Songcrafters Rock Opera?

[tom r]

I'm away for a week from the 3rd Septemnber and wont have Internet access but after that i'm well up for writing something either on my own or with someone else. My new BR600 will be plugged in n ready to roll :-)
by the way all this Keith West n Nirvana is taking me back to my psychedelic roots, great stuff. There was a series of albums called Rubble by BaM Caruso Records which are superb if your into english psych / pop / rock / punk

Tom

[henwrench]

    I'm sure some of you freaks'll have heard this masterpiece. It's one of my favourite albums of all time. 'They fuck you up, your mom and dad...'

                                                 henwrench

[cuthbert]

I love Keith West's 'Excerpt from a Teenage Opera'. I love the original Nirvana. I love the Bam-Caruso English-psych series. And I really love Harry Nilsson.

I love this place.

And I'm really looking forward to where this all goes - don't want to lead it, either - but would love to contribute.

[Gritter]

This is a great idea...lots of great ideas...a lot to read...getting caught up...I'm in for sure.

[FuzzFace]

For those of you who are interested in participating, what kind of parameters would you expect to be given?

[cuthbert]

I think something like a sign-up sheet, with the outline used to separate each section of the opera might work. Of course, more than one person could sign up for a song from each section.  As we add songs, it might affect someone else's song along the way - in keeping with the themes expressed in the outline and as it develops...or not. 

The hardest part I think may be keeping the stylistic strands together so that it remains fairly consistent and coherent.

 

[henwrench]

For those of you who are interested in participating, what kind of parameters would you expect to be given?

    Loose theme/idea for song, lyrical content that needs to be included, that sort of stuff...

                                                              henwrench

[henwrench]

The hardest part I think may be keeping the stylistic strands together so that it remains fairly consistent and coherent.

  Personally Cuth, I don't think different styles should bugger things up too much. What is important is the story line is conveyed coherently through the lyrics. Maybe?

                                                     henwrench

[FuzzFace]

Of course, more than one person could sign up for a song from each section.  

If that happens, they can either collaborate, or we can break up the theme into sub-themes, incorporating both ideas.

If they don't both fit, the Musical Director / Editor says "This doesn't fit".  (I don't forsee anyone wanting to inexplicably add Gladiators or Bank Robbers out of nowhere, but if they do, that deserves it's own opera).

As we add songs, it might affect someone else's song along the way - in keeping with the themes expressed in the outline and as it develops...or not.  

The first step will be to refine the outline before writing begins.

The Editor's job is to ensure new ideas fit with the overall arc.

The hardest part I think may be keeping the stylistic strands together so that it remains fairly consistent and coherent.

If we wanted the musical styles to be consistent, this is not the medium we would use.

This is a celebration of variety.

[cuthbert]

Personally Cuth, I don't think different styles should bugger things up too much. What is important is the story line is conveyed coherently through the lyrics. Maybe?

                                                    henwrench

I absolutely agree henwrench, the storyline should be coherent from the lyrics.

Let me try to re-express what I meant, then: I think there should also be some level of common musical style thread as well - it doesn't need to exist in every song (especially if the subject matter calls for a different style), and it certainly doesn't need to be rigidly conformed to - but I think it might work better with some musical continuity or touchstones. So the listener thinks, yes - these songs are part of this greater work.

That's what I was thinking...