Dec/Jan challenge - where to next with these songs?

[Frankie Rage]

This is mainly to the other four "challengers".

Where to now? What are you going to do with your song?

For me, one of my great failings is that once I have a half-written song and a scrabbled together demo, I tend to be "artistically sastisfied". It's the initial creation that fires me and at this stage I normally move swiftly on to a new song, and with renewed vigour!

Halt! Not this time...

I am going to stay with "Seven Tears.." for awhile. It may not be a good enough song for commercial purposes but I have to start somewhere. My intention is to produce two demos to the highest standard I can muster (no matter how long it takes or what cost..)

Version 1:
This is to have a more accessible country feel, and be an acoustic guitar strummin' version, which I want to use as a commercial demo for the song. If I need to use other musicians, singers and engineer/producer to get the right end result, then so be it. I intend to use "The Songwriters Market" publication to find suitable folks to send it to.

Version 2:
This will elaborate on the "Frankie Rage" version and be the "writer performing his song". It will probably remain dark and alternative because that's what is in my head. I may explore the publication, "The Indie Bible" to try to find outlets for the song in this version.

That is my current thinking for "where to next" with my song.

I'd be interested to know what others intend to do with theirs!

Fx

[icystorm]

Originally Posted by Frankie Rage

I'd be interested to know what others intend to do with theirs!

Fx

Hey Frankie. I think I'm going to give it a rest for a while.

In fact, I started working on two new songs over the past two weeks. I find that I have to move on sometimes and come back to a demo later to avoid burnout. I usually feel that way after I'm satisfied that I have a demo worked out, because I know I can come back to it later with a fresh perspective and rework things then.

I now have about 17 demos that I've made over the past 15 months. My goal is to rework all of them when my engineering and production skills improve to a higher level. I've learned a lot over the past 15 months and I think my demos today are better than when I first started, but I still have much to learn and there is a lot of room for improvement.

For me, songwriting is an enjoyable hobby for my spare time. I guess it all depends on how serious one wants his hobby to become.

I harbor no illusions about "making it big" or selling my songs to heavyweight names in the business. My goals are more along the lines of, perhaps, someday convincing a talented, amateur female artist to record one (or more) of my songs. I would love to become good enough to serve in the roll of songwriter/producer and, perhaps, backing vocalist for an indy female artist who is also simply looking to have fun with her talents.

BTW, keep us posted on your demo's progress and any new material, my friend. I look forward to hearing more from you.

Cheers,
Joseph

[gecko zzed]

Originally Posted by Frankie Rage

Version 2:
This will elaborate on the "Frankie Rage" version and be the "writer performing his song". It will probably remain dark and alternative because that's what is in my head. I may explore the publication, "The Indie Bible" to try to find outlets for the song in this version.

Personally, like Joseph, I am not motivated to do anymore with my challenge song, even though there are bits that I'm not total happy with. It was done for the challenge, with no real thought of a life after that.

But with yours . . .

well, that's a different story. I'd really like you to work on version 2, because that's the one that is exciting, original and unusual.

Things that I'd like you to have a look at are:

1. See if you can find a better delay plug-in. Or, find a way to make the reverb/delay combination a bit less 'chattery'. (Perhpas even taking a bit of top end of the effects might work).

2. Work on that sparseness . . . we don't want to lose it, but consider adding some weird ambient synth noises, maybe atonal, and almost subliminal, and very wide. OR maybe go out and record some street noises or something.

3. Think about some musical punctuation through out the song; cameo appearances of only a few notes from different instruments.

The general idea is to provide musical 'bait' that lures the listener through the song.

[icystorm]

Originally Posted by gecko zzed

...cameo appearances of only a few notes from different instruments.

I like the way you phrased this, GZ, and it's a good idea.

Joseph

[Frankie Rage]

Mr Gecko: on the strength of your encouragement and the "Great Press!" that you're giving my song, I'll work on Version 1 and Version 2 simultaneously. I can't ignore Version 2 now, can I?

But I am also drawn to do a Version 1 because so few people have ever found my work accessible. I am trying to come in from the cold to some extent.

Mr Icystorm: thanks for your encouragement also. I'll be happy to keep you and this forum updated on my efforts over the forseeable future, as I find posting here uplifting.

Like you I have no illusions about becoming a star but I do feel that somewhere in my kit bag of songs spanning more than 30 years, well I just feel there is a hit in there somewhere (or ought to be!) ...and by golly, I intend to try and find the bloomin' thing!

This may be the surge before I just give in!

Thanks again to you both!

I am sat here with a half bottle of 'Famous Grouse' and there is two inches of snow outside! London won't cope in the morning... !!!

Fx

P.S. I like the idea of the street noises btw ... maybe slowed down... As you're a great video man Mr Gecko, I'll tell you what I had in mind for a video. In my mind's eye the voice in this song is from the past, long gone and it is haunting an old house where there are layers of dust over a pile of baby clothes, a broken picture frame, a broken glass, etc. The voice roams from room to room as the song plays out. I was trying to create this kind of ethereal, supernatural feeling with the delay but of course my efforts are pretty primitive at the mo. That's where the song is coming from anyway, such as it is.

[up-fiddler]

....from here is up to each individual. The nature of the challenges has been diverse and that fact makes it difficult to put them into an album with any kind of a cohesive theme. For me, the challenge songs have been mostly throwaways. I have done them for the sake of growth. There is only one out of seven which I have used on an album. (Sometime Special c.Dave Morehouse 2008) The challenges were initiated when there was a period of drought here in the songwriting forum and noone had posted any new music for quite some time. The first challenge was used to jumpstart everyone back into production. Personally I have found that that act of critiquing several songs and being assured that you would get several equally honest reviews in return has been MANY times more useful than asking my family/friends, "Well, what do you think of this?" I hope this explains how we got to this point. Where it goes from here is up to everyone who 'dials in' to this forum.