The Song Fight Bulletin Board

jb wrote: 4. Many people through the years have found themselves UNBLOCKED because we remove the "blank page" from their process. We put things on that blank page-- a title, and a deadline.

Yeah. That.
10 years ago I had a blank page.
Now I am the reigning Nur Ein Champion.
But people still kick sand in my face.

darricklucas wrote:
For instance last week, on a scale of one to ten.

Sure when I started my worksheet at the top in big bold letters I had it written 'on a scale of one to ten'. When I was finished the scale ended up being a literary device to describe how The narrator felt about a woman he longed for. I could have stuck with the title, but it would not have given anyone insight to what the song was about. The song was about his 'lovely obsession'. This is my point.
.

It is your song. You are allowed to change the title at anytime if you want. But if you enter it in Songfight - it will have the Songfight title.

I have written many songs to a Songfight title, that later got called something else, eg. the song I wrote for "Please George Lucas Don't Break My Heart Again" is now known as Pictures of Natalie Portman - because although the song was written for the title - it was a really dumb title, and the chorus of the song made a better title.

well, the title as YOU type it is bad... but as it actually IS in the archive...

harrumph

darricklucas wrote:

Spud wrote:

darricklucas wrote: But from an artistic standpoint I disagree with having the have the title of the song being preset, it closes way more doors than it opens

Then what are you doing here? That's what we do. Do you go to McDonald's and try to order pizza, too?

Lol, who 'eats' at McDonalds? I wouldn't quite call that 'food' they are serving.

jb wrote:well, the title as YOU type it is bad... but as it actually IS in the archive...

harrumph

We'll...I meant it was a bad title for the song I eventually wrote. Not a bad title full stop

And yes. That wasn't strictly the title. That was how I sang it. But that sort of reinforces that the titles are inspirational rather than restricting IMHO.

Darrick,

Over the last 14 years there have been close to 11,000 songs made for Song Fight!. Nearly every of those songs was written to the title that was posted (and every single one was released under that title). It would take nearly a month to listen to the entire archive from beginning to end with no breaks and no repeats (well, mostly). 35GB of non-stop music, more than what you can hold on a typical mp3 player, all based on the simple premise that people write different songs for the same title.

How long have you known about Song Fight!? What were you doing musically 14 years ago? Hell, what websites do you use regularly that even existed back then?

Song Fight! isn't going anywhere. It might never become a giant Internet powerhouse that rules the entire world but that's also not the point. Song Fight! is a place where, for whatever reason, a bunch of people have been very active for a long time. This isn't just a flash-in-the-pan social media outfit that came into existence two weeks ago. There's a lot of history and a hell of a lot of passion and devotion to this one very simple basic concept. It's a concept that was so powerful that it has long outlasted the interest of Narbotic, who started it way back in 2000, and who left in 2002.

It is also a place that people come to make friends and rise to the challenges and learn new things and, most importantly, enjoy making music for each other. That 11,000 song count doesn't count the many side projects that have been based on the same basic premise, as well, such as Nur Ein or Circle of Titles, or any of the other dozens of projects that have been Song Fight! related, such as CoverFight or Hxaro or RemixFight. All of those are based specifically on an imposed restriction, and the projects simply would not be interesting any other way.

Please don't tell us how to do things until you've come to understand what it is we're doing.

BTW: Fluffy's previous excellent post sounds even better if you pretend it is being read by Russell Crowe as he was in "The Gladiator".

Caravan Ray wrote:

darricklucas wrote:
For instance last week, on a scale of one to ten.

Sure when I started my worksheet at the top in big bold letters I had it written 'on a scale of one to ten'. When I was finished the scale ended up being a literary device to describe how The narrator felt about a woman he longed for. I could have stuck with the title, but it would not have given anyone insight to what the song was about. The song was about his 'lovely obsession'. This is my point.
.

It is your song. You are allowed to change the title at anytime if you want. But if you enter it in Songfight - it will have the Songfight title.

I have written many songs to a Songfight title, that later got called something else, eg. the song I wrote for "Please George Lucas Don't Break My Heart Again" is now known as - because although the song was written for the title - it was a really dumb title, and the chorus of the song made a better title.

Yeah man this was the answer I was looking for from the get-go, thanks!

fluffy wrote:Darrick,

Over the last 14 years there have been close to 11,000 songs made for Song Fight!. Nearly every of those songs was written to the title that was posted (and every single one was released under that title). It would take nearly a month to listen to the entire archive from beginning to end with no breaks and no repeats (well, mostly). 35GB of non-stop music, more than what you can hold on a typical mp3 player, all based on the simple premise that people write different songs for the same title.

How long have you known about Song Fight!? What were you doing musically 14 years ago? Hell, what websites do you use regularly that even existed back then?

Song Fight! isn't going anywhere. It might never become a giant Internet powerhouse that rules the entire world but that's also not the point. Song Fight! is a place where, for whatever reason, a bunch of people have been very active for a long time. This isn't just a flash-in-the-pan social media outfit that came into existence two weeks ago. There's a lot of history and a hell of a lot of passion and devotion to this one very simple basic concept. It's a concept that was so powerful that it has long outlasted the interest of Narbotic, who started it way back in 2000, and who left in 2002.

It is also a place that people come to make friends and rise to the challenges and learn new things and, most importantly, enjoy making music for each other. That 11,000 song count doesn't count the many side projects that have been based on the same basic premise, as well, such as Nur Ein or Circle of Titles, or any of the other dozens of projects that have been Song Fight! related, such as CoverFight or Hxaro or RemixFight. All of those are based specifically on an imposed restriction, and the projects simply would not be interesting any other way.

Please don't tell us how to do things until you've come to understand what it is we're doing.

I appreciate the thorough well spoken response and you taking the time to help me understand.

I get it and by no means have been trying to 'rock the boat' - if I have a perspective that goes against the norm and I hold it to myself to avoid a potential conflict in exchange for amiability, I've done the community an injustice. The fastest and strongest growth comes from the conflict-resolution model, just like in music.

any snark or witticism at the expense of others you may have perceived in my posts were not an attempt to instigate but a modest reaction to how I was spoken to. I also have a posting rule where my first response is neutral. If someone comes at me again I have to put my gloves on - I am young and prideful, it's human nature.

Any comments I've made about the status of your site were not to jaw at the ppl who have put in their time but merely using facts to support my case. Obviously I could have just shut my mouth but it's the internet, if I don't speak my mind then what's the point?

I do respect the community and have had it in my mind to participate for over two years now. Jim Tyrrell showed me this site back in 2011 (maybe even earlier). If I didn't think there was benefits to participating right now I wouldn't have spent the amount of time I have here in the past 8 days or so.

In my first few days I made several, 30+, across the web (to targeted, relevant groups) with an invitation to check us out, a link to the fight page and the hashtag #songfight

I also hijacked two music labs at my school where I am good friends with the professor, one was a theory/composition class, the other a digital songwriting/midi class. I got everyone to go to the site, listen to some songs and vote.

The threads I've started are all about engaging each other creatively and sharing tools that we have learned from.

These things benefit not only the site, but everyone here.

I guess my main reason for posting in the top, most active forum is that I know how this kind of traffic behaves. If we are lucky to get someone to click the link and make it to the message boards, 90% of them will click the top check out one or two threads. If we engage them and they post there is an exponentially greater chance they will stick around, vote, offer words and wisdom - maybe even participate in a fight or two. My thread 'technique chic' was designed to be a gimme. Clever title to get the click and an interesting, yet vague subject matter that everyone can participate in.

I guess of could of been clearer but, meh - captain hindsight is a useless superhero


I have been songwriting for a long time. Only in my mid 20's but I have catalogues online going back to 2003. I was making songs even before that but I have no record of them anywhere.

Maybe I will post some when I am able to share links

Caravan Ray wrote:BTW: Fluffy's previous excellent post sounds even better if you pretend it is being read by Russell Crowe as he was in "The Gladiator".

I always read fluffy's posts in Maurice LaMarche The Brain's voice.

fluffy: BLT, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
BLT: I think so fluffy, but burlap chafes me so.

Song to title. Simple.

I do notice that the FAQ terminology still refers to "the title you chose" which made sense when we had multiple titles per week but doesn't make sense anymore. Maybe that should be clarified.

fluffy wrote:I do notice that the FAQ terminology still refers to "the title you chose" which made sense when we had multiple titles per week but doesn't make sense anymore. Maybe that should be clarified.

Why don't we do that anymore? I would love having more than one title per week. Sometimes I don't have any good idea for a song with the title given on the start page and then I have to wait up to three weeks until there is a new one I can write a song to.

Historically, it only happens when we're getting so many entries that fights get unreviewably large, and that just hasn't happened in a while.

There's been a bit of back-and-forth about multiple titles over the years. Some people like that they have a choice in title, and the resulting fights aren't too full to listen to in one sitting.

Other people dislike having a "choice," because the limitation of Song Fight—the fact that you're writing for the title provided, whether you like it or not—is the appeal. When there are multiple titles for a long time, it also kind of "fragments" the community, because there could be two artists contributing consistently, week after week, who never wind up talking to each other or hearing each other's music because they're always in different fights.

In the end, whether or not there are multiple titles is pretty much at the sole discretion of the Fightmasters. They listen to input, and they're generally benevolent dictators, but it's up to them. Seeing as I'm not paying the web hosting bill, I have no problem with this arrangement.

noma wrote: I would love having more than one title per week. Sometimes I don't have any good idea for a song with the title given on the start page and then I have to wait up to three weeks until there is a new one I can write a song to.

Don't make me call you a pussy, noma.

JB





pussy.

jb wrote:pussy.

Hey, I heard that!

ah ... "The Lurker" is a great title. I'm going to be on a trip for the next week or so though so it's going to be tough to get something done by 6/30. But it's a good title to be rattling around in the meantime.