Posted November 22, 2014
This is a little something that came to my mind after enjoying a box of Luna Negra. I know some really talented people dwell on these forums, so I thought: what if there was a way to connect with these people and combine their talents in some way? Well: how about a simple song, made by GOGers worldwide?
Feel free to trash this idea if you think it would never work: otherwise, let us know what you can do and just maybe, we could perhaps do something small - a one-time-only GOGer collab song? See what happens, for fun. It doesn't necessarily have to be next best thing ever, just something everyone could have fun doing. Does it make sense at all?
Now, if we decide to do this, there are a few basic specifications:
- the song wouldn't have to fall into a specific genre: with multiple contributors, it would be most unlikely it's something one would consider "coherent". On the plus side, this would enable everyone and anyone to contribute regardless of personal preferences or skills.
- speaking of skills: you wouldn't necessarily have to have any! Or should I say, anyone's bound to be good at something. Be it singing, guitar: or simply pounding on a table or hell, even their belly creating a simple rhythm. Or muttering some nonsense into a microphone. Pretty much anything, really.
As for what I can and could do:
- I can do audio editing. You know, gluing tracks together, messing with EQs, compression and such. I'm not an audio editing grandmaster, mind you, but I have a decent grasp of how it should be done.
- I can program synthetic instruments: drums, synths, bass, even an electric guitar.
- I can do some vocal stuff (though I'm still very much learning the whole singing thing), such as mid-range singing, low-range growling; the basic stuff.
- I can contribute to the composing part. I've done numerous songs for fun, so it's not entirely alien to me (around 150 tracks, give or take).
So how would we go on about this? Well, I reckon there's a couple of ways. One way would be to create a basic track (such as a beat), and someone would take over the track (file), add their flavor into it, and pass it forward to the next person. There are a couple of problems with this though:
- everyone would probably have to have the same sequencer in order to be able to continue the "thing" properly; it isn't mandatory but the transitions between contributors would probably be too audible otherwise.
- it would take a huge amount of time if we wait everyone to create their part only when it's their turn
The other way would be a bit simpler (and the way I would prefer it): everyone would simply record whatever comes to their mind, then send it to the one person that organizes the whole charade (in this case, it would probably be me - but if someone feels they're up for the task, by all means take the reins!) Now, a couple of things to bear in mind with this method:
- the stuff you create / send shouldn't be overly complicated. If it clashes harshly with the things other people sent, it would probably become entirely unusable. Thus, it should be kept simple: nothing massive, epic, too long, layered, etc. Chords, for one thing, aren't preferred.
- the stuff will probably have to be cut down / edited; for example if you send a melody, some of the notes might have to be cut; the tempo would have to be changed; it could come down to simply utilizing the sample and isolating a single note: especially with percussion. You need to be okay with this.
- contributors won't (necessarily) know what others contributed, so the end result would probably be an even worse mess than with the 1st method. Not necessarily less hilarious, though! Probably the exact opposite.
So, the very first things I want to ask people:
1. What do you think of this idea? Would you be willing to jump on board?
2. If you support the idea, which of the methods I described would you personally prefer?
3. How can you contribute? What can you do?
If the idea sees a large enough support, we'll advance from there...and see what will eventually happen. Take care.
Feel free to trash this idea if you think it would never work: otherwise, let us know what you can do and just maybe, we could perhaps do something small - a one-time-only GOGer collab song? See what happens, for fun. It doesn't necessarily have to be next best thing ever, just something everyone could have fun doing. Does it make sense at all?
Now, if we decide to do this, there are a few basic specifications:
- the song wouldn't have to fall into a specific genre: with multiple contributors, it would be most unlikely it's something one would consider "coherent". On the plus side, this would enable everyone and anyone to contribute regardless of personal preferences or skills.
- speaking of skills: you wouldn't necessarily have to have any! Or should I say, anyone's bound to be good at something. Be it singing, guitar: or simply pounding on a table or hell, even their belly creating a simple rhythm. Or muttering some nonsense into a microphone. Pretty much anything, really.
As for what I can and could do:
- I can do audio editing. You know, gluing tracks together, messing with EQs, compression and such. I'm not an audio editing grandmaster, mind you, but I have a decent grasp of how it should be done.
- I can program synthetic instruments: drums, synths, bass, even an electric guitar.
- I can do some vocal stuff (though I'm still very much learning the whole singing thing), such as mid-range singing, low-range growling; the basic stuff.
- I can contribute to the composing part. I've done numerous songs for fun, so it's not entirely alien to me (around 150 tracks, give or take).
So how would we go on about this? Well, I reckon there's a couple of ways. One way would be to create a basic track (such as a beat), and someone would take over the track (file), add their flavor into it, and pass it forward to the next person. There are a couple of problems with this though:
- everyone would probably have to have the same sequencer in order to be able to continue the "thing" properly; it isn't mandatory but the transitions between contributors would probably be too audible otherwise.
- it would take a huge amount of time if we wait everyone to create their part only when it's their turn
The other way would be a bit simpler (and the way I would prefer it): everyone would simply record whatever comes to their mind, then send it to the one person that organizes the whole charade (in this case, it would probably be me - but if someone feels they're up for the task, by all means take the reins!) Now, a couple of things to bear in mind with this method:
- the stuff you create / send shouldn't be overly complicated. If it clashes harshly with the things other people sent, it would probably become entirely unusable. Thus, it should be kept simple: nothing massive, epic, too long, layered, etc. Chords, for one thing, aren't preferred.
- the stuff will probably have to be cut down / edited; for example if you send a melody, some of the notes might have to be cut; the tempo would have to be changed; it could come down to simply utilizing the sample and isolating a single note: especially with percussion. You need to be okay with this.
- contributors won't (necessarily) know what others contributed, so the end result would probably be an even worse mess than with the 1st method. Not necessarily less hilarious, though! Probably the exact opposite.
So, the very first things I want to ask people:
1. What do you think of this idea? Would you be willing to jump on board?
2. If you support the idea, which of the methods I described would you personally prefer?
3. How can you contribute? What can you do?
If the idea sees a large enough support, we'll advance from there...and see what will eventually happen. Take care.
