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Sunday, March 4, 2012

SpinTunes #4: Round 4 Challenge

The Bare Necessities: We're taking it easy on you this last round. Write a new original song. Any song you like. But record and produce it using NO instrumentation other than the parts of your own body. This is NOT an a capella challenge...there must be significant use of instrumentation other than your voice. The sounds should be "manmade" and not using other things against the body. (1:30 minute minimum) (your submission is due March 11th 11:59PM)

- We of course run things by my time...not yours. The link at the top of the blog may be helpful to you when it comes to deadlines throughout this contest.

- The bold part is just the title of the challenge/album. Everything after that is the actual challenge. "The Bare Necessities" will be the title of the album & should be included on any submitted album covers.

Submitting Entries:
- Entries must be received by the given deadline. Otherwise it'll be posted as a shadow. Received means that it has to appear in my e-mail inbox by the given deadline. I will be going by the time stamp on the e-mail in my inbox. PLEASE do not wait until the last hour to send me something. If there is a blackout in your area, your computer crashes, or your dog actually eats your thumb drive...I will not care. You are allowed to send in a draft of your song early just in case something horrible happens & you miss the deadline. Then you can add polish to your song & send in a better version closer to the deadline. 1 minute late is still late people.


- Send your file in a format that Bandcamp accepts. (.aiff, .wav or .flac) (at least 16-bit/44.1kHz) You can find the specific requirements for Bandcamp files HERE.

- Name your file the song's title, but without spaces & punctuation.

- Title of the e-mail should be the title of the Challenge & your band's name.

- Include the song lyrics in the body of the e-mail. (If your song doesn't have lyrics...consider yourself eliminated. Instrumentals can be pretty, but SpinTunes does require lyrics.)

- Include information on anyone that needs credited if you collabed with someone.

- If you have a BandCamp account, you can just send me a link to your song on BandCamp if you include all the info I mentioned above. Make sure you have it set as a free download, and have it set so that I don't have to put in an e-mail to download it if you pick this option. THIS IS THE BEST FILE SHARING OPTION!

- Other file sharing options if you need them: YouSendIt, Sound Cloud, Drop Box, RapidShare, ZShare & MediaFire. Please send an e-mail as I already stated, but with the download link if you need one of these services. Please follow directions so your file doesn't wind up in my spam or trash folder accidentally.

Side Notes:
- Good luck everyone. I don't care who wins, but I hope you all have fun & maybe even learn a little something along the way.

- Remember that Dave & Tom have access to my e-mail now. If I'm not available, it's possible that one of them will respond to you.

- Remember that you are allowed to send in a little background about your song. Some people don't like to do that, and you don't have to, but if you want to write a couple sentences about your song I'll post it on the BandCamp page for people to see. Some judges will look at the lyrics & this extra info, but they aren't required to.

- If you didn't sign-up in time to compete in SpinTunes #4, you can still complete the challenge & send in a song. It'll be uploaded with the other entries as a "Shadow Song". Check the FAQ if you don't know what that means. You can even complete past challenges from previous contests.

- If you didn't sign-up you can also do a song for "Single Rainbow Across The Internet". You're song would be played during the LP as well.

- The only other way to get your music played at the LP is to cover "Today's The Day" by Inverse T. Clown.

- Feel free to leave any questions in the comments.

18 comments:

  1. If we can record our heartbeats, can we use them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, as long as it's your own heartbeat I don't see why not.

      Delete
  2. How are we viewing vocal percussion? Typically this does not use the vocal chords (though frequently I'll emphasize bass note with a bit of vocalization). Does VP, with its misnomer of a name, count as "other than your voice"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You mean like beat box noises? That would be ok.

      Delete
  3. Hey Spin, what about processing? Could someone pitch-shift, phase, or otherwise warp a raw audio recording of some bodily noise to turn it into something melodic, or would you rather these recordings sound as close to the microphone input as possible?

    Also, noises from the body tend to sound different when one is wet. Will water count as an "object" for that purposes, or would sounds from a wet body be acceptable?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jon, feel free to lubricate yourself. (never thought I'd say that) BUT people should not think that's an OK to use water sounds in other ways. No splashing in the tub, no dripping water, no boiling water, etc...etc...

      As for your other question...I'm checking on what the judges think. I'll respond later today.

      Delete
    2. The judges seem to be off enjoying their weekend, so I'm going to just make the decision. You can use any effect you might normally use on your voice on the sounds you make with your body.

      Delete
  4. Hi, Travis!

    Let me add another question to the fray. (Jon Eric already took one of my questions -- I'll be looking forward to the response the judges provide.)

    Am I correct in assuming that, while hand claps would be acceptable, foot stomps would be "grounds" for disqualification?

    :-)

    Edric "Spirit-of-the-law" Haleen ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stomping was brought up in the forum awhile back. We will allow stomping, but I'm going to make some restrictions on it. 1. No stomping on items other than the ground or floor you're standing on. That means no cans, balloons or other items you normally wouldn't walk on. 2. You must do your stomping without shoes on. No tap shoes, steal toed boots, sneakers, high heals (looks at Edric) etc...

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  5. So expanding on this, something like a chest thump would be ok, but not if I'm wearing a shirt? A dull, slapless "thump" can only be achieved in such a manner if there's fabric in between hand and chest, but the sound is then the result of something non-human in the mix.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We don't want sounds from clothing. On the bright side it's a good excuse to record in the buff.

      Delete
  6. See... these are the challenges that make me glad that I'm only shadowing. Sheesh. Good luck, y'all!

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  7. One judge's opinion:
    =======================
    1. Heartbeat = OK. So are stomach growls or farts, if it comes to that. I wouldn't re-use the mic, though.

    2. Beatboxing = perfectly OK. Just because a sound is made by your mouth doesn't make it vocal. Also, vocal sounds are not completely prohibited... use your voice as you always would. You just need to employ significant use of instrumentation other than your vocal cords. You can get a lot of musicality out of your orifices if you get creative. And gutters aren't allowed, so get your head out of there.

    3. Wet body = OK.

    4. Processing = OK. Once recorded, you can do anything to the sounds you produce with your body that you would do to your voice or any other recorded instrument.

    5. Stomping with bare feet = OK, subject to the restrictions Travis has described (correcting his spelling of "heels"). You'll have to work harder than that to get yourself disqualified, Edric. I have no doubt you have the inventiveness to make that happen.

    6. Clothing = NOT OK. Get naked, you prudes. Just keep the YouTube videos family friendly.

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  8. The album cover for this should be interesting...http://www.vinylrecords.ch/J/JO/John/John_Lennon/Two_Virgins/john-lennon-two-virgirns-1165.jpg

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  9. You guys need to get Deke Sharon or Sean Altman or someone like that as guest judge. I wouldn't mind asking Deke for you if you're interested.

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  10. In re: stamping feet being ok. What about stamping on wood floors vs carpeted wood vs concrete vs dirt vs mud? Lovely, squishy mud... Are all those variants of stomping ok? Heel only/whole foot/toes only all included? I assume slapping the desk doesn't count, that is too close to slapping a drum.

    ReplyDelete