AskMeMus

November 19, 2007 5:22 PM

MusicFilter: interviewing the MefiMusicians.

The Mefimusic podcast is taking off, and it will soon include a segment called "How I Make Music," featuring one of the MefiMusicians at each podcast. In order to make it as good as can be, we wanted to ask anyone interested to post their questions here, and then the "musician of the week" can use that as a guide when recording his own segment.

posted by micayetoca to MetaFilter Music at 5:22 PM (25 comments total)

Lyrics! You, micayetoca, and many other MeFi musicians/artists make it seem so easy to write lyrics. My writing and music come from totally different places, so it's very difficult to combine the two.

Thanks for the post BTW!
posted by snsranch at 6:22 PM on November 19, 2007

Indeed, thanks for posting this, micayetoca - not knowing all that much about the technical side of music, the outline I sent out was really vague.

And thanks to everyone who has responded to my inquiries so far; if you (Yes, YOU!) haven't been contacted but would like to participate, feel free to shoot me a MeMail.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:36 PM on November 19, 2007

Totally awesome. I'm so on it!
posted by ORthey at 7:11 PM on November 19, 2007

As a serial procrastinator with varying degrees of ADD on any given day myself, I'd be interested to hear peoples various work ethics when it comes to making music. Do you set aside time each day to write/record? Or is it more a case of sitting around when an idea strikes and going "I gotta record that"? How much of a perfectionist are you when recording / mixing? That sort of thing.

(Also count me in as a potential participant type person!)
posted by TwoWordReview at 7:27 PM on November 19, 2007

Snap, I didn't even notice this was happening. Serves me right. Sign me up for anything! I could talk about recording engineer stuff to, or how to make good bedroom anthems.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:41 PM on November 19, 2007

I like to know what recording equipment people use: microphones, compressors, boards, software, etc, also mic set-ups and things of that nature, but man, that stuff can be sooo boring that maybe you should skip it unless you think it's vital. I'll just wait for the Tape Op interview.

I also think that snsranch should conduct an interview with the kids, on whatever aspect of music they'd like, but only if he feels up to it.

Thanks, micayetoca, for posting this and a big thanks to Alvy Ampersand for getting this together.
posted by sleepy pete at 7:42 PM on November 19, 2007

Whee!
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:03 PM on November 19, 2007

I love it when a plan comes together.
posted by dhammond at 8:09 PM on November 19, 2007

Although I've decided to stick with podOmatic for the foreseeable future, I've also set up a tidy little Blogspot page to complement it, keep organized, and post supplemental material. Both pages have subscription links via iTunes or regular ol' RSS.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:35 PM on November 19, 2007

Just listened to the first episode there! Great stuff all round so thanks for putting it all together! Your 'How I make music' template looks solid. I think it's a runner!
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:46 PM on November 19, 2007

Hurray! Will these interviews be scheduled (i.e. foreseeable), or is it essentially a first-come, first-served basis?

I am particularly looking forward to interviews by chococat and ORThey. Their tunes are in constant rotation on all of my playlists!
posted by numinous at 11:11 PM on November 19, 2007

Seconded. Can we also tie snsranch up until he tells us all how he does it?
posted by Jofus at 11:56 PM on November 19, 2007

Thx to all for answering this. Remember to post specific questions, things like what sleepy pete and snsranch asked helps a lot, because otherwise the musician being "interviewed" might not know what to talk about (it's a bit strange to interview yourself talking into a microphone).

TwoWordReview's question about how do we go about it is also great. One of my favorite "moments" in MetaFilter Music was when cortex responded to Now, how much do you plan ahead in your head, for instance, with this one song?

I personally would live to know how many people record into computers vs. studios (portastudios, or anything like that).

Another thing I always wonder about is if people use specific song structures or if they just let the song "grow" by itself. In my case, I almost always forget to include a chorus.
posted by micayetoca at 1:19 AM on November 20, 2007

I have a question: what's a MIDI? And where can I buy one?

Seriously, though, this is a great thing you're doing Alvy, and I look forward with great pleasure to doing one of the spots. And thanks for this MeTa post, mica!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:18 AM on November 20, 2007

numinous: Yeah, it's basically first come, first served. Scheduled segments would be possible if I manage to compile a backlog, but I don't want to scare off or alienate anyone by imposing deadlines.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:06 AM on November 20, 2007

I haven't gotten around to listening yet, but please assume that, like me, others have it on their plate when they have free time -- 'cuz this is great, what you're doing, and I don't want it to die because you think we don't care.

we're just busy

it puts the music in the podcast
posted by davejay at 2:09 PM on November 20, 2007

Weeee heeee hooooo!!!! This is gonna be fun and I can't wait to hear you guys!

If I can get my kids to quit giggling I will definitely interview them.

Jofus, got any hand-cuffs? I've not been tied up in a long time:)
posted by snsranch at 2:43 PM on November 20, 2007

Their experiences of Cryptomnesia?
posted by Ira.metafilter at 4:03 PM on November 20, 2007

Ira, THAT is a great question!
posted by snsranch at 5:02 PM on November 20, 2007

That is indeed a very cool question.
posted by micayetoca at 5:40 PM on November 20, 2007

Thanks snsranch and micayetoca - I can never quite shake off the worry that I've stolen all my songs.

Alvy Ampersand, I finally had a chance to listen to the podcast - it sounds great, and your voice sounds great! Thanks for doing this - I find this a much easier way to check out the songs on Music than using the player there. Plus it's good to hear someone introducing them, and compiling them into a good order (which makes a big difference, and actually makes some of the songs sound better for me.) Is there any possibility of this being posted on the main Metafilter podcast page?

Other possible ideas for questions:

- Which tends to come first for you, lyrics or music? (or together?) Which one would you rather start with?
- How did you get started as a musician? What got you into music?
- Have you ever thought about giving up as a musician? Why didn't you? (Or if you did, what made you try again?)
- Where do you look for inspiration? What do you do when nothing comes?
- Is there a favourite songwriting/performing/recording/etc. tip/trick you learnt via experience that you feel your fellow musicians can benefit from, that you'd like to share?
- Do you make music for fun? To express yourself? To communicate? To entertain others? To impress the opposite/same sex? For fame and fortune? Because you can?
- What was the best ever reaction you got to your music?

I might try to think of more later. Oh one more thing: micayetoca - I love songs without choruses!
posted by Ira.metafilter at 6:38 PM on November 20, 2007

that's a great set. I particularly like:

Have you ever thought about giving up as a musician? Why didn't you? (Or if you did, what made you try again?)

I find this to be one thing that no one ever talks about, but that most musicians go through. As a matter of fact, I think I'm going through one of those phases where I've quitted making music (and when I've mentioned to musician friends, they just say something like: "don't bother, you won't be able to quit").

Great, great question., Ira. I'd love to hear the answer to that from everyone that does the segment.
posted by micayetoca at 6:44 PM on November 20, 2007

Cryptomnesia! Very nice, Ira. In the documentary A Great Day in Harlem, there's a story of Duke Ellington (I believe it's him, I haven't seen the movie in years) being unable to sleep because he had a melody in his head. So, at three in the morning Duke goes down and plays piano. He works out an entire song around the melody, writes it down, and goes back to bed. When he wakes up, he sits at the piano and plays the tune. He had rewritten "Stardust" by Hoagy Carmichael.
posted by sleepy pete at 9:25 PM on November 20, 2007

Oh, and micayetoca, don't bother, you won't be able to quit.
posted by sleepy pete at 9:27 PM on November 20, 2007

Yeah micayetoca - you won't be able to quit. There are times when you just need to take a break, recharge your batteries though. I love what you just posted to Music.

And thanks for that story sleepy pete - that's very reassuring.
posted by Ira.metafilter at 6:07 AM on November 21, 2007