The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => Competitions => Topic started by: PaulAds on April 20, 2018, 01:18:46 PM
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Hello
I stumbled into making a suggestion for a new forum competition whereby we all write a new song around the same pre-determined drum track...
I recently used the drums from the clash’s “complete control” and had a whale (wail :P) of a time doing it...
So...is anyone up for doing something along these lines?
It might be an idea simply to use the same drum track I did?
Or something more easy-listening?
I’m happy to run the competition (perhaps with a co-host) and could also provide a drum track...if a different one is required...
I’d also like to cheekily throw down a gauntlet to the mods on this one too...we rarely if ever get to hear their songs...would they be up for the challenge? ;)
All thoughts very welcome!
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Paul,
I thinking we need a new summer competition. Whether thats the same one or not I dont know. I think the drum thing is a challenge I'm considering doing. But maybe a bit constraining in terms of wider forum participation, hence why they could be two things - a summer competition and a drum challenge?
Thoughts?
:)
neil
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I would be up for either format and can assist with the running of the competition if required
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I'm up for either.....or both.
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Like the idea. Would we be able to cut it up and mess with the tempo?
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I had thought we’d keep the tempo and arrangement standard but I’m open to all suggestions...
I like Neil’s idea of having a more open-ended summer competition as well as a separate “drum challenge” competition for members who fancy a crack at something extra.
I’d do the drum challenge competition, perhaps with John @pompeyjazz (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20269) if we can get maybe a dozen members up for it?
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Up for anything. ;D
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I'm working with midi drums for the first time on a new track. It's a mess. Must be five years since I played with a (real human) drummer. It looked easy.
I think your idea sounds interesting Paul. But as implied I'm at the shallow end when it comes to drums.
If the track is audio I guess I can just play along. And if it has fills all the songs will be a bit standardized. I like standardization.
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Hi,
Great minds think alike eh? :)
I was thinking about this the other day!
Now i'm thinking lets go one step further.
Lets say that someone on here donated their acappella vocal of say a chorus section to one of their original songs?
They then post it up on soundcloud with the bpm info for it and we get however long you decide to arrange our own music to that vocal.
Johnny :)
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The trouble with organising anything on a forum is that there's always loads of great ideas but less willingless to organise and promote them. I think we should stick with the original idea.
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I’m up for it...
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Paul, John,
Lets do the drum challenge song say end of May and separately think about a summer competition, end of July?
Personally I'd just make the download available and let people do with it what they want..
:)
Neil
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Count me in! Sounds like a great idea....especially as I struggle to make drum tracks!
Hopefully I'll get Scott on board for a DNMC collab on this!
Cheers
Darren
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Great! We seem to have enough folks to run a separate little competition before the main summer one :)
Are we ok to use the clash "complete control" drum track?
As seen here...http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15145.0
I'll run it...but perhaps not do an entry myself...I'd be taking coals to Newcastle (again)...but I'd love to hear everybody else's take on it...
Is that a goer?
Also...anyone else interested to try to invite some of the moderators to come along with us for this one? I know it's totally voluntary...but I'd love to hear them posting a song on here...they always show admirable restraint, but you never know...
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I might have to miss this one. I don't know how to get the drum track in my DAW. And then I doubt I would be able to put it together with something else...unless there's someone out there who's interested in helping? No pressure, though, my time is tight, anyway.
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This sounds fun. Are you able to make the drum track available as a WAV or similar somewhere Paul? (Or do you have a recommended way to rip it off YouTube - how did you do that?)
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I'm in the 'can we mess with the tempo camp'....you know just a little bit if need be.....and maybe cut and paste a bit for fills/structure...but I will go with the majority on that and in some perverse way can accept the greater challenge of not being able to change anything....I'll go with the flow.
I think you ought to have a go as well though Paul. You're not bound by the Clash thing this time...just the drum track.
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Great stuff, folks!
I can provide a wav or mp3 easy enough...I think it was recorded without a click and I’m not sure it’d time-stretch or whatever...I didn’t try...I just played along :)
As for my own entry...i might try another one, then...something different this time ???
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I guess the pure challenge is to play along and be disciplined. Though I wouldn't be averse to a bit of chopping stretching and mangling...
If we can get a WAV then I think we're off an running...
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Ok...I’ll get a stereo wav file sorted and upload it to a onedrive folder and provide a link...I’ll sort out some kind of graph or something of the basic structure too...hopefully that’ll help explain...
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Link to a stereo mp3 file of the drum track is here...
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ah2h_joGZ8_NqCJzH6jWr2QSY9Xf
You should now be able to access the file...download it then load it into your DAW...
it's about 169 bpm, I reckon...I think the structure is pretty much this...
8 bars 16 bars 16 bars 8 bars 16 bars 8 bars 16 bars 8 Bars 16 bars The
Intro Verse 1 Verse 2 Inst Verse 3 Breakdown Chorus Inst Chorus End
You could, of course, do anything you want with it...
Please let me know if there are any problems downloading the file or anything else.
When we're all set to go, I'll start a new thread for the competition with rules ::) and entrants, etc...
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Cool 8)
Downloaded the file. Now for some fun
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Got it. 169 bpm.....blimey. That's about 3 times my normal speed.
Artificial stimulant time.....these days that just means strong coffee.
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I’d also like to cheekily throw down a gauntlet to the mods on this one too...we rarely if ever get to hear their songs...would they be up for the challenge? ;)
Also...anyone else interested to try to invite some of the moderators to come along with us for this one? I know it's totally voluntary...but I'd love to hear them posting a song on here...they always show admirable restraint, but you never know...
@PaulAds (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20253) I'm game! ;D
I don't usually like the "competitive" element to songwriting but I haven't done any "fun" writing for a little while now so I would be up for blowing the cobwebs away with something funky or rocky - or both "frocky"? "ronky"!
@tone (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=1) @Ramshackles (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=6887) @nooms (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=11264) - you guys up for it??
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Wow! That’d be amazing!
Fancy it, chaps?
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I'm in. Think it's safe to say 169bpm is well outside my comfort zone! Love the drum track, seems to suggest punk at its very best.
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Excellent, Bill...great to have you on board :)
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Hi Paul!
When I open the onedrive link it says that the folder 'Drum Track' is empty. (I'm using Windows.)
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Well you got me curious dang it. I'd love to hear the drum track and if it speaks to me I may have a crack at it. But I followed your onedrive link and it says the folder is empty :( Could you reupload @PaulAds (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20253)
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Strange...I wonder if someone has deleted it after downloading or something...I’ll whack it back up there in a couple of minutes!
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new link
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ah2h_joGZ8_NqCWNc9l6T6To5Z48
any good @tone (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=1) ?
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Thanks @PaulAds (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20253) :) I have it. Shame I can hear the guitars quietly in the mic bleed. Will need to try to tune that out when it comes to writing a song. PS was that you popping up in my bandcamp stats?
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yes...guilty as charged, m'lud
yeah...it's dirty and spill-y, a little chaotic and gloriously lo-fi.
I reckon if you write something noisy in "E" - it'll be fine :P
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Why not, I'll give the drum track a listen and if anything comes to me I'll give it a go.
Do we have to stick rigidly to the track as given, or can we mess with it? :D
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I reckon if you write something noisy in "E" - it'll be fine :P
Hmm. I don't play in E and I don't do noise. This is a far bigger challenge than you'll ever know :p
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Nice one @Boydie (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=18510) @tone (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=1) @Ramshackles (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=6887) This is going to be an interesting challenge for sure. It's going to fascinating to listen to what everybody comes up with
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I'm easy with however anyone wanted to do it. With the exception of the intro and the breakdown...it's pretty straight-forward...it might not be too easy to cut and paste sections...but I just followed the original song structure. If you have a verse and a chorus...you're laughing, I reckon.
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ill giv it a go tho not sure whatll emerge if anything
vrooom indeed
about 100 bpm quicker than my sofa
shall have to stand up
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Excellent! Jolly good show :)
Do we have enough interested to put a new thread announcing our intentions?
Give it a decent time frame...say the end of May? or the end of June?
It’ll be good to have to work to a deadline I think.
Thoughts welcome.
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End of May if there's going to be a summer one too I reckon. I'll be pushed but what the hell!
I also think - for competitions generally - that the songs should all be posted within a week period say so that it's not all stretched out over a month or so....people lose focus and interest.....so i suggest end of May, songs to not be posted until the week leading up to that date.....but I'm only a pleb on here so I've got no authority...you're the boss of this one.
Good to see the big boys joining in!
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new link
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ah2h_joGZ8_NqCWNc9l6T6To5Z48
any good @tone (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=1) ?
You got it in the original format & sample rate you recorded in? (WAV/AIFF or any other lossless format)
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I just ripped it from youtube as an mp3...I didn't think it was worth converting it to a higher quality format.
It seemed nice and yucky to me. I am an old punk at heart ::)
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I’m already getting unhealthily into this - in the spirit of punk I say give extra points for looseness and kamikazeness and let’s not hang around for months...
Lock up your other projects and lose Control (Completely)!
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Good lad, Adam :)
Yeah...a chance to rip it up a bit...worry about it later 8)
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Hey Paul,
Ace idea! Competitions seem to rev up my spirits so will try give this a go!
Catch y'all 'round
Scott
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I just ripped it from youtube as an mp3...I didn't think it was worth converting it to a higher quality format.
It seemed nice and yucky to me. I am an old punk at heart ::)
ahhh I get it....for some reason I thought you had an e-kit or something and had recorded yourself playing along....
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I shouldn't have listened to it before tea...
I instantly thought of a ridiculous song about food.
Now I can't think of anything else more reasonable....
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Ok,I'm finished. :)
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As in...finished a song already? No way, Davy...that’d be amazing!
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What have you been messing around at ?
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Yeah,I had some time today with no one around.
Don't worry,it's sh1t anyway! :D
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Ok,I'm finished. :)
Haha. That reminds me of the contest from Seinfeld. You're Kramer.
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I thought I was going to knock this off quickly, but Paul's guidance on the structure of the original Clash song has thrown me. I mean what song is ever structured:
Verse 1
Verse 2
Verse 3
Chorus
Chorus
Oh, and an intro, twiddly bit and a breakdown thrown in somewhere
???!!!
I'll get there but it's gonna take longer than I thought!
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(Bill, don’t tell anyone but I may stick chorus 1 in the verse 3 slot and see whether anyone notices ;))
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Closing date for entries is end of April,folks.
I have it on good authority. :)
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So I reckon we’re just about good to go...if everyone is ok with these details...
The SWF Drum Challenge May 2018
Write a new song using the original drum track from the clash’s “complete control”
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ah2h_joGZ8_NqCWNc9l6T6To5Z48
All entries to be posted in the “finished songs” section of the forum and marked “drum challenge” with all entries to be posted during the last week of May and the closing date to be midnight on Thursday May 31st
In true punk fashion, the drum challenge is open to any forum member.
After a week of deliberations...we’ll all vote on our favourite song and the winner will receive a bag of glue or something :P
If there are no objections, I’ll open a new thread where we can also discuss things as we go.
Any questions before we get (po)going?
Hosted by @PaulAds (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20253) with John @pompeyjazz (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20269) riding shotgun.
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Sounds great!
I'll have to pull all the stops out for this one. That glue sealed it for me.
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I'll have to pull all the stops out for this one. That glue sealed it for me.
Haha I see what you did there ;)
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For those of you that are familiar with the original track, it's incredibly difficult to NOT play along with the original ;D
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Yeah...if you’re not familiar with the original...don’t listen to it before you’ve written your entry :)
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Just want to quickly say that I have been working with the drum track and it's been so much fun!! And a real challenge. I hope we do more of these in the future...great idea
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Excellent stuff, Darren...yeah - I’m really excited about this one, myself...although I’ve already done one!
It’s a great, pounding track...a treat for rhythm guitarists everywhere!
I’ll put together a new thread shortly :)
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Yes! Having a great time with it.
Don't know where to go yet but having fun if not making any progress!
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It’s a great, pounding track...a treat for rhythm guitarists everywhere!
It is indeed....and so beats the simple drums loops I've been working with!
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Ok so now drum complete control drum challenge is underway what about a theme for the summer competition?
All ideas gratefully received...
:)
neil
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Summer Camp
Summer Vacation
Luau/Hawaii
Drive-In Movies
Tanning on the Beach
Picnics
May trigger an idea....
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I think I might run out of time on this one, I would love to have a crack at this.
Might just be a rough demo if I can swing it.
Just downloaded the drums today, won't get a chance to do anything until the weekend, might end up like Pompey's 1hr challenge....
this really sets me going baby, yeah...Behave...
cpm
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How do I pick a DAW?