AGSers Music Collaboration

undergroundling · Wed 09/07/2003 21:59:15

I was wondering if anyone would be interested in doing a large collaborative musical project as a collective? I think it would be a really cool concept to get a bunch of AGSers together (myself included) to put together a series of musical compositions.

Not sure if this would work best creating a composition and having each person add a new musical phrase onto the end of an existing melody, or to have each collaborator write a separate part, functioning as a band of sorts.

Perhaps I didn't explain it too well, but I think you get the idea. Well, anyone interested?

Evil · Wed 09/07/2003 22:02:12

I think Trap's email is a good idea, meaning a bunch of agser's music on a cd?

undergroundling · Wed 09/07/2003 22:08:46

I'm not sure what your reply meant exactly, but, no I don't mean putting a bunch of AGSers music on a CD. I mean a bunch of AGSers working together on single compositions as a collaborative effort.

Trapezoid · Wed 09/07/2003 22:10:06

I'm not sure how it would turn out... Would we do it like the writing projects, where we pass an MP3 along to eachother?

undergroundling · Wed 09/07/2003 22:12:34

That's what I was trying to figure out...either one person can start a composition, passing it along to someone else who adds a few more bars, etc., or one person can program drums, another a bassline, etc. etc. passing it back and forth refining parts until a song is built.

Online collaborations between composers have happened, and they're becoming a lot more common these days. It's not too hard to send some mp3s, wavs, or midis back and forth. I think it's doable if we work on it.

Fuzzpilz · Wed 09/07/2003 22:17:25

I've been working together with DarkStalkey for a while, but we have it a lot easier because we use the same software (Buzz) and can just pass the .bmx files back and forth.

This might be a good idea, but unless it's done in General MIDI or with (basically) electronic music methods that might not be to everybody's liking (a remix chain, so to speak) I'm not sure how we'd do it.

Trapezoid · Wed 09/07/2003 22:17:59

Maybe we could put down a simple drum loop, and each person gets 16 measures to do whatever they want with. It'll probably turn out bizarre, but that's a good thing.

Evil · Wed 09/07/2003 22:28:45

I'm saying lets make an agser cd...

undergroundling · Wed 09/07/2003 22:33:18

And I'm saying that has nothing to do with this topic really

Flippy_D · Wed 09/07/2003 22:47:47

Steady on.

I like this idea anyway, but it would have to be in MIDI for me at least. I'm not half bad at improvisation (although not on-the-spot, live stuff), so yeah why not.

Gregjazz · Thu 10/07/2003 07:42:39

I really like that 16 bar idea!

We could pass around a MIDI file, each of us composing an additional 16 bars to the song. No rules, but just be serious about it. (i.e. keep the drumtrack the same)

This could sound really great.

n3tgraph · Thu 10/07/2003 08:02:56

good idea.... although... I don't have enough time these days

Ghormak · Thu 10/07/2003 08:53:02

I don't really have any good suggestions, but I know one thing:

Quotepass an MP3 along to eachother

This is a no-no.

The quality would... well... suck ass when we're finally finished with it. It'd have to be saved in a lossless format.

Trapezoid · Thu 10/07/2003 18:30:21

Well, WAV would be too large. And not enough people can convert OGG. I guess MIDI would have to do, although it'd sacrificing some sonic freedom...

Fuzzpilz · Thu 10/07/2003 18:46:10

Well, I'm out if you're going to use General MIDI.

Not that that would be such a great loss.

Oh, and high-bitrate lossy formats are an option, although obviously lossless compression (Monkey, say) would be better. Definitely nothing below 256 kbps if we were using constant bitrate MP3s, though.

m0ds · Thu 10/07/2003 19:00:06

I'm deffinatley up for this passing along the MIDI and adding 16 bars. Sounds like great fun.

But, I would suggest we kept it consistant? as aposed to going from Rock to orchestral - cos then it'd sound like some dumbass medley that comes with Windows.

Trapezoid · Thu 10/07/2003 19:32:37

Are you talking about canyon.mid? I kinda like that one.

Gregjazz · Thu 10/07/2003 23:13:38

I like using General Midi these days, just for fun. It really tests your skills trying to make a good-sounding song with terrible-sounding instruments.

Constistant or not, just make sure it sounds good.

I could start the song if you want...

Trapezoid · Thu 10/07/2003 23:15:55

Ok. I recommend putting the tempo at 120 bpm, which I consider the most generic tempo.

m0ds · Fri 11/07/2003 00:39:31

Okay, who's starting off the ch00n?

m0ds

Gregjazz · Fri 11/07/2003 00:39:43

Here's the first 14 bars of the song. (not counting the empty bar at the beginning) We'll pass it along, each making an additional 14 bars.

It's sort of a funky reggae kinda style. I recommend using a soprano sax for the melody, but then again, that's just my opinion. The whole idea of this project is that we each have are own different inputs in the song, so do whatever you like. Make a polka bridge. Put in a really sick electric guitar solo. Speed up the tempo until it changes from reggae to ska. Whatever.

Good luck!

http://invis.free.anonymizer.com/http://www.freewebs.com/thefind/midicycle.mid

Trapezoid · Fri 11/07/2003 00:54:37

Ok, but who goes next?

Gregjazz · Fri 11/07/2003 06:10:05

You, if you want to, Trapezoid.

undergroundling · Fri 11/07/2003 15:54:43

1. Geoffkhan

2. Trapezoid.

I'll be 3.

Flippy_D · Sat 12/07/2003 14:00:24

I'll take the fourth place. M0ds can be fifth.

Trapezoid · Sat 12/07/2003 18:54:09

Ok, I finished my part. Er, should I email it to undergrounling? His email's not listed...

Flippy_D · Sat 12/07/2003 18:56:40

Link it here, as long as we're clear that only undergroundling is working on the next part, I don't see the problem.

Trapezoid · Sat 12/07/2003 19:21:32

Ok. What if someone doesn't have webspace though?

Here: http://www.eviltrailmix.com/midicycle2.mid

Gregjazz · Sat 12/07/2003 19:27:38

Nice bridge, Trapezoid. I like that funky trumpet sound.

This project is turning out rather well!

undergroundling · Sun 13/07/2003 15:43:30

OK, I'll start working on my part as soon as possible, was away yesterday. Should be done by Monday evening at the latest when I find time to sit down with a MIDI sequencer

Evil · Sun 13/07/2003 17:59:48

This song makes me want to learn how to make music... Er, not really, but it sounds really good so far

MachineElf · Sun 13/07/2003 23:36:46

As my soundcard doesn't have any midi sounds at all I unfortunately can't join this (which btw should be in that other forum, I think).
But I do have an idea for another form of music collaboration, using audio (as opposed to midi, but actually midi could be used as well).
Basically, what we could do is upload loops or melodies in a certain tempo to an ftp or http or something (if someone has the possibility to set one up - I'm afraid I don't). Then we all could use our favorite music program to put those together into complete songs. It would be really really cool to see how the same loops would be part of totally different songs.
What do you think?
If anyone's interested in hosting some webspace (quite a lot would unfortunately be needed), I can organize it all.

Gregjazz · Mon 14/07/2003 01:02:20

Hmmm... I like to stay away from audio, because of the D/L time. I like MIDI because you can learn stuff from other musicians.

undergroundling · Mon 14/07/2003 02:50:10

Geoffkhan/Trapezoid: What MIDI sequencer(s) do you use? Just out of curiosity.

Trapezoid · Mon 14/07/2003 03:41:37

I've got Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.

n3tgraph · Mon 14/07/2003 11:19:46

Can I do a part too??

I had the wrong idea of this

MachineElf · Mon 14/07/2003 12:09:06

But the downloading times wouldn't have to be too long. In this case mp3 is actually not a problem to use as the compression is only performed once. At a rate of 160kpbs or higher you wouldn't hear the difference (if you say you do I say you lie). A loop would only be a few hundred kb at most. If you're on a slow connection, just use fewer loops.

And you can definately learn things from other musicians with this method as well, only you cannot see exactly what they've done but rather have to use those ears of yours ;)

I'm totally confident about this idea as long as someone can offer some webspace. A good idea would also be some kind of login-system for members as good samples are quite valuable out there...

Gregjazz · Mon 14/07/2003 23:30:12

I got Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 too, and it definitely rocks!

undergroundling · Tue 15/07/2003 00:05:59

Do they still make Cakewalk Pro Audio 9? I can't seem to find it on the cakewalk website

Trapezoid · Tue 15/07/2003 00:54:13

No idea. There's probably newer versions. In any case, if you just want to do midi Cakewalk Pro Audio is more than you need, there are more stripped down versions that can do midi just as easily...

MachineElf · Tue 15/07/2003 14:09:09

Hm, I feel slightly ignored in this thread... Well, well I'll probably have to suit myself for not starting a new thread on the subject, which I might just do.

But doesn't anybody have any positive feedback on my idea?

undergroundling · Tue 15/07/2003 16:15:26

Vartgass: I think your idea could be very interesting, if we could get the webspace, I would be interested in doing that.

Oh, and I'll have my contribution to the midi bit shortly, I've been so busy with work I've hardly had a chance to sit down and write anything, although its all in my head

Gregjazz · Thu 17/07/2003 20:10:08

Maybe we could just continue passing the song down the list until you're not so busy, undergroundling?

undergroundling · Fri 18/07/2003 15:22:49

Yeah, I was going to suggest that. Whoever is next can take over, I'll get back to it when I get the chance. Hopefully the weekend will bring some time for me to compose something.

That means it's Flippy's turn. If he doesn't respond to this soon, I'll PM him and let him know.

c.leksutin · Fri 18/07/2003 16:31:04

Quote from: Vargtass on Tue 15/07/2003 14:09:09
Hm, I feel slightly ignored in this thread... Well, well I'll probably have to suit myself for not starting a new thread on the subject, which I might just do.

But doesn't anybody have any positive feedback on my idea?

I LOVE this idea of uploading a bunch of loops and letting everyone re-sequence to their hearts content. What Tempo should we use? I can bang out dozens of loops.

C.

undergroundling · Fri 18/07/2003 16:38:36

The best tempo to use would probably just be 120. It's the "standard" tempo, and because its right in the middle of most tempos people would want to record at, it would be easier to timestretch the loop to fit your songs tempos.

We just need some webspace and we can start making loops.

In other news, I may actually be able to complete my part of the midi cycle today, so Flippy, hold off on your part.

Flippy_D · Fri 18/07/2003 17:00:20

Alright.

c.leksutin · Fri 18/07/2003 17:50:23

Ton Undergroundlin and Vargtass:

Lets do this, we'll need to see if we can find some donated web space.

C.

Trapezoid · Fri 18/07/2003 18:27:09

I have some webspace. I even have an upload page thingy... I could try and get it set up.