Here's how I do it... (at
Collaboration Central)
I start with a song... either fully worked out, or sketched... mix to an MP3, upload to my server space.
Post a thread in the forums there, and see if anyone likes the song enough to join in. It usually helps to specifically ask for what you want. i.e. "Looking for Drums, lead guitar, and backing vocals for this Power Ballad..."
Others download your MP3, listen, and if they feel inspired, load it into their multitracking software, and record a new track or tracks. They usually mix out to MP3, and occasionally will "cheat" and pan one track hard left and one hard right, creating a "stereo" MP3 which contains two mono tracks.
If you don't get anything, you can perhaps infer that nobody liked your song...
Usually you get something, sometimes you get too much, and have to decide which lead guitar you like better.
Most often the song originator is also the mixer, but not always. Anyhow, the mixer downloads tracks, mixes them, and posts the mix. Tracks get added, tracks get redone, mixes get mixed, uploaded, downloaded by trackers, and evaluated.
Eventually the song is "finished".
I've got 5 MB of server space to work with. Alternately, I can get 12 MB of email space if I change ISPs.
Don't bother changing ISPs, go to the link at the top of my post, sign up and you get 40MB free!!!
What are the pros and cons of ftp vs email attachments?
Email pros: you don't need webspace, you don't need to install and learn FTP software, your transferred file is not publicly available
FTP pros: you don't clog up your emailbox with large MP3s, some FTP clients will resume up/down loads, you control when you download MP3s (they don't come when you check your mail), when you upload a file, more than one person can get it, some ISPs limit the size of email attachments.
FTP, IMO, is the way to go...
Webspace is pretty expensive. Is there a way to get freeish space in exchange for advertising banners?
See link above, FREE, FREE, FREE... did I say
FREE?
The best part about clabbering (a new term coined @ CC, cuz you get tired of typing "collaborating" pretty quickly) is you don't have to be a "one man band" masturbating away in your studio... Getting others involved, IMO is great. I appreciate not having to settle for a weak "root note" bass track that I would do myself. On my last clabber song, I ended up doing only the vocals and mixing. I wrote the main skeleton, and uploaded it, and it took off from there, I ended up with instrumental contributions far better than I was capable of, but damn happy...
Also, songs take interesting turns when you let others drive for a while... If you're a control freak, it might not be for you.
There's also the cool "global" effect. I've clabbered with people from all over the US, a few in the UK, and I think there's a few aussies on board there as well.
Queue
