[Bruce N]

The sign up period is now open for the next Collaboration Contest.

For those who are new to this site, here is a quick rundown of how this contest works.

To be eligible to enter you must have been a member for the past 30 days and have had at least one post put up for critique or review in the Lyric, Song or Instrumental forums.

The sign up period will run for approximately one week, to enter simply indicate (in this thread) whether you would like to participate as either a Lyricist or Musician, or if you are willing to participate in either role. We usually have more lyricist sign up then available musicians.

The role of the lyricist is to write the lyrics of the song. The role of the musician is to write the music for those lyrics, record the song and post it on a hosting site.

Once the sign up period is over, teams of one lyricist and one musician will be paired together as a collaborative songwriting partnership.

The start of the contest will commence with the announcement of the teams, the requirements of the song for the lyricist and musician to follow, additional rules and the time limit for completion.

Once the the time limit is up, judging and voting by both participants and non-participates will begin.

Please remember that teams will be made up from the available pool of musicians and lyricists, so sign up early to ensure you have a spot in this contest, first come, first served.

To the returning participants of this contest please include the names of the past partners you collaborated with in the past two contests. (if applicable) I have a good memory, but it's short.

A big thanks to all the members who made suggestions for the requierments of this contest, and for the most part for the next two or three contests to come.

And as a result of those suggestions the time line for this contest will be a run of a full four weeks, and you won't want to miss out on this one folks.

Bruce

PS: I will be deleting that suggestion thread so as to avoid any confussion and keep this forum tidy.

[graybeard]

I'd like to participate. Lyrics only.

Thanks.

[stewart alexander]

my productions are crap..
but I'm happy to be a musican or a lyric writer

[SatanInventedBras]

Sign me up as a lyricist again!

Previous partners (sheesh, that sounds... ) : neuroron (twice), daddio and FunkDaddy (back in the day)

[neuroron]

Sign me up as a musician, previous partners (in reverse order): SatanInventedBras, Jonie, SatanInventedBras, Dale Hess, Joan

[lyD]

Musician please - previous lyricists Alistair and Len, 3rd time lucky I guess...

[kimberlyinnc]

Lyricist please

Thanks, KIM


Previous collaborations on this contest was Nigel, Taylor B, and bubblingsoul. I am pretty sure these are the only oneson the collaboration contest though I have collaborated outside of the contest with several others, such as Alistair, Sarah, Zeek, Lyd, Neuroron, Gary, Valerie, several others.

It would be cool to work with someone I have not worked with before, but if that is too difficult to figure out, or team up with, and the person I have done one with before, doesn't mind working with me again then I will work with whomever I am paired with. I will just be thrilled to get to do it this time after my long hiatas from the contest

[FunkDaddy]

Musician please!

My last collab contest partner was graybeard, that's about as far back as my mind goes

[Alistair S]

Lyricist please! I could do the musician bit if we absolutely need to, but it would depend on the challenge, as I am limited in what I can do (though I'd give it a go if necessary!).

Who have I collabed with before? Kimberly, Jonie, Ron, Stew, Lyd, Wendy, Bruce, Len (kinda!) and a few who don't post any more (Ricky Horror, Bernabby, Jim Chapman .. umm.. can't remember). Apologies to anyone I forgot!

[m24p]

I'd be interested in being a musician for this collab, BUT I'm going to be out of state on business from March 6th to the 17th, and then camping that weekend. Depending on when the contest runs, that might rule me out.

[scubed]

I'm interested & am willing to do either lyrics or music. This will be my first collab contest.

[starsinmyeyes]

Count me in a lyricist please, (if ratios allow that is ) I have worked with Neal K!

[MrFitz]

Id like to do Lyrics if possible - Previous partners = Fabkebab

[BigPacer]

I'll pitch my hat in for this - I can do lyrics (badly) or music (badly).
Time possibly an issue but it does say we have 4 weeks to get through it.
First timer so no previous victims . . .

BP

[Len]

Yep I'm game. Lyricist or (quite limited) musician, so nothing tricky with those music requirements Bruce. Three chords and the truth remember...

In the last two collab contests I've had lyrical relations with FunkDaddy (dominating but satisfying) and LyD (handled me gently though kept calling me baby all the time ...).

[daddio]

With deep misgivings about the amount of time I'll be able to devote, I'm in as a musician.

I've done it with Len and I've done it with Jonie. I do it all the time. I'll do it with you. I've done it with Billy, Bernabby, and Jimski123. Don't tell anybody but I've done it with Sibby. I've done it with so many people I've lost track. I've even done it with Scubed, who is new to the muse. So basically, when you do it with me, it's like you're doing all those other people too.

[jonie]

I'm going to stay celibate this time, but I'll keep myself available as a lyricist should someone back out at the last minute.

[Bruce N]

jonie, on 26 February 2011 - 10:06 AM, said:

I'm going to stay celibate this time, but I'll keep myself available as a lyricist should someone back out at the last minute.

Sorry to hear that Jonie, well I guess that leaves first place open, and I'm sure the chellange that I have in mind, would have been right up your alley.

And maybe I'll bring this up here, it's important if you are thinking of signing up to make sure you'll be able make necessary the time that will be required for this contest and the work flow that you will need to establish with your partner.

Some have more life then others outside the Muse, and their time needs to be budgeted, they'll still get the job done, however it's important the partner knows, that they are working to a time schedule. Ah yes, communication, that's the key.


Okay, so far we have as:

Lyricist -

Graybeard

SatanInventedBras

Kimberlyinnc

Starsinmyeyes

Mr Fitz

Musicians -

Neuroron

Funkdaddy

m24p - tentative.

Daddio - Pfffft, I know you can knock something off in 15 minuets Don.

Bi- members -

Stewart Alexander

Alistair S

Scubbed

Big Pacer

Len

Not to let the cat out of the bag yet, but the requirements won't be all that out of the ordinary for both lyricist and musician. Suffice to say the lyricist may need to spend some time doing research.

[Wendy D]

I guess you can add me as a lyricist. If you have too many, I will not play. My previous partners (in this contest) have been Alistair and Daddio.

[stewart alexander]

my prevous partner was Alistair..




I'd love to work with anyone..

[m24p]

Approximately when are we planning to kick this off? You have 4 weeks after kickoff to submit, yes? It looks like I'll have at least a full week of that so far.

[Bruce N]

m24p, on 26 February 2011 - 10:28 PM, said:

Approximately when are we planning to kick this off? You have 4 weeks after kickoff to submit, yes? It looks like I'll have at least a full week of that so far.

Well here's the situation, I'm hoping to get this contest going by the 3rd or 4th of March, and then have it run till the end of March. The thing is, some members might be able to complete the song in two weeks while others may take the full four weeks to complete, I have no idea who will take what X amount of time to complete the song or how much they will need to communicate with their partner.

The other thing is I've never known a team to complete a song in this contest within one week and both be happy and satsified with the result. So unless you're able to stay in touch and communicate with your partner during the first couple weeks and then write the music to those lyrics with a week left, and both be happy with the result. I would normally say fine, but I truly would not want to put another member from here in that position.

So you may want to consider postponing your entry this time around and wait for the next contest to come by, maybe at the end of May.

[lyD]

Am I not welcome Bruce?

[stewart alexander]

ahaha sure you are bud.. sure you are!


ps.. love being called Bi ...
been a while..

[m24p]

Bruce N, on 27 February 2011 - 12:17 AM, said:

The other thing is I've never known a team to complete a song in this contest within one week and both be happy and satsified with the result. So unless you're able to stay in touch and communicate with your partner during the first couple weeks and then write the music to those lyrics with a week left, and both be happy with the result. I would normally say fine, but I truly would not want to put another member from here in that position.

So you may want to consider postponing your entry this time around and wait for the next contest to come by, maybe at the end of May.

I'll be able to stay in communication and think about melodies and stuff. I just won't have access to my studio until March 20th. It should be perfect. Count me in.

[Bruce N]

lyD, on 27 February 2011 - 09:42 AM, said:

Am I not welcome Bruce?

Good grief, my sincere apologies David, I went over the list two or three times and I still missed you, sorry about that and of course you're more then welcome in this contest.



Okay, so far we have as:

Lyricist -

Graybeard

SatanInventedBras

Kimberlyinnc

Starsinmyeyes

Mr Fitz

Wendy D

Musicians -

Neuroron

Lyd

Funkdaddy

m24p

Daddio

Lyricist or Musician

Stewart Alexander

Alistair S

Scubbed

Big Pacer

Len

[m24p]

Take the tentative off, please. I'll be able to stay in touch with the songwriter and work on writing the music throughout. And for the last third of the contest I'll have access to my "studio" again.

[Bruce N]

m24p, on 27 February 2011 - 01:59 PM, said:

I'll be able to stay in communication and think about melodies and stuff. I just won't have access to my studio until March 20th. It should be perfect. Count me in.

I'll take your word on that m24p, however I'm still not comfortable with having a lyricist assigned to you who may not be willing to work with you because of your situation as you've outlined here.

Quote

I'd be interested in being a musician for this collab, BUT I'm going to be out of state on business from March 6th to the 17th, and then camping that weekend. Depending on when the contest runs

So I'll ask straight out on here, if any of the lyricist would like to volunteer to be m24p's partner for this contest.

If any lyricist is interested, you can PM me.

Thanks.
Bruce

[Bruce N]

Okay m24p it's on, and you have a lyricist for this contest, and a darn good one at that.

All teams and song requirements will be revealed at the start of the contest,

Bruce

[Bruce N]

Just one more day left for sign up. The line up for Lyricist and Musicians now stands as:


Lyricist -

Graybeard

SatanInventedBras

Kimberlyinnc

Starsinmyeyes

Mr Fitz

Wendy D

Len

Alistair S

Fabkebab


Musicians -

Neuroron

Lyd

Funkdaddy

m24p

Daddio

Stewart Alexander

Big Pacer

Scubed

Decker

Teams, song requierments and further rules will be announced late Friday night or early Saturday morning.

Bruce

[m24p]

Bruce N, on 03 March 2011 - 11:58 AM, said:

Teams, song requierments and further rules will be announced late Friday night or early Saturday morning.

Bruce

I can't wait! Been listening to some of the old collab entries from before I joined. There's some pretty cool stuff there! The suspense on the rules and teams is killing me. Well not really but I'm excited anyway.

[scubed]

One too many Bs!

[fabkebab]

I will sign as lyricist- I have "musicianed" for several people, but only had a very few collabs where I wrote the lyrics

[Bruce N]

scubed, on 03 March 2011 - 07:17 PM, said:

One too many Bs!

Okay, enough with the denial, I'll make an appointment with the optometrist, these cheap drugstore reading glasses just aren't cutting it anymore

[Bruce N]

fabkebab, on 03 March 2011 - 09:00 PM, said:

I will sign as lyricist- I have "musicianed" for several people, but only had a very few collabs where I wrote the lyrics

Now we need one more musician to sign up within the next 23 hours for Fab to get into this contest, I might consider waiting a bit longer, but it looks like m24p might have a conniption if we do.

[m24p]

Bruce N, on 04 March 2011 - 12:24 AM, said:

I might consider waiting a bit longer, but it looks like m24p might have a conniption if we do.

LOL, we can wait a bit.

[Decker]

Hi Guys,

If there's still time, count me in as a musician or lyricist, just whatever's required to even things up.

Hope you're all well!

JP

[Bruce N]

Oh boy !! did I pick a good time to do this ! Met up with some friends after work, on a Friday night. Chasing back some cool ones and other questioned sundry items. Please bear with me, I'm sure there'll be some serious edits in the morning...er...afternoon.

The sign up period is now closed. And thank you John Paul, your timing is impeccable.

Great turn out for this contest, 12 teams competing.......Ok I know it's only 9... just checking to see if you're paying attention.

I'll try and make this as short as possible.

So on with the teams:

Graybeard - Big Pacer

SatanInventedBras - Funkdaddy

Kimberlyinnc - Daddio

Starsinmyeyes - Stewart Alexander

Mr Fitz - Lyd

Wendy D - Neuroron

Len - m24p

Alistair S - Scubed

Fabkebab - Decker

The song requierments.

Edit Note: The strikethrough areas of the text are no longer a requirement for the lyricist and song.

For the Lyricist.

I thought we'd go for the ballad this time, to be more specific the Traditional Ballad form.

Definition and traditional description of the ballad.

In its simplest form, a ballad is a narrative set to music. Modern music lovers often refer to them as "story songs," as the term has been misused so often in the modern era.

A ballad is traditionally set to Common Meter - a poetic rhyming scheme that follows either the a, b, a, b, or a, b, c, b format. Th first and third lines have four stressed syllables, and the second and fourth have three.

For example:

In Scarlet Town, where I was born,

There was a fair maid dwellin'

Made every youth cry well-a-day!

Her name was Barbara Allen.

-- Barbara Allen, Traditional


Some examples of traditional ballads are:

• The Gypsy Rover
• Whiskey in the Jar
• Lord Randall
• The House Carpenter
• Cockles and Mussels
• The Wreck of the Old 97

Examples of modern era ballads are:

• Gimme Three Steps, by Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Hotel California, by the Eagles
• Me and Bobby McGee, by Kris Kristopherson
• Ode to Billy Joe, by Bobbie Gentry
• Black Diamond Bay, by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy
• Alice's Restaurant Massacree, by Arlo Guthrie

Now the hard part, the type of ballad will be that of,


The Murder Ballad
A Murder Ballad is a specific subclass in the Ballad genre. A Murder Ballad is a ballad that--simply enough--describes a murder. Often it comes from a real life murder or death-- like the song Tom Dooley--rather then something from the musician's imagination-- like John Barleycorn.

Songs that describe great tragedies can also fit into this subset. In The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, by Gordon Lightfoot. for example, the killer is not a person, but the "Gales of November." the song was inspired by a Newsweek article Gordon read.

Quote

According to a legend of the Chippewa tribe, the lake they once called Gitche Gumee 'never gives up her dead.'" -- Great Lakes: The Cruelest Month, James R. Gaines with Jon Lowell in Detroit, ©1975 Newsweek Magazine Thus began the Newsweek article in the issue of November 24, 1975. That lead and the news magazine's dry story inspired Gordon Lightfoot to write one of the greatest "story songs" ever.

The song Long Black Veil, by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin, describes a murder. However, the ballad is not about the murder, but rather the innocent man who is hung for it.

Some examples of Murder Ballads are:

• Nebraska, by Bruce Springsteen
• Hey Joe, by Billy Roberts (recorded by Jimi Hendrix)
• Pretty Polly, Traditional
• Cocaine Blues, by TJ Arnall
• Billy Austin, by Steve Earle

I would like for this contest, that the lyricist also strive for not only for a true fact based song, but also one of accuracy.


Requirements for the Musicians.

The Musicians can choose from one of four genres of music.

Keeping in mind that you will be writing to a prescribe meter and use of stressed syllables of the lyrics.

Genres:

Folk - acoustic instrumentation only

Country - acoustic or electric with acoustic

Blues - Delta or Chicago - acoustic or electric respectively

Rock - the power ballad - electric or electric with acoustic


If more clarification is needed, please ask in this thread or PM me.

Some rules to get you going.

All lyrics and music must be original

Rhythm tracks are permissible as long as they are not "Band in a Box" type.

Drum tracks whether real, programed or looped such as "Acid drum loops" are permissible

Vocal tracks may be preformed by either the Lyricist or Musician, or as a duet.

The contest deadline is April 12th.

In a couple weeks I'll open a Pinned thread for posting all the song entries and other relevant info of the songs.

I think that takes care of everything for now, but be sure to check back here for any updates.

Good Luck everyone

Bruce

[m24p]

If we wanted a female vocalist, would it be okay for my wife to sing it?

[Bruce N]

m24p, on 05 March 2011 - 11:03 AM, said:

If we wanted a female vocalist, would it be okay for my wife to sing it?

No, even though I'm sure your wife is a lovely singer, all music and vocal tracks must be that of the two participants only.

[Len]

Bruce N, on 05 March 2011 - 08:50 PM, said:

m24p, on 05 March 2011 - 11:03 AM, said:

If we wanted a female vocalist, would it be okay for my wife to sing it?

No, even though I'm sure your wife is a lovely singer, all music and vocal tracks must be that of the two participants only.

Not to worry. I can always murder a ballad if I need to

[m24p]

Bruce N, on 05 March 2011 - 01:50 PM, said:

m24p, on 05 March 2011 - 11:03 AM, said:

If we wanted a female vocalist, would it be okay for my wife to sing it?

No, even though I'm sure your wife is a lovely singer, all music and vocal tracks must be that of the two participants only.

Well, just don't laugh if one of us starts singing about the type of girl we are.

[Alistair S]

When do entries need to be in by, Bruce? (Sorry if you have already said!)

[lyD]

Luckily I've been known to do a convincing impression of female backing vocals. I'm not sure why I'm pleased with that...

[Bruce N]

Alistair S, on 05 March 2011 - 07:08 PM, said:

When do entries need to be in by, Bruce? (Sorry if you have already said!)

I had mentioned it only in passing earlier in this thread, and should have included it in the rules segment, and will do so.

The entry deadline will be April 5th. I had said the contest will run for a full 4 weeks, so with giving up this weekend as a meet and greet for the teams, and working out time frames with each other, and for tossing ideas back and fourth.

This will give everyone 28-29 days in which to complete the song. Some may do it in a few weeks, some may need the full time period.

[stewart alexander]

sounds like fun!

I got Tracy.. now then, where's my whip!

[neuroron]

In the course of looking up stuff for this I came upon the Nick Cave album "Murder Ballads", which is nothing but original "Murder Ballads" - It will be interesting and cool if our collective works somehow gel into a "True Murder Ballads" album.

By the way, really excellent topic Bruce

[daddio]

neuroron, on 08 March 2011 - 05:51 PM, said:

In the course of looking up stuff for this I came upon the Nick Cave album "Murder Ballads", which is nothing but original "Murder Ballads" - It will be interesting and cool if our collective works somehow gel into a "True Murder Ballads" album.

By the way, really excellent topic Bruce

Ron, I'm on it. I already recommended that Nick Cave to Kim.

[Alistair S]

So, out of interest, how closely are people sticking to the traditional ballad form and meter? I'm asking because I don't want to be too tied to it if nobody else is doing so!

I mean this bit .. "The first and third lines have four stressed syllables, and the second and fourth have three".

[m24p]

Alistair S, on 08 March 2011 - 06:54 PM, said:

So, out of interest, how closely are people sticking to the traditional ballad form and meter? I'm asking because I don't want to be too tied to it if nobody else is doing so!

I mean this bit .. "The first and third lines have four stressed syllables, and the second and fourth have three".

Isn't that the important part?

As in: it's okay to have a chorus and bridge if you want, but the verse meter has to be that way?