Suggestions for future festivals

[T.C. Elliott]

How about a backing track festival? You could participate in two ways: 1- making a backing track that would be shared for anyone/everyone to use or 2- adding to a given backing track that has been posted for sharing.

We'd probably need a few people to sign up to do a BT fairly early in the fest. And a BT wouldn't have to be a complete band arrangement. A simple guitar part (preferably to a click track) would work. Then anyone who wanted to add drums or bass or whatever could do so. And if some of us got incredibly motivated we could post the individual tracks to a full backing track somewhere so that someone could redo or replace a bass line or drum or whatever.

Okay, now it sounds like work. Maybe just stick to the first paragraph up there.

[Hilary]

Great idea TC

[64Guitars]

How about a backing track festival? You could participate in two ways: 1- making a backing track that would be shared for anyone/everyone to use or 2- adding to a given backing track that has been posted for sharing.

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. It might encourage more collaborations. Of course, since Songcrafters festivals are for member performances only, I'd stipulate that all backing tracks used must be made by Songcrafters members. We already have some in the Member-made backers board, so that would be a start.

[kenny mac]

Wot about a  duo lottery fest ?where members who want to be involved put their name in and picked out the hat by the administrators and collaberate with each other?

[T.C. Elliott]

A random collaboration challenge sounds like fun. I'm not sure a whole festival for it would be the best but a 'side fight' or side challenge would be cool. If we did do it as a festival then maybe it could be made that a lyric or a musical track could be submitted and then others could put a lyric to music or add a lyric/vox to a musical track. Or even add more than two depending on the song.

But I think that starting a thread for people to sign up and be randomly paired up to do a collaboration however they wanted might be interesting.

As far as side challenges go, another one is the reciprocal challenge. In which people sign up and then are *randomly paired up. Then each of the two participants give their partner a subject or requirement that must be put into a song. I did this with some friends and ended up writing a song about 'navel lint and the green house effect.'  Come to think of it, that's more of a songwriting challenge than a recording challenge. I don't want to leave anyone who focuses on playing/recording more than writing out.

[Tangled Wires]

Wot about a  duo lottery fest ?where members who want to be involved put their name in and picked out the hat by the administrators and collaberate with each other?

I like that suggestion, could throw up some very interesting match ups.

[Burtog]

Did someone mention the 70's ?!  

I thought this was some weird 70's boogying until I read the title.


Anyways --- 80s fest to continue the decade theme!!

[Hook]

I think we should have a current top 10 fest. You start with the 1st week's top 10 and each week there are 10 more (maybe?) tunes to add into possible choices. We could even allow multiple charts, Billboard, college, country, Rolling Stone used to have a bunch of charts in the back of the mag. they still might. I think it would pull people out of there comfort box and force us to find the song underneath the slick production.  "I got a feeling whoo hoo.."
Rock on!

[64Guitars]

Yeah, CurrentTop10 could be interesting. We could use the Billboard Hot 100 chart for North America and the BBC Radio Top 40 singles chart for the UK/Europe.

http://www.billboard.com/charts#/charts/hot-100

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles

Not the whole chart; just the top 10 from it.

[Oldrottenhead]

i have so far really enjoyed the suggestfest festival, high point for me has been henwrench covering one of mine. which lead me to think.

peter gabriel had a project "scratch my back" where he recorded songs by various artists, but the catch was, that they in return had to record one of his songs.

so i suggest a "scratch my back fest"

good idea or what?