june contest ... GOSSIP

[AndreasE]

Lady J´s signature:


Did they censore a porn pic of you ?

[Glooper]

Here's another contest suggestion:

Right now, I'm listening to Brian Wilson presents Smile.

Lots of just over 2 minute sonic experiments in there.

Why not have the KVR contest for July be 'Upside-down Frown'?

We could add a couple of rules:

1. Must publish the key the 2 minute vignette is in. (reason - someone could arrange these in circle-of-5ths and mix-tape/mashup them - just like what Smile sound like.

2. 2 levels of contest - best Wilson-like vignette, and best 3 part mix tape of the previous submissions.

3. vignettes have to be submitted by 15th of July, mixes by 23rd of July.

-Scott

erm.. what?

Who's brian wilson, what's a vignette? and what's upside down frowning got to do with it?..

Ben

[AndreasE]

erm.. what?

Who's brian wilson, what's a vignette? and what's upside down frowning got to do with it?..

Ben

Brian Wilson was composer/songwriter and singer of the Beach Boys.

The rest I also don´t know.

[xander]

Voting Party!

The demographic is 20 to 30 year-old upwardly mobile Chinese.

...and I am going to let them sway my voting decisions on each and every song as we carry on and make merry.

Afterall -- if you're after a commercial recording deal, then you better be paying attention to what these folks like to hear in the near future.

Totally true!!! And had I known that I'd have done more of an acoustic power ballad with some electronic sounds thrown in for good measure

It wouldn't be the first time someone got hip to what's happening in Japan/HK/China/Asia in general -- where the purchasing power of the main record-buying demographic has increased ten fold in the last two years alone.... something to think about eh?

Maybe we all wanna start listening to Wong Fei, F-4, Andy Lau and Coco Lee for tips on how to be a billionaire rock-star in Asia without even trying too hard...

[scamme]

This is the only Wilson i know


Tom Hanks's buddy.[/img]

[xander]

This is the only Wilson i know


Tom Hanks's buddy.[/img]

Wilson!!!

[rockstar_not]

Here's another contest suggestion:

Right now, I'm listening to Brian Wilson presents Smile.

Lots of just over 2 minute sonic experiments in there.

Why not have the KVR contest for July be 'Upside-down Frown'?

We could add a couple of rules:

1. Must publish the key the 2 minute vignette is in. (reason - someone could arrange these in circle-of-5ths and mix-tape/mashup them - just like what Smile sound like.

2. 2 levels of contest - best Wilson-like vignette, and best 3 part mix tape of the previous submissions.

3. vignettes have to be submitted by 15th of July, mixes by 23rd of July.

-Scott

erm.. what?

Who's brian wilson, what's a vignette? and what's upside down frowning got to do with it?..

Ben

OK, if you are from the US and didn't hear about Brian Wilson's Smile release in recent months, you must have been living under a rock. I don't know about the rest of the world.

Brian Wilson is the resident musical genius and official weirdo of the Beach Boys.

All of those vocal harmonies, the theremin, the whole sound, can almost be single handedly attributed to him.

He release 'Smile' this past year to wide acclaim, as it had been 34 years in the making.

'Upside down frown', is just a cute way to say 'Smile'.

'Vignette' means:
A short, usually descriptive literary sketch.
A short scene or incident, as from a movie.

This is what Brian Wilson's 'Smile' is; a collection of short musical stories all interwoven together.

Hopefully that clears things up.

-Scott

[rockstar_not]

oops double post

[emdot_ambient]

Sorry emdot, but aren't these all merely "free for alls" in sheep's clothing?

No more so than themes like:

Spring is in the air
Unheard Personalities
44 Seconds of fear
Microphone
Solo
Sci-fi movie theme
Hurry up
Island Music
Cold knight hot pursuit
Covers
Loops
Pink and scary
Unplugged

Or pretty much any of the themes from the past that were not genre specific.

IMHO, themes should be chosen that allow composers to work in any style they want--but all working on interpreting an idea, mood or some other intangible that opens up a world of possibile interpretations. When themes are genre specific I would think a lot of people would lose interest simply because they don't care about the chosen genre. Sure, you can argue that it poses a challenge to them to compose that way, but who the hell wants a challenge they don't care about meeting unless there's big bucks involved? The prizes here are great, don't get me wrong, but that's not why I've contributed.

To me a free-for-all is a theme that gives you no clue whatsoever as to what you're supposed to try and achieve. Just do whatever music you care. But you take a theme like "I want this played at my funeral" and the composer has to stop and think . . . I'm dead. All these people are sitting around staring at my cold dead corpse. What kind of music would convey to them the message I want to leave with the world? That's a very personal question and can reveal something of your personality and way of approaching the world. Could be angry, could be irreverant, could be sad, could be happy . . . but at least it's an idea to set your mind working.

Anyway, look up 'theme' and you'll see that it has something to do with a unifying idea or concept. Genres, then by definition are NOT themes.

[pHz]

like it matters what you lot say anyway ...

slainte rob

[Lady J]

Voting Party!

The demographic is 20 to 30 year-old upwardly mobile Chinese.

...and I am going to let them sway my voting decisions on each and every song as we carry on and make merry.

Afterall -- if you're after a commercial recording deal, then you better be paying attention to what these folks like to hear in the near future.

Totally true!!! And had I known that I'd have done more of an acoustic power ballad with some electronic sounds thrown in for good measure

It wouldn't be the first time someone got hip to what's happening in Japan/HK/China/Asia in general -- where the purchasing power of the main record-buying demographic has increased ten fold in the last two years alone.... something to think about eh?

Maybe we all wanna start listening to Wong Fei, F-4, Andy Lau and Coco Lee for tips on how to be a billionaire rock-star in Asia without even trying too hard...

My Pop album is a mix of Western Pop-n-B with Thai Mor lum and Indian Bhangra rhythms and sounds.

I plan to make it very big in the west and asia. Tata Young, Harisu, look out. I have learned some Thai and am learning some Korean.


This will be a nice style. Amerasian Fusion

[emdot_ambient]

like it matters what you lot say anyway ...

Amen. And amen.

[farlukar]

Sorry emdot, but aren't these all merely "free for alls" in sheep's clothing?

No more so than themes like:

Spring is in the air
Unheard Personalities
44 Seconds of fear
Microphone
Solo
Sci-fi movie theme
Hurry up
Island Music
Cold knight hot pursuit
Covers
Loops
Pink and scary
Unplugged

Or pretty much any of the themes from the past that were not genre specific.

Sooo.... next month "Son Of Most Metel The Revenge"... or something

like it matters what you lot say anyway ...

slainte rob

Awww... You shouldn't say that...
You can at least give people the illusion that they contribute anything. Naughty teach

[rockstar_not]

IMHO, themes should be chosen that allow composers to work in any style they want--but all working on interpreting an idea, mood or some other intangible that opens up a world of possibile interpretations. When themes are genre specific I would think a lot of people would lose interest simply because they don't care about the chosen genre. Sure, you can argue that it poses a challenge to them to compose that way, but who the hell wants a challenge they don't care about meeting unless there's big bucks involved? The prizes here are great, don't get me wrong, but that's not why I've contributed.

To me a free-for-all is a theme that gives you no clue whatsoever as to what you're supposed to try and achieve. Just do whatever music you care. But you take a theme like "I want this played at my funeral" and the composer has to stop and think . . . I'm dead. All these people are sitting around staring at my cold dead corpse. What kind of music would convey to them the message I want to leave with the world? That's a very personal question and can reveal something of your personality and way of approaching the world. Could be angry, could be irreverant, could be sad, could be happy . . . but at least it's an idea to set your mind working.

Anyway, look up 'theme' and you'll see that it has something to do with a unifying idea or concept. Genres, then by definition are NOT themes.

m-dot, I'm with you.

I prefer a theme. If I don't have one, on let's say, a Free 4 All month - then I make one up for myself.

This month was still a free for all to me, and the box I painted myself into was:

1. Each track had to be done in one take, no punch-ins allowed. I should be able to play and/or sing for 2 minutes and get it right; at least I hoped so. This was harder than I thought it would be.

2. I wasn't going to spend more than an hour fiddling with the final selected tracks. I end up doing the opposite so much that I lose sight of the end. At least with the one hour clock, I knew when I was done.

I accomplished those goals for myself.

I use the KVR contests as discipline, training and experimentation exercises. A couple of times I've made some trax that people actually liked.

The themes are useful to know which mental box to paint oneself into. Otherwise, I have to make them up and I'm not so creative with that.

-Scott

[TristezaOrange]

f**k, I want the Brian Wilson thing.