The Song Fight Bulletin Board

roymond wrote:Chocolate Chips - Guest guitars and (guessing) drums, bring a new dynamic to your music. Very welcome and very complimentary. Not big on the screechy sudden ending, though, which almost sank you.

The drums were programmed by me as usual. I can actually play a little drums (on an electric drum set) but so far for Song Fight!/Nur Ein I've been programming my drums as a time saver. I may try to play my drum set live this time around as an extra challenge (my drumming is still pretty rudimentary... but ah with electronic drums I can always use some quantization.)

Much thanks to Sausage for his guitar solo ~ It was a lot of fun to work with what he gave me.

I'm pleased that some folks noticed that my chorus was pretty good - I really thought it was the best one I've done for Song Fight!/Nur Ein so far so I was happy about that. The verses were a bit weird I guess... and I have a bad habit of playing at a slow tempo. 90 BPM is my comfort zone.

~~~

I'm still planning on sharing my opinions on the rest of the tracks at some point. Been crazy busy lately... might not have much time to work on this next one.

Jefff wrote:

roymond wrote:I believe songwriting challenges can help you write better songs. But they're not these songs. These are the exercises, the homework, the tests.

Well, great. We all accidentally enrolled in Song College.

Maybe bootcamp is closer to the mark.

roymond wrote:

Jefff wrote:

roymond wrote:I believe songwriting challenges can help you write better songs. But they're not these songs. These are the exercises, the homework, the tests.

Well, great. We all accidentally enrolled in Song College.

Maybe bootcamp is closer to the mark.

I'd say it's more "home-schooling."

It's whatever Lord of the Flies is...who's got the conch, anyway?

Well damn, if someone like Jon Eric thinks he isn't good enough to play with the 'big boys', what chance do I have to make any sort of comeback?

For the record, I like your sound and you are the one of the few ppl on SF that I listen to on a regular basis. When I stopped doing reviews a few years back, I got into a rut of only listening to certain people/bands that I had a preference for. And you were one of them. I always pictured you ending up on some early morning children's show singing along with some kids about the value of friendship and not running with scissors and stuff.

roymond wrote:I believe songwriting challenges can help you write better songs. But they're not these songs. These are the exercises, the homework, the tests.

Exactly right.

Though - with a bit of luck, the homework results will sometimes be good enough to stick on the fridge.

Ross wrote:It's whatever Lord of the Flies is...who's got the conch, anyway?

BLT has it. He always has it.

Caravan Ray wrote:

Ross wrote:It's whatever Lord of the Flies is...who's got the conch, anyway?

BLT has it. He always has it.

{waits for a joke about conch-less panties ....}
:O

j$ wrote: FBF – Any song that rhymes “Irish Catholic” and “Over-reacted” needs to do nothing else to be a winner in my book.

Yeah, that line was pretty much my present to you.

j$ wrote: How rude of me to ever second-guess you - distinctly you, defiantly fun.

That's a nice quote. Thanks.

j$ wrote: (I have to say, I can’t hear references to “The Crying Game” without thinking of *that* scene in Naked Gun 33 1/3, but I digress).

I hadn't remembered the Naked Gun scene but just looked it up on YouTube. (Funny!) But I certainly remember the scene from The Crying Game. It was pretty earth-shaking in my narrow little 1992 world.

I must honour Chocolate Chips because it was his song that was stuck in my head at work yesterday.

And I find the sentiment of the song kind of moving at the moment.

roymond wrote:I believe songwriting challenges can help you write better songs. But they're not these songs. These are the exercises, the homework, the tests.

What if these are the only songs you write? If you're waiting for my "real" songs, you'll probably wait forever. I'm rather proud of my songwriting and I don't care at all if someone gave me the title or a challenge or a deadline. These are the songs.

I'm with Frank on this one, but it sure makes sense to know that Roy sees his job as grading homework.

Edit: sorry, this sounds jerky. Roy, I see where you're coming from, disagree, but your "scientific" reviews are appropriate for your perspective.

supremeedible wrote:I must honour Chocolate Chips because it was his song that was stuck in my head at work yesterday.

And I find the sentiment of the song kind of moving at the moment.

I appreciate that --- Hopefully that's a sign that my focus on melody writing is starting to pay off...

frankie big face wrote:

roymond wrote:I believe songwriting challenges can help you write better songs. But they're not these songs. These are the exercises, the homework, the tests.

What if these are the only songs you write? If you're waiting for my "real" songs, you'll probably wait forever. I'm rather proud of my songwriting and I don't care at all if someone gave me the title or a challenge or a deadline. These are the songs.

Yes - I don't agree with the "they're not these songs" bit. They might be these songs. Or they might not. But if you want to be a writer, you have to write. And this is writing.

The songwriting challenges can help you write better songs. And these are the exercises, the homework, the tests. But they are also the songs. I don't ever sit down to write as an exercise. I write to write a song. Just like I hate the idea of physical exercise just for the sake of it. I won't walk around the block - but I will walk to work, because there is a purpose to it and you get a result. Then again - I am a fat bastard, so.....

RangerDenni wrote:

Caravan Ray wrote:

Ross wrote:It's whatever Lord of the Flies is...who's got the conch, anyway?

BLT has it. He always has it.

{waits for a joke about conch-less panties ....}
:O

haha!

I certainly hope this thing is a conch or I'm going to feel pretty silly in the morning.

We should rename the contest Nur Bitch.

Manhattan Glutton wrote:We should rename the contest Nur Bitch.

Why? Your mom isn't competing.

Where's the LIKE button?

Well played. Continue bitching.

Jefff wrote:I'm with Frank on this one, but it sure makes sense to know that Roy sees his job as grading homework.

Edit: sorry, this sounds jerky. Roy, I see where you're coming from, disagree, but your "scientific" reviews are appropriate for your perspective.

I don't see this as grading homework at all, but it is a competition being graded by judges to determine a winner. It is the responsibility of the contestants to fulfill the challenges each round, mostly because that's the rule of Nur Ein (so blame Niveous). The judges also have to satisfy the contestants' suspicions that robots write reviews applying arbitrary personal definitions and poor taste. All of which I take in stride, because it's actually sort of fun and there's a ton of great music involved. With SF proper, I try to offer feedback on the songs I review...what I'd think might help them, what I do and don't like, etc. But Nur Ein is a different kind of competition, and there's formal grading involved within a time frame. So, within the two very relaxing days given, would you rather the judges write (23, 19, 15, 11, 7, 4, 2) floral reviews that reflect on the songwriters' hidden meaning?

Caravan Ray wrote:

frankie big face wrote:

roymond wrote:I believe songwriting challenges can help you write better songs. But they're not these songs. These are the exercises, the homework, the tests.

What if these are the only songs you write? If you're waiting for my "real" songs, you'll probably wait forever. I'm rather proud of my songwriting and I don't care at all if someone gave me the title or a challenge or a deadline. These are the songs.

Yes - I don't agree with the "they're not these songs" bit. They might be these songs. Or they might not. But if you want to be a writer, you have to write. And this is writing.

The songwriting challenges can help you write better songs. And these are the exercises, the homework, the tests. But they are also the songs. I don't ever sit down to write as an exercise. I write to write a song. Just like I hate the idea of physical exercise just for the sake of it. I won't walk around the block - but I will walk to work, because there is a purpose to it and you get a result. Then again - I am a fat bastard, so.....

I agree with this too. You are a fat bastard...I mean...yes, these are the songs, too. My response was for Jon, specifically, and his expectations about becoming a better songwriter. But I think it's worthy of its own thread so I'll put my thoughts elsewhere.

roymond wrote:The judges also have to satisfy the contestants' suspicions that robots write reviews applying arbitrary personal definitions and poor taste.

Clearly the words of someone taking things in stride. I'll have a better response later when I'm not so drunk on wine. (Seriously guys, I may have a problem.)