The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => The Bar => Topic started by: pompeyjazz on December 12, 2017, 08:15:13 AM
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Something to think of for the new year.
I think this has been done in the past but not for a while. Who would be interested in contributing to a forum compilation album ? I'm quite happy to take on board the organisation of this and I'm sure that with a such a rich array of talent on here we could get something together. Leave a comment on the thread if you're interested and any details of what extra you could possibly contribute apart from the music :)
Cheers
John
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what is forum compilation album?
Is it just a bunch of existing songs or are you talking about new stuff written for it?
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Either
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New songs would be good.
I'd be happy to take WAV's of each song and create fade-ins, fade-outs of 10-15 second snippets for YouTube.
count me in.
Paul
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I'd be happy to contribute a song - any theme?
If it's for youtube I could patch together a video like this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cujoM16ZU&t=27s) from last year.
Another idea would be that everyone provide a sound clip of themselves announcing their song ;D
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I would like to participate by creating an entirely new song for this
would there be a theme?
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I would like to contribute for sure. I hope you don't get too many volunteers and have to start saying "sorry mate" too often ;)
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I wasn't really thinking of a theme per se, it was more a "This is the UK Songwriters Forum" showcase album highlighting what diversity we have on here :)
Digital is obviously the cheapest way to do it, possibly via Bandcamp but if anybody is interested in Physical format I can investigate that too. It costs roughly £250 to duplicate and print 100 CD's
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Hi John
I think it's a great idea.
I'd like to see us all writing new songs for this...and I'd be up to giving it a go.
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I wasn't really thinking of a theme per se, it was more a "This is the UK Songwriters Forum" showcase album highlighting what diversity we have on here :)
Digital is obviously the cheapest way to do it, possibly via Bandcamp but if anybody is interested in Physical format I can investigate that too. It costs roughly £250 to duplicate and print 100 CD's
I got my CDs colour printed in card covers full colour printed both sides for less than 50 quid delivered (50 disks)
I could create and or prepare artwork for print if required and put you in touch with my duplication contact. :)
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I'm in.
If we have to write and record a new song for it rather than using one from our back catalogs, let us know the deadline.
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I wasn't really thinking of a theme per se, it was more a "This is the UK Songwriters Forum" showcase album highlighting what diversity we have on here :)
Digital is obviously the cheapest way to do it, possibly via Bandcamp but if anybody is interested in Physical format I can investigate that too. It costs roughly £250 to duplicate and print 100 CD's
I got my CDs colour printed in card covers full colour printed both sides for less than 50 quid delivered (50 disks)
I could create and or prepare artwork for print if required and put you in touch with my duplication contact. :)
Hi Tone...
That sounds like a fantastic deal...I’d like the CD guys details, please...if that’s ok. Could you PM me them?
Thanks!
I did read somewhere that artwork is well worth spending a bit of time on...and not just to distract from the music :P
Paul
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Tone did the artwork for my album. It's nothing short of stunning. I used the same CD duplicator that's tone used but it is now a little more expensive though very affordable.
Paul
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Guys I've done this before on a forum, and it just sat on Bandcamp collecting dust instead of attention.
If you aint got the means to attract people to it, there's little point doing it IMO.
It's not cool to be negative, but I reckon we'd have more luck with a nude calendar.
Who wants to be Mr January?
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Ha ha...count me out :D
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Guys I've done this before on a forum, and it just sat on Bandcamp collecting dust instead of attention.
If you aint got the means to attract people to it, there's little point doing it IMO.
It's not cool to be negative, but I reckon we'd have more luck with a nude calendar.
Who wants to be Mr January?
We did this once before but in a slightly different guise. It was a charity album for abandoned dogs. My wife did LOADS of promo on it, and it was heard/ downloaded by 1,000s. Yes, the songs were all relevant to the cause and written for the project, but it's worth considering.
Depends on why those involved want to do it really.
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Ooh. This might be worth pursuing...we could do the same kind of thing again...pick a charity...and write songs relevant to that and donate any proceeds?
Edit: I had an idea...how about writing something for an “adopt a fox” charity ::)
<I’ll get my coat>
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OK OK, I smell the negative impact stuff but I'm going to do it (not the nude calender btw) In my mind it's just going to be a snapshot in time. Not thinking of anything remotely commercial, just a reflection on what is happening on this forum now :)
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OK OK, I smell the negative impact stuff but I'm going to do it (not the nude calender btw) In my mind it's just going to be a snapshot in time. Not thinking of anything remotely commercial, just a reflection on what is happening on this forum now :)
For me, it would be so nice to have a keepsake of me playing alongside my talented forum friends ;D ;D
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Totally agree Paulski. But the charity bit might work as well, submit your song, name your charity, divert all the funds in bitcoin to MR POMPEYJAZZ, sort code 11-67-00 . Seriously though the charity angle is a good one and let's accept it none of us are going off on world tours next year so let's just do it !
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Totally agree Paulski. But the charity bit might work as well, submit your song, name your charity, divert all the funds in bitcoin to MR POMPEYJAZZ, sort code 11-67-00 . Seriously though the charity angle is a good one and let's accept it none of us are going off on world tours next year so let's just do it !
Yep - charity works 4 me, well, except the pompey one ;D ;D
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I'm interesting in contributing in some shape or form 8) great idea Pomps!
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If this project moves forward, I'm interested in being involved somehow. So put my name on the list. :)
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OK, so a bit of interest then. So I propose a deadline of song submission by end of Feb and then based on who is into it, decide on format etc etc. I can see that this might be a bit trickier than I first expected :)
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Good idea,
I'd be up fir contributing a song.
Don't know if I'll have time to write something particularly for it as I'm starting a new job in Jan but I can have a go if that's what's decided.
Can't think of anything else I could offer.
Yodasdad
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Nice idea and if I can help I will. How about a mega song of the month covering all new songs during January and February (or from now) and the top 12 voted songs or something get onto the album? Just an idea...
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Or how about gathering up the songs of the month of the past year and having them all mixed and mastered to be a coherent whole?
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Or how about gathering up the songs of the month of the past year and having them all mixed and mastered to be a coherent whole?
That seems a cracking idea to me
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Having them mixed and mastered to be "a coherent whole" implies (to me, anyway) having them all mixed and mastered by the same person or team. Am I right? So either someone would have to volunteer for all that work or first proceeds received (we hope) from the sale of the album would go to pay for the work. Then, anything beyond that could go to a charity or charities....
Just thinking out loud....
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Great idea Pompey. Being late to the the thread I can see lots of different ideas about how to choose the songs. In my opinion it makes sense to dig through the archives and resurface the best songs that have been on the forum over the years. Appreciate there's only a few here that could do that but it would be great for some of us relative newcomers to hear some of the best from the archives.
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Difficult decisions all. My original idea was to be, just send me your best (Iyo) song and then it's a snapshot of time. Of course I'm into other suggestions but personally not into any sort of competitive element. Otherwise that's not a reflection of what is going on on the forum. Some of my favourite songs this year have not made SOTM so I have to disagree with that idea :)
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I'd be keen to submit something.
Agree wholeheartedly with PJ. Nothing that involves nominations or voting.
Some of my favourite songs this year have not made SOTM so I have to disagree with that idea :)
My thoughts exactly.
Are numbers important? Do we have to exclude?
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I have to agree 100% with John and Ian.
To me, the song of the month competition is very rarely able to reflect what I love about the forum.
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I vote for simple. If you are interested, submit a song and it would be included.
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Sound fun. I like the idea of being able to refer to a web page with a mix of the music from this forum. It's kind of boring to say 'Check out my SoundCloud page' but to say this is a mix of artists in a forum I like gets more of that obscure mix tape vibe. Insert smiley.
I'm not writing any songs at the moment but I might change my mind in the near future.
Martin
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Totally agree with keeping it simple. Will start collating submissions in the new year.
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It surely is the time for miracles. Think I've written a suitable song.
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Martin
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This sounds like a great idea! :) I'd be into submitting a song :)
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Great idea Pompey. Being late to the the thread I can see lots of different ideas about how to choose the songs. In my opinion it makes sense to dig through the archives and resurface the best songs that have been on the forum over the years. Appreciate there's only a few here that could do that but it would be great for some of us relative newcomers to hear some of the best from the archives.
I agree with micky here.
I think it's a top idea!
Maybe too many would want to contribute?
I hope this thing takes off. If it's just for us, maybe just make everything digital and anyone interested can burn their own cd and print out any artwork.
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Difficult decisions all. My original idea was to be, just send me your best (Iyo) song and then it's a snapshot of time. Of course I'm into other suggestions but personally not into any sort of competitive element. Otherwise that's not a reflection of what is going on on the forum. Some of my favourite songs this year have not made SOTM so I have to disagree with that idea :)
Well said John.
I'd like to suggest three songs submitted and someone else chooses one of those three...?
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Difficult decisions all. My original idea was to be, just send me your best (Iyo) song and then it's a snapshot of time. Of course I'm into other suggestions but personally not into any sort of competitive element. Otherwise that's not a reflection of what is going on on the forum. Some of my favourite songs this year have not made SOTM so I have to disagree with that idea :)
I agree with your original idea John :)
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If this idea materializes
Won't there be just tons and tons of songs? Over a hundred?
Still I'm game for that too.
There are particular songs from, for example paulski, paulads and John (the song " sleepy")
Which have left me thinking "wow!" For days.
If I could compile it, it'd be the best album ever, for me at least. Lol.
Please, Keep me updated on this. I could record something new, just for the occaision. ;D
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I also think your original idea is good, John. And it looks like enough people are interested. Why don't you go ahead and post guidelines and a deadline? If you use our usual minimum of 100 posts (or whatever you think is reasonable), based on past experiences with occasional challenges, I suspect you'll get maybe 20 submissions?
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I think this could work and would love to participate, although I share reservations about getting it heard. My vote would be to digitally release via CD Baby (costs about $30), which gets it on iTunes and Spotify. We can then collectively use our imagination and resources to promote it (e.g. get all our friends and relatives to put it in their Spotify playlists). This can only be good for everyone on the forum!
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I have been following this thread with great interest
I think it is a WONDERFUL idea and the whole "Pawprint Album" project was fantastic and really pulled the forum together
As everyone has identified- the problem is selecting the songs for the album - or albums...
Most people know that I am not personally a fan of "competitive songwriting" and even though the competitions are a "bit of fun" I tend to shy away from them as they don't "feel" right to me as I find it difficult to be competitive about such a subjective thing as songwriting - and there is always a "winner" and lots of "losers"
Being realistic a compilation album can't contain 100s of songs so there does need to be some kind of selection process...
...so I would like to propose 2 ways for us to take this concept forward - and I am proposing we do BOTH
Option 1
A 12 track album is produced from the winners of the "song of the month" competitions in 2017
I would volunteer to do the mastering of each song and the album - so would need a volunteer to do artwork and then a volunteer to take on the digital distribution.
We could then decide whether all proceeds get distributed between the 12 (or more) contributing writers, given to a chosen charity, used to fund the forum costs, or any other options we can think of
Realistically I think we could turn this around by the end of Feb (or sooner if we agree on this quickly and all SOTM winners can get me their pre-master mixes to me straight away)
This could also add a little more "meaning" to the SOTM as we would not only be voting for the "best" song but also for the song to go on the year's compilation album, which I think would add an interesting new dynamic
Option 2
I REALLY like the original idea of a "snap shot" album showcasing the talents of the forum at a particular point in time
I think we should build on the PAWPRINT experience and find a charity to support (which will not only be a nice thing to do but will help publicise the album etc. ::))
Once the charity has been identified, and agrees to be involved and support the project, we can define a "theme" (relevant to the charity) for everyone to write a song for and perhaps we could even write a proper "brief" with guidelines for writers
Each member would then submit a song by a set deadline and a forum panel would screen the songs to whittle them down to 12 - 15 songs
The only guideline around "quality" would be that songs would need to be "broadcast quality", which does NOT mean a fully produced song - a well recorded guitar and vocal on a phone could be fine if it is clear and well balanced. I know this is often a controversial area but if we are going to try to produce an album there does need to be a benchmark for recording quality
I think we could realistically set a release date for Summer 2018 and work back from there to give us time to get things sorted - eg get forum agreement, determine the charity, get permission, set theme, write brief, write & record songs, select songs, produce album then release
This would then give the forum 2 regular album releases a year - the song of the month compilation in Winter and a Summer charity project
I think this would capture what most people want without it becoming too cumbersome
It is POMLEYJAZZ's baby so I am happy to leave it to him to "lead" but as the forum owner I would love to be involved and get behind the project(s)
I think it would be useful to get some initial views from everyone on these 2 options and if it looks like most agree (we will never please everyone!) then POMPEYJAZZ and I can have a chat to put some "meat to the bones" and kick things off
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Sounds good to me Boydie.
I like the "theme" idea - it will help to glue the various genres together.
The theme should probably fall out of the selected charity (like Pawprints was).
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The theme should probably fall out of the selected charity (like Pawprints was).
Definitely
It will give a "focus" to the album and encourage the charity to get behind it
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Boydie, thanks for taking the time to explain your ideas.
I have to disagree with you here.
Your ideas aren't the same as johns ideas.
The snapshot idea of johns isn't the same as your idea "winners of the song of the month, newly written, theme based songs, for a charity, for focus."
Yours is not a bad idea but it doesn't appeal to me and it definitely is not snapshot.
I suggest these two ideas go their own directions.
I sincerely hope I get to participate in johns 'snapshot' idea.
Respectfully, rightly. ;)
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Your ideas aren't the same as johns ideas.
I never said they were
I was trying to tie together as many of the ideas/points made in the discussion thread
As I said, I am happy for POMPEYJAZZ to take the lead and decide the direction - I was merely adding some options to move things along
Whatever happens I think there will need to be some kind of "selection process" for songs otherwise there could be waaaay too many songs than anyone (potential listeners) would want to consider as an "album"
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Personally I like Boydie's ideas. An annual SOTM compilation would add an extra dimension to it and might be a vehicle to get the forum more exposure. And as a separate thing, an album around a theme/charity that we all write something for would be cool. For me, I can't really see a lot of added value in an album that is just wide open without a theme or some sort of criteria - I do love the inclusiveness of this place, but you can just come to the forum itself if 'wide open' is what you are after. Sometimes I do wish I could just press play and listen to all the recent forum postings in one flow though. For the ones on Soundcloud perhaps we could achieve that by someone putting them all in a playlist in e.g. monthly batches?
Anyway, as we hurtle towards 2017's expiry, thanks for all the forum camaraderie this year. Hope the muse gets very flirty with you in 2018. She ain't been hanging round me much lately, but I'm hoping to track her down.
Pauly
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Just a quick update to indicate who has expressed interest
Pompeyjazz
Wicked Deeds
Paulski
Bill Saunders
Paul Ads
Hooded
Darren1664
Vicki
Yodasdad
MickyPlankton
Viscount
MartinSwede
CrystalSuzy
Rightly
KevyC
PaulyX
More news soon - Stay tuned :)
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Please put me down to help in some way too (if that's not too many cooks).
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Of course Adam. Will you be submitting a song ?
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For sure - but are we now doing new or old or both?
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Just a quick update to indicate who has expressed interest
Pompeyjazz
Wicked Deeds
Paulski
Bill Saunders
Paul Ads
Hooded
Darren1664
Vicki
Yodasdad
MickyPlankton
Viscount
MartinSwede
CrystalSuzy
Rightly
KevyC
PaulyX
More news soon - Stay tuned :)
I'd love to if you'd have me :D
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I only write lyrics and can't do a completed song but I'd love t Jon somebody to make a track for the album
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Ok - So I've now got 18 possible contributors for my forum "snapshot" idea and if I'm running this show I'm going to have to close the door now as the thread has been running for a while. Also, it will be impossible to fit any more on a CD if we decide to go along a physical format option for one of the formats.
I'm sure a lot of people would say that that's far too many songs for an album but is it too many for a compilation album ? When I was growing up I used to love those Stiff / Cherry Red compilation jam packed with a whole variety of stuff.
The whole idea of this album is to make it as inclusive as possible (within reason) and reflect what's going on on the forum.
So how I intend to proceed is as follows :-
For all of the people who have indicated interest, please pm me a link to the song in best quality .wav format via dropbox or other file share mechanism what you think is your own most suitable song for the album. There is no theme other than to highlight the forum and it does not have to be a new song. It must however be of a decent broadcast quality.
I will need song title, Artist name and composer(s)
Once I've got the songs in (and I appreciate that everybody who expressed an initial interest may not contribute) I will look at the next steps.
You could also suggest an album title :)
Cheers
John
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Currently working on a song and will PM you if I get it to where it needs to be in time :)
Thanks for sorting this Pompz!!
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Sounds great John :) What's the time limit to PM you a song? :) :)
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So is there a theme? Or anything goes ??? ???
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So is there a theme? Or anything goes ??? ???
quote from John:
"There is no theme other than to highlight the forum and it does not have to be a new song. It must however be of a decent broadcast quality." ;D ;D ;D
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Yo John,just spotted this,all too late it seems! I'll contribute a song if you are stuck, though it doesn't look like you will be. :D
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My intended song is not recorded yet. I have to restore my recording space from being guest space.
I'll also check this years harvest to see if I have something else to offer.
In a way I think a song posted on the forum is a good option for showing what's going on here. But on the other hand I believe that what ends up on the forum is just a part of a bigger musical process circling around the members.
Thumbs up for pompeyjazz for bringing some musical excitement to this dull pre winter season.
Martin
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Yeah...I completely agree with Martin...thumbs up to John for putting this together...
I've dusted off one of last years songs and submitted it for consideration :)
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Would be nice to be involved but I'm not sure I could manage to contribute a song since I have a few pieces to write in the coming weeks.
Perhaps a Ramshackles song (provided we can record it on time)?
Otherwise maybe I can somehow help with production...