not much banter here eh? everyone too busy writing music?

[matthew]

As a first time NaSoAlmo-er, I'm curious to hear from some previous
graduates. Any advice?

Also - I'm curious how many songs people have gotten so far... I've
written 2 somewhat complete songs and 4 sketches that range from total
shite to barely having potential. Anyone else want to comment?

Any advice?

-Matt

[Evan Gilbert]

This is also my frist time so I don't have much in the way of advice but so far I've written two versions of one song, both covered in mandolins and bass and I'm working out an electronica version of a song I'm covering from The Veil's new album. I wouldn't call anything I've done yet anywhere close to good though so I'm probably going to scrap it all...

[Cort Stratton]

Hi Matt & Evan -- welcome aboard!

It sounds like you're both in pretty good shape, at least compared to me.  I have rough ideas for six ~5-minute tracks, and a few snippets of lyrics.  However, I have yet to write or record a single note (it was a busy weekend).  Hopefully I've have some better news in a few days.

Last year (my first), my approach was pretty simple: produce at least one minute of new material every day, with several songs in the pipe simultaneously (so that if I didn't feel inspired by track X, I could work on track Y, or start a new track Z).  That worked pretty well; for every track that just never went anywhere, there was another that would practically write itself once I got started.  But I'm pretty sure there are as many successful methodologies as there are entrants; some people have surely already finished their album, and will spend the next 27 days designing kick-ass liner notes.  Whatever works for you!

 - cort

[Anthony Schwickerath]

This is my first year doing NaSoAlMo, but I have a couple of Albums-A-
Day under my belt. Since I have wanting to do concept album, I have
so far just been brainstorming song ideas while I work on getting well
ahead on my novel for NaNoWriMo. Saturdays I take a break from
NaNoWriMo and just pound on NaSoAlMo and this weekend will hopefully
see lyrics pretty much written for all of the tracks. From there I am
going to start writing music and polishing the lyrics.

Frankly this approach has me a bit concerned about finishing, since I
have won't have any finished songs until we are into the second half
of the month. However, I am viewing NaSoAlMo like I view NaNoWriMo:
as a good opportunity to experiment for a month with different
approaches than what I normally use.

My advice based on doing AADs, though, is to write lots of songs
without being too critical of them. If you treated the first bit of
the month like a string of Albums-A-Day and then picked the best songs
to polish for the rest of the month, it might work pretty well.

Oh, and my advice based on the past few days is that it is unwise to
do both NaNoWriMo and NaSoAlMo at the same time. What was I thinking?

Tschuess - drew

--
( anthony | drew ) schwickerath
see what i am up to at http://www.sourcescollective.com/blog/

[James Perry]

Both my 2006 project (which I completed in time) and my 2007 project (which I'll finish any day now, I swear!) were concept albums, or at least theme albums. Given that there's such a short time to come up with material, I found that it really helped me to come up with a pretty firm focus on both the topic I want to write about, as well as the sound/style I want to explore. I didn't worry about this too much for the first few days of the month, but I just sort of took stock of the raw ideas I was coming up with (and also considered my general state of mind and what were some things I really felt like expressing at that time), came up with a general framework, and then ran with it.

--- On Mon, 11/3/08, Anthony Schwickerath <schw...@sourcescollective.com> wrote:

[rustingw...@gmail.com]

I barely scraped by last year and didn't even complete the first song
until the 15th, I think. So far this year I...have nothing, really,
so no advice will be coming from me. :)

[Anthony Schwickerath]

That pretty much sounds like what I am doing, so at least I know that
it is possible. This year I am writing a goth album (think Bauhaus'
"Bela Lugosi's Dead", the Damned's "Twisted Nerve", with probably some
slow ethereal stuff along the lines of Black Tape for a Blue Girl) and
the songs are going to basically trace the story arch of the main
character in the gothic horror novel I'm doing for NaNoWriMo. It
should be a perfect match. So perfect that it should write itself.
Riiiiiiight.

Delusion, thy name is - drew

[Evan Gilbert]

I've mostly written out the plot for my album, it's a concept album telling the story of a day from six or seven people's perspectives. I can't decide if I want it to be a dance album or a minimalistic sad sounding rock album with some poppy riffs playing over it. Any suggestions would be nice! Unless suggestions go against the solo part of the challenge... how strict is that clause? I imagine no other musicians are allowed to help creatively but can I write a guitar line than have a guitarist play it for me? Another question, is there a place to upload songs and get feedback from other NaSoAlMo participants, and possibly the finished project?

Also: 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' is a truly excellent album.

[James Perry]

Per the rules, I don't think getting someone else to play on your album (even if they're playing a part you wrote) is allowed. And if it is, hot damn, I've been doing this all wrong!

--- On Mon, 11/3/08, Evan Gilbert <kaos...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Cort Stratton]

Interesting concept!  I'm not sure we can really make stylistic suggestions without hearing more about the story, characters etc. (though all else being equal, my gut says that sad-sounding rock music lends itself better to lyrical story-telling than dance music).

Regarding collaboration, here's the relevant snippet from the NaSoAlMo rules: "An album qualifies for National Solo Album Month if you have written, played and recorded it entirely by yourself during the month of November."  So, no enlisting other musicians to perform your compositions for you.  When it comes to soliciting more creative contributions, the line is a bit blurry.  I would say, let common sense be your guide and restrict yourself as much or as little as you feel comfortable with; in the end, the "rules" of the "competition" are really only there to prevent you from cheating yourself.

 - cort

[Anthony Schwickerath]

I suppose the choice of music depends upon what happens during their
day. It sounds like a cool idea, though.

My understanding is that everything (all instruments and vocals) are
supposed to be done by the participant. Although it would be pretty
sweet if I could have my opera singer sister do the vocals.

Where to put it up depends on how you want to license/release it. If
you are releasing it with a Creative Commons license, I am pretty sure
you can put it up on archive.org. If you just want to put up a few
songs at a time for critique, setting up a free MySpace band page
might also be a good choice. There are probably other good places,
but those two spring to mind as free ways to get music out there.

Best of luck. I'm curious to hear the album when it is done.

Tschuess - drew

[Meg]

Hmmmm. Another newbie here. I just did 50/90 this summer and decided
to keep going.
Anybody out there NOT doing a concept album?

On Nov 3, 8:05 pm, Anthony Schwickerath

> > On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 6:12 PM, Anthony Schwickerath <schwi...@sourcescollective.com

> > > wrote:
>
> > That pretty much sounds like what I am doing, so at least I know that
> > it is possible.  This year I am writing a goth album (think Bauhaus'
> > "Bela Lugosi's Dead", the Damned's "Twisted Nerve", with probably some
> > slow ethereal stuff along the lines of Black Tape for a Blue Girl) and
> > the songs are going to basically trace the story arch of the main
> > character in the gothic horror novel I'm doing for NaNoWriMo.  It
> > should be a perfect match.  So perfect that it should write itself.
> > Riiiiiiight.
>
> > Delusion, thy name is - drew
>
> > On Nov 3, 2008, at 3:50 PM, James Perry wrote:
>
> > > Both my 2006 project (which I completed in time) and my 2007 project
> > > (which I'll finish any day now, I swear!) were concept albums, or at
> > > least theme albums. Given that there's such a short time to come up
> > > with material, I found that it really helped me to come up with a
> > > pretty firm focus on both the topic I want to write about, as well
> > > as the sound/style I want to explore. I didn't worry about this too
> > > much for the first few days of the month, but I just sort of took
> > > stock of the raw ideas I was coming up with (and also considered my
> > > general state of mind and what were some things I really felt like
> > > expressing at that time), came up with a general framework, and then
> > > ran with it.
>

> > > --- On Mon, 11/3/08, Anthony Schwickerath <schwi...@sourcescollective.com
> > > > wrote:

> > see what i am up to athttp://www.sourcescollective.com/blog/

[doug bishop]

Unfortunately I can't participate this year and I'm jealous of all of you. Good luck all!!! Doug.


--- On Mon, 11/3/08, Meg <suitca...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Matthew Egbert]

I'm not doing a concept album.  At least, not intentionally.  I don't seem to be in as much control over what music I write as I would like but...c'est la vie.

I've written 6 "songs" since Saturday.  These range from 30 seconds of likely-to-be-scrapped-boring-loop-rubbish to 3+ minutes of potential.  I wrote one this morning, but I have a fear that when I go back to listen to the first one I wrote, it will sound exactly like the one I wrote this morning :-o.  I'm also scared that I'm going to run out of new ideas...did people have this problem in previous years?

Of course nothing is actually done...needs drums to be overdubbed etc.  I'm shooting to have all of the songs written by the end of the third weekend, and using the last week and a half to clean them up, etc.

Wow - I hadn't heard of 50/90 before.  50 songs in 90 days?  That seems even tougher than this!

-Matt

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Soundclick is free and easy: http://www.soundclick.com/
The Myspace suggestion works (but I hate the crappy compression sound)
I'm putting mine on the fawmers site: http://www.fawmers.com/

The fawmers site is the site several participants of FAWM use in the
off season (not February)

I'm new to NoSoAlMo, this being my first. I did participate in FAWM
with 15 songs in 28 days and 50/90 with 51 songs in 90 days (well I
finished Sep 14th, so a little less than 90) and so far am really
enjoying this experience. I too am writing a concept album (Thanks to
Mal O'Hare) and it has given me a much needed framework in which to
write. I've written three songs and recorded two (one of which is
fairly blah) and posted them both at fawmers. The concept I was
challenged with is based on "The Dollars" trilogy Clint Eastwood
stared in as "The Man with No Name." So far all the songs are based on
the movie "For A Few Dollars More" I'm mostly proud of
Mortimer's Revenge: Live or Die by the Gun :
http://www.fawmers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1340&Itemid=83

But I also wrote another: Gun Fight (It's a Cold World)
http://www.fawmers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1341&Itemid=83

My strategy is a leftover from 50/90. If I get an idea I work on it
till it's at least in a state to which I can record a demo. Even the
songs I don't care for as much gives me practice in songwriting and
sometimes I can steal a bit to work into something better later. I'm
hoping I get about 50 minutes of music and can cut it down to a better
sounding, more cohesive album. At least that's the plan.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Hey Meg, good to see you. Mal challenged me to a concept album so...
no, I'm doing one as well. My biggest "problem" is no collabs... I
can't even ask Helen for her backup vocals *sniff*
Best wishes on your songwriting...

[alfonso....@gmail.com]

Not sure if I'd call mine a "concept" album or not, since I'm not a
"songwriter" ... but I would certainly describe it as a "conceptual"
album, being that there are a number of concepts I am working with in
creating this. The use of generative software to create the underlying
structure, the use of hardware processors, the use of
traditional/analog musical (read="non-digital/computer generated")
instruments to further build and expand the idea of the primary track
... these are some of the concepts.

As I mentioned earlier, I laid down the hour-long primary track on
Saturday, Day One. This was a generative synthesis track, with scale
parameters and note duration specifically set out when I launched the
generator. Since then, I have created five additional tracks to be
layered in with the primary, done two treatments of the primary
(including a pitch shift down a third, for use with the guitar and
guit-synth treatments that will come later) and feel like the parts
are coming together in a timely manner.

While this all may sound rather dry, intellectual, sterile and maybe
even boring, I'm confident that the result will not be. As this is my
fourth year being in the NaSoAlMo, I feel pretty good about that
(knocks on wood, crosses fingers, throws salt over shoulder, etc.,).

I'm fascinated by how everyone else is going about getting this done,
though I obviously have some very different methods than others.

The one piece of advice for the newbies: just keep doing it. It
doesn't have to be a masterpiece (but who knows? it JUST might!). But
the ONLY way to do it is to just keep working on it.

Best to all,

Dennis