A Songcrafters Renaissance?

[Greeny]

It seems to have been building for a long time, but the quality of music on here at the moment is just incredible. Every day seems to bring a clutch of amazing (not to mention diverse) new songs and new heights of creativity. I think we maybe take the talent on here for granted sometimes, because there's so much of it around. But to me, it's a damn special time and place to be a songcrafter.

Am I just imagining it? Tell me if I am! Or is there really a musical renaissance going on round here? 

[Oldrottenhead]

it's all thos greeny songs braw tell yer maw

[AndyR]

I don't think you're imagining it. I don't think it's just Songcrafters, either.

I think that places like this are really helping creative folks to bloom (places where the music comes first and then the other stuff like recording techniques, gear, etc, all serve that).

We need an outlet for our creativity and some way of getting feedback. It needs to feel safe and supportive for our fragile and/or huge egos. Find the right environment and we grow.

Songcrafters is definitely the right environment for me, and it seems to be for a bunch of other folks.

I've only been on it a few days, but alonetone.com seems to do the same thing, but with a slightly different feel. I was actually looking for somewhere to host my songs to link to from here (I've never felt comfortable at soundclick). When Geir and Tharek posted their Bethan Mathis collabs I went over and had a look. It only took a day or so of prowling to decide that I wanted to be on there. There is some STUNNING stuff over there - and they're all people like us - go and have a listen.

Their forums and commenting/messaging set-up doesn't give what we get from here, so it can't replace what I come here for. But it gets me a level of exposure, people listening to me, that I've NEVER had before. I can't access it from work, so I can't check the stats right now, but I guess I've had something like 300 plays/downloads now... in 4 days... DAYS!!!  (I haven't had that many plays on soundclick in 3-4 years! )

I suspect that most people who like songcrafters will also like alonetone (and vice versa - I think one or two folks over there might be getting interested because of these "songcrafter" dudes appearing!)


But yeah, renaissance... when I was young, trying to be a rock-star, I used to say to people that music wasn't meant to be about a few people standing up and doing it, while the rest of us pay to watch them in a glorified barn, wishing we were so clever... most people's regular contact with music was family/friends round the piano or whatever, entertaining themselves and each other...

The record industry might be getting scared, but look what's happening on places like this and alonetone. Ordinary folks like you and me are making music again. Music we never dreamed we could make.... well, we dreamed, but we never dreamed it could actually be this good without a record contract and, er, something-else that you obviously need... (we weren't sure what!).

Music is becoming something you make again, not just something you listen to...

I think you're right - there has definitely been a "growing" thing going on on here, both for individuals and the entire community.

There's probably other places out there enabling this as well, but this one here is "our" home, so I'm especially fond of it and the people on it

[Greeny]

Very well (and eloquently!) put, Andy! You could well be right: there's a revolution going on, and we're in the right place at the right time to ride it. I suppose I'd better check out alonetone too now, lol.

[AndyR]

Yep, definitely check it out, you'd go down really well on alonetone. I read all the help and various articles that the guy who runs it has written before I got involved. Then I listened to the latest stuff and followed my nose to listen to various people. I took about a day to decide and then joined.

I wasn't sure about joining another "thing", but belonging here and there seem to a perfect partnership for me. All I've got to do is actually record some more stuff!!

[64Guitars]

But yeah, renaissance... when I was young, trying to be a rock-star, I used to say to people that music wasn't meant to be about a few people standing up and doing it, while the rest of us pay to watch them in a glorified barn, wishing we were so clever... most people's regular contact with music was family/friends round the piano or whatever, entertaining themselves and each other...

The record industry might be getting scared, but look what's happening on places like this and alonetone. Ordinary folks like you and me are making music again. Music we never dreamed we could make.... well, we dreamed, but we never dreamed it could actually be this good without a record contract and, er, something-else that you obviously need... (we weren't sure what!).

Music is becoming something you make again, not just something you listen to...

My feeling exactly. I think that in the distant future, people will look back on the record industry as an insignificant blip in the history of music. I mean, people have been making music since the cave man days, but the record industry has only been around for less than a century and it's on its last legs. People are taking music back from the music mafia who tried to control it and make us pay them for it. Now we can make our own music and share it easily with the rest of the world for free. Who needs the record industry? Good riddance to them. Long live Songcrafters and similar sites that promote the free sharing of music.

[launched]

Yes, I've been on Alonetone for over a year - Some great folks over there, and a different mix of music as well. It's definitely more musically oriented, with the main focus being on the posting and commenting of music. The forums are kind of a back burner thing, and it supplements this site very well. You should definitely join, Tim. Plus, there is no upload limit and the site is linkable/streamable.

I'll have to say that this forum really brought the best (If you can call it that!) out of me, though. And I've made some great friends along the way. When I run out of time - This is always the last place to get put aside! I love it here.

[Ferryman]

I agree with Tim. I am constantly blown away by the quality of music being posted here. Everyone seems to be constantly upping their game, and the new folks we have had joining have added new talent, all of a very high standard.

I might check out Alonetone, the trouble I have is that I don;t have time to be on two forums, my loyalty is always to Songcrafters because it has been, and continues to be, a huge inspiration to me. And it really is a friednly place.

Cheers,

Nigel
 

[launched]

I might check out Alonetone, the trouble I have is that I don;t have time to be on two forums, my loyalty is always to Songcrafters because it has been, and continues to be, a huge inspiration to me. And it really is a friednly place.

That is the drawback to being a member of two sites - I have a hard time keeping up with both, and the AT members are as loyal and friendly as they are here. So I agree that is more responsible to make sure we have enough time to participate - It pulls at heartstrings when you get a bunch of "Where the hell you at?" emails. We must forum responsibly!

But the media distribution priviledges are irresistible - There are hardly any restrictions, and the covers policy is merely a disclaimer and not enforced.

[AndyR]

I'll second what Launched says (btw, I've spotted you on there but not yet followed you, I felt sure you'd understand! ).

I had exactly the same worry about being on another "forum". I decided in the end that I wasn't joining alonetone as a "forum" but using it as hosting and to hear other people's music (though you can do that without joining).

After a few days, I've figured out that if you want to keep your play/download stats up on there, then you do need to be listening and commenting. But if you're not worried about your stats, you don't have to participate in the commenting at all.

You can use it how you like, is the impression I've got.

But this place is something different for me. I didn't even know I was looking for it when I first joined, but I sure did after a couple of weeks. I was really drying up musically, the MBR had given me a little boost, but if I hadn't found an outlet quick I'd have dried up again... this place gave me the outlet. If you're creating stuff, you need an audience, and one that lets you know (hopefully gently) whether you're on the right track.

The way we go about things here won't be to everyone's taste - some guys I'm friends with elsewhere obviously didn't dig it. I don't really understand why, but I think it's because right at the moment they're more interested in focusing on the technicalities of recording. That's cool, we're all interested in that too, but most of us here are very tightly focused on results: the end product. And the end product for us is a piece of music. We like to know how the thing was recorded, but we're more impressed with the music on the thing. If someone posts a fab song and performance with a spot of clipping on it, we tend to focus on the fab song and performance (knowing that the person who posted it can probably hear the clipping as well but they were prepared to post it anyway). If the poster goes "sorry about the clipping I couldn't fix it " then there's loads of us capable of chipping in with "hey, try this..."

I actually found this "positive only" approach odd myself to start with - no-one seemed to be pointing out the obvious flaws in people's recordings - but I soon realised how BRILLIANT this approach is. The fact that someone finishes something and is prepared to show it is the victory. A "picking holes" approach is likely to make any one of us think twice about posting again, no matter how confident we might be.

Nah, this place is brilliant, there must be others like it, but I wouldn't have the energy to join another one like this as well .