Crazy idea...

[andyhix]

Occasionally, elsewhere on this board, we see colaboration projects develop. Would it be at all possible to peice together a casette based colab? We'd of course have to mail the tape to and fro. I'd be up for it - rhythm guitar, vox, harmonica are my main "abilities". Dave - I'm looking at you! Covers, originals, anything? Maybe I'm off my gourd.

[A Reel Person]

Billy Furnett, Ghost/FM and Herm did a similar thing about 2 years ago, on a 1/2" 8-track reel. They mailed it back and forth. I even got the reel, but was unable to get my "act" together on the hardware side, then I just posted the reel back in it's unopened box. That was all due to my shortcomings on certain Tascam 38 repair items that I had pending,... and still have pending today!

As far as cassette goes, at least I feel like I'm in more of a "plug and play" mode, which doesn't require me to fix any hardware before previewing the tape!

It's a good idea, and at least posting a cassette back & forth would be relatively cheap. Y'know,... tape doesn't lend itself to long distance collabs like mp3's and puter recording does, but it's certainly not impossible, and it's probably not the first time someone's thought of it or done it. It's a relatively simple idea, and could be lots of fun!

PS: Sorry for not replying sooner, but my time to post is more limited, and I risk my ass posting from work. When I get home, sometimes I've lost focus of those posts I wanted to reply to. This reply was pending for a day or two, already.

HEY,... I really like your accurate and concise posts and "tutorials" on Portastudio operation! It's really right on the spot,... and saves me a lot of typing!! (Heh, heh). What you've said in your "techical advice" posts has been admirable,... although for the life of me, I still can't see why people find Portastudios confusing!!!

[Bill Furnett]

Cassette would be the way to go for sure. Mailing a 10" reel of 1/2" tape around was expensive.

Gee Dave, i never knew you had hardware issues pending ... Sorry buddy

If you get a collab going be sure to put a nice long E string note at the beginning of the tape that everyone can tune to.

-Billy-

[auralmirage]

Sounds like a great idea. I'm down.

[A Reel Person]

Originally Posted by Bill Furnett

Gee Dave, i never knew you had hardware issues pending ... Sorry buddy -Billy-

Yeah,... it's that I have to "nudge" the right reel table height up about 1/32", so it's no big deal, but the tape was slightly rubbing on the front flange. I didn't want to load your tape until I'd fixed that,... but to only find the time?!?!?!?! That's why I didn't play on your reel. Some day soon I'll probably get to the reel height adjustment, 'cause I've been itching to do some 1/8" 8-track stuff again lately. Many of my fixit projects have been pending for years now, and I've kinda lost focus of my many fixit items.

Aaah,... so much gear and so little time!!...........

[A Reel Person]

Eh,... I mean "pies"!..............

Anyway, we all know it's much easier to score great gear off Ebay, than it is to practice or "produce" something!...........

[andyhix]

Originally Posted by Bill Furnett

If you get a collab going be sure to put a nice long E string note at the beginning of the tape that everyone can tune to.

-Billy-

That was gonna be my first suggestion if anyone was interested in this! Unfortunately, I never seem to remember to do this on my own projects even, so I end up trying to tune during the song playback which, of course is often very tough or impossible.

So, anyone have any suggestions for songs or even a style? Or we could just do a few "build em as you go"... have a drummer lay down drums some drums and then send it on to a bassist to decide what to do, etc., and see what develops.

Auralmirage - what do you play - instrument and musical style? What about you other guys?

Personally, I'm up for anything, but most comfortable with regular old rock and roll, folky sorta stuff or maybe blues or country. I don't think I could convincingly pull off hiphop, R&B, boyband pop, or fancy jazz - although the latter might be interesting to try. Actually I'd try anything. And probably some variety and new styles would be the most fun.

Dave - thanx for the compliment. portastudio operation is one of the few things I can speak to on this whole board. It wasn't until a few months ago that I even had studio monitors, or any outboard gear. I now have a decent reverb unit, and 4 channels of compression, so I can squash the life out of anything and make it sound like its in an empty stadium. Good stuff.

[andyhix]

So, if we get enough people, lets do it! First, lets build the band, then sort out the logistics of tape swapping, bouncing, mixing, etc.

Andyhix - ac. rhythm guitar, el. rhythm guitar, half-assed el. ld. guitar, harmonica, shaker eggs, triangle, ukulele, ld. vocals, and/or backing vocals (tenor-ish).

[up-fiddler]

I have three people in Arizona (I'm in Michigan) that all have 424s and they send their raw tracks to me. I drop them into my 24 track or my MSR16 and add the backing tracks. It's a bit cumbersome but it has worked out very well. It also gave me some business that I never would have had any other way though I know that's not your intent here. Count me in. Sounds like fun.

[andyhix]

Originally Posted by up-fiddler

I have three people in Arizona (I'm in Michigan) that all have 424s and they send their raw tracks to me. I drop them into my 24 track or my MSR16 and add the backing tracks. It's a bit cumbersome but it has worked out very well. It also gave me some business that I never would have had any other way though I know that's not your intent here. Count me in. Sounds like fun.

cool! Fiddle, I presume? Any other instruments to put ya down for?

Where in the UP are ya? I was up there this past weekend - camping at a a FS campground on Lake Brevoort and spent all weekend swimming in Lake Mich. It was great. I'm a self proclaimed honorary yooper - my dad's from Escanaba, I always spend at least a week every year vacationing in the UP somewhere, I went to MTU, and have spent years honing my pickled egg recipe. I love the UP more than pretty much anywhere else I've ever been.

[auralmirage]

Originally Posted by andyhix

Auralmirage - what do you play - instrument and musical style? What about you other guys?

I mostly play electric blues guitar. I have an electric, two acoustics, a djembe, a digeredoo, an electric bass guitar, random percussion and a sitar at my disposal though.

Here's my myspace music, there's some electronic stuff, an experimental elephant march (pachiderm), a little folky/jazzy ditty, and some rock solo. I don't have a "style", I just love all sorts of music.

http://myspace.com/lesbiancyclops (forgive the name, please!)

[andyhix]

Cool. Well, my hair brained scheme hasn't died just yet....We have to get that Sitar represented somewhere for sure! It would be cool to try and do some more out there experimental stuff. Gotta love the digiridoo, too. Used one a bit on my band's last CD.

So, to reiterate, heres the band thus far -

Auralmirage - electric blues guitar, ac guitar, djembe, digeredoo, bass guitar, random percussion, sitar.

Andyhix - ac. rhythm guitar, el. rhythm guitar, half-assed el. ld. guitar, harmonica, shaker eggs, triangle, ukulele, ld. vocals, and/or backing vocals (tenor-ish).

Up-fiddler - fiddle?, other?

Could definately use a drummer, and bassist, but could leave it up to auralmirage, if needed.

Who else wants in? C'mon!!! It'll be fun. Might take a year, but still!!

EDIT - I can't listen to your tunes at work, cuz they got myspace with their C-blocker program. I'll try to check it out at home.

[Dr.Bootleg]

Originally Posted by andyhix

cool! Fiddle, I presume? Any other instruments to put ya down for?

Where in the UP are ya? I was up there this past weekend - camping at a a FS campground on Lake Brevoort and spent all weekend swimming in Lake Mich. It was great. I'm a self proclaimed honorary yooper - my dad's from Escanaba, I always spend at least a week every year vacationing in the UP somewhere, I went to MTU, and have spent years honing my pickled egg recipe. I love the UP more than pretty much anywhere else I've ever been.

Yeah, it's purty in the summertime. But try living there during the six month winter. That's not fun. I'm a yooper born and raised. It's great to find some people who actually know what the hell the U.P. is here. Rule.

[clevodrummer]

Andy,

You have helped me out a few times. I would be willing to lay down drums.
Im doing a similar thing with some musician cousins around the country.

I have been thinking about becoming a "cyberdrummer", down the road. All of my stuff is analog (Tascam MKIII), etc.

I have the equipment both technologically and musically.

I took some pics of my studio, and they came out real nice. As soon as I can, I will post em and send you some pics, so you can see what Im workin with.

Great Idea!!!

My project is as a multinstumental projection. Im doing all of the instruments, and vocals. I have two songs complete. Im doing the drums last.

If Im invited...Im in. If not, send me a copy anyway and I will add my drums, and send back in case you have someone else in mind.

Anyway I look at it, will be both fun and educational.

clevodrummer

[andyhix]

Originally Posted by Dr.Bootleg

Yeah, it's purty in the summertime. But try living there during the six month winter. That's not fun. I'm a yooper born and raised. It's great to find some people who actually know what the hell the U.P. is here. Rule.

I love the UP winters. I'm one of those freaks who can't get enough snow. I was there for 4 years through the winter (college at MTU) and loved every second. Snowshoeing, skiing (downhill and x-country), snowball fights, Saunas, your beer doesn't get warm too fast. All good things. And nothing quite like the feeling of walking into a warm bar after battling your way through a blizzard.

I still try to go up for a long weekend every year mid winter and stay at a drafty old cabin in the middle of nowhere, where no matter how much you stoke the stove, you still need your long johns and coat on indoors. Perfect!

Originally Posted by clevodrummer

If Im invited...Im in.
clevodrummer

Hell yeah your in! So, now I think we have a decent 'band' put together. So the next 2 steps as I see it are to (1) figure out what the hell to record, then (2) figure out the logistics of how to do the recording.

So, what to record....What do you guys think? Maybe 3 songs total - we shouldn't get TOO carried away, right? One or two could be a cover? One or two could be original. I kinda like the idea of tring to build a song where it's not predetermined who does what, or what the final outcome is supposed to be -a more experimental sound and creation process.

So anybody here have a cover song that's been stuck in their head that they want to try? Again, I'm up for pretty much anything but rap, and RandB. I tend to gravitate towards the psychedelic sorta rock - radiohead, pink floyd, david bowie, the Doors, Sabbath, Zep, etc., but if someone really wants to do "Takin' Care of Business", I'd play along.

[Bill Furnett]

Hey Andy,

Congrats on getting your collab band together, for a couple days it looked grim as no one seemed to be responding, but glad to see everything fell into place.

-Keep the thread alive with progress reports.-

[auralmirage]

I'm gonna step up and say Major Tom by Bowie. I think there's a lot we could do with the instrumentation we have. If not, that's cool. I'm open to suggestions. We should all arrange to get on an instant messenger to figure everything out. I'm free after 5pm weekdays and all day on weekends (PST).

[Dr.Bootleg]

Originally Posted by andyhix

I love the UP winters. I'm one of those freaks who can't get enough snow. I was there for 4 years through the winter (college at MTU) and loved every second. Snowshoeing, skiing (downhill and x-country), snowball fights, Saunas, your beer doesn't get warm too fast. All good things. And nothing quite like the feeling of walking into a warm bar after battling your way through a blizzard.

I still try to go up for a long weekend every year mid winter and stay at a drafty old cabin in the middle of nowhere, where no matter how much you stoke the stove, you still need your long johns and coat on indoors. Perfect!

Hey MTU! That's awesome! I'm from Calumet. Man, you're actually making me homesick. I've been living in Germany for the past three years and I haven't been able to afford to go back and visit yet. Maybe it's just having lived there so long but I can't stand the winters. The summers however are great. Nothing like swimming in Lake Superior.

And if you guys actually get something recorded do you think you could post it here for us to listen to? ("Space Oddity" by Bowie would RULE!)

[andyhix]

Sorry for making you homesick. Calumet's nice! I'm betting Germany is pretty sweet, though -I've never been outside of the US/Can.

As to the project at hand, I actually was wracking my brain for songs and the two covers I thought of were Space Oddity (aka Major Tom ), and Peace Frog by the Doors. So, seems like Space Oddity is a for sure...

I'll be back...maybe we can do an IM thing next week someday or next weekend sometime. This will be fun, I think.

Bill Furnett, are you in on this, or just an observer? The more the merrier.

And, Doc, we will DEFINATELY post whatever we do. I wouldn't hold your breath, though - I have a feeling this might take several months...

EDIT - I'm pretty sure I have a real good tab from a guitar mag of space oddity, and an half way ok tab of peace from from a doors book, fwiw.

[Bill Furnett]

Andy,

I'll supervise.

It's harder to do, but you guys should go for an original too.
It's always interesting to hear a multi-participant project where everyone has creative input, seems to lend the "room" for capturing each person's unique style. Maybe find a lyric contributer in the songwriting forum and build it out from there.

-Billy-

[up-fiddler]

Originally Posted by andyhix

Cool. Well, my hair brained scheme hasn't died just yet....We have to get that Sitar represented somewhere for sure! It would be cool to try and do some more out there experimental stuff. Gotta love the digiridoo, too. Used one a bit on my band's last CD.

So, to reiterate, heres the band thus far -

Auralmirage - electric blues guitar, ac guitar, djembe, digeredoo, bass guitar, random percussion, sitar.

Andyhix - ac. rhythm guitar, el. rhythm guitar, half-assed el. ld. guitar, harmonica, shaker eggs, triangle, ukulele, ld. vocals, and/or backing vocals (tenor-ish).

Up-fiddler - fiddle?, other?

Could definately use a drummer, and bassist, but could leave it up to auralmirage, if needed.

Who else wants in? C'mon!!! It'll be fun. Might take a year, but still!!

EDIT - I can't listen to your tunes at work, cuz they got myspace with their C-blocker program. I'll try to check it out at home.

I play electric and upright bass and mandolin.

[dave.....]

hey guys great idea......... i have a porta 02 will that work w/ your idea ??? if so i would love to try some of my guitar solos on your stuff original or covers dosent matter to me.. i play classic rock and blues and would love to try this.... let me know what you think please

[dave.....]

oops i forgot to mention my wife is a great singer she has that great blues voice.. if you need anything like that ??

[andyhix]

Sure thing! Once again, I thought this idea was destined for nothingness, but thanks to Dave....., it lives again!!

I will repost here again in the next day or so with a summary of who involved, and a propsed schedule of recording. For the record, I don't want to be the task master/boss/etc. here, but it seems like people are only checking in every few days at best, so I want try to keep things alive and moving forward. That's all. I just finished a fairly involved recording project, so now I'm itching to move on to something else.

I also need to see if I can dig out that TAB for Space Oddity. Do we want to do one more cover or no? I'm open to ideas/suggestions.

[dave.....]

this could be a lot of fun it might take a while i am ok w/ that .. cant wait to get started ...