The 5th Annual Gift of Music!!!!

[jimtyrrell]

Are you serious? There's nothing in my inbox.

If I'm dq'd for being two minutes late, I'm going to make a snap decision to do something completely irrational that I will deeply regret later.

Doesn't it seem the least bit draconian and ridiculous to not allow something within two minutes of the deadline when the scope of the event was months? Especially when it was because I had to move the file manually to a different computer after several failed attempts to e-mail it from the studio.

I hope you're making this up. But if it was a joke, I don't get it.

I sent mine in days ago. I think I didn't get the confirmation email until the day after I sent it. He's not making it up, but it's not cause for panic, either.

That said, I for one like hard deadlines. And the longer the scope of the event, the greater the opportunity for the participant to avoid this kind of crisis, right?

But to reiterate my real point: Easy there, let's just see what happens.

[Lord of Oats]

Yes, good thinking. Before someone beats me to it:

Calm down, Oats.

I just found it weird the way the letter was phrased, and alarming the way the post was.

As the one who apparently assumed the deadline into existence, I suppose it would be totally my fault if I were excluded. But it in all honesty, it should rightfully be Hawaii time, anyway. I just proposed Pacific because I was due at work at what is midnight on the west coast, and so I figured I'd have to be done by then, anyway. And also, you may not have read it my post, but I also assumed a moderately squishy deadline. I think five minutes is a pretty good universal standard for "not late enough to call late." At least, that's how I've treated all my past jobs.

You are correct that the time frame should allow people to avoid these kinds of situations. My experience tells me that, regardless of whether they should, most won't. For me, it is much easier to get a short term assignment done on time, or done at all. When you do a skirmish, for instance, all of your decisions must take the time frame into account. Anything more than a couple weeks to do something seems like forever, like there will certainly be time somewhere, and it's easy to set your goals on the other side of the boundary between the real world and the land of impossibilities, and just never achieve what you wanted to. The expectations are higher, as are the stakes. To me, the 55-minute Frenzy is a great format. I have a lot of fun, and I excel. This felt like a term paper. Highly stressful, and I did horribly. Oh well. I don't feel like the only one. Hey, at least I finished...or maybe not...I guess that was the point of this whole bit, wasn't it?

I'm moderately optimistic. I will calmly wait for an update. As I sleep.

[EDIT: Hahaha, nevermind. I'm in.]

[j$]

Firstly, even if you're late, you're not DQed - your song will go up - you just don't qualify for the $100, and if your only reason for doing it is the money, well, then you should have kept an eye on the calendar - six weeks and you're two minutes late? That's bad forward planning and there should be no exceptions, given the rules.

That said I would like to ask, not that it's going to happen, but should I win, I don't want the money. Free music and all that. give it to the second placer in that case, but like I said it's not going to happen. i have heard my GOM entry, after all ...

[Lord of Oats]

Well, I certainly don't expect to win or anything. But if I'm not at least eligible to win, I don't want my song to be publicly available. I'll just give it directly to the recipient. It's not as if I like being humiliated in public or something.

For the sake of argument, if you're in it for the money, would you not want to be tweaking it to be the best it can be (or at least so that it has the most popular appeal) up to the last possible moment? The last good bit of my process was actually mostly insignificant garbage like trying to find the best solution for encoding the file. Of course, that experiment was a failure. It was a learning experience, but I was forced into a mediocre outcome by the time constraints. And then my studio computer is suddenly such a piece of garbage that it can't do what I can usually expect it to. And I was still in on time by the clock I was looking at. Come on, now. Why be so strict, other than to be a fascist dick?

Also, if Mr. Cashpoint wins, you're welcome to not give him the money. But the idea about second place is boring and obvious. Second and third should still get the prizes they earned. It should skip them and go to fourth place. Alternatively, participants can cast votes for the best and the worst entry, and the money, in the case that he wins, will be awarded to the worst song of the competition. Of course, in that case, I'll probably win the 'worst song' competition. So you can just skip the voting for worst and give me the money.

Oh, by the way, if I win any of the prizes, Soul Tree is free to hold on to it and give me a record deal instead.

[jack]

Well, I certainly don't expect to win or anything. But if I'm not at least eligible to win, I don't want my song to be publicly available.

why? that's a pretty selfish attitude for the gift of music. see the word gift? it's not just a gift to the recipient, it's a gift to the community as well.

well, maybe. i haven't heard it yet.

every other person commenting here who said they would be late said they would finish it without some dumb selfish caveat.

so uh.....well you know what i'm going to say.

[j$]

Yeah, what jack said. As the name suggests it's sbout the gift, and LOO highlights one of the reasons I was opposed last year, and this, to a cash prize. it's nice, and very generous of EB to offer it, but it just brings a whole bunch of unneccassary dickweed competitiveness to otherwise reasonable people, in my opinion. it's not about the competition - you get that every week or so with SF and other places. IMO it's about finding new music by bands you may not have heard of, having unpressured fun making music, and hopefully giving your giftee / other listeners a pleasant surprise.

So that's why i don't want the money should I win (I won't). I didn't realise there were other prizes, as LOO points out, so in that impossible eventuality, I will ask for the prize money to go to the most deserving cover in my opinion. I strongly encourage other people to take a similiar position. That's adding a new dimension of gift-i-ness to the jamboree!

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Well, I'm running late (and will continue to do so for another day or two, alas). I see that my recipient has gotten his/hers/theirs/its in already, so... never fear <BLANK>, it'll be in.

[Nigel (spOOn) Clements]

I know this is TOO late for this years 'gift of music' but hey guys guess what?....

I've just discovered what a chord is, and that there is more than one!!!


WOW!!

[Reist]

I've just discovered what a chord is, and that there is more than one!!!

You're well on your way, my friend.

[bwell]

I'm hoping to have something in a few hours, so I'll try to send it off in the morning.

Scratch that morning bit...my apologies for the continued lateness. I'm still working on the mix, but trying to figure out how to do so in a way that does not keep overloading the processor (I really need to look at upgrading from the old PowerBook G4).

[wages]

I've just discovered what a chord is, and that there is more than one!!!

You're well on your way, my friend.

OMG! Watch out, Nigel will be kicking our asses soon. Hey Nigel, there are a couple of other things that might help a lot to... namely... chords are composed of NOTES and usually seven specific notes form something called a SCALE. I hope that did not just blow your mind.

[Billy's Little Trip]

I'm hoping to have something in a few hours, so I'll try to send it off in the morning.

Scratch that morning bit...my apologies for the continued lateness. I'm still working on the mix, but trying to figure out how to do so in a way that does not keep overloading the processor (I really need to look at upgrading from the old PowerBook G4).

Have you tried exporting parts or small section at a time with their VSTs, then import them back and turn off the original track and it's VSTs? Or just import the exported parts into a new project. I do this, and it makes life nice.

[furrypedro]

Yo, is there anyone out there who has saved mp3's of the following past GoM entries. Unfortunately I was not here first time round and now the links are broken but I got all excited at the prospect of these covers:

Caravan Ray's There is a light that never goes out
Calfborg's Elephant Stone
Markus Kellis' Cut Your Hair

I'm loving the artist formerly known as Sven's King of Carrot Flowers at the moment.

[bz£]

Yo, is there anyone out there who has saved mp3's of the following past GoM entries. Unfortunately I was not here first time round and now the links are broken but I got all excited at the prospect of these covers:

Caravan Ray's There is a light that never goes out
Calfborg's Elephant Stone
Markus Kellis' Cut Your Hair

Extra holiday gift bonus, for a short time only!
http://www.85180ad.com/mp3/4.zip

It's nine megabytes of hot historical cover action!

[Eddiebangs]

2007/2008 GIFT OF MUSIC

I apoligize to my giftee, for my own entry will be late by another day or so... Keep sending your entries in - better late than never!

Happy GOM!!!

[bwell]

Have you tried exporting parts or small section at a time with their VSTs, then import them back and turn off the original track and it's VSTs? Or just import the exported parts into a new project. I do this, and it makes life nice.

In the earlier message I almost mentioned that I have to switch to the BLT mixing method. That is pretty much what I plan to do. Usually I can freeze or mute a few tracks or bypass effects while working on other parts, but there is a little too much this time around for the system to handle.

I'll be in soon...I'm looking forward to wrapping this up and giving everything a listen.

[Niveous]

Thanks to all that participated and all you are still working.

And a big thanks to Furrypedro. That was a hard song to live up to. Tom Waits is awesome. The Everything but the Girl version is pretty badass. Even Rod Stewart did it justice. You held your own, did it a little different, it had a bit of a 60's pop feel. It's very very cool. Thank you!!!

And to my gift receiver, another version of it is coming soon as well (since it seems I SENT THE WRONG MIX in my midnight stupor) as the fact that I've decided to play the song as part of my set at SF: BK. I think that setting will serve it best.

PS- Props to Senza Valore...oops Jose & Dolly on the extremely entertaining version of the Distance.

[anti-m]

OMG! They're up!

I'm listening to BLT's treatment of Pere Ubu, and holy crap, dude, you knocked this OUT OF THE PARK!!! Awesome! Thank you thank you thank you!!



- Now to listen to the other tracks! -

[frankie big face]

So what's the deal: we do review these songs or we don't review these songs? (I seem to recall that there was some kind of SongLove ban on reviews of GOM--no?)

[Niveous]

So what's the deal: we do review these songs or we don't review these songs? (I seem to recall that there was some kind of SongLove ban on reviews of GOM--no?)

I think it's more of a "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" atmosphere. Feel free to praise those you wish to praise and follow the aforementioned rule for the ones you won't.

[frankie big face]

Well then, in that case, I hereby praise Roymond's weirdo WAY-East Coast version of Fight For Your Right and J$'s excellent Buzzcocks cover. The latter is really really great.

I'm listening in semi-random order and will heap additional praise as it comes.

[bz£]

I hereby praise Roymond's weirdo WAY-East Coast version of Fight For Your Right

When I saw this in the list, I thought, this will blow my mind. And it turned out to be even mindblowingier than I expected!

Briefly skimming through songs I know; also impressed with BLT-- very true to a difficult band to deal with. When the song is over I want to hear it again.