: the Metafilter Music Collaboration.
[Raw tracks
available here!]
Statistics: 26 parts submitted by sixteen people from four countries (including karlos the jackal's wife, and myself).
First of all, of course, an immense thank you to all those who participated. This has been lots of fun - and I know how this sounds, but the enthusiasm really was overwhelming. What have I learned? Well, that Mefites are a creative bunch, that's for sure. And that a project of this size and diversity isn't exactly a cakewalk to manage. The audio part wasn't too difficult - I'm reasonably used to handling large amounts of tracks for the more obsessive of my own projects. Nor did the diversity of recording methods and locations pose any unassailable obstacles - a little reverb goes a long way.
The most challenging part for me was simple administration: keeping track of parts, usernames, files, machines, versions... (Right now I'm cowering in fear of having forgotten to include or credit someone after all. I really hope I didn't.)
Once all the parts were was in place I spent a considerable amount of time just comping everything together and selecting which parts of which contributions I could highlight at what point in the song. Over time I kind of started obsessing over giving everyone "equal time", but then I realized that that was rather naive and probably wouldn't render an enjoyable mix, at which point I dropped that strategy in favour of mixing just as I would a more standard rock song, with some weird bits thrown in here and there for good measure. To my knowledge, I have included everyone after all, in one way or another - you may have to hunt for some parts before you notice them, though.
For instance, at some point it became apparent that I wasn't going to have the luxury of a multitrack drum part. I was sent some drums however, but with them being only 1 or 2 tracks (mono or stereo) it wasn't going to do much good for keeping an already crowded mix uncluttered. So I ended up programming a simple drum track myself, augmenting it with other people's stuff (in the case of the drum parts, mostly in the late verses leading up to the choruses).
So kill your darlings, and all that. By the end I had about a few dozen plans of what might work in the context of a mix, but then, with the thing about 80% done, my computer broke down. Luckily almost, I'd say. Because by the time I installed a new system (it was the same problem as
back then and it turns out it was probably a faulty motherboard IDE controller after all) I could finish it with a clear mind. You can only tinker for so long, and I had to relent at some point and just call it a song.
There are some little things I still kind of regret: given the time - and a less crowded mix - I might have more emphasized the wonderful call-and-response interplay between micayetoca's melodica and cabingirl's violin in the last verse, for instance; or punctuate the song with more of the "small percussion" parts (two tambourines, a pandeiro and a shaker), or allowing more room for the more outlandish instruments such as karlos the jackal's tremoloa, verysleeping's singing saw or herrdoktor's wonderfully abrasive Moog noises. If anything, I would have allowed more breathing room for the various backing vocals, too, which were truly brilliant in their personality and diversity.
But water under the bridge. In the end I just closed my eyes and mixed a song, and in the process I probably sold a lot of people short. I hope you don't mind - I had a lot of fun doing this, and I hope you like it. Thanks again to the contributors, to those who egged us on, and to cortex, who I understand will be making the raw multitracks available soon for possible remix purposes.
Happy new year.
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posted by mathowie at 8:04 PM on December 30, 2007