The Song Fight Bulletin Board

MC Eric B wrote:[...]everytime I submitted a hip-hop song using a beat I did not make, I got TONS of grief about it from songfight reviewers. This week (Ten Lies) and last week (King Me) I made my own beats from scratch, but my songs don't sound nearly as good as the ones where I used premade beats, so I am sure they will be low rated, especially when competing against a song like mCRT's.[...]

Please stop it. Just stop it.

You'll notice that more people vote than review. And many people who review do not vote. SFers who post here care about some stuff and not other stuff. People who vote care about other stuff. The veracity of the loops beneath the rap may be part of it. But blue has a good ear and speaks his mind, which is like gold. Just listen and learn.

Read your reviews. Shrug. And move on. If you think the reviewer is saying something constructive that you don't understand, PM him. Otherwise, let it go. Let. It. Go. Stop posting about it. You'd be surprised how little everyone cares. If someone didn't review your song because they didn't like the sound and didn't want to listen to it, consider that a review. Take home message: hit 'em hard with a hook in the first few seconds. You'll notice, maybe, that most HM songs start immediately with vocals, which we consider our strong suit.

You seem to be on the right path. Just stop whining so much. You did not get "TONS of grief". You got some negative reviews. 95% of the reviews here are either negative or purely subjective (i.e. "Good job! I kind of like this but I can't get into it. It isn't really my thing! A for effort!"). Say thanks, submit your next song, and in 2 years when you are consistantly turning heads, you'll know you're good.

You're not caught in some aesthetic Catch-22. You're just not skilled enough to wow people yet. It's really not anyone's fault, so stop talking like you're in some impossible situation.

Wait... I care... I think. What are we flaming about?

This "pre-made" versus "home made" thing is killing me. All music is borrowed. I can't believe you're falling for this crap. I wanna hear a rap over some marimba.

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! Keep it going!!!!!! I f'cking love this idle chatter

EDIT:171 posts

5.5 sets of reviews.

Priceless.


But entertaining.

ha, remember when i used to be the biggest cheerleader/guilt tripper about reviews?

and JB would tell me to shut up and that it's not about reviews but getting heard by lots of new people....

ah, those were the days. i was thinking about way back before songfight got "discovered" when we used to get a "got it" response to our submissions, instead of the bot-reply we now get...

back when songfight was just one fight. oh wait.....

i'm such an old fart.

jack wrote:ha, remember when i used to be the biggest cheerleader/guilt tripper about reviews?

I sure remember that.

Ah, the good old days.


Steve

jack wrote: instead of the bot-reply we now get...

That's a bot? I thought JB was personally writing that to me each entry. But I was starting to get suspicious at how he seemed to say the same thing each and every time. I just thought he was losing his creative edge, but I didn't want to say anything.........you know.

doorite wrote: dont be a rude person

doorite wrote:dick

doorite wrote:jerk

Wear it like a badge

jack wrote:ha, remember when i used to be the biggest cheerleader/guilt tripper about reviews?

and JB would tell me to shut up and that it's not about reviews but getting heard by lots of new people....

ah, those were the days. i was thinking about way back before songfight got "discovered" when we used to get a "got it" response to our submissions, instead of the bot-reply we now get...

back when songfight was just one fight. oh wait.....

i'm such an old fart.

Do you remember back when I used to post sporadically and most of my entries were mediocre at best? Oh, wait...

Just for the record, I didn't vote in this fight. I didn't think it would be fair to do so, since I didn't listen to all the songs. In my humble opinion, I'm what's wrong with SongFight.

But anyway, my point: I got one vote this week, and it wasn't from me. Someone liked my song. Take that!



Oh, and I'm supposed to flame somebody, right? Let's see... ah, I'm no good at this. Oh, but Jack still owes me a bottle of cheap hooch.

jimtyrrell wrote:
Oh, and I'm supposed to flame somebody, right? Let's see... ah, I'm no good at this. Oh, but Jack still owes me a bottle of cheap hooch.

ha! still have it! let's just say it's aging

you'll be enjoying a fine bottle of 2 buck chuck sometime this year, hopefully before the next SF Live.....

Leaf wrote:This "pre-made" versus "home made" thing is killing me. All music is borrowed. I can't believe you're falling for this crap. I wanna hear a rap over some marimba.

Marimba, huh? I'll roll you a beat, with canned marimba & canned tympani, but you've gotta rap over it Leafster, moi droog...

In a foreign language. (Chinese? Russian?? ...Canadian? )

The "Honeymoon in Polynesia" fight, ugh. I'll never rap again, heh.

I really thought my KING ME deserved a vote, but perhaps the lack of drums and the folkiness of it were the problem? So, I decided to listen to the top vote getters to determine what I'm missing here.

Here are my impressions of the top vote getters...

mCRT - 15 votes
An OK nerdcore (or "regular rap" song). The beats are somewhat old skool and/or lo-fi. They work, but they could be more polished. The vocals are acceptable, but the overall feel is old skool (NOT Cypress Hill old skool, but almost DJ & Fresh Prince old skool, but not as "cool", IMO). 2/5

d.o.o.R.i.t.e. - 14 votes
Not a bad entry. I would have bet on your song versus mCRT, but your song is more a style that I like. However, I still would only give this song 3/5.

Outta Noway - 9 votes
Starts out better than the the two top entries. I'm diggin' your groove and beats. I like this a whole lot better than mCRT. "kiss my grits, bitch". 4/5

Booty Chesterfield Trio - 7 votes
Now this is a cool song. This would certainly be in my choices of "vote getters". It's strange yet very listenable. I particularly like the short instrumental interludes. 4/5

Hostess Mostess - 4 votes
For better or worse, this reminds me of Phil Collins. Regardless, I like it. With some different production, it might be even better. 4/5

For the record, I know more than Hostess got 4 votes, but that's all the time we have for today. Maybe more reviews will follow, but I think the biggest point I can gather from this is either I suck OR all the voters suck.
......And I know it must be the latter.

Anyways, if I could vote on the songs listed above, I'd vote for Booty. Though I haven't listened to all the songs, so it's still up in the air how I would have ultimately voted.

Can I just say, as a consistent low-vote-getter, that I'm really not in favour of this newfangled idea of only reviewing the high scorers?

(although, in all honesty, 30 songs? No way I'm reviewing all them either!)

obscurity wrote:Can I just say, as a consistent low-vote-getter, that I'm really not in favour of this newfangled idea of only reviewing the high scorers?

(although, in all honesty, 30 songs? No way I'm reviewing all them either!)

If you enter a song, you have an obligation to review all the songs in the fight. No excuses. (I know, I'm getting to mine.) It won't take more than an hour or so. Think about how many hours you waste watching stupid shit on YouTube.

Just remember: If you choose to seranoode, don't be rude -- do reviews.

c hack wrote:If you enter a song, you have an obligation to review all the songs in the fight.

Bullshit. I am under no such obligation. Personally, I try to ensure that I have written more reviews, averaged out over all fights, than I have received, because that strikes me as fair. But I'm not obliged to do anything.

c hack wrote: Think about how many hours you waste watching stupid shit on YouTube.

I don't think I've even spent one hour in total watcing stuff on YouTube. (Just don't ask me about pr0n...)

c hack wrote:If you enter a song, you have an obligation to review all the songs in the fight. No excuses. (I know, I'm getting to mine.) It won't take more than an hour or so. Think about how many hours you waste watching stupid shit on YouTube.

Just remember: If you choose to seranoode, don't be rude -- do reviews.

You're obligated to do squat.

Are a set of reviews you wrote in an hour for a fight lasting longer than an hour really worth much? IMHO, not really, though I still appreciate whatever effort you make. If I had reviewed like that for the Grey Rainbow fight I wouldn't have liked your song as much as I did C Hack, it would have been my loss for sure, but you wouldn't have got much from it either. In fact that's a good point for this thread.

When I first joined the site I asked my friend Ken about protocols, he said it was "customary" (I'm pretty sure that was the word) to review the fight in which you submit (back then there was more than one fight).

The way I read the FAQs and stuff there's no obligation to do anything. I think it's nice when people do review and I try to as much as I can. I'm more frustrated that the low review rate suggests to me that the overall level of listening was down, which makes me think that the fight I DID sign up for was probably not very "valid," for lack of a better term. I wonder if 90-something voters actually listened to all 32 songs.

But c-hack, it's ok with me if you feel obligated, I usually do, too.

obscurity wrote:

c hack wrote:If you enter a song, you have an obligation to review all the songs in the fight.

Bullshit. I am under no such obligation.

Furrypedro wrote:You're obligated to do squat.

Whatever. Way I see it, reviewing songs is the price you pay for the privilege of getting reviews from everyone else.

Yeah, these reviews sure were a fucking privilege to read. If I write a song, the work is done, it's the site's privilege to have a reason to exist. I mean, the boards aren't even a part of the fight in all technicality. Considering the total number of votes received every week and the number of people who are active in the discussion process of each fight, I'd say most people honestly come here just to listen to the fucking songs. So you're welcome, everyone, I know it's big of me to write all these songs for you all, but honestly it's a privilege to be able play for such gracious ears!

jb wrote:JB drinks women's beer!

Wine coolers? Parrot Bay? or are we talking Michelob Ultra Light? Been there...I even know people who are known to pound a few smirnoff ice, when the time is right for the ice. F'n Canadians, and their ice.

Alright I am just chilling here and loving Henrietta's song. And Wes Davis, Jim Tyrrell, Wreckdom. Also very much into Hostess Mostess, Durand Durand, and let's see, Luke Henley, is that alittle "Land Locked Blues" there? I like it, more than a hair...just cracking the lid open here. I keep coming back to Henrietta's sexy voice and ultra comfortable feel. My streams are not working well but I'm pretty sure it's on my front end.

WeaselSlayer wrote:I'd say most people honestly come here just to listen to the fucking songs.

i'd guess most people come here to vote for their friends. next would be songfighters past and present who lurk or participate on the boards, and dead last, by a large margin, would be people who just listen to the music and vote.