[PaulAds]

I suppose it’s just the fear of rejection, showing too much of yourself to people you don’t really know…or often, in my case, fear of not being able to come up with the goods and feeling like you may be letting someone down…even though you know that they don’t think anything of the sort 😀

[pompeyjazz]

Yeah - Personally speaking I get loads out of working on these colabs with Paul - I think that I had a verse idea that was just not going anywhere and when Paul came up with the chorus the whole thing just burst into life. It's such a buzz when you're swapping ideas and to hear the results as each song evolves. Of course if ego's get in the way it's just not worth doing - I'm surprised as well that not more colabs goo on here, but when they do just look at the amazing results. There are some great examples of two writers working remotely on the forum.

[Sing4me88]

Great insight into your process guys - thanks!

I enjoy collabing too and while I've been familiar with and have heard of lots of people sending ideas back and forward your post was the first time I'd heard of or even thought of the process of collabing where each person plays bass and guitar on separate sections. By the sounds of it, it really maximises the potential for great music to emerge.

[adamfarr]

Just to echo all this - it's amazing what other people can hear in something that you're bored of or what you can get out of a snippet made by someone else. I write really slowly and record even slower, but there's nothing like a little inspiration sent by someone else (or the knowledge of someone waiting) to get me focused.

[CorkingCrackBand]

Just to echo… echo… echo… all this, I agree that the collaboration talk is interesting. I never have, (I think I’m scared I’d mess up on the technical front and fail to send the correct data, more than worry about ego) but it’s an interesting concept.

 If I could get over that, I’d be up for a bit of creative cross pollination. Especially as I’m currently in the post Neo Shrimp (latest album) writing lull - I’m just doing boring mixing/mastering which I find a chore! 

I can’t seem to get any songs off the ground at the moment apart from folk ballad I’ve finished about a woman overcoming a traumatic experience of being groomed as a child. Cheery stuff.

Not so much collaboration as welcoming someone’s talent, but I did think of asking one of the excellent female vocalists on this forum to re-record my poor effort on The Queens Lament. I stopped because I then remembered the Queen also speaks dialogue and sings in the preceding song too, (The Queen On Her Throne) which would be asking a bit much!

[PeteS]

A great question, and more than a few great points in the comments.

I tend to work on a few at the same time (10 at the moment) to stop me getting bored with them, that also means I don't reject them too soon.  They usually start as a very rough voice note on my phone, then I'll start in Logic and they usually change a fair bit.  a couple of things surprise me about that process.  Sometimes things that sounded ok on either and acoustic or an electric not plugged in sound shit when fully produces and other times it is really hard getting the vocal to fit into a fully worked up version often meaning I have to come up with new melodies.

I work with Neil but his lyrics are more poems so I have to re write them to fit whatever I come up with.  He also has no experience of playing the instruments (other than drums) or production so I spend a lot of time working alone and usually beating myself up over a song that I know has something but I just can't find it.  I guess this is what we miss when we are not writing in a full band situation.  I have read some great things about how that has worked for people.

Now I'm typing more things come to mind!  I am sure I wold reject less if I was a better singer, had more tone variability or could do things like scream with rasp.  I hate my voice!

I think that's it!