Comments on: Would that be a MMOMPG?

Would that be a MMOMPG?

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 17:59:38 -0800

Let's have a massive Metafilter Music collaboration.

What I'm proposing: I record a basic song, say just guitar and vocals, and make the multitracks available online. You dust off your instrument and/or vocal cords and record your part. You send me the result. I compile the submissions, mix the song, and present to you what is effectively a sort of musical exquisite corpse. Proficiency and/or talent not required; shits and giggles mandatory. Do not be shy.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 17:59:45 -0800

Who's in?

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:06:08 -0800

are you gonna write personalized lyrics for each of us?

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:06:44 -0800

Will do, if you don't mind that one of the vocal tracks will be a puppet singing naughty lyrics.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:09:26 -0800

jonmc: No.

Astro Zombie: Do it, that would be great. I will hold you to your word.

By: escabeche

escabeche — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:10:58 -0800

I'm in.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:17:52 -0800

Excellent!

Oh, perhaps it would be a good idea to state what instrument you would expect to contribute (including vocals). All are welcomed, of course; but should one happen to play, say, the guitar *and* the Uzbeki five-stop counter-soprano reed tuba, then I would suggest going for the least obvious one, of course.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:20:54 -0800

I don't really know how to record on top of someone else's recording on my computer. Or else I would.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:24:51 -0800

If you mean "how" technically, miss lynnster, we'll sort it out via email, if you're interested. I'm sure we'll figure it out, and I'd love to have you on board.

By: rhapsodie

rhapsodie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:42:13 -0800

I love the idea of this and would offer my djembe skillz, but I have no way (hardware or software) to record anything to my computer.

By: signal

signal — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:44:34 -0800

I'm in with slide guitar, maybe harmonica if I can scrounge up a mic somewhere.

By: SassHat

SassHat — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:47:16 -0800

I call the triangle!

By: blaneyphoto

blaneyphoto — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:09:46 -0800

I'm willing to give it a shot.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:10:45 -0800

I'm in (though that depends on whether I can get my computer to stop being a microtarded douchetruck when it comes to recording)

By: equalpants

equalpants — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:25:33 -0800

Ooh, sounds awesome. I'm in if I have time.

By: cortex

cortex — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:26:49 -0800

Totally in. Personal monumental footdragging on related not-to-be-spoken of project entirely notwithstanding.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:32:58 -0800

I know how to to play the bass, and possess the skillz to record myself doing so. I'd love to give it a whirl.

By: wendell

wendell — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:34:20 -0800

I have a harmonica, and I don't know how to use it.
You have been warned.

By: interrobang

interrobang — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:35:42 -0800

I volunteer to make the little piece of art that you put into iTunes to go along with the song, if that's needed or wanted.

By: wendell

wendell — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:35:51 -0800

May I recommend the title "MetaRchestra"?

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:41:41 -0800

In.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:51:21 -0800

If you mean "how" technically, miss lynnster, we'll sort it out via email,

Could we do that in thread and get some general pointers? Sound cool.

By: googly

googly — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:52:44 -0800

Count me in.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:00:27 -0800

interrobang: That's an excellent offer, and we'll definitely keep it in the oven.

Brandon Blatcher: Absolutely, great suggestion. A short technical write-up will be forthcoming. Do nudge me if I turn out not to be so, um, forthcoming.

All the musicians who have expressed their interest so far: thanks!

By: O9scar

O9scar — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:02:03 -0800

miss lynster: you could use something like Audacity or Garageband, import the existing tracks, add your vocals (I assume) on top. Then save out the vocals alone for later mixing. Don't let minor technical issues get in the way. On preview: what goodnewsfortheinsane said.

Oh, and I like it. I'm in. I have some real synthesizers, a couple of cheesy drum machines and a few toy Casio keyboards. And a Happy Apple, if the situation warrants it.

How are you deciding who records what if you get more than one guitarist, for instance? Not that I expect another Happy Appleist, mind you.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:02:06 -0800

I'm too busy to commit to anything, but I give this project my blessing.

In doing so each participant automtically recieves the following:

The purest digital silence available anywhere. We're talking -90db subfloors, here.

One gross assorted matched aux send and returns of the finest quality.

One full drum of the most superlative filter-sweep and fader oil, suitable for knob twiddling and fader sliding of all sorts.

One knob that goes to "eleven". You'll have to fight over that one, sorry. It is the nature of these things.

1 trillion MIDI or SMPTE clock-ticks in your choice of formats, be it clicktrack, metadata, CV gates or other. They're already in your boxes - you just have to let them out.

One freeware VST plugin titled "The Nag-o-tron 2000". Documentation implies that it is an effective studio production tool suitable for simulating the creativity-enhancing effects of a nagging spouse, lover, boss, parental figure, guru, life coach, drug dealer or A&R agent. The documentation also goes on to disavow any responisiblity for smashed instruments, alcoholism, drug addiction or other "high risk" behavior such as television-shooting and cruising for tranny hookers on Melrose.

By: cabingirl

cabingirl — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:04:17 -0800

I contribute my meager violin skills!

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:07:29 -0800

Do nudge me if I turn out not to be so, um, forthcoming.

Is it done YET?

Oh, it's something we can import into Garage Band? Cool.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:12:24 -0800

I usually record in Amadeus. That's all I have, I think. I used to have Deck but I couldn't figure it out because I'm lame.

When are we doing this? Thinking I may be getting a root canal this week so I'm mostly just singsonging like a Tourette's victim right now.

MY JAW FREAKING HURTS. HOLY JESUS MARY JOSEPH ALLAH ETCETERA PLEASE STOP THE PAIN.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:17:45 -0800

SassHat: "I call the triangle!"

You got it. See, no empty promises in this thread.

BB, I'll do my best to make it as cross-platform and dummyproof as possible.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:22:40 -0800

miss lynnster: "When are we doing this?"

The Tourettes thing has an appeal entirely of its own, but let's say we're aiming for say a three-week window as soon as we've got this up and going.

By: Jon Mitchell

Jon Mitchell — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:31:20 -0800

I do bleeps and squiggles and have a just bought a shiny new (well, shiny old ) Jupiter-6. If vintage sci-fi noises are needed, I can provide them...

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:39:01 -0800

I have access to most anything. Just don't expect me to play any woodwinds other than melodica. Best at strings, keys, and brass.

OTOH, perhaps I should force myself to do sax or clarinet.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:42:47 -0800

Oh, and I have a 70's analog monophonic Arp synth.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:55:25 -0800

*Takes deep breath, bites down on jaw harp, hits record*

Bwang-bwang-BWONG!

Dammit!

*Takes deep breath, bites down on jaw harp, hits record...*

Maybe I'll just whistle something in the stairwell at work.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:07:06 -0800

Whatever you do, set it to a click track of some sort, please, in case we get a live drummer involved, after the fact.

So long as everyone treats 00:00 the same, things should line up nicely.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:19:18 -0800

are you gonna write personalized lyrics for each of us?

I will, but I am drunk and still seek satisfaction regarding my nose-scar.

By: rossination

rossination — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:24:51 -0800

Absolutely in (trombonist).

By: Samuel Farrow

Samuel Farrow — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:36:08 -0800

I am 100% in - and think this is a great idea. I look forward to the track goodnews!

By: booksandlibretti

booksandlibretti — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:38:33 -0800

I know I have Audacity and a cheap microphone, and I think somewhere around here is a swell instrument that my esteemed instructor calls a counterfife (personally, I find it's better known as a mirliton or singing membranophone).

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:41:37 -0800

(trombonist)

Yeah, well. Thanks for the offer. We'll call you if we need you.

I kid, I kid.

By: chococat

chococat — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:45:03 -0800

I'm in, (unless the song's really shitty.)
Seriously, though, I think you should supply the basic ingredients and then let it loose, and have a dozen versions.
Or are you set on one meta-song?

By: rossination

rossination — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 22:20:00 -0800

Yeah, sourwookie: "no, don't call us; we'll call you".

By: deern the headlice

deern the headlice — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 22:24:46 -0800

Anyone used Indaba yet? It lets you upload tracks, mix, and collaboratively write online.

By: herrdoktor

herrdoktor — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 22:54:30 -0800

I'm game. Crapguitar, violin, synth n stuff. Let's gogogo!

By: davey_darling

davey_darling — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:01:31 -0800

I'll sing something.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:02:30 -0800

Ooh, I'll play. Dulcimer. (This kind.)

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:06:01 -0800

rossination: ohferchrissakes. Grow a Musician's hide. We're all subjects of jest.

(are we both riffing Sugarloaf?)

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:10:49 -0800

With this roll call, the final product should sound like a Iannis Xenakis composition.

Stochastism FTW.

By: Joseph Gurl

Joseph Gurl — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:31:04 -0800

"With this roll call, the final product should sound like a Iannis Xenakis composition."

Best. Case. Scenario.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:02:39 -0800

Is there any room for trippy synth effects? Because that's about all I'm good for.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:03:38 -0800

Also, a suggestion: Everybody contributes a layer to your barebones track. Nobody gets to hear anybody else's layer until the finished product is in.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:24:00 -0800

I'm in! Instruments may include: bells, shakers, crumpling paper, whistles, flex-a-tone, vibra-slap, talking drum, jaw harp, mouthbow, Juno 60, walkie-talkie feedback, sanza, WaveDrum, darbuka, fingersnaps, bodyslaps, AirSynth, angklung, scrapers, sammples, frame drums, rattles, keys on keychain, rocks, sandpaper, bowls of water, sleighbells, ball bearings, plastic cups, bubble wrap, Novation BassStation, tubes, windchimes, bodhran, flip-flops, woodblocks, chimes, doorbells, etc.

And will it be ok to throw in some backing vocal lines about death, trains or Cincinnatti, even if your song has nothing to do with death, trains or Cincinnatti?

By: Joseph Gurl

Joseph Gurl — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 02:01:31 -0800

Also, a suggestion: Everybody contributes a layer to your barebones track. Nobody gets to hear anybody else's layer until the finished product is in.
posted by tehloki at 6:03 PM on October 14 [+] [!]

MIMEO's Sight

By: blasdelf

blasdelf — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 02:38:04 -0800

since it's gnfti proposing this — author of "Requiem for Blink" — I SAY FUCK YEAH

By: Doofus Magoo

Doofus Magoo — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 06:14:49 -0800

Must I be the first to volunteer to contribute some cowbell?

By: wheelieman

wheelieman — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 06:20:44 -0800

I was going to call Cowbell. Darn you Blue Oyster Cult!

By: god hates math

god hates math — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 07:45:00 -0800

I'm in. I'll also second tehloki's suggestion - I think it's the only real way to make this work.

I can add vocals, Wurlitzer, banjo, bells, synth parts, and of course, guitar or bass.

Goodnews, I'd also love a huge zip of all the tracks (even as a160kb/s mp3s), so I can mix my own version. I'm an audio engineer by trade, so this shit is fun for me.
We should also have a remix competition once this is all done.

By: rossination

rossination — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 08:08:36 -0800

[sourwookie -- to be clear, I was entirely joking as well. No hard feelings at all!].

But yeah, this sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:24:11 -0800

Flapjax: angklung

Do you actually have one of these, because seriously, I need one. No, really. If you have an idea where to track one down, I'd be grateful.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:31:47 -0800

Devil's Rancher: If by "one of these" you mean a set, no. I just have a couple of them. This is what we're talking about, right?

As far as where to find a set, hmmm... AHA! Here!

or you could join Angklung4Jesus...

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:40:42 -0800

Have I mentioned that OH MOTHER OF GOD PLEASE NO MORE my teeth FUCKITY FUCK MAKE THE PAIN STOP really kinda hurt?

By: horsewithnoname

horsewithnoname — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:47:02 -0800

How about some minimal constraints, like picking a key, time signature, and a tempo?

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:50:48 -0800

horsewithnoname: How about some minimal constraints, like picking a key, time signature, and a tempo?

Fascist!

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:57:08 -0800

My dad has an anklung. I might be wrong, but I think they're a pretty common item in stock at these stores. And like everything there, it's cheap because everyone is a volunteer except for the actual craftsman.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:58:19 -0800

Won't the key, time signature, and tempo all be determined by gnfti's actual song?

Unless we're just going to completely ignore it. I can roll like that, too.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:01:32 -0800

Devils Rancher: "Whatever you do, set it to a click track of some sort, please, in case we get a live drummer involved, after the fact.

So long as everyone treats 00:00 the same, things should line up nicely."

Will include click, and will supply instructions for everyone to use the same zero point.

chococat: "I'm in, (unless the song's really shitty.)
Seriously, though, I think you should supply the basic ingredients and then let it loose, and have a dozen versions.
Or are you set on one meta-song?"

Basically the latter; maybe with contributions cut together temporally; anyone remember this? (And no, this is not an example of what we're aiming for musically, and no, the song will not be "Perfect Day".)

flapjax at midnite: "And will it be ok to throw in some backing vocal lines about death, trains or Cincinnatti, even if your song has nothing to do with death, trains or Cincinnatti?"

Yes.

tehloki: "Also, a suggestion: Everybody contributes a layer to your barebones track. Nobody gets to hear anybody else's layer until the finished product is in."

This is absolutely the idea, yeah. It's not going to be Layer Tennis.

horsewithnoname: "How about some minimal constraints, like picking a key, time signature, and a tempo?"

I feel it would work better as a song, verses, choruses and all, because that's the form I'm most comfortable with.

I don't yet know which song, though: I'm leaning towards a cover, however, and in an attempt to avoid democratic/group-think quagmires I think it's probably best if I play the benevolent dictator here and just pick a song and put it out there, period.

By: danb

danb — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:05:54 -0800

Oh hell, I'll do it.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:30:58 -0800

As far as where to find a set, hmmm... AHA! Here!

Hey, thanks. My band, The Dukes of Simpleton, needs one of those for the middle section of Yacht Dance.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:44:26 -0800

i will provide a gratuitous guitar solo. or two.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:30:15 -0800

I've been playing the doumbek for nigh-on 10 years. If anybody wants me to lay down a track or two, email is in profile.

(also, if you want to hear a sample of my work, feel free to check out my and Navelgazer's contributions to MeFi Music)

By: jazon

jazon — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:45:20 -0800

I'd be interested in contributing drums to the MMOMPG - most likely digital but I can look into doing live drums, too.

By: Secretariat

Secretariat — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:50:33 -0800

I could flute a little bit for such a cause.

By: horsewithnoname

horsewithnoname — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:17:07 -0800

Love the idea, goodnewsfortheinsane! Put me down for a keyboard track.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:54:26 -0800

I think I know how to use Audacity well enough to sing or otherwise contribute somehow, but I should probably just contribute by being a part of the audience. Looking forward to that.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 15:30:23 -0800

This is great! Count me in too!!!!

By: wendell

wendell — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:11:15 -0800

Upon getting my harmonica out of storage, I have discovered it has been infested with bugs. I will clean it out as thoroughly as possible, but would you mind a harmonica part without any of the notes made by inhaling?

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 18:07:04 -0800

would you mind a harmonica part without any of the notes made by inhaling?

No, wendell, that would suck.

No, wait... that wouldn't suck.

By: The Great Big Mulp

The Great Big Mulp — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:35:08 -0800

I might as well be in. You probably need a toy piano and/or ukulele. Everybody does.

By: The Great Big Mulp

The Great Big Mulp — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:36:14 -0800

So, yes, I'm totally in.

By: fleacircus

fleacircus — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:08:34 -0800

I would like to have a chance to be included among those who qualify for the "in" people, if possible.

By: fleacircus

fleacircus — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:09:39 -0800

And I would call this thing exquisite chords.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:18:29 -0800

I would like to have a chance to be included among those who qualify for the "in" people, if possible.

I'm in with the in crowd,
I go where the in crowd goes
I'm in with the in crowd
and I know what the in crowd knows...

By: tehloki

tehloki — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:34:15 -0800

We should probably set up some sort of Yahoo! group or mailing list or common FTP logon or something, before we all forget about this crazy thing. At least, we need a place for everybody to dump their stuff.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:56:58 -0800

Hooray! This is going to be awesome!

By: BrodieShadeTree

BrodieShadeTree — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 21:12:16 -0800

I shall contribute a series of arm-farts in the key of A-flat.

By: O9scar

O9scar — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 21:50:39 -0800

Cover? Boo! It should be an original song.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 22:15:22 -0800

fleacircus: I see what you did there.

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 22:20:20 -0800

Later this week, I should be receiving my first ever computer recording equipment + software. (Cubase LE) If I can figure out how to use the darn thing by the time you get this off the ground, I'd love to contribute a bass part.

For that matter, once I get the hang of the process I'd be happy to collaborate and provide bass lines on future projects for anyone else who wants them.

By: Meatbomb

Meatbomb — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 22:29:21 -0800

If there is the possibility (time / logistics wise), I will be wanting to add some vocals to this thing.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 01:17:17 -0800

If you are in need of any kind of whiskey-cured Daltrey-channelled-by-Waits inarticulate roar, then I'd be happy to provide.

By: Karlos the Jackal

Karlos the Jackal — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 03:26:58 -0800

I am interested, depending on my schedule and on what format you need (I don't use a computer, but I can put stuff on CD). Um, autoharp, Q Chord, bulbul, tremoloa, kaen, gopichand, chartola grand, or stylophone are all possibilities depending on what key it's in. If all else fails, I have a cymbal-playing evil monkey. It might be best to just go with the monkey.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 05:05:56 -0800

Karlos the Jackal has a stylophone! And a tremoloa, too!

/jealous

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 05:23:07 -0800

I will contribute white-noise degraded to 2-bits and run through a low-pass filter at 160hz. But it will have rhythm.

By: motty

motty — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 06:36:07 -0800

Sounds like fun. Happy to provide piano, synth, bass, guitar, and/or vocals, plus possible clarinet or mouth trumpet noises.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:03:23 -0800

tehloki: "We should probably set up some sort of Yahoo! group or mailing list or common FTP logon or something, before we all forget about this crazy thing. At least, we need a place for everybody to dump their stuff."

Senduit will probably be just fine. I will email everyone who expressed interest, and that's a lot of folks, I might add. I may forgive, but I don't forget. And I don't forgive, either.

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:42:29 -0800

Don't most of the Send Big File FooIt sites have time-sensitive storage? Like, get it in a week or sorry, charlie?

By: dirtdirt

dirtdirt — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:30:46 -0800

I'm totally in - ukulele and/or poorly bowed contrabasso.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:59:38 -0800

cortexAdmin: "Don't most of the Send Big File FooIt sites have time-sensitive storage? Like, get it in a week or sorry, charlie?"

A Senduit file will last for a week, which I think should be fine for getting things to and fro. Sending to me especially shouldn't be a problem, and if anyone still wants my basic tracks when the link has expired, I'll just email it to them or put it online somewhere.

By: dirtdirt

dirtdirt — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:17:36 -0800

I think the song should be "We Are The World", and everyone should take a line. I call Huey Lewis!

OK< not really. But that'd be funny as heck.

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:56:29 -0800

By: verysleeping

verysleeping — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:24:46 -0800

I would gladly play the singing saw, please count me in.

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:51:03 -0800

If you end up with 30 lead guitar parts all fighting each other in a huge hideous mess, you might consider distributing the entries into multiple versions of the song. It might be easier to get a musical end result that way.

Yeah, canonical megamix aside, I'm really excited by the possibility of alternate subsets and the like. Especially really weird stuff: nothing BUT supporting tracks, etc.

Putting some of that into a flash app, to allow dynamic track enabling/disabling, would be a hot-shit toy to put together after the main mixology, too.

By: Anything

Anything — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:49:29 -0800

I would love to sing for this. I don't have any equipment, but I might be able to work something out.

By: TwoWordReview

TwoWordReview — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:57:21 -0800

I definitely wanna be a part of this but my 'studio' has been reduced to a laptop, a microphone and an acoustic guitar since moving. Perhaps some processed acoustic guitar from me!

Oh and I'd definitely vote for original song rather than cover!

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:13:31 -0800

I've been playing the doumbek for nigh-on 10 years.

Damn, your arms must be tired!

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:16:55 -0800

By: god hates math

god hates math — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:35:57 -0800

Perhaps the whole big collection of tracks could be given out to multiple MeFi Musicers, whoever's interested, so lots of different mixes'n'remixes could happen?

That would be very exciting - I'd probably come up with 5 or 6 different versions. And then there's the remixes to think about.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:43:01 -0800

cortex, flapjax, I agree too. That's a good idea. I've daydreamed about this before, and I imagined everyone having a very minimalist input so that every voice could actually be in one song.

It's like that game where you tell something to the person next to you and so on until the message has completely morphed into something else.

Pretty long rhythm track with everyone's 3 or 4 (or more) seconds of variation on a theme. Just another idea! It's seems simple in theory but the product would be really interesting and cool. Any thoughts on it?

By: ageispolis

ageispolis — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:05:46 -0800

Yeah, if I got the barebones I could throw together a remix.

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:05:37 -0800

I've been away from the world for the last month, and I just came back today, what seems to be too late for this. But in case it is not, I'm in.

I don't have many instruments, but I can do something quirky or Latinesque in it so that (my contribution) is different enough -at this point it seems everything else has been already offered.

I'll check back the thread. Now I have one month worth of Mefi Music waiting for me.

By: chococat

chococat — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:19:01 -0800

Echoing what cortex said above, re: multiple remixes. Perhaps the whole big collection of tracks could be given out to multiple MeFi Musicers, whoever's interested, so lots of different mixes'n'remixes could happen?

Ya, that's kind of what I was getting at, without saying it intelligibly, way back when. But I'm kind of torn...the risk of this whole thing is having to mix 50 tracks of lead vocals or guitar solos, a bunch of beeping synth loops and scratching, and someone will be really sad because you can't hear his djembe in the mix. There's only so much panning you can do.
But that's the risk and it's a fun risk and it's gnfti's risk and I agree that he should completely be a dictator on this one and pick and choose stuff and present the result. It was his idea.
And ya, it should be one of your original songs, for sure, gnfti.
That way people have nothing to copy and they have to invent their own parts. Way more interesting.
Maybe he could mix his own final cut as "the collaboration" and then have tracks free for download for anyone to make their own versions/mixes? Or is this exactly what you guys are saying?

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:45:17 -0800

Maybe he could mix his own final cut as "the collaboration" and then have tracks free for download for anyone to make their own versions/mixes? Or is this exactly what you guys are saying?

That's exactly what I'm saying. :) Having heard enough of Paul's work, I'm totally confident in his ability to a great fucking canonical mix incorporating as much of the source material as he can, but I am very much interested in seeing what other sort of mixes folks could come up with. All sorts of weird degenerate fun in the offing, there.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:54:00 -0800

Hey, mica! Wondering where you'd gotten off to! Welcome back!

By: snsranch

snsranch — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:17:02 -0800

Hey chococat and cortex, that's making sense to me now and sounds right on!

Micayetoca, hey, welcome back! I was starting to worry about you.

By: davejay

davejay — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:53:53 -0800

Hey Great Big Mulp, take the toy piano, will you? I've got a uke and I'm not afraid to use it, but my toy piano skills are sadly lacking.

ps I'm in, plus I'll get my spooky tom waits track done besides, I hope

By: davejay

davejay — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:56:24 -0800

Argh, you too, dirtdirt? Well, even together you cannot stop my ukulele contribution. And maybe a kid or two screaming in a high C.

By: dirtdirt

dirtdirt — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:24:24 -0800

Davejay, Clearly in this project, as in most aspects of life, you can't have too many ukuleles.

By: The Great Big Mulp

The Great Big Mulp — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:22:54 -0800

Alright, davejay. But I might be tempted to cheat and break out the electric ukulele.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:39:13 -0800

Uh oh, The Great Big Mulp might be bringing the Electric Uke!!!! Yea!!!!

By: Secretariat

Secretariat — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:02:44 -0800

This thread is useless without pictures.

Well, not really, but wouldn't a "Musical Mefites and their Intriguing Instruments" photo set be neat?

By: loiseau

loiseau — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:54:21 -0800

COUGH. cough. Sneeze. Snork.

That aside, I would like to squeeze myself in here too, with vocals, guitar, keyboard or drums. Which one depends on the song I suppose.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:58:37 -0800

Secretariat: the room-sized synth rig I have in my dreams would totally take up the whole picture.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:49:36 -0800

I've emailed the following people with their respective missions:

Astro Zombie, miss lynnster, rhapsodie, signal, SassHat, blaneyphoto, Kattullus, equalpants, cortex, Devils Rancher, wendell, interrobang, sourwookie, Brandon Blatcher, O9scar, cabingirl, Jon Mitchell, Rossination, Samuel Farrow, booksandlibretti, chococat, herrdoktor, davey_darling, roll truck roll, tehloki, flapjax at midnite, blasdelf, Doofus Magoo, god hates math, danb, quonsar, Afroblanco, jazon, horsewithnoname, ZachsMind, snsranch, wendell, The Great Big Mulp, fleacircus, tdismukes, Karlos the Jackal, Jimbob, motty, dirtdirt, verysleeping, Anything, TwoWordReview, micayetoca.

These people don't have email addresses listed in their profiles, and should email me:

escabeche, Secretariat, davejay, loiseau

(Okay, so everyone got the same mission.)

Over fifty people. Wow.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:52:14 -0800

I'll let Secretariat know when she gets home with my Pad Thai.

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:53:49 -0800

I just got it. My download will begin in 31 seconds. Do you have any deadline in mind, goodnewsfortheinsane?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:25:49 -0800

cortex: Heh. D'oh!

micayetoca: Good one, let's say 8 November?

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:33:16 -0800

(Download is 75% through). 8 November sounds good. I know you've said it before, but, should I just go ahead and record whatever I come up with and leave it to you to decide how to insert it (or nor)?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:47:59 -0800

Absolutely. Go nuts.

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:30:53 -0800

I got the tracks, imported them into Cubase, and I've started learning my bass line.

This should be fun.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:04:25 -0800

[this is good]

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:40:17 -0800

Messing around with it now...

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:41:52 -0800

So what do you all think of Orch Hits?

By: Karlos the Jackal

Karlos the Jackal — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:08:52 -0800

Senduit says:

"File has expired. The file you are trying to download has expired and is no longer available."

Aw MAN

By: jazon

jazon — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 23:36:42 -0800

Glad I grabbed the file when goodnewsfortheinsane first posted it.

The bad news: I've just spent the last 3 hours getting the drum track in place. Still a couple spots to smooth out but the main drumset part is done.

Next up - adding the fun stuff... (and I've got a tambourine!)

By: jazon

jazon — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 23:37:23 -0800

(not to say doing the drums was bad, but I need to be in bed, not playing)

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:26:56 -0800

FWIW, I screwed up the link expiration date; it's up again now. You should have received another email from me.

If you haven't heard from me, send me an email. Also if you're reading this just now and still want to participate!

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:55:44 -0800

Oh you silly bastard. This is going to be a monster.

By: signal

signal — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:16:45 -0800

From the mission statement: -Please do not send me multiple takes, unless you've recorded two parts on the same instrument but that are *massively* disparate and you're absolutely lost as to which one to submit. In which case I would still advise you to confer with me via email anyway. Do a one-take (you're good, right? :-P), or edit your own master take together.

What if you're recording two (or more) instruments? Is it ok to send 1 track per instrument?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:35:14 -0800

Sure, signal, that's perfectly fine.

By: timeistight

timeistight — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:51:24 -0800

Is it too late to get in on this? I could contribute some lap steel.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:56:41 -0800

Surely not too late. You've got email.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:27:49 -0800

So, are we doing these as though we were arranging the song for 50 instruments?

In other words, if I were actually in a band of 50 people playing this song and we'd not practiced it ahead of time, I probably wouldn't play continuously through the whole thing, under the philosophy that a little dulcimer probably goes a long way. Or am I thinking about this wrong?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:25:07 -0800

It will probably be impossible (or at least unmusical) to have *every* instrument run through for the entire song, so if you think a little would be best than yeah, go for it.

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:40:30 -0800

I think I've settled for the Charango. It's the one instrument no one else is bound to have around here (though I'm sure someone does) and it is so fucking highly pitched that it will be recognizable among the thirteen guitars, three bass guitars and 33 vocalists.

It think I'll give you a full track of it, goodnewsfortheinsane, so that you have more to decide with. Hopefully some of it will make it to the final mix.

By: team lowkey

team lowkey — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:49:56 -0800

I have been following this thread, but have been unwilling to commit due to being very busy and not having any recording equipment set up right now. Could I hear the thing without signing up for a specific instrument? Maybe I'll be inspired.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:57:35 -0800

gnfti, why don't you just go ahead and post the existing voc-and-guitar track to Music as a "before" track with a touch of explanation and a link to this thread?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:52:24 -0800

Sounds great, micayetoca!

team lowkey, I sent it to you just now.

cortex, it's not that I'm bent on some sort of surprise element or anything, it's more that I want to minimize my musical contribution as much as possible. I'd prefer to just compile and mix other people's contributions, and then when that's presented I'd be happy to include a "before" version.

Which reminds me: contributors, do not be afraid to record rhythm instrument part (guitar or other) and/or lead vocals! I feel that if I could mute the original tracks and the song can still hold its own, then we've really reached our goal.

By: team lowkey

team lowkey — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:32:53 -0800

Muchos gracias.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:26:27 -0800

GNFTI, just taking a second to thank you for doing this! The tracks are excellent and I really appreciate the details in your "readme".

(furiously trying to catch up to micayetoca!!!! Must...run...faster...)

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:34:38 -0800

Sorry, gnfti, but by the time I got to the Senduit link, it had timed out. Can you put it up again?

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:37:16 -0800

The second link, flapjax? He sent another after the first one timed out.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:37:17 -0800

I've emailed the following people with their respective missions:

Crap -- I just now found this in my junk folder! I'll be on it next week - going camping tomorrow.

By: signal

signal — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:48:25 -0800

the Charango. It's the one instrument no one else is bound to have around here

Dude, not only do I have a charango, it's made out of authentic quirquincho.
Can't play the thing, though, so you're still good.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:01:58 -0800

The second link, flapjax? He sent another after the first one timed out.

Thanks cortex, but I don't know what was first or second or what... anyway, I mailed gnfti, and he just sent a link, and it's downloading now. Yay!

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:05:53 -0800

Yeah, in retrospect the lack of both emails would kind of make it hard for you to discern which one you had, I guess. I'll hush up now.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:06:26 -0800

the Charango. It's the one instrument no one else is bound to have around here

Dude, not only do I have a charango, it's made out of authentic quirquincho.

Hey, a while back I bought an old barn in Portugal, and when we sawed off the rusty old padlock on the door we found it was full of... charangos! Floor to rafters! Musta been five or six thousand of 'em in there! We didn't know what they were, though, so we used 'em for firewood all winter long. Man, those strings a-poppin' in the fireplace sure sounded good, too!

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:07:48 -0800

I'm pretty sure you can still buy Charangos at Taco Time. Sweet cinnamon bready goodness. Mmm hmm.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:30:15 -0800

The temptation for me to submit a .wav of Never Gonna Give You Up is building.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:37:20 -0800

I probably wouldn't have admitted that if I were you.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:45:16 -0800

If all the submissions were anonymous and nobody heard the final product in the end, I'm sure it would be goodnewsfortheinsane being drowned out by a chorus of Rick Astley.

(I'm not actually going to do that, I'm just sayin'... we're that kind of crowd).

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:51:45 -0800

Well, no. I don't think we are.

At the risk of sounding like the cranky old man yet again, at this stage the Rick Astley thing is kinda lampshade-on-the-heady, if you know what I'm saying. Mildly funny the first time, maybe, but that was approximately a geological age ago. In ~~dog~~ internet years.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 05:05:16 -0800

I'm telling you, these days, the whole lampshade-on-the-head is a classic, classic! It's like the Iliad of stupid things to do at a party. Of course, as with most that is good in the world, putting a lampshade on the head is nigh on impossible these days, because most lampshades have metal things which preclude the shade from fitting on the head.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 05:19:56 -0800

Kattullus, you sound like a man who has actually tried this at partys, on more than one occasion. And for that, you are either to be praised or condemned. I'm not sure which.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 05:30:42 -0800

*buys everybody a big goddamn drink with an umbrella in*

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:15:04 -0800

Hey, a while back I bought an old barn in Portugal, and when we sawed off the rusty old padlock on the door we found it was full of... charangos! Floor to rafters! Musta been five or six thousand of 'em in there! We didn't know what they were, though, so we used 'em for firewood all winter long. Man, those strings a-poppin' in the fireplace sure sounded good, too!
posted by flapjax at midnite

Now that's an idea. Thx, flapjax, no more racking my brain trying to come up with a part to play that's original enough.

By: cortex

cortex — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:50:03 -0800

a chorus of Rick Astley

You know, done as a tasteful counterpoint line...

Hmm.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 07:14:14 -0800

cortexAdmin: "You know, done as a tasteful counterpoint line...

Hmm."

My thoughts precisely.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 09:53:16 -0800

For some reason the Senduit link expired again; I put the ZIP file up on FTP now. Updated link in your email; if you're reading this and want to give it a go please email me.

You've all kept your weekend free for recording, right?

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:13:21 -0800

You've all kept your weekend free for recording, right?

Yeah, luckily, because Mick Jagger just called me. Why were you asking?

By: InfidelZombie

InfidelZombie — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:27:52 -0800

Another late entrant here- gnfti, I sent you an email.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:48:40 -0800

micayetoca: "You've all kept your weekend free for recording, right?

Yeah, luckily, because Mick Jagger just called me. Why were you asking?"

Oh great, ask him if he still wants that chorus doubled, will you?

And InfidelZombie, late? We're just getting started!

By: tehloki

tehloki — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:02:22 -0800

I misinterpreted the "set the expiration to ONE WEEK" as "you must have your tracks in within ONE WEEK". So, yeah, enjoy my early-bird submission.

By: horsewithnoname

horsewithnoname — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:32:48 -0800

For a fully ridiculous effect, someone has to sing the chorus of "We Didn't Start the Fire" over one of the later choruses in this song. The melody works over the changes.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:16:04 -0800

Careful, you're giving it away.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:33:40 -0800

UPDATE: three submissions already, five tracks. Sounds great, looks to become a pleasant chaos.

Things we need more of:

Bass guitar
Rhythm guitar (and other rhythm-harmonic ('chord') instruments)
Lead vocals
Backing vocals
Drums

Wait a minute, let me check - yes, we need a standard rock band. And all the other, more outlandish stuff.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:46:32 -0800

Metafilter: a pleasant chaos.

By: loiseau

loiseau — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 15:57:35 -0800

What's new?! I'm recording tomorrow evening...

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:31:08 -0800

I just sent off the link to my track.

That was fun. If any other MeFi musicians are working on a project where they need someone to lay down a bass track, drop me an email. I'd love to help out.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:15:41 -0800

Hey, I was gonna do the bass track! (JK)

I've actually been practicing that part, but who cares! This is for the fun, no?

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:20:03 -0800

So submit a dang bass track, snsranch!

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 17:00:10 -0800

"Hey, I was gonna do the bass track! (JK)"

If we can have multiple ukuleles, I suppose we can have multiple bass tracks.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:58:57 -0800

Absolutely. See it as a revue: the more, the merrier.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:01:19 -0800

Six excellent tracks submitted so far by four outstanding people.

And still no one has sung the lead vocal part.

What is it with you people?

By: snsranch

snsranch — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:25:58 -0800

Well one thing I'm NOT doing is the lead vocal!

So, GNFTI, what instruments have been covered? I'm not sure if it's cheating, but I'm curious as to what part of the aural spectrum is still wide open.

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:38:42 -0800

If I sung, mathowie would receive take-down notices. Threats. All sorts of nasty stuff.

I'm sticking to charango. (what's taking you so long- you may ask. Yeah, I know I'm taking my time but I'll come thru). How's the rest doing? Did someone officially back out?

By: loiseau

loiseau — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:58:59 -0800

i *could* conceivably do the lead vocal... should i?
i'd need a couple of days to practice it 'cause it's a toughie. thoughts?
ps. i'm a girl

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 08:29:55 -0800

Go for it, lady.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:32:33 -0800

Do it, ma'am.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:37:59 -0800

snsranch: "So, GNFTI, what instruments have been covered?"

So far we've got some backing vocals, synth bass and synth strings, electronic drums, tambourine, and bass guitar. Again, multiple submissions of the same or similar instruments are absolutely fine.

micayetoca: "Did someone officially back out?"

Well, of course there are some people who can't follow through because of other obligations, broken computers, forces majeures, etc. But mostly the response has been very enthusiastic and promising.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:39:12 -0800

I'm assuming a lot of people just aren't done yet. God knows I'm not.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:55:20 -0800

Oh and I don't blame them, there's still plenty of time. And I certainly don't mean to rush anyone, I just think an email reminder a week or so into the project helps to keep the forgetful on board.

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:00:13 -0800

thirded, loiseau, it would be great to have a female voice in it.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:01:06 -0800

Oh, absolutely! I don't mean to imply that you mean to rush anyone. (Shall we carry this out three or four more steps for the excruciatingly polite joy of the thing? Because I will win.)

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:32:02 -0800

Oh, I concede. Shame on my English heritage, but I can't do the overly polite thing. At the risk of doing a kind of Whorfian Godwin I do believe there's a significant cultural component to it - both the Americans and the Dutch are known for a stereotypical kind of forward matter-of-factness, and I can get kind of impatient with some of my English and Polish friends for example, with whom every meaningful exchange can be covered with layer upon layer of politeness.

Secretly I like the obsessive politeness thing and wish I could do it, but I guess I don't have the talent for it.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:32:33 -0800

Oh, epic "Oh" combo though.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:34:25 -0800

I mostly just hit things with a hammer until people capitulate.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:35:09 -0800

That's "steampunk juicer" to you, you ignorant Yankee asshole.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:22:02 -0800

Choke on a fretboard, Dane.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:30:20 -0800

*bows*

By: snsranch

snsranch — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:36:22 -0800

You guys are cracking me up.

loiseau: p.s. I'm a girl. Ha, that's great! Now, I double-dog-dare you to sing the lead!

This is sounding really cool. I'm off to go practice *something*.

By: loiseau

loiseau — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:41:53 -0800

I'm gonna sing lead! This is my big break!!!

By: davejay

davejay — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 01:44:04 -0800

I'm gonna sing break! This is my big lead!!!

By: davejay

davejay — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 01:45:15 -0800

In an ideal world, when's the end date on this? I'm doing this and recording my mefimusicchallenge piece this weekend, and want to prioritize.

By: davejay

davejay — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 01:46:41 -0800

(also, I may abandon ukulele in favor of jazz organ, because the tempo you picked suits the keyboarding I'm hearing in my head. not that anyone cares, but it's 1:45am and I have to be back up at 6:45, so I'll ramble and shake my fist all I want.)

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:46:34 -0800

Tentative deadline is 9 November.

As for uke/organ, please do both.

By: davejay

davejay — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 02:16:29 -0800

2:15am this time, and what started out as making sure my setup was working for recording quickly turned into a Buckets! remix of Goodnews's vocal. I may have to post it separately later on.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 09:03:38 -0800

"Buckets"? Eh?

By: loiseau

loiseau — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:13:21 -0800

Recording tonight I think! If I can figure out exactly how, that is!

By: escabeche

escabeche — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:56:12 -0800

My bass line is sent off to gntfi!

If I have time, I'm gonna record some backing vocals! This is my small break!!!

By: tehloki

tehloki — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:29:41 -0800

Hey gnfti, can we get a status update?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:59:44 -0800

Absolutely. 15 tracks have been submitted so far by 8 people from 3 countries (none of this is counting my original submission).

I just sent everyone on the list an email, which I will reproduce here for those with no email listed in their profiles:

--------------

Just a heads-up: the deadline for the Metafilter Music Collaboration is 9 November, or one week from now. If you haven't already, please submit your recordings!

Things we're specifically looking for:

Lead vocals - don't be afraid! My original idea was to make the final mix a 'revue' of all the different submissions, and it would be great if we could at least divide verses between singers. So far, no lead vocalists have yet stepped up to the plate.

Rhythm instruments - we've got a basic electronic drums track, but it doesn't seem to have any kick drum. So if someone could at least fire up the Rebirth machine and program a little 909 ditty, that would be great. If someone wants to record actual, human, acoustic drums, that would be amazing. (Do split the tracks as much as possible.) Drum loops, handclaps, foot-tapping and other rhythmic thingamazoids equally welcome.

Weird instruments - we've had all this discussion about outlandish instruments, and the most nontraditional thing submitted so far is.. a melodica part. That's right, a blow-piano. It happens to be one of my favourite instruments, but still. We can do weirder!

Start drum fill mimicry - perhaps surprisingly, the song's characteristic drum fill at the head remains sadly unimitated. I had expected tons of vocal "doo-do-do-doo"s and guitar tapping and the like, but so far, nuh-uh. Get crackin'!

Vocal oddities - if you're a singer, or if you're not, don't forget to include the song's little vocal trademarks: "Leonard Bernstein!", "Right? Right!", and "Time I had some time alone".

Also, no gratuitous guitar solos yet, or vocal musings on death, trains and Cincinnatti.

Thanks for your submissions so far, and have fun recording!

--------------

If anyone has any further questions, please do reply in-thread or via email.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:03:03 -0800

I had a feeling all the most extraordinary claims would be the ones to flake out.

(If you're stuck for drums I can bother evstar into recording some.)

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:19:39 -0800

(Please do.)

By: dersins

dersins — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 00:40:02 -0800

Huh. I just discovered this thread, having inexplicably missed it the first time around. It makes me wish I had even the slightest smidgen of musical talent.

Alas, that is not the case.

By: loiseau

loiseau — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 02:05:45 -0800

I'm for real for real doing the lead vocal! It will have to be recorded monday afternoon, though -- just some problems with my practice space and metal bands downstairs... I'm not blowing smoke though, I'm definitely doing it!

By: Evstar

Evstar — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 13:50:36 -0800

I'll do it tonight or tomorrow.

By: Evstar

Evstar — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 13:55:02 -0800

I can record some drums at home, but they won't sound fantastic. The idea is that we don't hear any other parts before we record it, right? Can you tell me the tempo, time signature and length? Any major changes I should know about or do I just wing it?

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 20:54:31 -0800

Evstar - gnfti has provided "starter" tracks with the rhythm guitar and vocals, so you can get the time signature, tempo, length and changes from those. You can email him to ask for a download link.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:30:23 -0800

Hmmm.. you'd think the link would be somewhere in the thread, but alas, it is not. I would fish it out of my email, but somebody initiated a reply-all fiasco at my university, so I have about 8000 messages between me and my inbox.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:31:43 -0800

I emailed Evstar just now with the relevant materials.

By: Evstar

Evstar — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 08:00:14 -0800

This is just a bad REM rewrite. There's no room to do anything really creative with this and it won't be very surprising. I was expecting something a lot more free. The song's already written.

Bummer.

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:15:07 -0800

"There's no room to do anything really creative with this..."

I don't know, I think there's always room for creativity in doing a new arrangement of a cover tune. Even if gntfi had supplied an original tune, it would still be already written, just less familiar. At some point someone has to decide on the chord progression, tempo, lyrics, and so on. If we all just sent in random collections of unrelated tracks with different keys, tempos, chord progressions, melodies, and lyrics, there would be no way to mix them into a single song.

If you have a suggestion for how to do a massive collaboration on writing a new song, I'm up for participating, but I think you'd need to come up with a different process to facilitate it.

By: loiseau

loiseau — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:23:09 -0800

I agree with tdismukes.
I dunno, do it and have fun with it, or don't and let us.

I'm sorry guys -- I'm in the middle of a brutal cold and everything sounds like it's coming from my sinuses right now. Next Monday at the latest!! I promise.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:50:08 -0800

Discussion continues here.

By: freya_lamb

freya_lamb — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 07:40:16 -0800

Hi y'all - I'm up for contributing but only just saw the thread - can I get a-hold of the tracks?

Excitement!

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:46:16 -0800

Freya,

You've got mail.

By: signal

signal — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:50:07 -0800

FWIW: I really wanted to participate, downloaded and learnt multitracking software, etc., but the song really does nothing for me (the song itself no GNFTI's version).
I gamely tried to record some slide guitar and harmonica, but was unable to come up with anything interesting or non-sucky at all.
I'd be up for another round, sans REM songs.

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:02:08 -0800

Hopefully we can keep doing this with songs of different genres, tempos, flavors, and moods so that if you can't find any interesting ideas to play on one song, you can come up with something for the next one.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 17:38:43 -0800

Cross-posted from the new thread:

I'm currently cleaning up and comping tracks, and so started work on the gargantuan task of making a vaguely coherent mix out of this wonderful mess.

By which I mean to say thanks immensely to everyone who has contributed, and you can hereby consider submissions closed.

You're going to have to wait a bit for the final result - a few weeks at the very shortest, real-life obligations and the favour of the music gods permitting. But when it's done you'll hear from me.

Thanks.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 19:43:40 -0800

I know it'll probably be an unlistenable cacophony, but can you simply throw everything in one project and slap a compressor on it? I would love to hear how all the submissions sound together, untouched.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:17:45 -0800

In short: No. I'll probably make the raw tracks available in some way, shape or form, and maybe do a "cacophony mix" of sorts just for the sake of it.

In the meantime, patience is a virtue, and all that.