SDMB Member Album? Yes We Can!

Cafe Society
1

(Got clearance, Clarance, from the admin for this)

I’m always excited by the number of people on the SDMB who are willing and interested enough to share their musical knowledge and opinions (shouldn’t you all be practicing!?!?). Now, though, I think the time has come for us to share our music itself. Which is why I propose . . .

. . . The First (Annual?) SDMB Member Compilation Album Massacre!

Let’s put our collective musical talents to work, and put an album together. My idea is to get a finite number of submissions of songs; either things you’ve already recorded, or stuff that you might want to record specifically for this project. I’ll compile them, do a small bit of mastering, put an album cover together, and make them available for free digitally (with a password). It’s an idea I admittedly stole from another site I’m on that does something similar every year with great success.

I’m thinking of getting the finished product out maybe sometime in April. It’s a long timeline, but it allows for the holidays to come and go, and then a good three months for people to do any recording they’d want to do, and for me to put it all together.

Thoughts? Anyone want in? I was thinking about trying to theme this CD (beginnings, maybe?), but any theme would be only a loose idea and not something that anyone would be obligated to stick to. Unless I get a million submissions, anyone who wants in is in.

Below is the basic timeline that I’m thinking of.

[ul]
[li]1/7 - Let me know you intend to participate via e-mail (it’s in my profile). [/li][li]1/21 - Let me know what you intend on submitting. Song title, roughly how long it is, anything else you might want me to know[/li][li]3/1 - Get me audio files [/li][li]4/15 - Album is completed[/li][/ul]
. . . so, who’s with me? I think this could be a lot of fun, and a great chance to share our music with each other!

2

I’ve got some old tracks I could send over for you to check out. I’ll shoot you an email when I get home later.

3

Cool idea. I’ve got quite a few to choose from in a lot of different styles… solo piano, pop with vocals, Christmas songs, kids’ songs, musical theatre songs… any particular feel or style you’re looking for?

4

I think I might like to get in on this. I’ve recorded some stuff but never made it available on tha intrawebz before; maybe now is the time.

Does this have to be original/public domain material (to avoid copyright issues)?

5

Yes. Well, OK, I do not speak for the Mods, or the OP, but from a legal point of view, it needs to be original/public domain stuff or there could be problems.

6

Can Dopers’ significant others get on this, too? A.C. plays guitar and has composed some stuff.

7

There is also the possibility of obtaining the mechanical rights required to record someone else’s work. This is what I would go through to record an album of my own that consisted of music by living composers.

I also understand completely if Eonwe doesn’t want to go through the hassle of ensuring that other people have followed through correctly. If I screw up getting the rights on my own recording, well, that’s my own lookout. If I screw up getting the rights on somebody else’s recording, they could end up on the hook for my error, and that ain’t right.

Public domain or own composition is way easier to organize and enforce.

I’m game, in any case.

8

I’m assuming that most 19th century opera is public domain. (Actually, I’m more or less certain of that.)

Assuming that it is, and assuming that you’re willing to include opera recordings, I’ll toss in one or two. The recordings I have right now are a bit rough, but I’ll hopefully have some better ones in the next couple of months.

9

Well, the ‘release’ date for this is well beyond Christmas, but I think really anything. I’m sure that we’ve got a wide variety of styles and talents here, so I’d say pick something that you like that you feel like sharing.

If this works out well, I’m thinking it might be a fun annual project, and for later editions it might make sense to try and direct the shape/theme of the album, but for now it’s anything goes.

Yeah. Well, let’s put it this way. It can be fairly easy to get a license for this sort of thing, and fairly cheap too, but a) I’m not sure I want to deal with the hastle, and b) original stuff is more exciting anyway! If you really really want to do a cover, and have no original things to work on or send, e-mail me and we’ll see. I just don’t want to be on the line for a double-album’s worth of covers.

Like I said before, if this project goes smoothly, and there’s enough interest, then I might be up for putting together one with covers in the future, and going through the financial/communication steps required. Not this time, though.

Yes! The more the merrier! Though perhaps a requirement should be that any SO needs to actually register and post to this thread. Careful what you wish for . . . :wink:
A few of you have already e-mailed me with stuff, which is great! But, when you e-mail me, please let me know your SDMB name!

I’m psyched; this is shaping up to be pretty cool so far!

10

Can I just say that I’m also open to collaboration with other dopers, if anyone is interested? If necessary, we can send tracks to one another and overdub/re-mix, etc.

11

I’m in. I have two or three things pretty much ready to go. By March I can probably get another two or three done.

Le Ministre de l’au-delà, I’d love to work on something with you, though I am sureI’ll be way outclassed. P.M. me and we can discuss it.

Slee

12

bump

So, we’re approaching arbitrary deadline #1!

I’ve gotten a few e-mails, and a few yeses in this thread. Anyone else out there who missed this the first time around?

13

Sounds like fun. What kind of music is going on so far?

14

I missed the thread the first time out. I write lyrics, and am always looking for composers to set them. If anyone enjoys that type of collaboration, I’m available.
You can hear some of my pieces at www.underradio.com, sometimes under my “Richard Onley” pseudonym.

15

Seems we’re well past the deadline on this.

Any news or did it die on the vine?

16

This is surely worth a try. With all the fancy computer/internet stuff nowadays, couldn’t one person score, maybe another do lyrics, and others pitch in on vocals or instruments, someone do the mixing, and together do a complete work of awesome collaboration?

17

Guess I missed it both times around. But I would enjoy taking part if it’s still alive.

18

Yeah, I missed this too. I’d be down with contributing a track or two…