Composition challenge #20 - before Xmas?

What's Hot
Just wondered if we were going to have another Composition challenge as I'm off work over Xmas and New Year so have some time to enter.

Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
«1

Comments

  • The plan was to kick off new challenges at the beginning of January.

    Maybe we could kick off a Composition challenge sooner, if it means there's a chance that more will enter through having time off over Xmas. What do you think @TTony ?
    It's not a competition.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    The plan was to kick off new challenges at the beginning of January.

    Maybe we could kick off a Composition challenge sooner, if it means there's a chance that more will enter through having time off over Xmas. What do you think @TTony ?
    That was my thinking ... especially as Santa may deliver some new gear to people who will be desperate to try it .. :-)

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27343

    Maybe we could kick off a Composition challenge sooner, if it means there's a chance that more will enter through having time off over Xmas. What do you think @TTony ?
    Sure - fine by me.

    Any thoughts on a theme?
    • Something for the New Year
    • Resolving
    • What I'll remember from 2017
    • ???
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    New music for 2018 - trend setting .. avant-garde .. new and daring. Something different that's not be heard before .. 'the melodic atmosphere of modern pop rhythms mixed with a raw electronic R&B flare and Djent guitar tones ...'  :-)

    I'm sure someone could word it better.


    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Fretwired said:
    New music for 2018 - trend setting .. avant-garde .. new and daring. Something different that's not be heard before .. 'the melodic atmosphere of modern pop rhythms mixed with a raw electronic R&B flare and Djent guitar tones ...'  :-)

    I'm sure someone could word it better.

    "New Boss same as the old Boss".  (Just with SMD components)

    ;)
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Fretwired said:
    New music for 2018 - trend setting .. avant-garde .. new and daring. Something different that's not be heard before .. 'the melodic atmosphere of modern pop rhythms mixed with a raw electronic R&B flare and Djent guitar tones ...'  :-)

    I'm sure someone could word it better.

    "New Boss same as the old Boss".  (Just with SMD components)

    ;)
    Er .. Surface Mount Technology ????

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • "Breaking ground that didn't need breaking" 

    “Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay


    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom


  • Proof of the impending apocalypse! We're dooooomed, I say. Dooooooooooooomed!
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601


    Proof of the impending apocalypse! We're dooooomed, I say. Dooooooooooooomed!
    Ah .. :-)

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    "Breaking ground that didn't need breaking" 
    Clever ... I like it .. :-)

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    edited December 2017
    After discussions with @Antique_Guitars and @TTony it's been agreed that I'll be posting the threads for the new challenges, although I still see these challenges as their baby.

    The aim should be to inspire as many as possible to enter. I'm afraid there won't be prizes, just the wondrous adulation of others for a winning entry.

    Below is what's been pitched so far:

    • "It's a New Year, it's a new ...."
    • Something for the New Year
    • Resolving
    • What I'll remember from 2017
    • New music for 2018 - trend setting .. avant-garde .. new and daring. Something different that's not be heard before .. 'the melodic atmosphere of modern pop rhythms mixed with a raw electronic R&B flare and Djent guitar tones ...' 
    • "New Boss same as the old Boss". 
    • "Breaking ground that didn't need breaking"

    Collectively those ideas suggest to me: "A New Year: Time to set new trends and update music from the past (or put a new spin on an old style)"

    Feel free to pitch in.

    Let's decide over the next few days, then I'll set things off.

    It's not a competition.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    How about ...

    A New Year: Time to set new trends or update music from the past by putting a new spin on an old style.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • kinkin Frets: 1015
    Breaking ground that didn't need breaking is a good one 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27343
    kin said:
    Breaking ground that didn't need breaking is a good one 
    I like that as a phrase - I'm just not sure how I'd interpret it to create something musical!  Or perhaps that's the point, and perhaps it shouldn't be anything musical ...


    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    TTony said:
    kin said:
    Breaking ground that didn't need breaking is a good one 
    I like that as a phrase - I'm just not sure how I'd interpret it to create something musical!  Or perhaps that's the point, and perhaps it shouldn't be anything musical ...


    I agree .. but perhaps were need to keep the task simple to understand and the scope wide to attract new entrants.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27343
    Fretwired said:

     keep the task simple to understand and the scope wide to attract new entrants.
    That's a good point.

    I'd really like to get more people involved in these - in all of the challenges - so perhaps we should start the new year with something more accessible?
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BRISTOL86BRISTOL86 Frets: 1920
    As a newcomer to this music making malarkey (good name for a band?!) my perspective is that a theme that’s not very well defined would probably be a bit of a barrier to entry. 

    I’m going to really try and take part in as much as possible but I think if you want to encourage as much participation as possible then a well defined theme is good. Then again I can see the argument that those who are a lot further along in their playing probably like the challenge of a theme that’s very ‘open to interpretation’
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • fnptfnpt Frets: 735
    To be honest, I used to participate more before because the themes were simpler. With the last few challenges I simply found it very difficult to feel inspired so I am all for simplicity.
    ____
    "You don't know what you've got till the whole thing's gone. The days are dark and the road is long."
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • I think, however the challenge is described, it might be considered 'difficult' by someone. We've had challenges as specific as "Here's 3 chords.- use only the notes contained in these chords" to "Freedom! - Record whatever track you like! No time limit!". Someone, somewhere will have a 'problem' in interpreting it.

    Surely, that's the nature of a 'challenge' - it's something that you find challenging!

    There's a lot of myth and romanticism attached to 'inspiration' and 'creativity' but it's really just a case of working, plugging away at it - "99% perspiration" as the old saying goes. If you're lucky, something 'clicks' and the piece takes on a life of it's own. If you're not, keep plugging away at it and make it the best you can. Often, when you get a bit of distance and listen back to something you came up with a year ago, two years ago, whatever, you'll hear it very differently to when you're in the process of making it. For me, things invariably sound better with a bit of passing time (and they're invariably disappointing at the time of recording).

    The hardest thing about creating anything is letting go of it and allowing public scrutiny (especially in this modern social media world where seemingly everybody thinks it's important to express every petty personal opinion or dislike) but these challenges have been very supportive and positive and hopefully can stay that way. Maybe more can be stated explicitly about this not being a competition? - music isn't sport!

    For what it's worth, I haven't felt musically 'inspired' for well over a year but I keep creating pieces for these challenges as a creative discipline - and occasionally something unexpected happens!


    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27343

    Surely, that's the nature of a 'challenge' - it's something that you find challenging!

    Agree with pretty much all of the comment.

    But if we try to ensure that the "challenge" part is about the challenge of creating a piece of music - rather than the challenge of trying to interpret a  meaning within a theme - would that encourage more participants to get involved?

    I haven't participated in many challenges, largely because of time/skill constraints, but I have looked at some themes and concluded that I wouldn't even know where to start.  The theme became a barrier before I got to the barrier of working at developing a piece of music to submit.

    Perhaps we should try simple themes for a couple of challenges and see how it goes?   

    We had a reasonable response to the Christmas challenge (although not as many as I'd hoped given the prizes on offer!), which was a deliberately simple theme, yet allowed for a range of interpretations and creations based on the theme - from the obvious to the more obscure.
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.