Nur Ein XX Round Four "Cracks In The Sidewalk"

[Niveous]

The Nur Ein reaches its midpoint.

Title: Cracks in the Sidewalk

Challenge: Must include use of 5/8 meter for at least one significant part of the song

Create a new original song from the prompt by June 15 at 11:59 PM Eastern.

Email your song to nurein.sidefight@gmail.com

[Lunkhead]

[glennny]

[BoffoYux]

I have a meeting this Monday so it'll be a later start for the Listening Party. I'll update in the YT chat if I'll be past 10pm, but hoping not.
On the plus side, I won't have another meeting on Mondays until the finals!

Monday 6/16 Round 4 - 10:00 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8Hj51fKHi0

[eargoggle]

I don't see a Round 4 post on the Lyric Archive....or am I missing it?
Looking forward to hearing everybody's this week!

[Pigfarmer Jr]

I don't see a Round 4 post on the Lyric Archive....or am I missing it?
Looking forward to hearing everybody's this week!

The first person to post the lyric usually starts the thread. Just use a similar heading as the others.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Or wait for Glenny: viewtopic.php?t=12890

[Caravan Ray]

Title: Cracks in the Sidewalk

Challenge: Must include use of 5/8 meter for at least one significant part of the song

That's me out. I have no idea what 5/8 meter is nor how to achieve it - and don't really have time this weekend to bother trying to learn.

Also not keen on the obscure regional dialect vocabulary in the title.

[Lunkhead]

Title: Cracks in the Sidewalk

Challenge: Must include use of 5/8 meter for at least one significant part of the song

That's me out. I have no idea what 5/8 meter is nor how to achieve it - and don't really have time this weekend to bother trying to learn.

Also not keen on the obscure regional dialect vocabulary in the title.

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you change your mind and throw something together, although I realize at this point you've only got <12 hrs and it's the night/early morning for you, and that "meter" might be too much music theory to get a handle on in a couple hours.

I at least had no idea that "sidewalk" is "North American English", and that in the UK and South Africa folks apparently say "pavement" and in AU/NZ/Ireland/India folks apparently say "footpaths"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidewalk

Even if we had known about that, it would have been unwieldy to say "concrete path along the road" in the title. Just speaking for myself, I would be totally fine with it if folks interpreted the word "sidewalk" and used the equivalent word in their English dialect, or even in another language if we were provided a translation that showed they were singing about the equivalent thing.

Also, I know it's too late for this to possibly help, but, "meter" aka "time signature" refers roughly (I am not a music teacher, take with a grain of salt) to how to count and notate the beats and subdivisions of the beat in each measure/bar. The Western "default" meter is "4/4" meter. The 4 before the slash indicates that you count 4 beats per measure, and the 4 after the slash indicates that in notation you'd represent each of those beats using a "quarter note". If you wanted to count beats out loud in 4/4 you would say "1 2 3 4", and you could count "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and" to count beats divided into "eighth notes" in 4/4. "5/8" means you count 5 beats per measure and in notation you'd represent each of those beats using an "eighth note". You could count that out loud with "1 and 2 and 3". Thinking about it now, I am now unsure how well GarageBand supports using anything other than 4/4. IIRC glennny used GarageBand for many years and made it work somehow though?

[grumpymike]

That's me out. I have no idea what 5/8 meter is nor how to achieve it - and don't really have time this weekend to bother trying to learn.

Also not keen on the obscure regional dialect vocabulary in the title.

I didn't even know this was a north americanism, but I would have preferred "pavement", too. The titles and challenges have seemed extra prescriptive.

Hope you figured out what 5/8 is!!!

[Niveous]

The songs are up:

https://nure.in/titles/65ECB57DA68B2B2773EC3F88675717A3

[Caravan Ray]

That's me out. I have no idea what 5/8 meter is nor how to achieve it - and don't really have time this weekend to bother trying to learn.

Also not keen on the obscure regional dialect vocabulary in the title.

I didn't even know this was a north americanism, but I would have preferred "pavement", too.

Well - "pavement' wasn't my preference either. But this comes from a more technical jargon bias. As a Civil Engineer - a "pavement" is the hard wearing course on the top of a road structure that vehicles drive on that is designed for servicability and protection of the subgrade.

The path on which people walk with their feet. Is a footpath. Obviously.

I am now realising a terrible missed opportunity. My first professional job was 2 years operating a Falling Weight Deflectometer in Bankstown Municipality measuring the rigidity of flexible pavements of the road network. I don't think anyone has ever written a jaunty 5/8 work-song about pavement design using non-destructive testing methods!

And now I think nobody ever will.

Perhaps that is a good thing.


But - suffice to say - the nomenclature was only a mild annoyance I could have easily navigated. The real issue was:

Hope you figured out what 5/8 is!!!

Nuh. Still no idea.

[Caravan Ray]

Thinking about it now, I am now unsure how well GarageBand supports using anything other than 4/4. IIRC glennny used GarageBand for many years and made it work somehow though?

I am actually using Logic now (well - trying to - I think you Sam have mentioned my crappy vocals - I agree - it is giving me too much stuff to play with..but thats another story).

But -no - Logic had nothing to guide me. And that just made it all to hard. Perhaps I could have goolgled 5/8 loops. And one day I might. I did a little bit of research and it suggested that 5/8 sounded a bit African - and I am obsessed with Remain in Light? - is there a connection maybe?

Anyway -I was too busy to research - I had to go to Brisbane this weekend for my daughters 21st birthday - which is amusing because I discovered Songfight the week my daughter was born 21 years ago and I went to the internet to find musical outlets now I was a parent and couldnt go to the pub anymore.

Anyway - 21 years later - I am still pretending to be a musician and I still don't know what 5/8 is.




...and I have been busy this weekend doing work to promote Communism in South East Asia. Which is also a completely different story that I will expand on when I explain in a different thread why I can't come to Seattle this year for Songfight Live (sad face emoji)

[Caravan Ray]

I am now unsure how well GarageBand supports using anything other than 4/4. IIRC glennny used GarageBand for many years and made it work somehow though?

...and funnily enough - Garageband/Logic doesn't even seem to do 3/4! (OK - I know what 4/4 and 3/4 are)

Last week for Flower Moon - I was thinking of Nick Cave's "Where the Wild Roses Grow" as a model - and started playing guitar in 3/4. But I couldn't find a beat to play along to. In the end I found a midi piano loop and used that (to all the reviewews who asks if I was playing piano - yes, I cut and pasted that loop myself)

[Lunkhead]

Nick Cave's "Where the Wild Roses Grow" as a model

That is a classic, and a great model for that round;s challenge. But it's in 6/8, not 3/4.

And Logic absolutely does support setting the meter/time signature to whatever you want, as many times as you want, during a song:

https://support.apple.com/guide/logicpr ... 6f9162/mac

If you're relying heavily on stock loops though you probably won't find any that are in 5/8 I guess, so you'd have had to play all the instrument parts yourself I guess.

[Siebass]

I'm shocked no one has gotten into the debate about the difference between 5/4 and 5/8 time and which notes get accented; I only recently learned the difference, as my theory background is pretty weak. I don't envy the judges this round if that's going to factor in to the judging.

FWIW re: Logic, I'm in the shadows, and I use Logic, I was able to set it to 5/8 time, program a drum loop, and basically work over top of that; but 1) I love time signature challenges; and 2) I appreciated the difficulty of trying to work on pounding away at something unnatural and trying to get it to sound as natural as I could. If I had to start from research and testing of the music theory element, and didn't have much time, I'd probably feel the same way as Caravan Ray. I feel that way whenever there is a musical concept I've never heard of as the basis for a challenge or prompt, TBF.

I bet it's tough to come up with challenges that work for well for everyone, given our varied skills and experience, and appreciate the thought and effort that goes in. I think fitting everyone just right all the time is just too unrealistic of a goal. Just my 2c.

[furrypedro]

I dont think challenges should fit everyone all the time. That's part of what makes Nur Ein tricky to navigate, and I dont think it's supposed to be a walk in the park. Personally, I love a time signature challenge, but I've been on the wrong side of a hard challenge enough times to know it doesn't always go your way. (Not least those damned guest challenges! How many singers do you judges think we know?!)

[Caravan Ray]

(OK - I know what 4/4 and 3/4 are)

Nick Cave's "Where the Wild Roses Grow" as a model

That is a classic, and a great model for that round;s challenge. But it's in 6/8, not 3/4.

OK - I know what 4/4 are

[roymond]

Nick Cave's "Where the Wild Roses Grow" as a model

That is a classic, and a great model for that round;s challenge. But it's in 6/8, not 3/4.

And Logic absolutely does support setting the meter/time signature to whatever you want, as many times as you want, during a song:

https://support.apple.com/guide/logicpr ... 6f9162/mac

If you're relying heavily on stock loops though you probably won't find any that are in 5/8 I guess, so you'd have had to play all the instrument parts yourself I guess.

Stock loops are great in odd meters! Just drag and drop on the meter you want. I’ve done it many, many times.

[roymond]

I bet it's tough to come up with challenges that work for well for everyone, given our varied skills and experience, and appreciate the thought and effort that goes in. I think fitting everyone just right all the time is just too unrealistic of a goal. Just my 2c.

Not that I was driving any of the proposed challenges…because of “stuff” happening… challenges are NOT meant to “work” for anyone. They are meant to challenge folks.
Not to mention there are websites/playlists that feature just about every meter you’re curious about. ChatGPT is awfully forthcoming in this respect.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

It's highly unlikely I'll have reviews this round and I apologize for that. But I wanted to say, this round was extremely tight in quality. Thank you for the excellent round of songs.

[Mysteria]

Totally agree on the level of song quality this round. I typically give each song I rank a score of 1-5 stars (totally ripping off Star Search, I know). This round I had no songs ranked below a 3. Really solid work, everyone!