#512944 - 03/22/02 06:38 PM
Collaboration
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strat0124
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Registered: 04/03/01
Posts: 5056
Loc: ,VA,UNITED STATES
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I have two or three songwriting partners, and they all have one thing in common: They never add what I either wanted or expected. Sometimes pleasantly surprised, sometimes I have an outright aversion to what they're bringing. Case in point, I wrote this killer song, with a Ry Cooder like groove, I was certain she would be gaga over it. She was! In fact everybody loves it. She wrote lyrics to it.....came over and sang them to me. I was soooo let down, my beautiful groove ruined by half ass lyrics/phrasing. Me being me, I told her it wasn't what I was thinking of, and gave her lots of examples......still no sync. But it was only that particular song. We've written successfully together many times, gotten some local and regionally airplay off of one particular song. But my prize is still there waiting for the right phrase.....right lines........
Anybody have this?
_________________________
Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
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#512945 - 03/22/02 07:20 PM
Re: Collaboration
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CMDN
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Registered: 11/13/01
Posts: 6095
Loc: Philadelphia,PA,UNITED STATES
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Yeah...
That happens every time I write something. In order for it to get out into the air (read: be played by my band), everyone who's playing has to add a spice to the mix. Unfortunately, sometimes I'm thinking of a steak when one of the other guys is thinking of chocolate cake, another is thinking of fried clams and the other is thinking about a glass of wine. I have two options in that situation:
Forget the family dinner and eat alone
OR
find a way to make the thing into a four-course meal.
We try to take the best aspects of everyone's ideas and make them into a coherent whole. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.
_________________________
\m/
Erik
Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?
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#512946 - 03/22/02 07:31 PM
Re: Collaboration
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halljams
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Registered: 05/26/01
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Originally posted by strat0124:
I have two or three songwriting partners, and they all have one thing in common: They never add what I either wanted or expected. Sometimes pleasantly surprised, sometimes I have an outright aversion to what they're bringing. Case in point, I wrote this killer song, with a Ry Cooder like groove, I was certain she would be gaga over it. She was! In fact everybody loves it. She wrote lyrics to it.....came over and sang them to me. I was soooo let down, my beautiful groove ruined by half ass lyrics/phrasing. Me being me, I told her it wasn't what I was thinking of, and gave her lots of examples......still no sync. But it was only that particular song. We've written successfully together many times, gotten some local and regionally airplay off of one particular song. But my prize is still there waiting for the right phrase.....right lines........
Anybody have this?
if you hate what i do , throw it away. I have no feelings.
Email me an mp3 of what you are bent on keeping and i'll do it up over the next week or 2.
jimholland@whtvcable.com
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#512947 - 03/22/02 07:49 PM
Re: Collaboration
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Steve LeBlanc
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Registered: 12/22/00
Posts: 6116
Loc: Los Angeles, CA,UNITED STATES
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Sometimes pleasantly surprised, sometimes I have an outright aversion to what they're bringing. Case in point, I wrote this killer song, with a Ry Cooder like groove, I was certain she would be gaga over it. She was! In fact everybody loves it. She wrote lyrics to it.....came over and sang them to me. I was soooo let down, my beautiful groove ruined by half ass lyrics/phrasing.
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#512948 - 03/22/02 08:19 PM
Re: Collaboration
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Tedster
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Registered: 09/21/00
Posts: 5933
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(Homer voice)...MMMMM...Chocolate cake and fried clams....mmmmmm...
Generally, if you know where a song is supposed to go...I'd rough out as much of the lyric as you can, and then get help with the parts you're stuck on. This might work.
_________________________
"Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine...(WAH WAH WAH WAHHH!)"
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#512949 - 03/23/02 03:38 PM
Re: Collaboration
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coolhouse
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Registered: 03/18/01
Posts: 250
Loc: Lafayette,TN,UNITED STATES
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Yeah the whole collaborative thing can get complicated real quick. The trick is to find people whose work you admire and who you can work with. Note the use of the word "work". There has to be a commitment to see the project through to the satisifaction of everyone involved. That means being willing to take some hits to your ego now and then,to watch some of your pet ideas get flushed,and,if necessary,have a big fucking fight over key issues.
An unwillingness to risk hurting someone else's feelings will not get the job done and often results in abandoning what could have been a wonderful partnership. Sometimes the enjoyable songwriting experience is not the one that yields the good stuff. The proof is in the song...nothing else.
Collaboration is not easy but neither is professional songwriting. Somewhere along the line,someone(publisher,A&R person,artist,producer,...)is gonna tell you something you don't wanna hear about your music. If you write with others,it's essential to be able to tell each other similar things and still be able to get on with it and finish the song.
later,
Mike
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#512950 - 03/25/02 12:04 PM
Re: Collaboration
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DC
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Registered: 01/17/01
Posts: 2706
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coolhouse offers excellant advice. You gotta keep working on something until both individuals are satisfied.
I'm really lucky. My partner is unreal in that she takes a beat/chord progression of mine and turns it into something that's great and something I wouldn't have thought of in a million years. Her lyrics are more clever than mine on the average too.
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