Hey - I did this thing once with a bunch of musicians where we just wrote as much music as we could in a single day. In that case, there weren’t really rules - just, write what you want for a day, but try not to fixate on things. In this case it’s kinda about ‘letting go and writing some music’.
just wondered if maybe other pyramid users would be interested in doing something like this with their pyramids? Like, we set aside some weekend or something, and then everyone posts what they made to a thread and we could put whatever parameters we want - though I was hoping to keep things fun/casual. People can call out cool techniques they used or whatever in their posts so maybe we all even learn something.
So… yea. Is this kinda thing interesting to anyone around here?
Personally, I like @OxOnFord idea of making it some kind of collaboration… rather than just ‘show what you made’ , but Im sure any kind of sharing would be fun.
if it was a collaborative thing with things going back n’ forth, not sure it could be done in a single weekend… as you might have issues with things like available time, timezones.
though if you ‘follow the sun’ then this could work.
(I’d not be able to do the first couple of weekends in Jan… as I always have family visiting. but next time, you’re doing it I could be up for it.)
Sorry to add on to the ideas here, since there are so many great ones - adding on to technobear, OxOnFord ideas along with the original:
Stage 1: If there are only a few people involved, perhaps each person come up with a chord progression/rhythm and make a MIDI Clip or two (3, 4, more? Lots and lots? Open for debate?) for their submitted chord progression.
Stage 2: These get posted, and everyone involved downloads everyone elses progressions/clips and makes their own MIDI Clips to add. These get added to each original ‘bundle’ - example: vt100 makes a clip with a I-vi-IV-V progression. OxOnFord adds some tasty rhythms to that, and someone else adds some riffs and melodies. This gets all packed up in one .zip file, so we end up with one .zip file for each person involved.
Stage 3: Everyone downloads the finished packs and makes something with one or more pack.
Maybe set a few more guidelines such as:
Can only work with someone elses original pack
Can use a Harmonizer effect and Scale and Arp, and I guess can Transpose, but no altering of Melodies or Rhythms beyond aforementioned effects - within reason, of course. I guess for interest there’d have to be key changes
Only data from one single pack per song/musical piece
Should there be recognisable amounts of the original data? I mean, limit how many ‘new’ Tracks can be added? Or is the sky the limit?
Packs should be completed by 8Jan and ready for download, but completion of projects happens as they happen and get posted to a thread marked “JAMuary”.
I guess is the goal to turn out stuff quickly in a day? Or is it to work with semi-random material like a blind collaboration? (I’m not big on trying to do everything in a day, but I would be thrilled to get thrown some MIDI data and say, “make something with that”)
Yes, I usually overthink things - but I’m feeling that this includes most of the suggestions in one big lump of crazy fun.
The goal is whatever we want it to be and I think for me, just getting out of my natural habit and writing music in different ways is always a good thing. In the event that inspired this pitch, the goal was more about unhindered composing since most composers can’t really let go and just write without worrying about things. Then they show off their work in a supportive environment - this is community building and helps people get over showing unfinished ideas. I see it as an opportunity to force-flex my improv muscles and get to know other people’s styles. The time-bound nature is just to encourage people to ‘keep composing’ more than anything else, imho/ymmv. Since I’m writing music every day I can anyway, I just sorta let go and ‘see what happens’.
That said, I don’t see why the goal couldn’t be, well, anything else at all. It seems to me people really like the idea of collaborating so far, let’s entertain that?
Coming up with events tends to require a little over-thought
I agree on the single weekend feels difficult if there’s collaborating. Also, I just picked jan 8th out of a hat. We could do a multi-week collaborative thing that i imagine fits folks who want to be involved. Why not?
version 1 – the forms of this are like, 'everyone writes different parts and we put different structure around how those parts are brought together.
version 2/3 – we share projects we make ourselves and there’s different structure around what the pyramid-artist does with the project.
Maybe there’s a version 4 out there? We can collaborate on re-writing VRC6 chiptunes or something lol.
Questions:
1 - in order to share midi fx, our only option is to share the projects themselves, right? I suppose this is worth talking about - if we just share midi versus try to share more than midi. We could always just write these things down to share them via paper.
2 - What else would matter for sharing for us to standardize on in advance?
3 - anything we disallow? For example, if someone programs midi cc’s for their loop that could do literally god knows what in my rig lol. Is this a ‘feature’ or a ‘bug’? Same thing with PCs Or we have like rules like, ‘okay if you use a CC use one that all synths have like filter, and then provide a CC map’.
We got the idea, we need the team members, a storage space (I personally use google drive for sharing raw work) and some time frame.
Members ATM: @vt100 @thetechnobear @CreepyPants @Spazzickagent / needs power /
and me @OxOnFord
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We are public on this forum right now. To consider whether it is fine or not to work this way. We need to work better private, imho.
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Regarding the 4th option yes, there is and much more:
We think, understandably, midi, CC etc. but it is not.
We should think SOUND and I am totally fascinated and excited with the idea hearing my own composition from anybody of you, your arrangement and mix. …… and that’s a lot of work. Just midi not enough.
We think big, BIG, alright?
In case we are able to produce ONE SINGLE piece of music good enough to publish, then our group has the chance to do one more, an other one ……
We don’t know each other, that’s great, let’s have fun and let’s make one song, a good one, together and we will see…
We’ll see as a group, later on, that some of us will do that (I like creating bass line i.e.), others something else but one thing we, all of us, will do and that is: we will stop thinking “my music sucks” am I right @CreepyPants ? Because it does not. I always think my music is crap, hiding. Enough hiding, I say.
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I think this is interesting. I’d like to join you lot. TBH I’d prefer there to be not too many rules but the collaborative aspect using only a Midi sequencer could turn out quite fascinating. That said, I’m rarely any good with collaboration, but maybe it’ll work.
When it gets into sharing full Pyramid Projects is when it starts getting hairy for me, which is why I suggested sharing “MIDI Clips” - a sort of group of Construction Kits of MIDI Data already imported into a Pyramid Project but with no FX.
My rig has templates for very specific interactions between my controllers and the Pyramid functions. I control everything on the Pyramid via external controllers, so my Pyramid templates have a bunch of Chance0% FX on nearly every Track controlled by specific CCs and masks for Freelatch mode, plus my meta-controls, etc. I’d break out of it if necessary, but again: the more bare bones the easier it will be for each of us to apply it to our own way of approaching the Pyramid.
So a very strong suggestion from me would be to share bare bones harmonic & rhythmic MIDI data only. No MIDI CC’s, except maybe 7 and 10. I think those are the only ones that are mostly universally accepted (even CC11 never really got implemented across the board in my experience). Even Modwheel isn’t necessarily destined to any specific parameter on everyones synths.
I was going to package up an example of what I’m trying to explain, but I only got one Bank done before getting distracted yesterday. I’m making several Tracks of melodies, chords, rhythms - I think 4-6 in each of 3 Chord Progressions in the same (or appropriately modulating) Key(s) (verse, chorus, bridge perhaps). I was going to package that up in a bare bones Pyramid Project File with, say, Verse data in Bank A, Chorus in Bank B, Bridge in Bank C, and only using 4-6 Tracks in each Bank.
Or we can even just make MIDI clips track01.mid → track64.mid and then let the arranger import that into their own template/rearrange the MIDI Tracks to their own desired banks.
The more Pyramid FX we throw on there can nerf the creativity on the other end. I’d suggest best to Consolidate FX
Oh, sorry.
My music really DOES suck.
Part of that is intentional: I like my music to sound like a bad demo from a bunch of drunk, aging people at a party waxing nostalgic about the early 80s. (Right now I’m also working on some sort of Velocity modulation based on Brownian motion)
On sharing the files: I don’t use Google drive, but if there’s a script I can load on a domain. I can always just post files in a directory and link right to them.
I’ll try to post an example of what I’m suggesting as source material in a day or two.
Random musing: Took a break from what I’m working on right now to listen to the stuff I put together yesterday intending to be a sort of demo of files to share.
I actually like the tune, but it’s just a 4 on the floor kick, clap on 2, bass line, guitar, swell, sting, pad, perc, some plucky bits - I think 14 Tracks in all. I’m thinking the melodic style can go in many different directions, and it’s A minor with some 7th, 9th, 11th chords in there.
That should be enough, eh?
Mix and match?
I think I’ve made complete songs with less original data before.
One click or a right click should be able to download.
It’s just some stuff that kinda goes together, maybe not. It’s not a song.
One folder is a “Construction Kit” which are all the Tracks with human labels.
One folder contains the Pyramid Project file with all 14 Tracks in Bank A
One folder “tracks for Pyra” just lists the tracks 1-14 in .mid format for easier importing into your own template projects
Plus there’s an mp3 of a quick (bad) mix so you have an audio reference
A .txt file with the chords
There’s also a “Reference Chords” Track in the Construction Kit and I think the Pyramid Project file in Track 1 which is just the chords I’m using.
This is just a suggestion and a demo to show what I meant by my blathering above. It’s just some fodder material for someone else to make something. I imagine everyone involved would submit a similar kind of pack and ppl can d/l it and make something.
there isnt enough power where im at right now. Otherwise id be on it. This is my element.
Or we have like rules like, ‘okay if you use a CC use one that all synths have like filter, and then provide a CC map’.
(Right now I’m also working on some sort of Velocity modulation based on Brownian motion)