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How To Collab
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| Digital Aura |
I have been pondering collaborating with another artist as I've heard that teaming up with another person is usually very rewarding and fruitful.
I've never done this before so I'd like some feedback from you guys. What works? What doesnt? How do you actually do this over long distances without meeting?
Please gimme a step by step if you can!
:D |
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| Chronosis |
| It doesn't work :D |
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| Xenocreator_PG_ |
Ive done it a few different ways. My mate & I were keen to do a song together so I just said to him that if I start the song & go to the 4 minute mark, then you can finish. Because I mainly create psy trance the elements can change quite significantly throughout the song. Basically my mate kept the bass line, kick & percs going & added some new weird element. The ending of our tune was very weird & it was not the direction I thought it was going to go.
In Another collab my mate just had the basics down. He had a groovy bass line & some percs to compliment it. He gave it to me to see what I could do with it. So I added all the rhythm & gave it back to him to tweek & master. Turned out pretty good.
Most of the time I create the start of a tune, or come up with a rhythm & then abandon it because I dont know where to take it or if it is even good. Later I might give it to someone & ask them if they can do anything with it.
I guess it is easy for me because I use Reason. We just swap reason files & then add layers. |
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| zodiac9 |
I've done no collaborating, but I'm open to it. I tend to think that it's probably better for one person to compose and arrange a song, and then let others add to it, rather than one person starting a song, and the other finishing it.
This is the way I see it, person A has a complete song with all the basic structure. They send the song tracks (as samples and midi) to persona B, who specializes in percussion and FX, and they add drums, percussion and FX to it. Person B then sends the track to Person C, who is very keen at mixing and producing, and has the proper equipment and studio enviroment to do it. Person C adds effects where necessary, might make some song arrangement changes, and then mixes and masters the track.
OK, that's the way I see it working best. Everyone specializes in just a few areas, and pools their talents together. You could knock out quality tracks a lot faster that way, splitting up the workload.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there are some highly successfull internet collaborations out there, who have got the attention of big name DJs. I forget the name of the group, but they all live in different countries, and have never met. Tiesto discovered them, and spins their tracks. |
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| DeZmA |
| I think it's important too if you use the same sequencer / synths / softsynths. |
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| BOOsTER |
I'm currently working on a collab, me and my mate both use reason, so it's quite easy (no problem with having different stuff). We are remixing a tune and he made the very basic thing first and let me add some melodies, when I felt like I can't add much more without "forcing it" i send it to him, he added some more and I felt enough inspired to give it another go and this way we swap the file like everyday and it works great. Once you feel like you can't do more you just send it over. One thing is very important, you must be "sort of" real friends, cuz if one thinks he did much more than the other or one thinks that he did way too little to be a real part of it, it starts to suck bad...
If you can give this feelings a break you will work successfully to a great song and what's more important, you'll have great fun doing it! |
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| greenskydj |
| I think a good way to do it would be to figure out a middle ground on how you both write a track- like, put 24 bars of kicks down 1st, figure out basic bassline and put 24 bars down, prob time for some intro multisample/flare, you get the picture. Quantize that down into really small details, flip a coin as to who goes first and then just start passing the back and forth like a joint, carefully of course paying attention to the new sounds that come back with the track every time you get it. |
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| Mr.Mystery |
| quote: | Originally posted by Digital Aura
I have been pondering collaborating with another artist as I've heard that teaming up with another person is usually very rewarding and fruitful.
I've never done this before so I'd like some feedback from you guys. What works? What doesnt? How do you actually do this over long distances without meeting?
Please gimme a step by step if you can!
:D |
I think it's just down to finding someone who thinks more or less like you do. I think the main reason the Al Azar collab between me & Mart has been so fruitful is that we both sort of "fill the gaps" that the other one has left. For example I'm usually handling the structure, percs and bass while Mart concentrates on the melodies (though not all the time, obviously).
We usually start with very little, it can only be a synth patch, a simple melody or just a percussion loop. Then we start throwing the file back and forth (this is very easy since we're both working in Reason) in MSN/irc and sooner or later we have something that resembles a track.
I think the only trick to it is finding the right partner - I've tried collaborating with several people and sometimes it just doesn't work at all. |
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| serginka |
| The best trance pieces i have heard are collaborated projects. The thing is that when one is listening to something over and over for hours and then days, one is somewhat numb to the whole thing, and you might be liking things that at a first listen you would consider crap. and on the other side of the coin you could be changing things that already sound good. hey thats great... but my best songs on my side have always been solo projects. So i guess it is a matter of connecting with the right person. |
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| Digital Aura |
I agree that some of the best songs are collaborative efforts. I also agree that you should find someone that fits your style.
I was looking for more answers like Mystery who have had some degree of success in teaming up with another artist.
I'm assuming you and Mart work in the same room for the most part? Or is everything MSN. I was wondering how to make that work. Obviously it makes more sense to work over each others shoulder but that isnt feasible for me. :rolleyes: |
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| glās |
www.dangerboxstudios.com
The three of us live in three different states and got our song on DI.
the link to the song is below the big logo.
and a successful collab has to deal with areas of expertise, and then at the same time discussion over the different areas, compromise and patience is needed. good luck! |
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| Digital Aura |
Cool glas! Nice!
I downloaded that tune! I think I actually caught this when it aired on DI.fm.
I think collabing is gonna be tough...I have a hard time sharing my ideas. I dont know if I can handle someone changing my stuff and sharing credit for it. That's gotta be hard to learn how to handle. You know? |
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