly wings and a jester hat”, to see what AI comes up with. It’s a fun way to throw out ideas. But when I find something that I like, I use it as a reference and draw on top of it, in my own style and design. Oh, I did use AI-generated art for the library on my website, though. I think using it to design is fun too.

AI ISN’T AS GOOD AS I AM. I know that. AI cannot replace artists completely, and it cannot write the way that I write or draw the way that I draw. My mind and my style are still unique. I also have fun writing and coming up with ideas. It gives me life! AI also usually writes generic work and sticks to tropes and mundane ideas. Which is fine. But I don’t need it to write for me. So I don’t.

Using Suno to Create Muse Realm Radio

I USED SUNO TO GENERATE CONTENT. I will be upfront about that. As I said, I believe that AI can be used as a useful tool. I’m not a musician or a voice actor. I write all of the stories, stingers, and words used for Muse Realm Radio, and then I run them through Suno to turn my words into jingles and songs. It’s all my work and my words. I also enjoyed writing lyrics and turning them into songs with Suno, as well.

I USED CHATGPT FOR GUIDANCE. I will be upfront about this, too. I used ChatGPT as a guide. I’d run ideas, thoughts, plans, and questions through ChatGPT. It was like talking to a friend about an idea that I have, and having them tell me how to do it, step by step. I would ask, “How do you do this? How would this work? What keywords can I use? Should I use this? Or do that? Give me a breakdown of that idea and show me how to create that, step by step. This isn’t working, why? How do I fix it?”

ONE OF THE MOST ANNOYING THINGS that I have experienced on the internet is googling something and getting hundreds of posts and videos that do not answer anything. I would have to sift through and waste time searching for one specific post that had my answer. The only problem is that I didn’t know which posts were talking about my specific issue and which links were just long, overdrawn nonsense. It was maddening. That’s why I like ChatGPT. It gets to the point and answers my question without useless searches or fluff. It points me in the right direction, and I can get back to creating.

“I happened upon old stories that I had written years ago, on my HDD. Poems that I had written for a Dr. Suess slash Shel Silverstein-esque book I wanted to do, but never did. Short stories I had written in college when my wife and I were still friends, still dating.”

Creating Muse Realm Radio

MUSE REALM RADIO was initially just a stream where I could write. It was a Write with Me stream where I would just vibe out and create. I don’t like talking, so I wanted to add ambient video (that I put together with clips in Canva) and ambient instrumental music that I created in Suno to play onscreen while I wrote. Simple. I wanted to stream while I write. I’d stream while I wrote my story, drew artwork for the book (or fanart), or animated. It was mainly my time to actually get some work done.

THE OLD TIME RADIO VIBE stemmed from some music that I created. I was still listening to Galaxy News Radio and Old Time Radio Shows on Spotify, and I had also started listening to the Jubal Show (I found the show through TikTok and Brooke and Jubal in the Morning clips), as well. I had radio shows on the brain. I had my layout, transitions, and everything set up in OBS. And I had the old-time radio songs that I generated in Suno, like “If you See a Death Claw Ask its Name” and “Radroach Ice Cream” playing. That’s when I wondered if I could play my songs and add free-to-use old-time radio episodes?

I CONSULTED CHATGPT. It gave me the idea to use free-to-use old radio shows. I thought that was such a cool idea! I’ve been listening to them for years. Why not use them as background audio for my streams? So I found some radio shows online and downloaded a whole list. I downloaded the whole series of Ganbusters, Dimension X, The Lone Ranger, and Suspense! I was set. I would play and listen to them while I worked on my Muse Realm Radio layout.

I USED THE OLD TIME RADIO SHOWS for a while. But I quickly realized, what if some of these were copyrighted? Or edited by someone, or something, that made the copyright more recent? I wanted something that was mine, that I could use without worrying. I didn’t want to get any copyright strikes, or worse, lose videos and content because I relied on old radio shows that weren’t actually public domain. That’s when I got the idea… why not create my own old-time radio show? I had already written fun old-timey songs and generated them in Suno.

I HAPPENED UPON OLD STORIES that I had written years ago, on my HDD. Poems that I had written for a Dr. Suess slash Shel Silverstein-esque book I wanted to do, but never did. Short stories I had written in college when my wife and I were still friends, still dating. And an idea for a space story that I thought about, but never ever fleshed out because I’m too busy with Adventures of Rel Rel. I had taken lyrics I’d written into Suno before, so I wondered what would happen if I brought in longer writing? Could I use those stories as my old-time episodes?

IT WORKED! I was able to create a radio show sounding audio from my old poems and writing. It was such a cool discovery! I was able to get Suno to create not only songs, but also just talking with no singing? Like someone telling a story! And from that, I started writing short commercials, stingers, lore-based news segments, faux sponsors, and drops to go with my stories! And from that, I started editing it all together. So I had my visuals, my radio show, and my stream all set up in OBS!

Closing Thoughts

I WILL BE GOING LIVE SOON! Muse Realm Radio will be broadcasting soon on Twitch and YouTube, and I am really excited to reveal what I’ve been working on. It’s fun! And I hope that people will tune in for the stories, the vibe, and to sit, relax, and create with me while I stream.