The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Nur Ein V
Round Two:

Title: "Spanish Lessons"
Due Date: May 2nd at 11:59PM (Eastern)
Non-optional Challenge: Accelerando
Send your completed song to nurein.sidefight@gmail.com

Songs can be found at http://nurein.songfight.net

Chris Cogott wrote:So......this accelerando thing......does this mean the song starts out at a certain tempo and ends faster than what it started out as (meaning just one slow and steady build up) OR does it mean it can speed up then go back to normal tempo and speed up again etc...?

We left that open to intrepretation.

MOVED FROM ROUND 1 THREAD: Hoglen wrote V1 and Chorus for our Spanish Lessons (alas, it is in English) then I joined him at about 7:30. By 9:30 we had written verse two and had begun to record. By 11 PM the song was mostly recorded with harmonies, I was whining about needing sleep, and Eric was recording trumpet. I don't know if we'll make the cut, but I think y'all will like it. I hope so because barring any additional work Eric does on his own, the song is done because I've got no more time for recording until next week (yeah, I'll be too busy drinking beer in Memphis and watching Flaming Lips/Alice in Chains Saturday night at the Beale Street Music Fest; priorities ya know).

Incidentally, this is our 7th or 8th song together, the first with electric guitar and trumpet, and the first "story song" (the other songs are more like the poetic indulgences you all know and expect from me and my friends).

Nur Ein!

Hey contestants, I know the title is "Spanish Lessons" and that creates an immediate image of a Spanish class. Please don't go the easy route. I would love to hear some creative takes on the title.

That's the plan, Stan. Y'all better know a little geography, though

I've already decided not to take the easy way out on this title. I don't think I'll be saying the title in the chorus, but it will be so heavily implied, there will be no question that my song fits the title.
I was going to play on the word lesson/lessen, but there are too many smart guys on the panel and would cringe so bad they'd give me a fail, lol.

Billy's Little Trip wrote:I was going to play on the word lesson/lessen, but there are too many smart guys on the panel and would cringe so bad they'd give me a fail, lol.

Guilty! But Spud likes that kind of stuff, so it would all even out.

Okay, so: rather than leave first thing this morning, I blew off the first day of my vacation* to record my round two entry in something other than man+uke. It's not much better, but it's better. The biggest downside: not enough time to do the challenge with the technical proficiency I wanted (gotta hit the road ASAP to make hotel checkin tonight), so enjoy the audible artifacts. Also, not enough time to work out a bridge. Oh, wait, nobody relies on me for production values or a bridge anyway. What a relief.

Submitting my entry in the next few minutes. (Most of) the rest of you, enjoy your epic and ultimately successful four-day struggle for round two greatness -- I'm going to put this out of my head, enjoy my vacation, and return just in time to find out whether I made round three.

NUR EIN!!

*at least nobody can say that i am not committed to nur ein

Good, Minty. I really want to see you keep your pace to see how far you can take it. I'm lovin' what you've done so far.

Sid Denison and the Harpooners have just accelerando'd their arses off and submitted 3 days early.

Words are written. Tune is in my head. People are going to hate this one (more than usual). Hoping to add clown percussion. Life is a carousel.

J$

j$ wrote:Words are written. Tune is in my head. People are going to hate this one (more than usual). Hoping to add clown percussion. Life is a carousel.

J$

I've got the music recorded. The lyrics are in my head. I don't know if you're just using circus references as a metaphor, but the strangest thing here is that my mental picture/head movie that I'm writing to is a Mexican circus. I'm hearing mariachi music and seeing pinatas hanging around randomly with really tall guys on those stilts walking around. The marry go round is just burros walking in a circle leashed to a pole with little kids on them wearing ponchos and.........oh wait.....I see a taco cart, be right back!

....*mouth full* Ok, where was I? Oh yeah, I see this really hot Mexican girl looking at me smiling. Hmmm, I hope she isn't going to lure me back to her room for wild sex, then I wake up in a tub of ice and a scar where my kidneys WERE! It should have been a clue for me that she was wearing a t-shirt that said "muéstreme su órganos". I thought it meant something else.

I've decided that immunity isn't worth it unless you use it. The idea I had was really good, but it's going to be in the high 80s this weekend. I'm spending time with the family, recording whatever lame idea I can come up with on Sunday afternoon, banking in the immunity, and saving my energy for Round 3.

I am digging a coffin doing something instrumental, aren't I?
It primarily samples Alfonso Cruz singing various folk songs of mexico and Michael Gruenberg's Instant Recall Spanish Vocabulary: Learn and Remember Spanish Faster Than You Ever Imagined!

phetal wrote:I am digging a coffin doing something instrumental, aren't I?

Unless it's an orchestra piece or something brilliant, I would not place my hard earned money on the odds.

..but you have a wonderful voice, so put that to work.

damn, I've got nothing...

Reist wrote:damn, I've got nothing...

Yeah, this challenge is a real killer, huh?

I've got mine (mostly) written, but accelerando is a beast to record properly. Especially when you've grown so accustomed to recording with the benefit of a click track.

Hang in there, man! You can do it!

Generic wrote:

Reist wrote:damn, I've got nothing...

Yeah, this challenge is a real killer, huh?

I've got mine (mostly) written, but accelerando is a beast to record properly. Especially when you've grown so accustomed to recording with the benefit of a click track.

Hang in there, man! You can do it!

No - if you got nothing, just give up. You know it makes sense.

Song is complete. I'll sleep on the mix and see what it sounds like tomorrow.

Nur Ein!!

My music is done, lyrics practiced and ready to record tomorrow.

I had a bridge using the challenge and I spent hours trying to make it sound right. Then this morning I listened with fresh ears and did the right thing, I deleted it and did something else. If I didn't, I'd still be racking my brain trying to make a piece of crap a diamond. I replaced it with a fun little bridge with a slight accelerando and did the strong accelerando at the end.

Don't forget to post your lyrics, guys (and gals). They're very helpful during the judging process. Good luck! (I mean NUR EIN!!)

Billy's Little Trip wrote:My music is done, lyrics practiced and ready to record tomorrow.

Tomorrow? Shouldn't that be tonight?