mmmm, interesting idea?

musician.ie · 24-01-2005 4:12pm

MP3s encoded at 128kbs should be good enough really - works out at about 1Mb/minute. Any midi/audio sequencer worth it's salt should be able to import/export mp3. Those of you without a professional program could look at audacity (google it - it's freeware).

I would suggest the following format:
Allow a week for applications.
Every applicant specifies their instrument(s)/abilities
Every applicant must have the ability to upload/download/multitrack mp3s
Every applicant has the option to nominate a cover song to record
Every applicant has the option to apply for the role of project producer
Every applicant votes for an overall boss for the system

After the closing date, the overall boss is decided from the votes. This boss constructs a number of bands from the applicants. No member can be in two bands. Every band has a producer who mixes the song and has the overall casting vote in case of a creative dispute.

A song is decided upon, and a running order and tempo for recording is agreed (probably best to start with drums). The first person records to click, and then uploads their track only as a 128kbs stereo mp3. The second person downloads the first track, dubs their track on top using a multitrack program, and uploads only their track (not a stereo mixdown of both tracks). This process continues until all the discrete tracks have been recorded and uploaded to the central server. At this point the producer mixes it, and all going well, a link to the track is posted on boards.ie. It's probably best if everybody records dry (no effects except for the obvious stuff like distortion on the guitar) so the mixer can have keep the reverbs,etc. consistent. Also everybody should record from the start of the song, even if they don't drop in till the second verse. This way all tracks start at the same point and can be lined up together easily.

I've probably forgot a few things, but what do ye reckon?

feylya · 24-01-2005 4:14pm

Sounds about right to me.

musician.ie · 24-01-2005 4:19pm

Here are some audacity resources:
Audacity home page

Audacity multitracking tutorial

D!ve^Bomb! · 24-01-2005 4:49pm

well then obviously people with protools would be a good start for the 'producer' roll as i personally think it is far superior to other programmes with regards to editing/effects such as reverb etc..

plus if each person only sends their partcular track to the next person then it might be best to leave drums till last, again this could be the role of the 'producer'

musician.ie · 24-01-2005 5:13pm

well then obviously people with protools would be a good start for the 'producer' roll as i personally think it is far superior to other programmes with regards to editing/effects such as reverb etc..

That seems a bit restrictive. While I agree that the producer should have something more capable than windows sound recorder or Dance EJ - Cubasis or Cakewalk homestudio at the lower end of the market, or the aforementioned audacity are all capable of the editing required. Lots of people have full cubase, sonar or logic. You might be missing out on some very good mix engineers if you limit to pro tools only.

plus if each person only sends their partcular track to the next person then it might be best to leave drums till last, again this could be the role of the 'producer'

I can only give my personal comments based on experience. I have tracked this way before, when a singer songwriter threw a wobbly at the end of a guitar and vocal project and decided he now wanted a full band. We tracked bass, keyboard and drums on top of his performances and it was really tough to get it to work.

D!ve^Bomb! · 24-01-2005 5:22pm

you said that maybe drums should be the first thing recorded.. that's grand but you also said that each person who records a track send only that track to the next person, and not their track and previous tracks, so i just thought that when it came to record somethin like the bass, the bassist would only have a click track to work with, isn't it important to interact with the drums.. i just thought that if we left the drums till last then we could at least mix it incorporating the bass.. if ya get me?

i'm kinda confusing myself:D

banquo · 25-01-2005 12:59am

if y'all need any orchestral stuff, i can supply it on mp3 format.

I use sibelius 3 and kontakt player gold, cubase and NI kontakt player.

musician.ie · 25-01-2005 9:31am

D!ve^Bomb! - sorry if I was vague on this. My intention was that you upload your track to the central server as volunteered by daram - that way everybody can see it, not just the next person to record. The next person to come along could then make a pick and mix backing track drawn from the pool of already recorded tracks, to help them record their track. I would suggest that everybody download and listen to all tracks roughly mixed together before recording, to ensure that their oboe solo does not clash with the Viennese choir. They can then construct their backing track by muting out what they don't like.

D!ve^Bomb! · 25-01-2005 11:30am

touché

Doctor J · 25-01-2005 11:33am

First, you need a song, or at least a chord structure. Establish what it is you want to do with the song. Just solos?

I'd suggest you pick something straightforward to do to get yourselves familiar with the concept and the procedure. Maybe pick a simple chord structure, a simple drum loop and everybody gets 8 bars or whatever to do their thing. Then some poor bastid gets to piece it all together.

D!ve^Bomb! · 25-01-2005 11:49am

Hee hee, 'poor bastard'.. are you offering your services there Doc?:D

Doctor J · 25-01-2005 11:52am

I'm on the fence on this one, don't think I'd have the time at the moment tbh

Zombienosh · 25-01-2005 11:53am

just picked up a copy cubase, looks good, will take a while to figure it all out though.

D!ve^Bomb! · 25-01-2005 12:12pm

Ok i'm going to go out on a limb here and pick the starters for the song..

Tempo - 120 BPM - not too fast not too slow:)

Style/Genre - Rock(well duh!!)/blues/classic rock/metal - i assume this is what most people are into here

Time - Lets try and keep it roughly to 3 or 4 mins.

Let's try and keep the rhythm part to around 3 or 4 chords to make it nice and simple as the Doc suggested.. (we'll figure out what chords later)

Everyone get's their 15mins of fame, we all get to play some sort of solo, i don't mean solo as in a 'my dick is bigger than yours competition' but it has to intergrate into the song and work well..

rhythm - bass - drums play all the way through from start to finish while everone else has their solo's(including rhythm/bass guitar)..

We start with a simple 4 bar drum intro 4/4

i have no problem being the one to mix it all down in the end, just make sure not to delete your track when it's sent to me cos i could **** up badly and need it again:D

are we agreed? please make some suggestions if you want..

Fusion251 · 26-01-2005 12:07pm

D!ve^Bomb! wrote:

Ok i'm going to go out on a limb here and pick the starters for the song..

Tempo - 120 BPM - not too fast not too slow:)

Style/Genre - Rock(well duh!!)/blues/classic rock/metal - i assume this is what most people are into here

Time - Lets try and keep it roughly to 3 or 4 mins.

Let's try and keep the rhythm part to around 3 or 4 chords to make it nice and simple as the Doc suggested.. (we'll figure out what chords later)

Everyone get's their 15mins of fame, we all get to play some sort of solo, i don't mean solo as in a 'my dick is bigger than yours competition' but it has to intergrate into the song and work well..

rhythm - bass - drums play all the way through from start to finish while everone else has their solo's(including rhythm/bass guitar)..

We start with a simple 4 bar drum intro 4/4

i have no problem being the one to mix it all down in the end, just make sure not to delete your track when it's sent to me cos i could **** up badly and need it again:D

are we agreed? please make some suggestions if you want..

Ok sounds cool, so who's doing what?

Is there anyone who wants to submit a drum track for starters?

I'll play some guitar on it or I could do a drum track I don't mind.

D!ve^Bomb! · 26-01-2005 12:19pm

well, i'm off tomoro so i guess i could do a drum track? nothing major, just a few beats, start off with a 4 bar intro, then let's say 12 bars for a 'verse' then say 8 bars for a 'chorus' and repeat it for a few mins, in the end when everything is recorded i can make the neccessary changes to suit everythin else that's been recorded..

any other suggestions?

Fusion251 · 27-01-2005 1:56am

I have a plan, I could stick down a song of mine to a click, just with guitar and vox and see what youz can do with it?

And if it sucks, I won't have myself to blame he he

Fester3282 · 27-01-2005 3:38am

Have Sonar 3 PE. I'm up for layering anything: guitar, bass, weird synths or vDrums.

what about exporting to MP3 and posting what each have layered. that way everyone is compatible! I know that will end up with a very unbalanced fisnished project, but it'd be good craic!

D!ve^Bomb! · 27-01-2005 11:13am

Fusion251 wrote:

I have a plan, I could stick down a song of mine to a click, just with guitar and vox and see what youz can do with it?

And if it sucks, I won't have myself to blame he he

go for it man.. i wait in anticipation;)

mmmm, interesting idea?

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