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[Sticky] The feed-back thread - still going strong into YEAR 11

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(@vic-lewis-vl)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 10264
Topic starter  

Thanks so much Ernie! Hope you don't mind me jumping in at this assignment? After I read it was totally inspired and wrote a song last night. Now I'm working the kinks out to record next week.

Julia

Hi Julia, and welcome to the SSG. MP3's aren't mandatory - entirely up to you whether you choose to record or not. It is nice, though, to hear even very rough demos - gives the readers a much better idea of rhythm, melody, etc.

Feel free to try any of the other assignments at any time - the other year 7 assignments are all in one thread, as are ALL last year's (year 6) topics.

Looking forward to reading/hearing what you come up with!

:D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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(@juliaspring)
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Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 12
 

Cool deal, thanks Vic. Nice to meet!

Julia


   
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 KR2
(@kr2)
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What have I learned from Week 13?

Although the week isn't over, I learned I don't like non-rhyming lyrics.
But I can't really tell until I've put some music to it.
Who knows? It could be great!
Yeh, right.

It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.


   
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(@vic-lewis-vl)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 10264
Topic starter  

What have I learned from Week 13?

Although the week isn't over, I learned I don't like non-rhyming lyrics.
But I can't really tell until I've put some music to it.
Who knows? It could be great!
Yeh, right.

I've learned:

It's easy enough to write a song (well, a verse, anyway) using just one chord - but there's got to be some variation. More than a couple of lines per verse, it's a struggle to maintain the listener's interest. So I've had to use different strumming patterns - it's easy enough to use one strumming pattern throughout a song, but start mixing them up and you've really got to rehearse the song before recording!

I thought recording would've been a piece of cake - how hard can it be to play a D chord over and over for four lines, with little variations? Harder than I thought! Well, despite a few distractions, I finally managed to get a rhythm track done to my satisfaction. Now I've got to add bass, electric and lead! It's putting those little variations together that I've found hardest....that, and trying to find different ways of singing over the same chords.

Hopefully, I'll get it finished in the AM!

:D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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(@joehempel)
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I agree Vic, this has been a very interesting week, and a great learning experience.
It's easy enough to write a song (well, a verse, anyway) using just one chord - but there's got to be some variation. More than a couple of lines per verse, it's a struggle to maintain the listener's interest. So I've had to use different strumming patterns - it's easy enough to use one strumming pattern throughout a song, but start mixing them up and you've really got to rehearse the song before recording!

For me it's hard to write lyrics as I want to be really wordy, but I don't know how to write very interesting music so I can't just keep the same things over and over, so it was a challenge to me to just use the one chord variation (or find one that worked for me). And with that trying to condense lyrics of a broad time period, stretches the mind.

In Space, no one can hear me sing!


   
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(@chris-c)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 3454
 

Hi,

Great to see so much action here. :D (If the forum post counter is correct, it seems that this post is the 20,000th to the SSG!) I disappear for a few weeks and now it looks like it's going to be hard to get a table, it's so crowded.... watch them all head for door when I get up and start singing again....

Not long until the school holidays are over, so I hope to get back into the song-writing groove again soon. In the meantime I did have a very quick attempt at this assignment, by writing a song with no chords at all. No lyrics either for that matter. Yes, I dusted the old clarinet off, and that can't play chords, so it was just a straightforward melody. Tough to sing with a reed in your mouth too...

I guess I could have sneaked a random guitar chord into the mix and claimed inclusion... :wink:

Cheers,

Chris

Now With All New Holiday Beard... :shock:


   
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 KR2
(@kr2)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 2717
 

I did have a very quick attempt at this assignment, by writing a song with no chords at all. No lyrics either for that matter. Yes, I dusted the old clarinet off, and that can't play chords, so it was just a straightforward melody. Tough to sing with a reed in your mouth too...

Welcome back, Chris
Thanks for the song. I think I heard you miss some notes . . . actually, all of them.
There is something to be said for the sound of silence though . . . it too . . . soothes the savage breast.

KR2

It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.


   
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(@stikman)
Reputable Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 237
 

Agreed. I found that dom 7th chords stand well alone although I had to think about rhythm also and an occasional hammer on to the 7sus4 between verses to make it interesting. You won't hear it if at all in my soundclick version. I think I missed them all while recording.

Melody is really important here too.

stik

"All battles are first won or lost in the mind." - Joan of Arc

"It took me about 20 years to figure out how to write without inspiration. Thankfully, I got there." - Leon Russell


   
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(@contagiousjerm)
Estimable Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 176
 

Just want to say I really enjoyed the week 13 assignment - I realized that once I settle on a chord (ahem) progression, the creative juices just began to flow when it came to the lyrics. I hope to see some more assignments occasionally that ask us to do something musically.

jeremy

And my Soundclick Page to listen to my song submissions: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=903876


   
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(@citizennoir)
Noble Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 1247
 

Hi all :D

Well, I really liked the 'one chord verse' assn.
Although I didn't come up with any NEW songs for it (Yet), I did finally put together the genesis of a slide part
for Dante.

I like the one chord verse method (obviously).... It lends itself well to my stripped down lyrics.
And sort of forces the creation of Riffs, instead of relying soley on strumming.

KR - Kudos to you for giving the 'sans rhyming' style a whirl 8)
I get the feeling that a lot of people here feel that I don't use rhymes in my lyrics....
Well, maybe they aren't 'perfect' rhymes.... and I might rhyme 'out of time' (if an even pattern were enforced, that is),
But listening to Aporia's Mp3, I think it's plain to see that those things aren't really nec.
I mean - did anyone really mind that the Rhymes wern't perfect when they listened?
Don't give up on that style KR.... it took me many years to get to the point that I'm at now....
And I still need much improvement!

Chris - Great to see ya back! :D
Can't wait to see/hear your latest work.

Boy, I cannot believe how BUSY it is around here!
I haven't had time to comment on everyone's work yet.... and there's a bunch of stuff in Hear Here that I haven't gotten to yet!
I don't know how you do it Vic.... or David, etc....

There is one thing Vic....
I'll be flying in pretty close to a week;
Did you have to make this week's SSG about plane crashes! :shock:

Ken

"The man who has begun to live more seriously within
begins to live more simply without"
-Ernest Hemingway

"A genuine individual is an outright nuisance in a factory"
-Orson Welles


   
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(@vic-lewis-vl)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 10264
Topic starter  

Hi,

Great to see so much action here. :D (If the forum post counter is correct, it seems that this post is the 20,000th to the SSG!) I disappear for a few weeks and now it looks like it's going to be hard to get a table, it's so crowded.... watch them all head for door when I get up and start singing again....

Nice to see you back, too. I doubt the forum post counter is correct, though - there are no year 1 posts in there. As Allan Green explained recently, at one time the SSG and the songwriters club shared the same forum - and I guess all the year 1 posts got cleared out in some bandwidth-saving clean up exercise.
Not long until the school holidays are over, so I hope to get back into the song-writing groove again soon. In the meantime I did have a very quick attempt at this assignment, by writing a song with no chords at all. No lyrics either for that matter. Yes, I dusted the old clarinet off, and that can't play chords, so it was just a straightforward melody. Tough to sing with a reed in your mouth too...

I guess I could have sneaked a random guitar chord into the mix and claimed inclusion... :wink:

Reminds me more than a little of your Y6 W32 song, "Charlie Chaplin's Tramp" - you've definitely got the minimalism thing down pat.

Now With All New Holiday Beard... :shock:

Hmmm - looks like a jazzer's beard to me. I suppose it'll go well with the clarinet.....

:D :D :D

Vic

(newly clean-shaven and shorter of hair than of late!)
(Although not much shorter - just a trim.)
(Although when I say just a trim, the barber took about 6 inches off - AND charged me more than the going rate. Haircuts from £5 - he charged me £8!)
(And it has grown back a bit since Xmas.)

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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 KR2
(@kr2)
Famed Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 2717
 

I thought some of you might be interested.
It concerns Week 12's assignment.
One of my brothers is a pilot for US Air.
He's been out of the states for a while since he pilots the flights to Europe so he just got back to me about my questions concerning THE flight.

Anyway, here's the e-mail he just sent:

The following is an exclusive account for our members from one of our pilots who was onboard US Airways Flight 1549 when the pilots made a successful emergency ditching into New York's Hudson River. First Officer Susan O'Donnell is a LGA-based 767 pilot. She resides with her family in Winnsboro, South Carolina. Susan is a former Navy pilot, hired at AA in February 1990. She has flown the 727, F100, A300 and now the 767.

The following is her account of the flight, the rescue and recovery response, as well as the support she experienced afterward. This is intended to give each of you a unique insight into the event. We also hope that the crew's tremendous effort to take care of each other and the nearly instantaneous support of USAPA and APA responders become “takeaways” for our pilots to use when faced with an emergency.

I was a jumpseat rider seated in First Class on Flight 1549 from LGA to CLT, which successfully ditched in the Hudson River. I've been asked to share a few of my experiences on that day. Although it was a stressful incident, the successful outcome and the assistance and support I received afterwards have been truly humbling and inspirational.

After introducing myself to and being welcomed aboard by Captain Sullenberger and FO Skiles, I was offered seat 3D, an aisle seat in the last row of First Class. I was in my uniform. Another jumpseat rider took a seat in row 6. These were the last empty seats on the airplane. I wasn't paying much attention to the flight until, climbing out, there were several loud thumps occurring roughly simultaneously along both sides of the aircraft. “Bird strikes,” I thought. A few seconds later, there was a bit of smoke and the stench of burning bird that seemed to confirm my guess. There was a turn to the left, and I assumed we were returning to LGA.

The passengers were concerned but calm. I couldn't see any part of the aircraft out the window from my aisle seat. Although I didn't hear much that sounded encouraging from the engines, I expected we would have at least partial thrust with which to limp back to LGA. We rolled out of the turn, and I could tell we were not maintaining altitude. Then we heard the PA: “This is the Captain. Brace for impact.”

Obviously we weren't returning to LGA, and I could see enough out the window to realize we'd be landing in the river. The flight attendants began shouting their “brace” litanies and kept it up until touchdown. The descent seemed very controlled, and the sink rate reasonably low. I believed the impact would be violent but survivable, although I did consider the alternative. The passengers remained calm and almost completely quiet. As we approached the water, I braced by folding my arms against the seat back in front of me, then putting my head against my arms. There was a brief hard jolt, a rapid decel and we were stopped. It was much milder than I had anticipated. If the jolt had been turbulence, I would have described it as moderate. Thinking about it later on, I realized it was no worse than a carrier landing.

After landing, the attitude of the aircraft was slightly nose high, but not far off a normal parked attitude, and there was no obvious damage to the cabin or water intrusion where I was. No one was hurt or panicked. We all stood up. I could hear the doors open and the sound of slide inflation. There was a verbal command “Evacuate;” people were already moving towards the doors. I exited through the forward right door and entered the raft. The evacuation up front was orderly and swift, and we were not in the water long before being picked up by various boats, which were extremely quick to the scene. Many passengers were standing on the wing, going from feet dry to nearly waist deep as the rescue progressed. They were of course the first to be picked up by the arriving boats. I was picked up by a large ferry boat, climbing a ladder hanging from the bow. It didn't take long to get all passengers into the boats and to the ferry terminals.

Once at the terminal, we were met by police, firemen, paramedics, FBI, Homeland Security, the Red Cross, Mayor Bloomberg, and more. Captain Sullenberger continued in a leadership role in the aftermath, talking with the passengers, assembling his crew and including myself and the other jumpseat rider as members of his crew. I was impressed to note that he had the aircraft logbook tucked under his arm. When the Captain asked me if I wanted to join the crew at the hotel, I told him I would really appreciate it as I had lost my wallet. He immediately pulled out his wallet and gave me $20. His concern for me when he had so much else to worry about was amazing.

The USAPA representative was on the scene very quickly, and again included the other jumpseat rider and myself with the rest of the crew. I didn't see a flight attendant representative; USAPA took care of the FAs as well. The USAPA representative escorted the entire crew to the hospital (we rode in a NYFD fire truck), where we were joined by other USAPA reps and the USAPA lawyer, all of whom continued to consider me as one of the crew. At the hospital, I had finally called the APA “in case of accident” number on the back of my ID badge for APA. I had not initially thought of that as applying to my situation, as a jumpseater on another airline, but I called anyway. I spoke with APA LGA Vice Chairman Captain Glenn Schafer, who departed immediately to come assist me.

After a routine evaluation, they transported us by police car to a hotel, where rooms were waiting. The USAPA version of our Flight Assist was also there, and they spoke to me and offered me whatever assistance I needed, again as if I was one of their own. The USAPA reps also brought all of us some clothing and toiletries that they had purchased. Captain Schafer arrived at the hotel, bringing me some necessary items. He stayed overnight at the hotel, making flight arrangements for me to go home the next day and escorting me to the airport. Captain Mark Cronin from the AA NY Flight Office met me at the departure gate, again offering assistance and support.

I am grateful for the many calls of concern and offers of help I have received, from fellow pilots, union representatives and the company, and I am grateful for and proud of the response and assistance of both USAPA and APA. I would hope that our union would treat another airline's crewmember as kindly as I was treated. USAirways has also been superb, treating me as if I was a paying passenger. I am also thankful for the professionalism and capabilities of Captain Sullenberger, FO Skiles and FAs Dent, Dail and Welsh. They certainly did our profession proud, and they saved my life.

KR2

It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.


   
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(@joehempel)
Famed Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2415
 

Thanks for posting that Ken, that gives some great insight.

Now, on to this weeks assignment, and my thoughts. I think it may be a generational thing, but this week, I just wasn't feeling the topic. I did some research on the people that were listed, and of course on Buddy Holly (I've never heard any of his songs, except for maybe Peggy Sue), Richie Valens (only heard of Labamba, and Oh Donna), and Big Bopper (never heard of him until this was posted), and found that most of Buddy Holly's stuff I just wasn't in to, but did enjoy Ritchie Valens a bit more.

Some of this is really my fault for not knowing my "music history". Definitely a rough topic for me this week, but that's what it's all about right? Stretching the mind, getting you to know some things that are outside of your realm. So I appreciate the topic in that respect, it got me to do some research and listen to and learn somethings that I wouldn't have normally done so.

In Space, no one can hear me sing!


   
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 KR2
(@kr2)
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Joined: 17 years ago
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Two good movies for you to see then, Joe.
"The Buddy Holly Story" (starring Gary Busey) and even better,
"La Bamba" starring Lou Diamond Phillips.
The story of all three is in a movie called "The Day the Music Died" and is in production . . .
to be released some time this year.

KR2

It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.


   
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(@stikman)
Reputable Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 237
 

I just wasn't feeling the topic. I did some research on the people that were listed,

I felt detached from this topic also Joe so I put myself in the mindset of being a writer for hire. Hired to use my craft to create a song. Like you did some research to get into the mood. I do want to go back and listen to these artists now.

Ernie

"All battles are first won or lost in the mind." - Joan of Arc

"It took me about 20 years to figure out how to write without inspiration. Thankfully, I got there." - Leon Russell


   
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